Strategic resonant firms, mass producers, big fish & flat liners: a study of policies, practices & performance in innovation

Managing innovation is one of the key strategic challenges facing firms in many industries. The nature of competitive capabilities has resulted in conditions of hyper-competition within many industries and both new entrants and existing players have little choice but to innovate speedily and with success in new product introductions. However, this is only part of the ‘world of innovation’. Products and processes in other sectors also need to be innovated, and this often proceeds in a no less appropriate manner for the environment in which those firms operate. This paper presents a typology of innovation firms. It does not pretend to be exhaustive but aids our understanding by drawing upon a range of empirical studies of innovation practices. A classification of firms is proposed, which assists in understanding the different policies, practices and levels of performance in each category. In addition, it differentiates the rates of improvement, and shows some of the latest thinking and practices from the highest performing firms and the nature of the challenge for the rest.