Driver
Competitive
Environment
Level 1
“Initial”
Level 2
“Competent”
Level 3
“Managed”
Level 4
“Optimised”
Some flexibility to change prices, with partial ability to capture market Full flexibility to set prices, with ability to capture market share for the
share for the most innovative offerings; incentives give some scope to most innovative offerings, and incentives/ regulation drive investment
invest in longer-term projects
in a number of long-term projects
Level 5
“Leading”
Low switching barriers provide opportunity to capture market share,
and incentives/regulation drive investment in an optimal mix of shortterm and long-term projects
Pricing and customer base are generally fixed and the few incentives
to innovate that exist allow only short term projects
Some ability to capture value from innovation, with the incentives
focussed on short term projects
Strategic Alignment
Innovation is viewed as a narrow agenda; the innovation strategy is
either absent or unclear, and there is little relationship between
innovation and business strategy
The importance of innovation is generally recognised by the innovation There is an organisation-wide appreciation of the importance of
team alone; the innovation strategy is insufficiently developed, and the innovation; the innovation strategy is well defined, and is broadly
relationship between innovation and business strategy is not clear
coherent with the business strategy
Innovation is a central part of the organisation; the innovation strategy
is well defined, and is broadly coherent with the business and sector
strategies
Innovation is an integral part of the organisation; the innovation
strategy is clearly articulated, and fully integrated with the business,
sector and national strategies
Internal Capabilities
Innovation process is yet to be articulated and projects are developed
on an ad hoc basis in the face of strong risk aversion, being reliant on
staff experience and intuition to determine what is needed in the
marketplace; support tools/facilities do not meet existing needs and
innovation skills are not considered as part of the recruitment strategy
Innovation process defined but only partially complied with, and risk
aversion impacts product approval; some identification and use of
consumer insights at the beginning of the innovation process, with
some collaborative behaviours present; support tools and facilities
require further development and innovation skills are viewed as
beneficial during recruitment
Well defined, rapid innovation process and established project
selection criteria in place to manage risk, with near-full compliance;
effective incorporation of customer insights throughout the innovation
process, with collaborative behaviours present across the company;
support tools and facilities meet most existing requirements, and staff
are specifically recruited for their innovation skills, with a focus on
retaining good talent
An efficient innovation process with ongoing process improvement,
established project selection criteria and effective risk management;
the customer is intimately involved throughout the innovation process
and company-wide collaboration is encouraged, enabled and tracked;
support tools and facilities meet current and anticipated requirements,
and recruitment strategies are in place to attract and retain quality
talent
External Capabilities
Entire innovation process is run in-house; players seek some informal
input into the innovation process from other organisations in the
industry; supply chain is not viewed as an element of the innovation
process
Formal and informal industry-wide collaboration and knowledge
Informal industry-wide collaborations as and when needed, supply
sharing on select projects, supply chain is informally involved in the
chain are informed of some developments, and industry facilities meet
innovation process, and industry facilities meet requirements for the
requirements for some projects
majority of projects
Formal and informal industry-wide collaboration and knowledge
sharing on all projects; there are formal processes or fora for
involving the supply chain in the innovation process, and industry
facilities meet existing requirements
Collaborative integration of innovation agendas within the industry,
cross-industry input is incorporated and
Organisation
Innovation talent is sparse and resource planning/ allocation is done
on an ad-hoc basis; companies take time to respond to innovation
opportunities and to make decisions
Innovation skills and resource planning are more competent; the
organisation recognises and rewards some innovative behaviours;
some innovation KPIs exist; companies can speed up decision making
to capture opportunities
Innovation talent and capacity is less constrained; vertical information
flow is improving; the organisation recognises and rewards
innovation; innovation KPIs are broadly aligned with the performance
management process; responsiveness of decision making increases
Innovation talent and capacity is more widely available; both vertical
and horizontal information flows freely; cross-functional problem
solving is more common; the organisation recognises and rewards
innovation, and innovation KPIs are aligned with the performance
management process; decision making is responsive
Innovation talent and capacity is strong; both vertical and horizontal
information flows freely and swiftly; disciplined team-work and problem
solving is used to solve industry problems; there are several formal
and informal reward/ recognition systems, innovation KPIs are aligned
with the performance management process and decision making is
agile and responsive
Innovation is seen as an integral part of the company culture and
agenda, there is pride in the railway and in one’s job, which people
increasingly perceive as linked to improved customer service;
thoughtful risk taking is encouraged and innovation behaviours are
monitored; cross silo collaboration and peer to peer informal
networking is more common
Innovation is seen as a company-wide priority that is fully supported
and energised by the culture, leaders are visibly supportive of
innovation; there is enthusiasm for change and pride in one’s job and
in making a contribution to improved service delivery; the organisation
actively encourages thoughtful risk taking, collaboration, peer to peer
networking and communities of practice; innovation behaviours are
monitored and tracked
Innovation is driven by the company culture and on top of the agenda
in the company and industry, leaders champion innovation and “walk
the talk”, and customer service is everyone's concern; pride in one’s
work and in innovation successes fuels enthusiasm for greater
change; collaborative behaviours and measured risk taking are the
“way we do things in the railway industry”; peer to peer networking and
communities of practice are vibrant drivers of innovation and relevant
innovation behaviours are regularly tracked
Culture
A greater number of employees are involved in and see opportunities
Few people are involved in and perceive opportunities to innovate; the
for innovation; there is little emotional connection to customer
link between one’s job and customer service are not strong (except for
service; staff minimise risk taking and some innovation behaviours
the operator); behaviours are risk averse, cross silo collaboration and
are monitored; cross silo collaboration and peer to peer networking is
peer to peer networking are in their initial stage
developing
Defined innovation process and project selection criteria in place to
understand risk, with general compliance; effective identification and
use of consumer insights at the beginning of the innovation process,
with collaborative behaviour also present; support tools and facilities
meet requirements for some projects and staff are specifically
recruited for their innovation skills