ISO/TR 56009:2025

Innovation management - Example implementations of innovation operation measurements

This document provides illustrative examples of how organizations of different kinds, sizes and innovation objectives can implement innovation operation measurements by using ISO 56008. This document is applicable to: - organizations that are seeking to define and implement an innovations operations measurement approach; - organizations and interested parties seeking to improve the areas of accountability, transparency and evidence-based assessment of innovation operations; - providers of training in innovation operations and measurements, including assessment of and consultancy for achieving results; - experts in innovation operations evaluation and impact assessment, favouring the use of a harmonized guidance International Standard.

Management de l'innovation — Exemples de mise en œuvre de mesures des opérations d’innovation

General Information

• Status: Published
• Publication Date: 24-Jul-2025
• ICS: 03.100.01 - Company organization and management in general
• ICS: 03.100.40 - Research and development
• Technical Committee: ISO/TC 279 - Innovation management
• Drafting Committee: ISO/TC 279/WG 3 - Tools and methods
• Current Stage: 6060 - International Standard published
• Start Date: 25-Jul-2025
• Completion Date: 25-Jul-2025

Overview

ISO/TR 56009:2025 - Innovation management: Example implementations of innovation operation measurements is a Technical Report from ISO that provides practical, illustrative examples of how organizations can implement innovation operation measurements using ISO 56008 guidance. Rather than prescribing universal metrics, ISO/TR 56009:2025 shows how different organization types and sizes (mid‑size service firms, not‑for‑profit organizations, government bodies, SMEs, spin‑offs and large companies) design and apply measurement approaches to support evidence‑based decision‑making, reduce uncertainty and improve accountability and transparency in innovation operations.

Key Topics

• Illustrative measurement examples across the innovation lifecycle: identifying opportunities, concept creation, solution development and deployment.
• Measurement design and implementation: choosing relevant indicators, procedures for data collection, presentation for decision‑making and learning.
• Alignment and governance: ensuring innovation metrics align with mission, strategy, resources, capabilities and leadership responsibilities.
• Performance, outcomes and impact: assessing effectiveness, efficiency, ROI and societal/environmental outcomes (including SDG considerations as demonstrated in examples).
• Contextualized approaches: tailoring measurement frameworks to organizational context to avoid one‑size‑fits‑all metrics.
• Practical lessons and pitfalls: examples include common issues encountered, corrective actions and measurement lessons learned.

Applications

Who should use ISO/TR 56009:2025

• Innovation managers and executive leaders designing measurement frameworks.
• Quality, performance and portfolio managers evaluating innovation initiatives.
• Consultants and assessors providing training or measurement services in innovation operations.
• Public sector program leads and non‑profit innovators seeking accountability and impact measurement.
• Educators and trainers building curricula on innovation metrics and evidence‑based management.

Practical uses

• Designing an organization‑specific innovation measurement framework based on ISO 56008 principles.
• Developing KPIs and dashboards for innovation preparation, progress and results.
• Conducting innovation portfolio reviews and resource reallocation based on measurement outcomes.
• Improving transparency and evidence for funding, stakeholder reporting and impact assessment.
• Training teams in measurement practice and avoiding measurement‑induced bias.

Related standards

• ISO 56008 - Guidance on innovation operation measurements (primary normative reference).
• ISO 56000 series - broader innovation management family (context for strategy, terminology and governance).

ISO/TR 56009:2025 is a practical companion to ISO 56008, offering real‑world examples that help organizations implement robust, context‑sensitive innovation metrics and improve decision quality across the innovation lifecycle.

Standards Content (Sample)

