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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
-2:22
-4:22
/2:22
/4:22
,12
-1
,1
-1/
,1/
-1.
,1.
-10
,10
-14
,14
-11
,11
-13
,13
-15
,15
-1,
,1,
-32
,32
-3
,3
-3/
,3/
-3.
,3.
-30
,30
-34
,34
-31
,31
-33
,33
-35
,35
-3,
,3,
-52
,52
-5
,5
-5/
,5/
-5.
,5.
-50
,50
-54
,54
-51
,51
-53
,53
-55
,55
-5,
,5,
-,2
,,2
-,
,,
-,/
,,/
-,.
,,.
-,0
,,0
-,4
,,4
-,1
,,1
-,3
,,3
-,5
,,5
-,,
,,,
-22
/222
-2
/22
-2/
year
percenta
ge
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.