Double prisme de performance : système de mesure de performance du processus d’innovation dans les PME manufacturières

Abstract

Our research found out that no performance measurement system actually takes in account the innovator dilemma that consists of the necessary balance between the exploration innovations activities and the exploitation innovations activities. That balance remains a huge challenge in innovation management (Chang et Hughes, 2012). Therefore, how can we manage the process of innovation without tools consistent with its most important challenges? It is not surprising that up to 40% of enterprises doesn’t measure their performance in innovation and that only 8% measure it with a least four indicators (Cohn et Bruce, 2013). Furthermore, although SMEs account for almost 95% of enterprises, only 1.5% of the innovation research is related to them. In order to tackle those two challenges, we decided to design a process and a tool that can help manufacturing SMEs to manage innovation and specifically to balance exploitation innovation and exploration innovation. First of all, we needed a full understanding of the SME innovation process. It is well known that role and influence of the entrepreneur is overriding in a SME, we chose therefore a phenomenological research to describe the innovation process with respect to the SME entrepreneur approach. To that end, we interviewed seven SMEs entrepreneurs or innovations managers and this lead us to four conclusions: - SMEs experience innovation dilemma in a more emphasized way, what a SME entrepreneur summarized as follows: « Doing nothing new would mean that after ten years, we no longer exist, but I am concerned that renewing too fast would also mean that we no longer exist after three years. - The most important success partner in the SME innovation is the customer, throughout the innovation process. Marketing is an important dimension of the innovation process. - We can define innovation in SME as a new solution with an added value recognized by a user. - The SME innovation process dimensions are: marketing, leadership, financing, technology and learning, organization. We used those results to find out if any existing performance measurement system could be related to SME innovation process with regard to its logical model or its dimensions. We chose Neely et al. (2002) Performance Prism although it doesn’t take into account the innovation dilemma. We modified it in order to include exploration and exploitation activities and we considered only one stakeholder: the customer. That is how we designed the Double Performance Prism that we further tested in two manufacturing SMEs. The results follow: - A 3-step implementation process consisting of a strategic thinking on innovation, focused on customers expressed and observed needs. - An innovation success map that gathers exploitation and exploration innovation activities with a logic chain capacities-process-strategies-customers. - A ten-indicator innovation scorecard that fosters on adding exploration to exploitation in traditional manufacturing SMEs companies or adding exploitation to exploration in technological manufacturing SMEs companies. Further quantitative research is needed to determine the ratio of exploitation versus exploration activities that delivers the optimal innovation performance in manufacturing SMES.

Date	9 Aug 2016
Original language	French
Awarding Institution	École de technologie supérieure
Supervisor	Mickaël Gardoni (Supervisor)