Technical
Report
ISO/TR 56009
First edition
Innovation management —
2025-07
Example implementations of
innovation operation
measurements
Management de l'innovation — Exemples de mise en œuvre de
mesures des opérations d’innovation
Reference number
© ISO 2025
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, or required in the context of its implementation, no part of this publication may
be reproduced or utilized otherwise in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, or posting on
the internet or an intranet, without prior written permission. Permission can be requested from either ISO at the address below
or ISO’s member body in the country of the requester.
ISO copyright office
CP 401 • Ch. de Blandonnet 8
CH-1214 Vernier, Geneva
Phone: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]
Website: www.iso.org
Published in Switzerland
ii
Contents Page
Foreword .v
Introduction .vi
1 Scope . 1
2 Normative references . 1
3 Terms and definitions . 1
4 Mid-size company: Service innovation operation measurements example . 1
4.1 EduTrain .1
4.1.1 General .1
4.1.2 Innovation mission and objectives .1
4.1.3 Innovation focus .2
4.2 Measurements for identifying innovation opportunities .2
4.3 Measurements in developing innovation solutions .4
4.4 General issues encountered during measurements .5
4.5 Conclusions and positive/negative lessons .5
4.5.1 General .5
4.5.2 Measurement lessons .5
4.5.3 General lessons .6
5 Not-for-profit organization: Social innovation operation measurements example . 6
5.1 DonateIt4: Business model and innovation objectives .6
5.2 Assessing present situation (early measurements) for a revamped innovation
programme .7
5.3 Innovation concept creation and validation .8
5.3.1 Concept creation measurements .8
5.3.2 Concept validation measurements .9
5.4 Innovation solution development measurements .10
5.5 Innovation solution deployment measurements . 12
5.5.1 Solution deployment preparation measurements . 12
5.5.2 Solution deployment progress measurements .14
5.6 Conclusion and future studies . 15
6 Government organization: Innovation programme measurements example .15
6.1 Harmonia Ministry of National Education . 15
6.2 Innovation focus and objectives .16
6.3 Some measurements for identifying innovation opportunities .16
6.4 Some measurements for innovation concept creation .18
6.5 Some measurements for innovation solution development .19
6.6 Measurements for innovation solution deployment .21
6.7 Conclusion and future studies . 23
7 SME: New business model innovation measurements example .23
7.1 X-energy: Context, innovation intent, strategy and focus . 23
7.2 Measurements . 25
7.2.1 General . 25
7.2.2 Measurements for the preparation of the innovation initiative . 25
7.2.3 Measurements for the validation of the concept .27
7.2.4 Measurements for developing the solution . 30
7.2.5 Measurements for deploying the solution .32
7.3 Conclusion . 34
8 Spin-off company: Technology innovation measurements example .35
8.1 AFOWP (Agri-Food Waste Products) Inc.: Spin-off, innovation strategy and tactical focus . 35
8.2 Measurements: Design, implementation, results and decision-making . 36
8.2.1 General . 36
8.2.2 Measuring preparation for development phase . 36
8.2.3 Measuring effectiveness and efficiency in the development phase .37

iii
8.2.4 Measuring solution development outputs and outcomes . 38
8.2.5 Measuring preparation for solution deployment . 39
8.2.6 Measuring progress of innovation deployment . 40
9 Large company: Innovation portfolio measurements example .42
9.1 Banana Tech: Organization, innovation set-up and strategy .42
9.1.1 The organization and its context .42
9.1.2 Innovation set-up .43
9.1.3 Innovation strategy and innovations pursued . 44
9.2 Measurements . 44
9.2.1 Strategy and responsibilities . 44
9.2.2 Banana Tech innovation operation measurement framework .45
9.2.3 Innovation portfolio review .45
9.3 Post-measurement actions . . 50
9.3.1 General . 50
9.3.2 Allocating resources more efficiently and strategically inside the portfolio . 50
9.3.3 Increasing the performance of innovation operations. 50
9.3.4 Managing and measuring SDG impact . 50
9.3.5 Portfolio renewal . 50
9.4 Conclusions and lessons learned .51
Bibliography .53

iv
Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards
bodies (ISO member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out through
ISO technical committees. Each member body interested in a subject for which a technical committee
has been established has the right to be represented on that committee. International organizations,
governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO, also take part in the work. ISO collaborates closely
with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) on all matters of electrotechnical standardization.
The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are described
in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular, the different approval criteria needed for the different types
of ISO document should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the editorial rules of the
ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www.iso.org/directives).
ISO draws attention to the possibility that the implementation of this document may involve the use of (a)
patent(s). ISO takes no position concerning the evidence, validity or applicability of any claimed patent
rights in respect thereof. As of the date of publication of this document, ISO had not received notice of (a)
patent(s) which may be required to implement this document. However, implementers are cautioned that
this may not represent the latest information, which may be obtained from the patent database available at
www.iso.org/patents. ISO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not
constitute an endorsement.
For an explanation of the voluntary nature of standards, the meaning of ISO specific terms and expressions
related to conformity assessment, as well as information about ISO’s adherence to the World Trade
Organization (WTO) principles in the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), see www.iso.org/iso/foreword.html.
This document was prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 279, Innovation management.
Any feedback or questions on this document should be directed to the user’s national standards body. A
complete listing of these bodies can be found at www.iso.org/members.html.

