Abstract
Innovation management is becoming increasingly important. In six years, products representing more than 70 percent of manufacturer’s sales today will be obsolete (Deloitte, 2005). Only companies that can consistently bring innovative new products to market and redesign their business processes will continue to grow (Tucker, 2002). Manufacturing enterprises rank innovation as the top factor for achieving growth today, but are reluctant to incorporate this into their strategies. The difference between the need for innovation and subsequent strategic priorities shows that in¬novation is a top factor for growth, but sadly remains a bottom priority (Deloitte, 2005). The core challenge is the ability to innovate both related to product, process and organization (Utterback, 1994).
