Cultural innovation in software design: the new impact of innovation planning methods

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe innovation planning methods used at Microsoft. Design/methodology/approach – The paper examines the cultural environment and changes that needed to occur to implement these methods and looks at a selection of product development efforts at Microsoft that used these methods and were successful. Findings – This paper shares the steps taken to enable innovation planning methods to be successful organizationally and describes the specific approaches that were most successful from a product development perspective. Research limitations/implications – The findings demonstrate that innovation in the large enterprise is a repeatable and reproducible process when the right environment and methods are utilized. Practical implications – Because enterprises are increasingly being called on to provide breakthrough and disruptive innovations innovation planning methods are increasingly becoming a necessary core discipline that is required in the enterprise. Originality/value – This paper is valuable to all readers and organizations that want to enable innovation planning methods in large enterprises.