Organisational innovation audits: a typology of theories with some practical implications

Few managers will dispute that innovation is both key to survival and a precursor to wealth creation, yet many organisations are not good at it or do not even know where to begin. Literature suggests that the innovation audit is a good starting point, as it provides organisations with a reviewing mechanism of how effectively they are able to deliver the level of innovation necessary to create new products, new services and new ways of undertaking activities (Drummond and Ensor, 2001). In recent years a number of models for auditing innovation have been developed. These vary in scope and complexity from simple Internet surveys to comprehensive frameworks that assess performance in innovation management. Using desk research, this paper firstly determines what the requirements for a good innovation audit are, then continues to identify the limitations of a few contemporary innovation auditing tools. It finally proposes a new and improved framework, the Systemic Value Innovation Audit (SVIA), which meets the determined requirements for good innovation auditing tools. The SVIA builds upon existing theory and other auditing tools and uniquely identifies and covers the three main themes of 1) assessing present and recent past performance in innovation; 2) assessing the current state of institutionalisation of innovation within the organisation; and 3) predicting future performance in innovation based on past and current innovation strategy