Innovation management
Innovation management is a combination of the management of innovation processes，and change management.It refers both to product，business process，and organizational innovation.
Innovation management includes a set of tools that allow managers and engineers to cooperate with a common understanding of processes and goals.Innovation management allows the organization to respond to external or internal opportunities，and use its creativity to introduce new ideas，processes or products.It is not relegated to R＆D；it involves workers at every level in contributing creatively to a company's product development，manufacturing and marketing.
By utilizing innovation management tools，management can trigger and deploy the creative capabilities of the work force for the continuous development of a company.Common tools include brainstorming，virtual prototyping，product lifecycle management，idea management，TRIZ，Phase—gate model，project management，product line planning and portfolio management.The process can be viewed as an evolutionary integration of organization，technology and market by iterating series of activities：search，select，implement and capture.
Innovation processes can either be pushed or pulled through development.A pushed process is based on existing or newly invented technology，that the organization has access to，and tries to find profitable applications for.A pulled process is based on finding areas where customers need are not met，and then find solutions to those needs.To succeed with either method，an understanding of both the market and the technical problems are needed.By creating multi-functional development teams，containing engineers and marketers，both dimensions can be solved.
The product lifecycle of products is getting shorter because of increased competition.This forces companies to reduce the time to market.Innovation managers must therefore decrease development time，without sacrificing quality or meeting the needs of the market.
Innovation management is based on some of the ideas put forth by the Austrian economist Joseph Schumpeter，working during the 1930s，who identified innovation as a significant factor in economic growth.His book Capitalism，Socialism and Democracy first fully developed the concept of creative destruction.Innovation management helps an organization grasp an opportunity and use it to create and introduce new ideas，processes，or products industriously.Creativity is the basis of innovation management；the end goal is a change in services or business process.Innovative ideas are the result of two consecutive steps，imitation and invention.
Innovation，although not sufficient，is a necessary prerequisite for the continued survival and development of enterprises.The most direct way of business innovation is through technological innovation，disruptive innovation or social innovation.Management of innovation，however，plays a significant role in promoting technological and institutional innovation.
The goal of innovation management within a company is to cultivate a suitable environment to encourage innovation.The suitable environment would help the firms get more cooperation projects，even“the take-off platform”for business ventures.