v
Introduction
0.1  Innovation, uncertainties, risks and measurements for evidence-based decisions
This document provides some illustrative examples of how organizations of different kinds, sizes
and innovation objectives can apply ISO 56008, the International Standard on innovation operation
measurements, to reduce uncertainties and risk. ISO 56008 provides guidance for organizations on
designing and implementing appropriate measurements to make evidence-based decisions for achieving
objectives effectively, efficiently, ethically and in a timely manner while minimizing waste.
Innovation involves risk-taking in a manner fundamentally different from established operational activities
due to the unknown realm faced by an organization in its innovation attempts, which are generally
characterized by the potential for costly errors, failure and needless waste of time, material and financial
resources. Measurements, along with well-thought-out corrective actions, learning for improvement and
suitable changes in behaviour, are the basis for evidence-based decision-making and planning.
The quality of decision-making depends on how well people understand the innovation uncertainties and
issues they are facing, how they choose what to measure, how they implement the measuring and present
the results for action, how management considers the results, and what learning is drawn from the
measurement itself.
0.2  Purpose of ISO 56008:2024
ISO 56008 provides guidance to organizations on addressing the fundamental issues of an organization’s
innovation operations:
— Are we doing the right things? In terms of alignment with the mission, innovation strategy and objectives
by addressing the most important opportunities based on necessary evidence to optimize return on
investment (ROI) and reduce uncertainties and risks.
— Are we doing these things in the right way? With the necessary and sufficient leadership, resources,
capabilities, effective processes and organizational structures to achieve success.
— Are we succeeding? In terms of achieving valuable results and outcomes for our organization, for our
society at large and for our environment.
ISO 56008 highlights the impacts measurements have on the organization’s prospects for success, its people
behaviour and its culture, especially that there are no universally appropriate collections of innovation
operation measurements.
No two organizations are alike in their internal or external contexts. Therefore, there cannot be a universally
appropriate collection of innovation measurements. It is important that each organization considers its
needs within its context, formulates its objectives, undertakes suitable innovation initiatives and measures
them appropriately when needed.
Figure 1 describes the fundamental ideas concerning preparation, progress and results of innovation
operations together with associated measurements for making evidence-based decisions.
Organizations are required to ask critical questions about relevant aspects of their innovation operations
in order to determine the right indicators for measurement. They are required to design the metrics and
measurement procedures to obtain meaningfully actionable results to make the necessary decisions. All of
these are described in detail in ISO 56008:2024, Clause 4.

vi
Figure 1 — Measuring and deciding on innovation operations
0.3  Structure of this document
This document contains, in addition to this introduction, scope, normative references and terms and
definition clauses, six content clauses each containing a fictitious, albeit typical, illustrative example of an
organization measuring some of its innovation operations (as shown in Figure 2):
— a mid-size company undertaking service innovation (see Clause 4);
— a not-for-profit organization measuring social innovations (see Clause 5);
— a government organization trying to develop innovative programmes (see Clause 6);
— an ambitious small or medium-sized enterprise (SME) aiming for a major business model innovation (see
Clause 7);
— a spin-off company pursuing technology-based innovations (see Clause 8);
— a large company managing its diverse portfolio of innovations (see Clause 9).

