Infusing Innovation Into Organizations: A Systems Engineering Approach

Foster a Culture of Innovation inside Your Organization

Introducing a new approach that blends the practical applications of engineering with innovative concepts and techniques, Infusing Innovation into Organizations: A Systems Engineering Approach illustrates how a company’s culture influences innovation results and demonstrates how organizations can successfully create, explore, and test ideas. The book outlines an innovation framework representing a “systemic” approach that works within an organization’s culture (or context). It describes the principles and practices of innovation, relates these principles to systemic practices and the culture of a research and development organization, and incorporates innovation initiatives that can revitalize the performance of an organization.

The book utilizes numerous case studies that help determine what makes an organization more likely to produce innovative products and ideas. Providing relevant background and a description for each case study, it details innovative activity, innovative impact, and the characteristics and features of each innovation. It also describes the principles and practices of innovation and relates these principles to systemic practices and culture in a research and development organization.

Using systems engineering processes to apply innovation to operations, the authors:

• Describe general initiatives that have been, and could be, considered to address the principles of innovation in the context of an innovation framework
• Outline some indicators of effectiveness that can be used to implement a systemic organization-wide program
• Explain the linear and non-linear processes of design thinking (includes key methods and tools, and provides illustrative case studies)
• Offer an understanding of how to integrate problem-solving and underlying methods and tools into your organization

Infusing Innovation into Organizations: A Systems Engineering Approach

introduces a systemic approach that supports an innovative culture and describes novel approaches to addressing problems using creative, viable solutions. This book serves undergraduate and graduate-level professors and students in systems engineering as well as managers and consultants working in systems analysis and design.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Systemic Approach to Enhancing Innovation for an R&D Organization
Chapter 2: Foundational Principles of Innovation Applicable to Systemic R&D Activities and Organizations
Chapter 3: Systemic Framework for Enabling the Innovative Organization
Chapter 4: Developing and Implementing a Framework for Innovation
Chapter 5: Innovation Metrics and Indicators as Inputs to Strategy
Chapter 6: Global Awareness—Breathing Fresh External Ideas into Innovation
Chapter 7: Developing the Human Experience
Chapter 8: Knowledge Enrichment and Sharing
Chapter 9: All Challenges—And Innovations—Great and Small
Chapter 10: Resourcing—Integral to Systemic Innovation
Chapter 11: The Organizational Landscape for Innovation
Chapter 12: Design Thinking
Chapter 13: Design Exploration—The Art of Prototyping and Mockups to Inspire Ideas
Chapter 14: Not Your Public Library’s MakerSpace: The Nuts and Bolts of a Physical Place
Chapter 15: Engineering Innovation: Electronics Lab/MakerSpace
Chapter 16: The Role of Virtual Reality—Alternate Prototyping Methods
Chapter 17: Innovation Examples—Different Approaches, Common Principles
Chapter 18: Bringing in Agile—Building the Fast Track
Chapter 19: Transitioning Innovations
Chapter 20: Leading Innovation into the Future
Chapter 21: Sustaining Innovation