Review
Innovation Management Systems and Standards: A Systematic
Literature Review and Guidance for Future Research
M-Chukri Idris * and Alptekin Durmu¸so˘glu
Citation: Idris, M-C.; Durmu¸so˘glu,
A. Innovation Management Systems
and Standards: A Systematic
Literature Review and Guidance for
Future Research. Sustainability 2021,
13, 8151. https://doi.org/
10.3390/su13158151
Academic Editor: João Carlos de
Oliveira Matias
Received: 6 June 2021
Accepted: 12 July 2021
Published: 21 July 2021
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Department of Industrial Engineering, Gaziantep University, 27310 Gaziantep, Turkey;
durmusoglu@gantep.edu.tr
* Correspondence: shekry@gmail.com
Abstract:
In order to establish an innovation culture, a set of organizational procedures and practices
called “Innovation Management”, which may differ among companies, should be followed. At the
enterprise level, systematic innovation management becomes more complicated. A number of works
covering various aspects of this subject have been published. However, a systematic synthesis of all
of these contributions is still lacking in management literature. In this review, we aim to analyze and
classify the main contributions published on the topic of innovation management systems/standards
in management literature, seeking to discover the gaps which still remain in the literature, and to
outline future avenues of research in this domain. More than 70 articles in Innovation Management
Systems/Standards (IMS/St) studies published in peer-reviewed journals during 2006–2020 are
reviewed and analyzed systematically by searching the science databases ScienceDirect, Scopus and
Emerald, etc., and using Google Scholar and Mendeley Elsevier to identify related terms. A complete
and accurate view of the latest literature on IMS/St is provided, which identifies the main topics
developed in the management literature on IMS/St, as well as significant gaps, and demonstrates
the low maturity level of the current state of the field. This paper contributes theoretically to the
development of literature on IMS/St and provides a clear understanding of the state of the field
during the period 2006–2020, shedding light on the research needed in the future in this field of
study. From a managerial perspective, it can help companies to better understand the implications of
IMS/St, and to harvest the best benefits from the implementation of IMS/St. Our study also answers
these three important questions: 1. What are the main topics developed in the management literature
on IMS/St so far? 2. Are innovation management standards mature from a practical point of view?
3. What are the main research gaps in management literature, and how could future avenues of
research be shaped?
Keywords:
innovation management; innovation management system; innovation management
standard; innovation culture; systematic innovation management; innovation gaps; UNE 166002:
2006; ISO 56000
1. Introduction
We can describe innovation as the development of new products or the significant
improvement of new goods or services. It can also be defined as new marketing, orga-
nizational, or business strategies [
1
]. In the innovation management systems literature,
innovation is commonly considered to be a fundamental dynamic of the enhancement of
corporate competitiveness [
2
]. Perhaps for this reason, the innovation process is deemed
an indispensable corporate process which has to be appropriately managed in order to
foster business performance in the aspects of business profitability, productivity, quality of
service, and customer and employee satisfaction [
3
], and to achieve a reasonable return on
investment for the resources required by the these processes.
Standardized innovation management systems (SIMS) are homogeneous management
systems which accelerate the conversion of an organization’s innovation strategy into
Sustainability 2021, 13, 8151. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13158151 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability
