Organizational Performance

Great ideas are only one requirement of successful innovation. Well-defined innovation processes also help transfer ideas into commercially viable products or services. Most experts will agree, however, that the single most important requirement for successful, sustainable innovation is an organizational culture that embraces new ways of thinking and change.

Unfortunately, the last few years of economic uncertainty has made it extremely challenging for organizations to be successful innovators. The need for short-term results has created cultures more focused on cost-cutting and risk avoidance. Companies have often chosen to follow rather than lead. With 'growth' once again returning to the list of top business objectives, organizations are renewing their commitment to innovation. As a result, an organizational culture that is agile and adaptive enough to respond positively to change is becoming essential.

OakTree Consulting understands the profound impact a business’ culture has in making innovation a reality. Our goal is to help clients create a market-oriented culture – one that values and prioritizes the changing needs of customers and the marketplace. We begin by improving our clients’ understanding of customer needs, particularly needs that are new, emerging, or unmet. We then focus on disseminating that customer and market intelligence throughout the entire organization. Lastly, we facilitate collaboration across functions -- pushing marketplace responsiveness and innovation throughout the entire organization. Our objective perspective allows us to recognize organizational barriers to innovation more easily. Complex reporting structures and process checkpoints can easily add months to new-product development or service innovation. Working together we identify and remove innovation inhibitors so organizations can quickly mobilize to serve new markets and customers and opportunities for value creation are not missed.

OakTree's team can help you:

  • Establish a uniform understanding and prioritization of customer needs, including emergent and unmet needs
  • Create mechanisms to support ongoing customer intelligence gathering and assessment
  • Re-align the organization to support new business strategies
  • Identify and resolve organizational and process barriers to innovation
  • Improve inter-functional coordination and collaboration
  • Establish innovation accountability across levels and departments
  • Cultivate external networks and build industry influence
  • Build or acquire needed capabilities and assets

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