Innovating the Innovation System Thinking: a Systemism Model

The complexity of an innovation system, how it works and how to achieve high performance, represents a significant management challenge. As in any complex system, in an innovation system it is mandatory to operate with a clear idea of the various key elements and relationships in the system, what constitutes the emerging properties of the system and to identify effective channels to influence the performance of such a system. Bearing this in mind, we adopt a systemism approach, applying the principles of Mario Bunge’s CESM metamodel. We suggest a new generic model that can be adapted to fit many different aspects of real-life innovation decision making. An important objective for this generic model is to combine all critical internal and external systemic factors, i.e., to depict all critical nodes and interaction processes between subsystems (internal factors) and all critical nodes and interactions processes with the broader innovation ecosystem (external factors). Another key objective was to establish a model suitable for communication and decision making that is compatible with the key terms and the definitions in the new ISO 56000 standard on innovation management. The paper defines the main elements of a generic innovation model and exemplifies the potential usefulness of the model by showcasing three distinct applications. We hope that our new systemism model could be an additional tool for better strategic management with respect to emerging properties of knowledge dynamics, risk assessment and mitigation, and the monitoring and continuous improvement of critical innovation processes.