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Three major trends for innovation management in 2021 and beyond

Ulrich Lichtenthaler • Jan. 21, 2021
Beyond COVID-19 crisis management: market development, portfolio management, and AI-based innovation are among the key innovation trends for the next twelve months.

Over the past weeks, I had multiple discussions with executives and managers in the fields of innovation, R&D, marketing, digital transformation, and AI. Among many other things, we talked about the key innovation management trends for 2021. Of course, there are many other lists that try to identify the top technology trends, such as the Gartner Hype Cycle analyses. Many key trends further are industry-specific, and some are also strongly affected by the COVID-19 crisis. In addition, these lists will always be subjective, and my top three trends are strongly driven by my focus on innovation and strategic management in the context of digitalization and AI. Nonetheless, the following topics emerged in many discussions with experts from multiple sectors and are therefore highlighted as three major trends for innovation management in 2021.

1. Market development
In the context of the COVID-19 crisis, many companies are reluctant to enter completely new business fields. Rather, they explore opportunities for innovation and growth based on their existing competencies. In fact, the following question was highlighted in many discussions: “How can we leverage our existing resources in additional markets in order to achieve new revenue streams?” In fact, this topic has long been a classic innovation management challenge, and there are several tools for addressing it. For example, a systematic analysis of the ‘jobs’ and functions that a technology, solution, or competence may fulfill can be an important starting point for targeting new markets with relatively limited additional investments.

2. Portfolio management
Although there are many stories about successful innovation in the context of the pandemic, many innovation executives and managers face tighter budgets for the next twelve months. As a consequence, many firms have to refocus their remaining innovation activities, resulting in the following question. “How can we select the most promising innovation projects in the context of limited budgets for R&D and innovation?” Thus, the pandemic leads to a renewed interest in innovation portfolio management in terms of optimizing the variety of ongoing innovation projects. Increasingly, this project portfolio management includes innovation and digital transformation projects to achieve synergies between innovation and digitalization initiatives.

3. AI-based innovation
Another key point that was underscored in many discussions is the opportunity to extend a firm’s current AI initiatives beyond optimization and efficiency. In fact, many executives and managers currently ask the following question: “How can we profit from AI and data analytics beyond enhancing the efficiency of our existing processes?” After an initial optimization focus of many AI programs, companies now increasingly try to leverage their AI activities for more innovative solutions and growth. These innovation-related opportunities of AI and data analytics are addressed in more detail in my recent book ‘Integrated Intelligence: Combining Human and Artificial Intelligence for Competitive Advantage’.

Towards sustainability innovation
These three topics are key challenges for many innovation executives and managers in 2021, and they go beyond COVID-19 crisis management. Even beyond these three topics, many experts consider sustainability the ‘next big thing’ for their firms’ innovation activities after the coronavirus crisis. While many firms do not yet undertake specific initiatives, they currently start strategic planning for the post-pandemic period by addressing the following and related questions: “How can we align our post-pandemic innovation activities with essential megatrends, especially sustainability?” Thus, neo-ecology and sustainability already emerge as future key trends for innovation beyond 2021.

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