1. SIMINA DRAGOMIRESCU MARIOARA FAIGHENOV - AGPITT

1.
THE NECESSARY MEANS TO DRIVE AN INNOVATIVE PROCESS
SIMINA DRAGOMIRESCU
MARIOARA FAIGHENOV
S.C.AGPITT INVENT Ltd. Bucharest
Bdul Libertatii nr.12, Bl.113, Sc.2, Et.3, Ap.28, sector 4, CP 42-106
Romania
office@agpitt.ro; faighenov@xnet.ro; simina88@hotmail.com
®EURO INNOVATION MANAGER ©S.C. AGPITT INVENT S.R.L., 2007

2.
THE NECESSARY MEANS TO DRIVE AN INNOVATIVE PROCESS
CREATIVITY, INVENTIVENESS, INNOVATION
Concepts closely connected but very different one of the other
Creativity: The process by which one can be obtained new ideas or new
solutions.
Inventiveness: The capability to achieve an invention, a solution which can be
protected by a patent.
Innovation: The process by which the new ideas can be utilized for new
product/technologies/services and these are destinated to the market = “from the idea to
market” or “the creativity commercialization”
MARKET?
TO WHOME BELONGS THE TASK TO DRIVE THE NEW IDEAS TO
There are different possible answers and one of these could be : the entrepreneur.
But that depends on the size of the firm and of the proportion of the innovation.
®EURO INNOVATION MANAGER ©S.C. AGPITT INVENT S.R.L., 2007

3.
THE NECESSARY MEANS TO DRIVE AN INNOVATIVE PROCESS
THE SOLUTION PROPOSED BY THE “AGPITT INVENT LTD.”
The Working Group of the “AGPITT INVENT Ltd” is considering that this task
must be performed by an INNOVATION MANAGER, a new profession included in
2007 in the national Code of Occupations of Romania (COR) with the No. 241941.
WHY A MANAGER SPECIALIZED TO DRIVE AN INNOVATIVE PROCESS?
The innovation is a process which become during the last decade more and
more complex, implies a group of actors and it must be organized
and managed.
®EURO INNOVATION MANAGER ©S.C. AGPITT INVENT S.R.L., 2007

4.
THE NECESSARY MEANS TO DRIVE AN INNOVATIVE PROCESS
HOW IS SHAPED BY THE AGPITT INVENT LTD. THE
PROFESSION
OF THE INNOVATION MANAGER?
The innovation manager is responsible for an efficient management of an innovation
process in a company.
In a synthetic manner, some of his duties. So he has to:
a).conclude an analysis of the innovation state of the firm;
b) synthesize the necessary new directions in a strategy;
c) initiate a process for the identification of the new and most favorable ideas/solutions;
organize and coordinate, in a cooperation system, the whole process until the new
product become marketable; evaluate the whole process and when possible, the impact
on firm, market, customers.
The main difficulties of this profession: to get through the against change mentality and
to be aware about the risks.
“ There is nothing more difficult…than to institue a new order of things.”
®EURO INNOVATION MANAGER ©S.C. AGPITT INVENT S.R.L., 2007

5.
THE NECESSARY MEANS TO DRIVE AN INNOVATIVE PROCESS
THE METHODOLOGY TO DEFINE A NEW PROFESSION
THE OCCUPATIONAL STANDARD I.
The method, adopted also in Romania, is to define the necessary
COMPETENCES to be appropriated by those who have to practice every
profession.
To overcome the problems risen by defining a completely new profession –
the innovation manager – for the Working Group of the AGPITT INVENT Ltd. it was
necessary a strong work, a lot of information and to cover an iterative process.
Finally it has resulted 8 Specific Competence Units.
1. Working out the innovation strategy of the firm
2. The implementation of the plan for the strategy achievement
3. The coordination of the professional development of the manager’s team
4. The coordination to collect creative ideas
5. The development of a data base administration system with the available ideas
for an innovative process
6.The development of the knowledge management of the firm and its capitalization
7. The assessment of the innovation process
8. How to ensure a continuous innovation process in the firm.
®EURO INNOVATION MANAGER ©S.C. AGPITT INVENT S.R.L., 2007

6.
THE NECESSARY MEANS TO DRIVE AN INNOVATIVE PROCESS
THE METHODOLOGY TO DEFINE A NEW PROFESSION
THE OCCUPATIONAL STANDARD II.
Each of these Competence Unit has been described in an explicit manner by
several Elements of Competence. They represent the activities to be developed
and also the mode of the accomplishment.
The relationship between the innovation manager activity and the entrepreneurial
activity are stipulated in several Elements of Competence:
-the cooperation with the marketing department;
-the collaboration with the customers for collecting new ideas;
-to learn/know the impact on the market after the launching of a new
product/technology/service;
-the knowledge transfer and its commercialization.
®EURO INNOVATION MANAGER ©S.C. AGPITT INVENT S.R.L., 2007

7.
THE NECESSARY MEANS TO DRIVE AN INNOVATIVE PROCESS
THE TRAINING OF THE INNOVATION MANAGER
The human resource must be trained to be able to appropriate itself every
Competence Unit and every Element of Competence.
-The AGPITT INVENT Ltd. has been authorized to organize this training even during
the working activity of the Occupational Standard.
-The cours is organized in nine modules and is developing in an interactive manner.
-At the end the trainees must work a project; a written exam and discussions must
furnish of the evidence of how the trainees have appropriated the necessary
competencies to practice this profession.
-A diploma is handed.
In September 2007 the course had its start up and till now we experienced four such
courses.
®EURO INNOVATION MANAGER ©S.C. AGPITT INVENT S.R.L., 2007

CONCLUSIONS
THE NECESSARY MEANS TO DRIVE AN INNOVATIVE PROCESS
1. The reality showed us that it is not enough to emphasize the R&D activity to become
an innovative economy.
2. To put into practice the manufacture of a new project for a
product/technology/service, so that it can become a marketable product is necessary
to organise this process of innovation.
3. This innovative process must be organized to be able to maintain the regular flow of
the activites in a firm, until the new idea arrives on the market and has an impact.
4. AGPITT INVENT Ltd. presents this original method to train the innovation manager
on the basis of the Occupational Standard.
5. All the information the Working Group of the AGPITT INVENT Ltd. was able to found
on this topic were in a declarative manner. Now, there has been developed a practical
method to drive an innovative process.
®EURO INNOVATION MANAGER ©S.C. AGPITT INVENT S.R.L., 2007