vii
Figure 2 — Structure and innovation operation coverage of this document
The examples were created by a selected team of experts with deep experience leading, or consulting on, the
innovation management issues usually encountered by these types of organizations.
Each example reflects the working style and language typical of such organizations, whether they are large
or small for-profit businesses, not-for-profit organizations or governmental (public service) organizations.
In all cases, the examples follow the guidance offered by ISO 56008 in terms of understanding the situation
of the organization (both internal and external context), having a forward-looking innovation strategy
with appropriately realistic objectives, being cognizant of uncertainties they are facing and risks they must
manage, as explained in Figure 3.
Figure 3 — Flow for illustrating how to think, design, implement and
make measurement-based decisions
All the examples show how organizations can ask critical questions to determine the appropriate indicators
to measure, and what kind of metrics they can choose, or design based on the guidance from ISO 56008.
The examples also illustrate how the actual measurement procedure is implemented and by whom, with
additional information on how the resulting data can be presented to the management team expected to
make decisions. Some typical examples of decisions made are shown, together with the associated learning
that can be of value to the innovation operation team and the organization at large.
Each clause stands on its own. Readers can choose to read just the example appropriate for their specific
interests, although reading the other examples can also be beneficial.

viii
Technical Report ISO/TR 56009:2025(en)
Innovation management — Example implementations of
innovation operation measurements
1 Scope
This document provides illustrative examples of how organizations of different kinds, sizes and innovation
objectives can implement innovation operation measurements by using ISO 56008.
This document is applicable to:
— organizations that are seeking to define and implement an innovations operations measurement
approach;
— organizations and interested parties seeking to improve the areas of accountability, transparency and
evidence-based assessment of innovation operations;
— providers of training in innovation operations and measurements, including assessment of and
consultancy for achieving results;
— experts in innovation operations evaluation and impact assessment, favouring the use of a harmonized
guidance International Standard.
2 Normative references
There are no normative references in this document.
3 Terms and definitions
No terms and definitions are listed in this document.
ISO and IEC maintain terminology databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:
— ISO Online browsing platform: available at https:// www .iso .org/ obp
— IEC Electropedia: available at https:// www .electropedia .org/
4 Mid-size company: Service innovation operation measurements example
4.1 EduTrain
4.1.1 General
EduTrain is a medium-size skills development and training organization based in the small country of Serenia.
The company has a client list of over 1 500 loyal customers. Today, offerings include skills consultancy, short
online training courses and learning programmes to suit specific educational needs.
4.1.2 Innovation mission and objectives
EduTrain wanted to create lasting value that can help students of all walks of life build and enhance skills. The
main objective was to use evidence-based decision-making to support innovation operations measurement
activities and to ensure that investment in innovation activities lead to the desired results.

For this reason, the organization’s leadership decided to apply the guidance innovation management
standard, ISO 56008. This is part of their story on how they practically applied the guidance standard to
their mid-size service organization.
4.1.3 Innovation focus
The organization needed to innovate its service offering. Solutions had to consider the current business
environment and the recent explosion of online and remote offerings.
EduTrain recently appointed Melanie as Innovation Manager at the organization to ensure that concepts are
more effectively managed towards implementation and delivery. Supported by the organization’s leadership
and her innovation team, Melanie decided to create an innovation programme to find new opportunities in
the education industry and bring them to market for EduTrain.
This resulted in the launch of an innovation programme that was managed as a project, so that outputs
could be tracked regularly.
Melanie focused the programme by defining the strategy and intent upfront. She then very clearly
communicated the type of innovation and outcomes the company wanted to achieve. Her strategy and focus
for the organization’s innovation programme are described in more detail below, including examples on
some of the innovation operation measures as applied by the innovation team.
Following research efforts, consultation with leadership and other interested parties, the main strategic
priority areas identified were the development of:
— a new learning and skills development model;
— novel innovative activities in the learning process.
Considering EduTrain’s overall strategy, Melanie and her team worked at including process, service and
product innovations. The company then framed the question as a challenge that asked for ideas from all staff
on “what a new, more effective and engaging learning model could look like”.
To make sure that the programme was focused, and the desired results achieved through evidence-based
decision-making, the innovation team understood that measurement at every stage of the innovation process
was of the utmost importance. It was therefore decided to consider preparation, activities and results in the
measurement process, as suggested by ISO 56008:2024, 6.1.
NOTE The full innovation operation process is not covered in this example. Only the identifying of innovation
opportunities and developing innovation solutions stages are discussed.
4.2 Measurements for identifying innovation opportunities
One month into the innovation programme led by Melanie, the innovation team realized that the process
was not working smoothly. It seemed that bottlenecks were forming at the evaluation stages where ideas
were evaluated, as not enough innovation facilitators were available and several people did not evaluate and
progress ideas adequately.
After investigating, it was determined the ideas submitted by employees got stuck in the process and that
this was happening due to a lack of knowledge and know-how by the people who evaluated the ideas and
moved the process forward. The innovation team subsequently arranged a training session to ensure that
all innovation facilitators and subject-matter experts were briefed and trained adequately to perform this
important task. A clear evaluation manual was provided, and each person involved in the process was
briefed and trained beforehand so that they understood what was required. This action resulted in more
resources allocated to represent each department. Following this first stage, idea evaluation improved by
40 % and bottlenecks reduced by 75 %.
Once the innovation process was streamlined better, Melanie and her team realized that a number of ideas
submitted by staff did not provide concrete ideas to help EduTrain find better learning and skills development
models. They then started to provide more background on the type of ideas wanted and arranged sessions
with departmental heads to communicate the process and objectives in more detail to staff. This ensured

