1307447073476-innovation on indian railways

8/13/2019 1307447073476-Innovation on Indian Railways

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INNOVATION ON INDIAN RAILWAYS

INNOVATION, as a concept, is as old as mankind. There is inherently something humanabout new ways of doing things and try them out. Societal change consisting of both

social and economic acti!ities" is built on the wellspring of inno!ation. Inno!ation is the

process that unleashes wa!es of creati!e destruction and painstaking de!elopmentSchumpeter #$%& as 'uoted in (agerberg )**&, p+". onsistent efforts at successful

inno!ation also lay the foundation for sustained competiti!e ad!antage for firms.

-owe!er research on inno!ation and its role in economic acti!ity is of recent origin. Thishas highlighted the fact that science is only one of the ingredients for successful

inno!ation. Inno!ation, by its !ery nature is, a systemic phenomenon. It in!ol!es actors

at the indi!idual, firm, organiational and institutional le!els both at national and

international le!el. /earning is the central process that permeates this phenomenon.This paper attempts to understand the phenomenon of inno!ation. 0ased on such an

understanding, it attempts to look at the systematic efforts of Indian railways to initiate

and harness this phenomenon, in an effort to scale up its performance le!els o!er time.

The paper consists of three parts. 1art one deals with the nature and factors influencingthe process of inno!ation at an organiational le!el. 1art two looks at the efforts of Indian

railways to systematie the process of inno!ation. 1art three looks at the results of suchefforts and suggests measures that can further strengthen this process.

THE PROCESS OF INNOVATION:

Inno!ation has been defined as the first attempt to carry an in!ention into practice

(agerberg )**&, p &". It has also been defined as the adoption of an internally generated

or purchased de!ice, system, policy, program, process, product or ser!ice that is new to

the adapting organiation 2aft #$3) as 'uoted in 2amanpour #$$#". Inno!ati!eness isadoption of multiple inno!ations 2amanpour #$$#". Adoption of inno!ation

encompasses generation, de!elopment and implementation./iterature has distinguished between 4Inno!ation5 and 4In!ention5 and yet they areclosely linked. They can be seen as part of the same process with in!ention preceding

inno!ation, as can be seen from the definition of inno!ation (agerberg )**&". In!entions

can get carried out anywhere, but usually inno!ations get carried out in firms. Thecon!ersion of an in!ention into an inno!ation re'uires a combination of !arious types of

knowledge and skills such as production, marketing, consumer beha!ior, and distribution

to name a few. It also re'uires financial resources. Thus the roles of the in!entor and

inno!ator also called 4entrepreneur5 by Schumpeter" are different.The conditions for con!ersion of an in!ention into an inno!ation critically re'uire

sufficient numbers of consumers or critical le!els of need"6 technological feasibility of

production and a!ailability of complimentary factors facilitating technological productionfor use or creation of need. (or eg7 The creation of the flying machine, at the idea le!el

was pre!alent from the times of /eonardo da Vinci #&8) 9#8#$ A2". It was only after

the in!ention of the Internal combustion engine #$th century" and more so thecommercial production of petroleum /ate #$thand early )*thcentury" which facilitated

the production and commercial utiliation of this idea. Thus there can be considerable

time lag between an idea, the production proof of its feasibility and commercial

utiliation of it.

#


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The new product / er!"ce de!e#op$ent proce:

The de!elopment of a new product or ser!ice and it commercial e:ploitation Theprocess of inno!ation" consists of the following phases7

Idea ;eneration and Screening

oncept 2e!elopment and Testing

such as une:pected occurrences,

incongruities in processes, process needs, and industry and market changesincluding changing customer needs" which are internal to firm or industry. The

sources, which are at societal le!el, are demographic changes, changes in

perceptions of people and new knowledge.

1urposeful and systematic inno!ation begins with the analysis of the sources of new

opportunities and each source has different implications for eg7 demographics wouldha!e little use for people looking for opportunities to de!elop industrial processes, while

new knowledge can ha!e significant implications if pursuing opportunities created by

changing customer perceptions. The implication is that every source of opportunity must

be analyzed2rucker #$$3".Inno!ation is both conceptual and perceptual, as inno!ators are matching ideas to

opportunities percei!ed in the en!ironment around them. -ence, they ha!e also to go out,

look, listen to people, potential users, understand their e:pectations and needs. Inno!ationis also management of knowledge and capabilities of a firm. Inno!ation always starts

small, and is hard work more often than a stroke of genius.

