A review and critical assessment of the iso56002 innovation management systems standard: evidence and limitations

The ISO56002 international standard for managing innovation systems was published in 2019. In this paper, we review the rationale, the key features, and the evidence base for this new standard. The primary objective of the standard is to promote the professionalisation of the field by providing a framework for management and organisational practice. The standard was developed by a wide range of stakeholders, including consultants and professional associations, and therefore features most of the elements we would expect from such a high-level, generic approach: strategy, organisation, leadership, planning, support, process, performance evaluation, and improvement. We examine the empirical base for each of these components in this paper. We also identify some critical shortcomings, such as the implicit adoption of a linear model, lack of specific tools to support practice, or any significant variation in application by sector or context. Finally, we recommend how the standard could be improved and implemented in practice.