that the innovation process and type of ideas required were sufficiently explained to all and resulted in the
idea submission increasing by 40 %. This time around the ideas were of much better quality.
To demonstrate the approach adopted above, and to focus on the effectiveness of the innovation process
during the preparation phase, the measurements given in Table 1 were considered, and other learnings were
captured.
Table 1
Decision on measurement Implementation of measurement
Question Indicator(s) Metric(s) How How/when/ Type of data/
(procedures) where/duration quality/size
Do we have Resources for Number of Count the numbers Project leader/ Five innovation
enough opportunity employees of innovation innovation facilitators or
resources identification. available for facilitators and ambassador in evaluators for
available to opportunity determine organization. every stage,
perform the identification. availability and representing each
As soon as
task? understanding department.
possible.
of the task.
Only two
innovation
facilitators
participated and
understood the
brief.
Is the Process and Number of issues List the number Innovation system Number of aligned
innovation tools for identified of issues raised manager. ideas received.
process opportunity concerning regarding
Number of ideas
effective? identification. process of innovation
logged.
opportunity opportunity
identification. identification.
At this stage, the programme started to yield interesting ideas and some of the shortlisted opportunities
were developed into preliminary concepts.
To focus on the effectiveness of innovation activities during the preparation phase, the metrics illustrated in
Table 2 were considered, and other learnings were captured.
At this stage of the process, eight new concepts were finalized and the innovation team, together with the
idea originators, presented these shortlisted concepts to the innovation committee. A transparent process
was supported by strong evaluation criteria and three shortlisted concepts were chosen for further
investigation and development by the committee.

Table 2
Decision on measurement Implementation of measurement
Question Indicator(s) Metric(s) How How/when/ Type of data/
(procedures) where/duration quality/size
Do we have IP manage- Percentage Identify potential The organization’s Number of new
adequate ment. of solutions solutions to be devel- internal or contracted concepts to be
intellectual requiring oped that can lead to IP law specialist. developed.
property (IP) acquisition/ the creation of new IP
Before concepts are Data from
management licensing of for the organization.
being earmarked for research,
approaches in external IPs.
Assistance with development. validated by
place for
research on identified IP and subject
solution
concepts by innova- matter experts.
development?
tion facilitators/eval-
uators/subject matter
experts.
Are the Solution Percentage of Develop a solution Project lead and Data on concept
developed deployment developed readiness measure- subject matter (e.g. market data,
solutions readiness. solutions not ment checklist and specialists. concept
ready for ready for apply to developed functionality,
Final approval
deployment? immediate solutions. lean principles,
meeting.
deployment. minimum viable
product (MVP)
characteristics).
4.3 Measurements in developing innovation solutions
As potential new IP projects were being planned for the organization, questions were asked around what
could be licensed from the projects in development. Upon investigation serious issues arose as development
of some of the shortlisted solutions would result in copyright infringements. These issues were originally
flagged by external advisors involved in the solution-development phase.
This risk was identified as a potential showstopper for two of the concepts identified for development.
Melanie gathered all information through the project teams and arranged a presentation to the Executive
Team to provide feedback.
Alarmed by the results and evidence presented to them, the Executive Team halted the two projects. It was
not a great outcome for the organization as the most radical and exciting ideas were affected by this decision,
but the innovation team was praised for their diligence.
The main learning for the innovation team was to investigate all new concepts and perform due diligence on
IP before concept creation. This saved the organization unnecessary expenditure in both concept creation
and potential IP infringement costs. To focus on the effectiveness of innovation activities and the results
during the activity and results phases, the metrics in Table 3 were considered.

