Patent ID: 7769615

Claim:
A method for improving innovation strategies of a subject company, said method comprising: providing a system comprising a memory, a processor, a persistent data store, a communications interface, an electronic interconnection mechanism coupling the memory, the processor, the persistent data store, and the communications interface, and distinct software applications embodied on a computer-readable medium; wherein the distinct software applications comprise a definition application, a database and strategic information repository application, and a constraint minimization strategy application; and wherein the distinct software applications are configured to access the memory; and executing instructions from the memory to perform a process on the processor of: defining, by the definition application, a plurality of innovation constraints and innovation philosophies; collecting strategic information concerning innovation activities within one or more given industries, cross-referencing said strategic information with a plurality of constraint minimization strategies, compiling constraint minimization strategy overview files for each of said constraint minimization strategies, and storing said overview files in a strategic information repository, the collecting, cross-referencing, compiling, and storing performed by the database and strategic information repository application; linking, by the constraint minimization strategy application, said overview files in said strategic information repository with relevant pairings of said constraints and philosophies to produce a mapping of said strategic information repository, wherein said linking of said overview files comprises providing access to constraint-philosophy summary records for each pairing of said defined constraints and said defined philosophies, said summary records comprising documents that summarize and organize ones of said overview files that correspond to constraint minimization strategies that are relevant to a constraint-philosophy pairing in question, and said repository containing a unique summary record for each said constraint-philosophy pairing; identifying, by the constraint minimization strategy application, one or more of said defined philosophies, or one or more of said identified constraints, as being relevant to said subject company; using said mapping by the constraint minimization strategy application to locate overview files in said strategic information repository corresponding to said one or more identified constraints and said one or more identified philosophies of said subject company; and reviewing said located overview files to identify potential constraint minimization strategies that may be useful to said subject company.