Measuring innovation through a crowd source initiative
International Journal of Innovation Science
ISSN: 1757-2223
Article publication date: 23 September 2019
Issue publication date: 4 October 2019
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to demonstrate the values and effects of innovation becomes a challenge when selecting clear and correlating measures. While there is extensive research in the area of innovation measurement, there is a lack of consistent quantifiable measures that organizations can use. The International Association of Innovation Professionals (IAOIP) has partnered with Spigit to crowdsource innovation measures via the Innovation Measurement Standard (IMS) challenge with IAOIP members and the global public to determine the various ways innovation is measured across industries.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used a mixed-methods approach and a sequential exploratory design to analyze the data collected during the IMS challenge. In the first phase, the qualitative methodology was used to analyze innovation measures submitted during the IMS challenge and participants’ interactions and comments. In the second phase, the innovation measures were analyzed quantitatively to identify the most prominent measures.
Findings
A total of 73 innovation measures were collected during the challenge. In total, 18 top measures were ranked based on the participants’ votes, and the top five measures were selected as the winning measures of the challenge. These five measures included intelligent failure rate, financial results of innovation, the results brought to the company, the number of innovative ideas selected for action and innovation portfolio balancing.
Originality/value
This study is the first to select the innovation metrics while considering their relevance to the community of innovators that included academics, CEOs, consultants, innovation managers, etc. Another original factor of this work is the crowdsourcing approach used to identify innovation measures. This approach allowed us to explore multiple perspectives on the significance of each submitted measure.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This study was only possible with the involvement of several members of the IAOIP community, which gave a precious contribution by the submission, comments, votes, and evaluation of the innovation measures.
Citation
Almeida, F., Kennedy, A.J., Lin, B. and Nowak, I.V. (2018), "Measuring innovation through a crowd source initiative", International Journal of Innovation Science, Vol. 11 No. 3, pp. 471-488. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJIS-04-2019-0046
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited