Route of Innovation: A Methodology Proposal for Innovation Management

The aim of this paper is to propose a methodology for innovation management, which aims to focus on the needs of micro and small technology-based companies. The development of this methodology occurs in the context of the Brazilian National Project Financier (Financiadora de Estudo e Projetos [FINEP]) program for the structuring of Innovation Management Support Centers (Núcleos de Apoio à Gestão da Inovação [NAGI]), focusing on the elaboration of Innovation Management Plans and Projects in Brazilian companies. A qualitative research was developed in two main stages for the development of the present methodology. The first phase developed a literature review of the main elements for innovation management, especially in the context of micro and small enterprises. In the second phase, five NAGIs were selected from the 24 those approved by MCTIC (now MCTIC: Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovation and Communication) and FINEP, according to their trajectory up until the time of the research in January 2014. The proposed methodology - Route of Innovation – is based on the Resource Based View (RBV) within a procedural and playful perspective that relates the innovation process to navigating a route. The logic of the islands in the Route of Innovation is based on the stages of the innovation process. The purpose of this approach was to make the methodology easily understood and implemented by micro and small companies.