We are one of the largest economies in the world. However, few businesses in the country benefit from robust innovation mechanisms to enhance their competitive growth. In a study conducted by Alexandre Pierro, one of the few Brazilians who participated in the development of ISO 56001, the innovation management standard, and founding partner of PALAS, a pioneering consultancy in this methodology in Brazil, it was found that companies using this international management methodology increase their understanding of the topic by 271%, gaining greater readiness and capacity to generate innovation, yielding positive results in the short term. The study is the result of a master’s thesis conducted by the professional at the Federal University of ABC.
For nearly two decades, we have occupied intermediate positions in the global innovation rankings, despite being such a robust economy and having such a large consumer market. According to the latest Global Innovation Index (GII), conducted by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), we are in 50th place among 133 countries. ‘There is a significant incongruity between our economic and innovation positioning. ISO 56001 is an excellent opportunity to reduce this gap‘, Pierro points out.
The main objective of the study was to evaluate the performance of organizations before and after using the ISO innovation methodology. Within this, five specific objectives were considered: comparing innovation processes and structure with or without the standard; analyzing the company’s innovation culture and comparing it with or without the standard; analyzing the launch of new products, services, or processes created with or without the standard; comparing annual financial revenue generated from innovation-related products with or without the standard; and comparing the reach of the innovation strategy within the organization with or without the standard.
The research methodology included an online questionnaire on innovation principles; an online questionnaire on innovation culture; and live interviews with innovation professionals from companies at tactical, strategic, and operational levels. The response options in the online forms were: strongly agree, agree, disagree, strongly disagree, and don’t know.
The first stage of the study surveyed 60 medium and large companies from various sectors to identify the most commonly used innovation methodologies. The results pointed to three: Design Thinking, Brainstorming, and Agile. With this information, the professional applied the research methodology to 17 Brazilian companies that have already adopted the ISO innovation standard. Among them are Grupo Boticário, Atento, CPFL Energia, Eneva, Copel, and many others of varying sizes and sectors.
According to Pierro, each company’s responses were grouped and classified according to the pillars and concepts of the ISO 56000 family of standards, which form a complete governance model for innovation management, with ISO 56001 as the certifiable standard. The results were surprising.
According to the researcher, the level of understanding of overall innovation strategy is nearly three times higher in companies that adopted the ISO. Analyzing topics such as innovation definition; innovation goals; focus and type of innovation; innovation process; objectives and indicators of innovation; innovation tools; and idea programs, the maturity level of strategic innovation leaders jumped from 35.71% to 87.50%; among tactical teams, it went from 29.58% to 90.27%; and among operational teams, it rose from 32.70% to 88.10%.
The focus on the ecosystem saw an increase from 58% to 67.1%. Communication improved from 55% to 69.5%. The resources needed to innovate—such as time, people, knowledge, infrastructure, and budget —improved from 62% to 72%. ‘All these aspects are fundamental to ensuring a continuous and high-impact innovation strategy.’
Regarding culture, the fear of making mistakes dropped from 43.3% to 37.9%, demonstrating the creation of a safer and more favorable environment for presenting new ideas. ‘This fear creates a defense system in corporations, preventing professionals from sharing their ideas for fear of reprimand. The ISO helps make the corporate environment safer, with less resistance to innovation,’ celebrates Pierro.
All these highlighted improvements contribute to a better balance between efforts and investments in innovation, which was also identified in the study. With this methodology, organizational ambidexterity—the ability to think about the future while meeting present needs—improved by about 10% in the surveyed companies, reinforcing greater capacity to explore innovation.
The results achieved so far show that ISO 56001 can be an important methodology to boost innovation in our country. ‘This governance model is proving to be the most effective way to leverage innovation, creating numerous gains in strategy, ecosystem understanding, innovation culture, leadership, uncertainty management, communication, support, and process. It is our chance to improve our position in the global innovation rankings and become more competitive in the world,’ concludes Pierro.