Inno!%t"on proce "n #%r&e '"r$:

To establish and manage a systemic process of inno!ation in firms re'uires a

combination of specialied acti!ities and coordination across these acti!ities. Therefore,in firms, which establish and manage the systemic process of inno!ation, there are roles

for specialists and coordinating managers. The process of inno!ation can be segregated

into three distinct sets of acti!ities ?? in!ention, acceptance and implementation.

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This necessitates roles for four types of people Sim et al )**@" 9

The in!entors who focus on scientific and technical in!ention prior to concept

de!elopment

hampions who are adept at selling the proects in organiations Implementers who focus on facilitating the proect through the firmBs formal

de!elopment process

Inno!ators who operate across all the three phases of inno!ation

The re'uirements of knowledge, skills and personality traits for successful e:ecution of

these roles ha!e been determined to be as gi!en below Adapted from Sim et al )**@"7

Ch%r%cter"t"c INVENTOR CHA(PION I(PLE(ENTER INNOVATOR

Core )"##

Technical 1rimary Secondary Secondary 1rimary


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Acro '"r$ Need systems of effecti!e interaction, knowledge dissemination, and access

All the acti!ities in!ol!ed in the systemic process of inno!ation are fundamentally

subect to the strategic orientation of the firm i.e. what subects or issues of firm get theattention of the decision makers and what get incorporated into the strategy of the firm

Ocasio and Eoseph )**8".It implies that firms need to put in place different management systems for different typesof inno!ations and the people and processes associated with them. It also needs to

manage all the four types of people associated with the firmBs inno!ation process. This

would re'uire effecti!e integration systems such as knowledge, communication and

resource allocation management systems.


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1resently, the mandate of this organiation is to pro!ide technological research and

output so that these ad!ances can be used to impro!e transport output and ser!ice

deli!ery. It has twenty?three directorates as gi!en below in the figure#.

Figure 1: Directorates of RDSO: source : Web site of RDSO

Bridges &Structures EMU & Power Supply Psycho-Technical Track Machines &Monitoring

CAMTECH Engine e!elop"ent #esearch Traction $nstallation

Carriage %inance & Accounts Signal Traic

'eotechnicalEngineering Teleco""unication (agon esign

Metallurgical &Che"ical

Testing )uality Assurance Electric *oco Moti!e Power

Track esign Personnel irectorate Stores irectorate*i+rary &Pu+lications

Medical (orksEnergyManage"ent

. The directorates are responsible for knowledge generation through research, both in?house and collaborati!e. The directorates take up large numbers of proects. The subects

include issues being faced by the railways and futuristic areas of concern. The time line

of pending proects is gi!en as table ). The normal life span is & years for a proect. A listof futuristic proects being undertaken by !arious directorates is gi!en as Table %.

Table 2: Time line of Pending projects

Directorate No. ofprojects

Time line in years


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The tables re!eal that more than 8*F of the proects take 8 or more years to getcompleted. Secondly, the topics of these proects6 as can be seen from the futuristic

proects Table %"6 are highly functionally oriented 2epartmental" and address issues that

are oriented internally towards the operational acti!ities of the organiation. Theyconcentrate on safety, efficiency and asset failure reduction. Only a !ery minuscule

percentage of the proects look at customer needs.

T%,#e 2: F3T3RISTIC RESEARCH AND DEVELOP(ENT AREAS

D"rector%te Pro4ect/Are%

(ot"!e Power

5. Desidual life analysis of crankshaft of the locomoti!e engine

672e!elopment of (uel ell powered locomoti!e

272e!elopment of direct dri!e traction motor

872e!elopment of hybrid battery powered shunting locomoti!e

9eo0Tech7 En&&7

5. Assessment of strength and strengthening of railway formation

6. onstruction of new railway formation for hea!ier a:le load

27Study on stability of cuttings in railway track

87 Application and design of ;eo?synthetics and reinforced earth structures in Dailway

formation

72esign methodology for thickness of blanket based on type of soil, a:el load, speed, ;


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TA=LE 2 CONTIN3ED .Source we, "te o' RDSO1

F3T3RISTIC RESEARCH AND DEVELOP(ENT AREAS

P*cho

Techn"c%#

57 omputer Aided 1sychological Testing

67 -uman factors in railway accidents

E#ectr"c%#

57 ontrol systems for propulsion control as well as train control ? !arious standards andprotocols used and their applications, distributed intelligence !s. centralied intelligence etc.

