A Strategic Management Maturity Model for Innovation

Even though strategic management is highly critical for all types of organizations, only a few maturity models have been proposed in the business literature for the area of strategic management activities. This article updates previous studies and presents a new conceptual model for assessing the maturity of strategic management in any organization. The Strategic Management Maturity Model for Innovation (S3M-i) is composed of six maturity levels with seven dimensions. The main contribution of the S3M-i is to put innovation into the agenda of strategic management. The main objective of this study is to propose a model to align innovation with business strategies. This article suggests that innovation (new breakthrough products/services and business models) is the only way of creating sustainable growth, and strategy studies cannot ignore this aspect. Maturity models should embrace innovation to respond to the dynamic business environment and rapidly changing customer behaviours.