Strategy and planning for innovation management – supported by creative and learning organisations

Excellence in innovation requires that organisations have the competencies to react quickly to new market conditions and customer needs, and see the possibilities that can arise from constantly looking for creative solutions and continuous improvements in products and innovation processes. Today’s companies must continuously adapt, develop and innovate. The principles and disciplines of the learning and creative organisation are a crucial determinant for this. This is the focus of the paper. The European Business Excellence Model can be applied to innovation management by supplementing four new criterion parts related to the company culture, namely creative and learning organisations. An extended PDSA loop for excellent strategy and planning is briefly described. The paper focusses on the culture loop within this framework and highlights what criterion parts and areas to address to include this culture aspect.