672ri!e Systems for high speed dri!es more than %*** rpm" ? Study of design and maintenance

issues of traction motor, bearing, lubrication etc.

27Traction con!erters for high power locomoti!e application study of !arious designs, circuit

configurations and topologies, selection of power de!ices, power capacitors, inductors etc. and

their ratings.

Power Supp#* >

E(3

2e!elopment of pollution?free (uel cell for replacing &.8 k= alternators, DDH and battery in

slow mo!ing train to impro!e illumination and passenger comfort.

Tr%ct"on >

Int%##%t"on

5.2e!elopment of Hnified 1ower uality ontroller H1" for impro!ing power factor and

reducing harmonic distortion

6.2e!elopment of traction transformer condition monitoring system

2.2e!elopment of /ightning arrestor condition monitoring system.

8.2e!elopment of Intelligent SA2A system for high density traffic systems ha!ing DTHs

with independent decision capabilities, integration of protection system, high speed

communication and enhanced human?machine interfaces.

./aser based O-C Decording cum test car. 2e!elopment of O-C recording cum test car formeasurement of O-C parameters and non?contact measurement of O-C geometry under

dynamic condition

F"n%nc"%# out#%*:

The outlay in the tenth plan for D2SO was ### crores. Out of this 8* crores were spent in

the first four years and in the final year of the plan )**+?*@", +# crores were spent. Theproposed outlay on research in the ele!enth plan is as gi!en below in table &.

Table 4 : &'tlay on (esearc) in (D*& +, t) plan - in crores o rupees8

Totalcost

Projectcost

No. ofprojects PercentageProject areas

Adoption o high a9le load 4.:23 05:3 / 2:.5

Saety 00:, 0:, 2 2:../

#elia+ility o Assets 5.:4 04:4 . 2:404

Up gradation and "oderni;ation 54.:. /53:45 03 2:..3

Throughput and speed 41:0 /:04 5 2:25En!iron"ent , , 0

Passenger co"ort /:4 2:. 2:24/

Cost opti"i;ation and eiciency 5:1 / 2:1

7thers 4 4 .

Total .1: 0/0:/1 22 2:.//

Source7 approach paper of Dailways to ele!enth plan

@


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There has been a great increase in outlay on research and de!elopment in the ele!enth

plan. There was a technology mission for safety from )**8?)**$, which in!ol!ed #)

proects. Out of the twel!e, $ proects ha!e shown ade'uate progress T


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An analysis of the proects titles undertaken in these courses is placed as Tables +,@,3and $.

Table 6 >u"+er o pro


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,,5 ,,, /222 total @ /220 /224 /221 /223 /225 /22, Total @

#e!enue dri!en / 0 2:2/, 2 . 2 2 4 2:2,4

Cost sa!ings dri!en /, 03 41 ./ 2:,3 41 4/ 43 0 /, 1 /4 2:,524

E9ternal orientation . 4 / /2 2:03 4 5 0 1 3 . 2:/

$nternal orientation /3 0. 01 1 2:54. 4/ 04 4. .5 // 4 //4 2:535,

%unctional dri!en 3 .1 0. ,1 2:321 43 01 4. .4 /. 4 //, 2:510/

$ntegrated . / 4 02 2:/,0 , 3 0 , 1 .1 2:.45

The analysis re!eals that +*?++F of the proects in both Ad!anced management programme A


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The tr%te&"c or"ent%t"on o' the Ind"%n r%"#w%*:

The strategic orientation of any organiation is understood from its pronouncements in form of

status papers, approach papers to its plans and from its acti!ities. The actual intent to con!ert thethinking into action and finally into results is signaled by its commitment in form of consistent

resource allocation 0ower #$@*6 ;ilbert and 0ower )**8".

The approach paper of the Indian railways to the ele!enth plan lays down the followingobecti!es7

2ouble its transport capacity

Deduce unit costs of operations

Impro!e ser!ice le!els

1ro!ide cost efficient door to door and customied ser!ices

This was to be achie!ed by focusing upon

In!estments aimed at strategic capacity e:pansion

ore business of pro!iding logistic solutions to freight and passenger customers

Institutionalie market responsi!e pricing and planning policies

The key acti!ities identified in the strategic direction should normally form the subects for bothincremental 1rocess" and frame breaking new ideas" inno!ations.

