A Combined Use of TRIZ Methodology and Eco-Compass tool as a Sustainable Innovation Model

Abstract

In recent years, there has been an increase in the adoption of quality tools by companies. As such, there has been a commitment to innovation by the organizations to obtain competitive advantages by the development of new products and technologies focused on the creation of economic value but also on delivering sustainability. This study aims to develop an application model of the inventive resolution theory in conjunction with the Eco-Compass ecological innovation tool, in order to allow solutions to be obtained systematically, and to present a performance increase of certain environmental parameters, promoting thus sustainable innovation. The case study research methodology is used to frame the research. The company under study is Nokia enterprise, located in Portugal, which offers a set of services related to telecommunications infrastructures. The unit of analysis is the department of transformation and continuous improvement, and the study illustrated the application of combined use of theory of inventive problem solving (TRIZ) and Eco-compass to develop innovative solutions systematically. The results show that it is possible to achieve innovation according to a certain level of established sustainable environmental parameters, while at the same time solving the identified inventive problem.