Mining production process innovation : critical success factors to intersystem innovation at Jwaneng Mine Botswana

The strategic focus in many organisations is on innovation. This is driven by the needto grow and sustain shareholder value. Innovation takes the form of business processinnovation, technological innovation and social innovation through acts oforganisational restructuring. Innovation strategies have become a priority for themineral resource sector. This is due to the constraints imposed on business growth bythe finite nature of the mineral resources. The need for innovation brings twoorganisational aspects into focus. These are the organisational system constituted ofstructure, process, culture and people and the business system constituted of strategy,throughput activities, resource configurations, and product or service offerings. Thetwo systems are in constant interaction. Innovation is therefore an emergentphenomenon dependent upon interaction of such systems. A Systems approach isrequired to analyse the complex interactions that take place between the two systemsin organisations. The Jwaneng Mine Production Interface (JMPI) consists of severalinter-dependent subsystems and it is therefore appropriate to analyse it as anintersystem.The research focuses on the factors that impact the business system and theorganisation system. Innovation requires the development of competencies andcapability in people constituting the organisation. The way people interact withtechnology can be a determining factor for innovation. Theories of technology andsocial systems provide an important insight on how social and technological systemscan be organised for innovation. The developmental paths of an organisation areinfluenced by its culture and structure. Theoretical insights are used to gain deeperunderstanding of how innovation can be derived from organisational systems andbusiness systems. To gauge the status of innovation activities in the JMPI, speciallyselected case studies are used for detailed analysis. In addition, appropriatebenchmarks in similar and dissimilar industries are also utilised.The critical success factors to mining production innovation are found to be social,structural and technological in nature. Innovation is shown to cover the whole lifecycle of the business product or service offering. The design for innovation thereforerequires a holistic approach that incorporates strategy, organisational structures,technology, business processes, leadership and people.