ISS3ES IN THE SYSTE(IC PROCESS OF INNOVATION =EIN9 E?EC3TED ON

INDIAN RAILWAYS:

/iterature on inno!ation shows that organiations must manage three key sets of acti!ities that

are7

In!entions through a group of in!entors

Acceptance through a group of champions

Implementation through a group of implementers

And to coordinate and integrate the entire process ha!e inno!ators

The process of in!ention re'uires a two faceted approach>one that looks at technology and one

that looks at opportunities for inno!ation in the en!ironment influencing the acti!ities of an

organiation. These would co!er acti!ity centric issues and customer centric issues. 0eing aser!ice organiation, Indian railways ha!e a greater need to look at customer centric issues such

as differentiating customers based on differential needs and identifying trends in changing

customer needs.

Indian railways do not seem to focus on the external environmentexternal to the organizationsuch as changing people preferences, changing customer needs. There seems to be no effort at

even identifying different customer segments. There are no projects that focus on such issues.

The entire emphasis of innovative activity seems to be directed at achieving cost reduction,

ensuring asset reliability and capacity creation. The analysis of proects undertaken by D2SO,the technology mission on safety and in the


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culture that is e:tremely function oriented with high le!els of specialiation and

departmentaliation and a hierarchic and bureaucratic control system.

This is further reinforced by the fact that there is a considerable disconnect betweenproclamation of intent to transform from transporters to Logistic and upply chain management

!"pproach paper to eleventh plan# and the deviation seen in actions based on the resource

allocation in the budgets. The allocation for Desearch and de!elopment for D2SO has beenincreased only in the ele!enth plan. Till the tenth plan the a!erage allocation per year was not

more than twenty crores Approach paper to the ele!enth plan".

There are no technology proects that look at which look at Supply chain or logistic issues, northey reflect proects to identify patterns of customer needs through segmentation. The inno!ation

promotion group has not achie!ed any progress with regard to identification of customer centric

opportunities for inno!ation. The mandate for this group does not seem to reflect this concern.

The disconnect seems to continue in the way the roles for $fficiency and research directorateand %ailway staff college are envisaged. The Cfficiency and research directorate does not

champion the proects for technology inno!ation nor for identification of potential inno!ation

opportunities through market research. Inno!ation is one of the many subects it manages.

1erhaps it is a less significant one as the hairman railway board D0" action plan monitoringformat does not contain any indicators to assess generation and con!ersion of potential

inno!ation opportunities at any unit le!el. There is also no significant output in form of reportsas could be seen for benchmarking, D0Bs action plan, or efficiency parameter monitoring This

includes asset reliability data".

The Dailway staff college uses parameters for selection of a proect in A


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looking for transportation to an integrated management of logistics or Supply chain

management.

A global economy which is getting highly integrated and where the options to source raw

materials, production source, intermediate finished goods and markets for finished goods

can be !aried and change from one cycle to another. This has increased the need for trans

country mo!ement of all types of goods Daw materials, intermediate semi finishedproducts and finished products", especially the semi?finished products, which ha!e dri!en

the global logistics and Supply chain management industry. =ith this, the need to

outsource such acti!ities has also gained apace due to emphasis on specialiation andworking to indi!idual core competencies

A growing and urbaniing population in India, whose transportation needs are dri!en by

an affluence leading to increased re'uirements of onboard and off board ser!ices.

"ll in all, the business environment is much more dynamic and changed than what Indian

railways faced in the period &'()*&''). +hat is more important is that the business

environment is dynamic because of increasing technological advances which are increasing

the substitute products for transportationeg IT advancements and e*commerceandshorter but more dominant business cycles which are globally integrated.

Secondly, the Indian railways is faced with two critical issues, which ha!e been plaguing it from#$8*Bs. They are7

An inability to earn sufficient re!enues to enable significant capacity e:pansions so that

future growth in transport demand can be taken ad!antage of, especially in the upswingsof business cycles. A look at the time trends in Operating ratios o!er the period #$+*?

)**# significantly highlights this fact, when it is looked at the increasing outside support

sought for capital inputs.(igures ),% and &"

(igure )7 Time trends in flow of capital on ID. (rom e:ternal sources>0lue lines

#%


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time trends in flow of capital on IR

0.0

500.0

1000.0

1500.0

2000.0

2500.0

3000.0

3500.0

4000.0

4500.0

year

increase in capital at charge dividend paid

figure $: Time trens in ratio of net re%enue receipts to total receipts

net re0en'e receiptsas 3 of total receipts8ir

2:22

4:22

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-4:22

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-5

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percenta

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net re!enue receiptsas @ o& total recei

Figure & :Time trens in Operating ratio '(lue line) an profit before ta* '+ellow line)

#&


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trends in financial performance of IR

0.00

20.00

40.00

60.00

80.00

100.00

120.00

year

operating ratio

pay out ratio

profits before tax

This inability to meet capital re'uirements for asset e:pansion is despite a rising trend ofearnings from both freight and passenger business as shown o!er time during the period #$+*?

