Deepening the CKI triangle

This paper deals with managing the innovation process. It is based on three fundamental concepts: (1) creativity, knowledge and innovation are strongly related with each other; (2) the output of the process depends on their mutual interactions; (3) such a result should consists of an incremental value to some stakeholders. Unfortunately, in this field most of contributions analyze those interactions on a one-to-one basis and a lack of investigation about these three-variable system currently emerges. In order to help filling this gap the authors aim to deepen Creativity-Knowledge-Innovation (CKI) interactions and their effects in terms of incremental value to stakeholders from both a tangible and intangible point of view. As a result of their findings, the authors propose the CKI triangle model that is thought to be: (1) a framework fostering a systemic analysis of CKI relationships; (2) a method for measuring the performances of a CKI interaction system; (3) a support for governments, managers and researchers coping with the design and the assessment of innovation programs aimed at ensuring an incremental value to stakeholders.