Re-envisioning Innovation: From Vision to Strategy to Plan and Back Again

HMS is a Swedish company and a global market leader in the industrial communication industry. Initially, HMS was managed with a vision of a connected industry. Gradually, that vision was complemented with strategies on how to reach that vision. In line with the company’s growth and acquisitions, these strategies started to substitute their vision and they began to be supplemented with much more detailed plans. As the company’s offer expanded, these detailed plans began to take over as the company’s primary instrument of guidance. In other words, HMS went through three phases: From a “Market Establishment” phase (with a vision as their primary guideline), to a “Market Development” phase (with strategies as their primary guideline), and finally to a “Market Maturity” phase (with detailed plans their primary guideline). In so doing, their vision became less challenging/ motivating for HMS’ employees. An action research approach was used, influenced by grounded theory. The results showed that people have different mindsets throughout these phases, and going back is challenging because while HMS’ employees need a vision, visions come without detailed plans and will not work unless they are supplemented by inspirational communication and passionate innovation champions who can push forward without any detailed plans.