)*** A2 (igure 8". =hat is more interesting is the fact that the rise in earnings in both

passenger and goods started from the year #$3&?38 onwards. This was due to the introduction oftwo radical and frame breaking inno!ations>shift from predominant emphasis on piecemeal

traffic to rake load traffic in freight business and introduction of IT based ticketing systems

which ha!e shifted ticketing from local 'uota based system to a global 4any where to anywhere5uni!ersal system5 in passenger business. This can be seen in figure 8 as gi!en below.

There ha!e been no similar frame breaking inno!ations during the last twenty?fi!e years, but

ha!e been only followed by incremental process impro!ing inno!ations which ha!e enabledIndian railways to maintain re!enue growth, although at a slower pace than re'uired.

Figure 5: Time trens of earnings from passenger an goos ser%ices

#8


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EARNINGS FROM SERV ICES --PASSENGER AN GOOS

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

30000

!E A

Passenger Earnings ?in crores o& #s:8

Earnings &ro" goods carried e9cluding whar&age and

The other critical factor which has been plaguing Indian railways is its inability to

efficiently use its capital financial resources. The o!er run in costs and time of capital

proects on Indian railways Approach paper to ele!enth plan and 1lanning commission

report" has contributed to its inability to earn sufficiently for capital asset generation byincreasing the capital re'uirements for the same le!el of asset generation -igh cost of

inefficient use of capital" and not allowing operationalisation of capital assets when

business cycles are in the upswing /esser earning life to total asset life". It is estimatedby the planning commission that the throw forward on proects was +**** crores at the

start of the ele!enth plan.

The two critical issues of changing and increasingly dynamic business environment and inabilityto earn sufficient capital necessitates that Indian railways loo- to significantly increase their

rate of revenue growth amidst a more competitive and changing landscape. This necessitates

that the Indian railways introduce innovations in their business practices, which would helpachieve them. erhaps it is time for another round of frame brea-ing radical innovations. /ow

does Indian railways set about achieving this0

Three paradigm shifts ha!e to be introduced into the business practices on Indian railways,

which would be7

A shift from a functional orientation towards a composite and integrated approach to

business which would entail a more focused approach on the customers and markets,which in turn would dri!e the technological research acti!ities.

A Shift from capacity based re!enue generation system to a combination of capacity

based and non?capacity based re!enue generation, which would re'uire identification ofacti!ities across the entire !alue chain of logistics and Supply chain management. The

necessity to generate re!enue should become the prime focus instead of cost sa!ings.

Delook at the tendering processes for proects and the way they are managed

#+


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This paradigm shifts would be re1uired in the strategic orientation of the organization and this

would drive the systemic process of innovation on Indian railways.

The "ntended "$p%ct o' ch%n&e o' tr%te&"c or"ent%t"on on the "nno!%t"on proce:

The changed systemic process of inno!ation would be dri!en by the acti!ities around the three

key concepts7 In!ention or idea generation and pro!ing its feasibility

Acceptance or championing of in!entions for incorporation into the strategic direction of

the organiation and ensure consistent resource allocation.

Implementation or ensuring con!ersion of intent into action and incorporating it into the

operational acti!ities of the organiation. This would also in!ol!e the monitoring and

e!aluation of the benefits achie!ed from implementing the in!ention.

The set up would be as follows7

,: !n%ention

The first part of in!ention is idea generation and idea generation is critically dependent

on access to knowledge. Access to knowledge is when people are e:posed to what ishappening in the surrounding business en!ironment especially with respect to changes indemography, markets, customer needs and competitors products. There is also knowledge

associated with technologies that are known to influence ser!ice and product deli!ery.

This re'uires access to organied sources such as ournals, electronic databases etc apartfrom the sources mentioned abo!e. Ideas can be generated anywhere in the organiation,

but more so in the places where people in normal course of operations are e:posed to the

abo!e mentioned sources of knowledge. These would be the zonal railways and itsdivisions and the training institutes such as %, including %23.

