In large companies, of all of the things that are done, innovation tends to be managed with the least discipline of any function." That's how Craig Maxwell, corporate vice president for technology and innovation at Parker Hannifin Corp., a manufacturer of motion and control technologies and systems, explains his company's preparations for the future of research and development.
"(Consulting firm) Booz Allen Hamilton reports that of all of the core functions of most companies, innovation had the most competitive value, but is managed with the least discipline," Maxwell observes, "and I agree with that. When I looked around the company (Parker Hannifin) and saw what was going on, it wasn't that people weren't innovating; rather, serendipity seemed to rule. Missing was the disciplined rigor of order and metrics common to the rest of our operations, like running a factory. In the manufacturing function we constantly measure our performance."
Source: Industry Week, http://industryweek.com