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This paper draws together knowledge from a variety of fields to propose that innovation management can be viewed as a form of organisational capability. Excellent companies invest and nurture this capability, from which they execute effective innovation processes, leading to innovations in new product, services and processes, and superior business performance results. An extensive review of the literature on innovation management, along with a case study of Cisco Systems, develops a conceptual model of the firm as an innovation engine. This new operating model sees substantial investment in innovation capability as the primary engine for wealth creation, rather than the possession of physical assets. Building on the dynamic capabilities literature, an "innovation capability" construct is proposed with seven elements. These are vision and strategy, harnessing the competence base, organisational intelligence, creativity and idea management, organisational structures and systems, culture and climate, and management of technology.
Lawson et al. (2001) studied this question.