Table 3
Decision on measurement Implementation of measurement
Question Indicator(s) Metric(s) How How/when/ Type of data/
(procedures) where/duration quality/size
Do we have IP Percentage Identify potential solu- The organiza- Number of new
adequate IP management. of solutions tions to be developed that tion’s internal or concepts to be
management requiring could lead to the creation contracted IP law developed.
approaches in acquisition/ of new IP for the organi- specialist.
Data from research,
place for licensing of zation.
Before concepts validated by IP
solution external IPs.
Assistance with research are being and subject matter
development?
on identified concepts by earmarked for experts.
innovation facilitators/ development.
evaluators/subject-matter
experts.
Are the Solution Percentage Develop a solution Project lead and Data on concept
developed deployment of developed readiness measurement subject-matter (e.g. market data,
solutions readiness. solutions checklist and apply to experts. concept
ready for not ready for developed solutions. functionality, lean
Final approval
deployment? immediate principles, MVP
meeting.
deployment. characteristics).
4.4 General issues encountered during measurements
In general, the innovation team encountered the following issues in executing their measurement ambitions:
— designing a measurement plan that had a balanced approach in terms of what and how to measure
progress (the team decided to keep the approach as simple and focused on the project vision as possible);
— identifying and skilling the resources involved in doing the measurements;
— allocating sufficient time and ensuring that measurement happened in regular intervals;
— identifying the platforms and approaches for obtaining the measurement data.
The innovation team identified their internal innovation management platform (technology used) as
the main source for reporting and pulled regular reports from this system. Reports obtained from the
marketing team on communication effectiveness and feedback from customer surveys, stakeholders and
interested parties were also carefully monitored and integrated into the measurement results. The team
also deliberately decided to do measurements more often, especially in the beginning, and from there did
monthly interventions to ensure that potential problems were identified early.
4.5 Conclusions and positive/negative lessons
4.5.1 General
Various positive and negative lessons were learned throughout this process, all of them valuable for
improving future innovation programmes. Some of the important lessons captured by the innovation team
and communicated to the organization are described in 4.5.2 and 4.5.3.
4.5.2 Measurement lessons
The measurement lessons are as follows:
— Decide on the main focus areas of measurement, ensure that it is aligned with the strategy and then
determine the best metrics for the main activities.
— Measure often and communicate the results to all interested parties as regularly as possible.
— Document outputs, issues and main challenges.

— Take corrective actions as and when necessary; sooner rather than later is better.
— Less is more. Especially in the beginning of the innovation measurement journey. Melanie and her team
focused on the most important measures for project success and in line with her strategic focus areas.
This helped them to identify risk early. More complex approaches can be integrated over time as the
organization’s innovation capability matures.
4.5.3 General lessons
The general lessons are as follows:
— Collaboration is crucial, but not easy to achieve effectively. Engagement plans, effective and constant
communication, responsibility allocation and, in some instances, formal contracting and secondment are
required.
— Not all ideas are implementable. Regulation or other market forces can influence outcomes to such an
extent that implementation is not always feasible. Technology and maturity play a big part in solution
enablement and staying on top of industry trends in this regard is important.
— Motivated, informed and well-supported teams can be the greatest differentiator in an organization’s
innovation efforts, success or failure.
— Software in support of innovation processes can increase participation, linking to similar ideas, enabling
rewards, empowering teams and impacting on skill development.
— Financial support, collaboration and clear communication is crucial, especially in the concept creation phase.
— Innovation operation measurements assist in keeping the innovation life cycle transparent, and this
impacts on the organization’s reputation internally as well as externally with regards to innovation
management.
5 Not-for-profit organization: Social innovation operation measurements example
5.1 DonateIt4: Business model and innovation objectives
DonateIt4 is a Southern European organization started by woman entrepreneurs. The initiative began in
2019 with a mission to support socially oriented companies by enhancing their capabilities to provide social
and environmental services to their customers working from diversity and gender equality promotion.
The DonateIt4 initiative aligns with the European Green Deal and the European Union’s “United in Diversity”
campaign, focusing on combating climate change and promoting gender equality. The organization provides
a social platform that connects donors, who contribute useful products, with buyers, who purchase these
items. The fees collected from these transactions are then allocated as funding to “beneficiaries”, i.e. not-
for-profit companies that provide socially oriented services. Other key stakeholders include government
agencies, civil society organizations and technology partners.
Initially, DonateIt4 aimed at creating a local marketplace platform, emphasizing technology, process and
service innovations. However, the organization faced challenges such as a lack of donors, unattractive items
and scattered buyers, which resulted in insufficient income. Considering these obstacles, which were further
exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the organization recognized the need to modify its approach.
Consequently, DonateIt4 shifted to a digital model, leading to service improvements. It also adopted a
systematic innovation management process involving early-stage measurements to understand stakeholder
needs better and manage resources effectively. The leadership appointed a Chief Innovation Officer (CINO),
Andrew, and additional team members to oversee innovation management. This strategic pivot enabled
DonateIt4 to enhance its operations and better meet stakeholder expectations.

