There was a time when innovation was a competitive advantage. In today's fast-changing, hyper-competitive environment, innovation is no longer simply a competitive advantage; rather, it is a pre-requisite for corporate survival. Because product and market comparison information is now easily accessible, customers are savvier and more demanding than ever. And last, competition continues to intensify. Niche competitors have changed the face of nearly every market. In a number of recent surveys, executives consistently list innovation as one of their top priorities, yet most report being dissatisfied with past innovation performance. Many executives are focusing on innovation not only to cut costs and improve processes, but also as a sustainable, competitive advantage capable of driving profits. Armed a comprehensive, integrally-informed innovation methodology, Stagen consultants and are uniquely qualified to help organizations develop highly leveraged "next-level" solutions.

Business strategy is interdependent with business innovation. Great companies that stay ahead of their competition do more than just make incremental adjustments to established ways of doing business. Rather, highly competitive companies develop genuinely new, unconventional, and successful approaches. Innovations that are true competitive advantages represent a dozen or more separate variables (functions or capabilities) that must be continually innovated. Rather than regarding innovation in terms of incremental product and process improvements, Stagen encourages clients to regard innovation in terms of strategy and business models.

Because partial, fragmented approaches to business innovation are poor investments, the Stagen innovation methodology provides clients a robust integral framework that allows them to obtain a comprehensive view of all of factors helping or hindering innovation.

In partnership, Stagen clients and consultants explore innovation at three levels: 1) as an event, 2) as a process, and 3) as a core capability. Innovation as an event may take the form of an annual retreat in which executives and coaches work together to enhance their business model and strategies. Event-based innovation efforts require relatively low levels of sophistication and yield a commensurate low value added. Stagen works with other clients to make innovation an on going process. This process approach to innovation requires an intermediate level of sophistication and yields an intermediate level of value added. Stagen works with other clients to develop their innovation acumen to such a high degree that innovation becomes a core capability. This requires a high level of sophistication and yields a high level of value added.

Stagen clients also come to recognize that innovation occurs in four dimensions of the organization simultaneously: 1) individual employee innovative-thinking capacity, 2) individual employee behavior and performance, 3) organizational culture, and 4) organizational structure, policies, and systems. By addressing all four dimensions, Stagen consultants help organizations significantly increase their ability to innovate. For example, by training, supporting, and encouraging employees, organizations can tap more of their workers' innate creativity and potential for innovative thinking. By installing effective performance measurements, incentives, and accountability measures, leaders can reinforce consistent, reliable employee behavior. Fostering a more creative cultural environment can lead to consistent, company-wide innovative thought and action. Finally, by designing, installing, and tuning systems, policies, procedures, (along with appropriate technological and communication infrastructure) organizations can reinforce and strengthen innovation as a core capability.