Research on the total synergy process of all the innovation elements: a five-stage model

This paper brings forward a five-stage process model for total synergy of all the innovation elements (namely strategy, technology, market, culture, institution and organization element) under the theoretical framework of total innovation management (TIM), named C³IS model. The authors argue that, generally speaking, to achieve the ideal status of total synergy of all the innovation elements, which is the precondition of better innovation performance, it should go through five stages in sequence during the innovation process, namely: 1) contact/communication, 2) competition/conflict, 3) collaboration, 4) integration, 5) synergy.