5.2 Assessing present situation (early measurements) for a revamped innovation
programme
The key areas to consider were related to measurements for better understanding the context to establish
innovation initiatives that fit the needs and value expectations of interested parties for enabling DonateIt4
to achieve its value creation objectives. The measurements given in Table 4 were considered.
Table 4
Indicator Metric Measurement Who, Resulting data Decision Learning
procedure when,
where
Main Number, The team CINO Pie chart to The Chief The leadership at
interested location performed a (Andrew) summarize the Executive DonateIt4 recog-
parties. and type segmentation and classification of Officer (CEO) nized the lack of a
of donors. exercise measure- interested parties and Executive proper analysis of
analysing the ment expert (numbers) by Team decided interested parties
Number
database and (Zack). cluster type and to revamp the and as a conse-
location
classifying the location. service and quence significant
and type
interested enlarge the weakness in the
of buyers. The measure-
parties by platform, to innovation effort
ments highlight-
Number
location and solve the performance.
ed the clusters
location
type in the geographical They understood
unbalance:
and type of
three main gap and better the need to imple-
beneficiaries. a)  mostly large
clusters: fit the offer ment a structured
organization
donors, and demand. measurement
donors
buyers and process to
concentrated
beneficiaries. identify and lead
in big cities;
the innovation
b)  a few buyers
initiatives from an
interested in
adequate context
acquiring the
understanding.
products offered
in their specific
geographical
location;
c)  a large number
of beneficiaries
dispersed in rural
areas.
Value Number The team CINO The conclusion of DonateIt4 DonateIt4 realized
expectation of value selected a (Andrew) the research and adopted a that the current
potentials representative and the gap analysis strategic lack of market and
detected. sample of the measure- was highlight- approach to interested parties’
cluster database ment expert ed in a vertical market insight value expecta-
Degree of
to conduct a (Zack). bar chart and a by enhancing tions and the need
alignment of
series of struc- complementary their internal for early opera-
portfolio of
tured inter- report with the data resources tional measure-
products/
views to identify qualitative find- and allocating ments structured
services with
value expecta- ings, and concrete sufficient to help identify
the expected
tions by clusters recommendation resources to the need for
value.
coupled with of improvements those projects timely fundamen-
a gap analysis by cluster. with higher tal changes in its
of the current potential of business plan and
portfolio of value creation effective manage-
products to for interested ment of innova-
identify areas of parties. tion projects.
improvement.
To achieve this, Andrew proposed to use the guidance of ISO 56008 and the approaches of ISO 56008:2024,
Clause 4, 5.2 and 5.3, which highlight the need for measurements to better understand the context for
setting up appropriate innovation initiatives. Therefore, he undertook measurements to answer these key
questions:
— Do we know who are the most impacting interested parties?
— Do we understand the needs and value expectations of our interested parties?
Andrew did this in order to determine the most innovation-relevant stakeholders and other interested
parties and to estimate the needs and value expectations of those interested parties.
The measurements were done by the innovation team and the results were shown to the CEO and the
Executive Team, who realized that there were few private citizens donating stuff of interest and that many
companies (some of which were not local) were simply interested in getting rid of their obsolete products.
This led to the decision to adopt a dual growth
...