Sustainable Innovation as a Corporate Strategy
M. Rashid Khan and Mohammed Al-Ansari Intellectual Assets Management, Saudi Aramco, Dhahran 31311, Saudi Arabia. 1. Introduction Something amazing happened in the corporate world. The idea to innovate has captured our imagination. As an example, in 1996, Lucent Technologies’ award winning “Creativity Center” was industries state-of-the art that provided leadership, passion, outstanding marketing, training and communication. Similarly, Enron was the industry “darling” for its innovation program; Enron’s major intranet program “eThink” was recognized with awards for excellence in communication. Yet four years later Enron went bankrupt, the programs of many companies were in ruins joining the ranks of Polaroid, DuPont, Reynolds, Ford and many others. What happened? We watched many companies failed while other organizations remained successful. What made the difference in the innovation process? While many companies failed, others were successful adding value fostering innovation and creativity. Many companies such as 3M, IBM, Disney, Microsoft, and Sony continued to innovate. This paper attempts to explain the reasons behind the failures and successes. 2. What is Innovation? Innovation is discovering new ways of creating value. Innovation serves as the lifeblood of many organizations whose survival and growth depend on developing new technology, products and services. A successful organization is a creative organization because creativity is the single most important contribution employees can contribute for its success. Innovation is of benefit only if it creates value. In a successful organization, innovation is sustainable and on-going, rather than a process characterized by succession of “boom and bust” events. A creative organization is “lead,” rather than “managed.” A sustainable innovative organization must be fluid