A Model for Managing Innovation

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A Model for Managing Innovation

Challenges and solutions for effectively taking new products and services to market


Managing innovation isn’t just about generating great ideas – it’s about systematically channeling creative energy into concrete products and services that actually reach the market. In our experience, doing this effectively requires process, governance, clear roles and the right interactions across the organization.


The drive to innovate is top of mind across virtually every industry. Yet while most companies have no shortage of creative energy circulating in their corridors, many struggle to bridge the gap between raw ideas and commercial outcomes.

And it’s no wonder: CMOs, CPOs, marketeers and strategists find themselves navigating an increasingly complex landscape. Consumers are increasingly driving the narrative, startups are compressing time-to-market expectations, AI is disrupting conventional ways of working and creating, and financial pressure on margins and portfolio performance is mounting.

Understanding culture as a strategic lever

At the same time, innovation doesn’t happen in isolation from day-to-day business realities. Leaders must still organize massive internal structures, manage dozens of stakeholders and interdependencies, while also dealing with the practical demands of production, procurement and go-to-market execution. This leaves executives in an uncomfortable juggling act: deliver short-term results while trying to innovate beyond the core.

This report addresses a recurrent set of pain points we’ve encountered across our engagements with diverse companies: misalignment between strategy and innovation efforts, insufficient communication across areas, unclear accountability and governance that either adds bureaucracy or lacks the right controls.

We present Integration’s four-pillar Innovation Management Model, drawn from years of hands-on experience across sectors and geographies:

There’s no such thing as a right or wrong culture: it’s about consciously defining which culture is most suitable to the business at hand – for its strategic goals, values and essence. Organizational culture can be shaped to support the business strategy and transformation, calling on executives to pay close attention to whether the prevailing “personality” is advancing the strategy or perhaps hindering it.

Take culture from theory to practice

Through our work across 3,630+ projects and engagement with 500+ CEOs annually, we’ve found that while nearly 9 out of 10 executives recognize the importance of developing and aligning their organizational culture, many get lost when tasked with translating the theory behind culture into reality. Nearly half of executives we surveyed admit that their organizations lack specific tools to measure culture, while a third lack supporting rituals.

Download the full report to access our Cultural Transformation Disruption Matrix, the Cultural Redefinition Cycle, practical instruments for embedding culture into day-to-day operations, and real case examples from M&As, industry transformations, and strategic pivots.

FIND OUT MORE BY READING THE FULL REPORT

TALK TO US

Andrea Aun

Andrea Aun is a founding partner at Integration and is recognized as an important female leader among Brazilian executives, participating in the LIDEM (Group of Leading Entrepreneurial Women) Executive Committee. She is an expert within the field of Marketing & Sales and Retail and has led over 100 projects in these areas. She continues to [...]

Constanza Alves

Constanza Alves is a senior manager within Integration´s Implementation and Leadership & Organization Practices and has been working in the company since 2013. Her experience includes Change Management, Culture Transformation, PMO, Process Redesign, S&OP, PMI and Logistic Networks in sectors such as Retail, Consumer Goods, Healthcare, Technology and Industrials (Paper, Oil and Gas, Construction materials).

Diogo Selingardi

Diogo Selingardi is a director in the Finance & Management Practice and has been working at Integration since 2011. His focus includes strategy implementation, mergers & acquisitions, cost efficiency initiatives and developing management & governance models across the industrial, consumer goods, retail, private equity and financial market sectors. Diogo holds a degree in economic sciences [...]

Gauss Antar

Gauss Antar is a senior manager in the Finance & Management Practice at Integration, where he has been working since 2015. His main areas of expertise include go-to-market management, post-merger integration and market-entry projects in retail, industry and education. Gauss received a degree in economics from INSPER, including international experience at Queen's University in Canada [...]

Guido Solari

Guido Solari is a partner at Integration and the head of our LATAM offices. Guido joined the company in 2006 and is part of the Marketing & Sales Practice. He has carried out over 250 projects across Latin America, North America and Europe, serving clients in the areas of mass consumer goods, agribusiness, pharmaceuticals, media [...]

Jéssica Pavão

Jéssica Pavão is a senior manager in Integration's Finance & Management Practice and has been with the company since 2016. During her career, Jéssica has focused on leadership & organization as well as change management projects in the retail and consumer goods sectors – including post-merger integrations, organizational structure implementation, recruitment & professional development program [...]

Leticia Molina

Leticia Molina is a director at Integration's Marketing & Sales Practice and has been with the company since January 2023. Prior to Integration, Leticia worked as director of marketing and sales at Vitamina Children's Schools. Her experience includes structuring acquisition & integration plans in the school market and leading profitability & company restructurings. Leticia worked [...]

Marília José

Marília José is a Sr Director at Integration and has been with the firm since 2014. With expertise in Supply Chain and Finance & Management, she specializes in S&OP, retail supply chain, efficiency and cost reduction, and transformation projects. Her experience spans post-merger integration, strategic planning, organizational model development and process design, across the retail, [...]

Rodrigo Seabra

Rodrigo Seabra is the partner at our Office in Munich. He joined Integration in 2006 in Brazil and led the Mexico Office, before taking on responsibility of the Munich Office. Rodrigo is part of our Implementation Practice, has amassed international experience in industries such as consumer goods, retail, food & beverage, pharmaceutical and healthcare and [...]

Rodrigo Weiler

Rodrigo Weiler is a partner at Integration and has been part of the Marketing & Sales Practice since 2000. During this period, Rodrigo has specialized in implementing highly complex transformational projects with a need for change management. He has led numerous projects involving go-to-market model implementation, category management, commercial model design for the retail sector, [...]

  • On 26 June 2026