A mechanism to collate such ideas and disperse them for feasibility testing and potential

appreciation is necessary. The present mechanism of capturing them as proect ideas in

the Dailway staff college DS" is re'uired but without the present restricti!e conditionsfor 'ualifying as proect ideas. A similar idea capturing mechanism should also work at

the onal railway le!el and this should get integrated with the mechanism at DS.

Idea testing and potential appraisal should occur at the field le!el and coordinated at the

onal railway le!el. (easibility testing re'uires a deliberate attempt at risk taking andtolerance for errors and failures. The results of these trials should form part of the

database of potential ideas for inno!ation. This database should be accessible to all at the

di!isional, onal, institutes and railway board le!els.

Therefore activities related to inventions should be part of the Implementers !2ivisions#,

the research wing !%23# of railways and the Training institutes, which are the

-nowledge ban-s of railways. The %ailway staff college !%# is ideally suited to ta-eownership of this database and coordinate this activity as it has access to all officers,

both in field and in training courses.

(: Accept%nce o' pro4ect

Acceptance in!ol!es an organiation commitment to take the proect from a feasible pilot

to a systemic e:ecution. This re'uires that the idea be championed at the le!el where the

decisions to incorporate these piloted proects into the apital budgeting process is taken.

In the Indian railways, this occurs at the railway board le!el. Therefore, the ideal unit to

#@


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act, as champions would be a directorate in the railway board li-e the $fficiency and

research directorate.It would be the ob of this directorate to interact with DS, other

training institutes and the onal railways to collect data and reports on tested proect ideasfor potential inno!ation and assess their utility for championing their inclusion in the

capital budgeting process. The % would also play a similar role as it would have the

technical capability in form of -nowledge across all functional disciplines to assess thepotential of such ideas and projects.

The $fficiency and research directorate and % would also be able to appraise the

railway board members, which -ey project ideas need to be made part of the strategicorientation of the Indian railways over time, thus signaling shifts in strategy in line with

changing business environments.

C: I$p#e$ent%t"on:

The di!isions and the onal railways are the implementers. Technical help should be

gi!en by the DS and other training institutes, depending on the types of technical inputs

and training re'uired during implementation.

" mechanism for feed bac- and monitoring is re1uired at all stages and the database of

championed project ideas should be made to cater to stage wise monitoring. Thisdatabase would, ideally be maintained by % and $fficiency and research directorate.

D: Inno!%tor

The innovators are the people in a unit who are active across all the three phases of

activity in the systemic process of innovation. % is ideally suited to do this job as it haspeople 1ualified in all functional disciplines, has the mandate to create and disseminate

-nowledge and have access to both the internal constituents of the organization and the

elements, which are in the business environment of the %ailways. 4y being aneducational institution, it is ideally placed to access other educational and research

organizations and conduct research studies in the mar-ets and customer bases. They are

also ideally suited to build, operate and maintain -nowledge databases that would form

the foundation for a -nowledge management system on the Indian railways. The success of the innovation process is crucially dependent upon a vibrant -nowledge

management system which would generate -nowledge through research, access and

collate -nowledge from other databases and disseminate it for use at the field unit levelwhere the -ey processes of idea generation and feasibility and potential appraisal of ides

for potential innovation occur.

In u$$%r* the ro#e "n the *te$"c proce o' "nno!%t"on on Ind"%n r%"#w%* " %

'o##ow:

Inno!%tor Dailway staff college

Ch%$p"on Cfficiency and research directorate and DS

I$p#e$enter 2i!isions and onal railways

In!entor Lonal railways, D2SO and Training institutes including DS

Conc#u"on:

It is !ery clear that a systemic management of inno!ation processes is critical for organiations

to maintain sustained competiti!e ad!antage in the present highly dynamic business

en!ironment. The Indian railways ha!e made an attempt to put in place such processes across itsinternal elements. =hat is seen that, there is a significant disconnect between what is re'uired

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for an effecti!e systemic process of inno!ation and what is in place in the organiation. The key

reason for such a disconnect is because of the dissonance between the strategic orientation on

paper and in action, as represented by its resource allocation process. Thus its intended strategyand realied strategy show a clear gap, which reflects in the long?term performance.

This paper attempted to put this issue in perspecti!e and suggest measures to set right the

deficiencies in the present systemic process of inno!ation being run on Indian railways.Irrespecti!e of what a firm intends to sell as its business, the customer is the key to long?term

sustenance and profitability.

1307447073476-innovation on indian railways

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