Management Studies, Sep.-Oct. 2017, Vol. 5, No. 5, 471-481 doi: 10.17265/2328-2185/2017.05.011 Innovation Management Processes and Routines for Business Success and Value Creation Luís Vala Independent Researcher, Lisbon, Portugal Renato Pereira OBSERVARE/UAL, Lisbon, Portugal; ISCTE-IUL, Lisbon, Portugal Isabel Caetano COTEC Portugal, Lisbon, Portugal; ISCTE-IUL, Lisbon, Portugal Innovation is managed through the development of processes and routines, considered as critical for business success and value creation. The identification of relevant routines as well as the understanding of which factors affect business innovation is the main objective of this research, based on a survey applied in Portuguese companies and their experience shared in best practices guides. Conclusions highlighted 10 key innovation routines, reinforcing the idea that innovation must be supported through a systematic and sustained management process. Results also indicate that SMEs face greater difficulties in benefiting from the potential of innovation practices and collaboration may present opportunities to overcome their limited resources. Therefore, regardless of size, business activity, science and technology intensity or other factors influencing firms dynamic capabilities, innovation should be considered as a management imperative as it can influence not only the present but also the future of business success. Keywords: innovation management, innovation process, innovation routines, value creation, SMEs, Portugal Introduction Age of innovation, label proposed by Janszen (2000) characterizing the 20th century reality, includes three different stages contributing to world transformation. In the 50s and 60s, the age of efficiency emerged; in the 70s and 80s, the quality challenge and finally, after 1980, the age of flexibility. Nevertheless, the focus on innovation, as a key driver of competitiveness for societies, countries, and firms, has been present not only in a formalized way but also as a rhetoric resource in order to highlight its cultural and strategic dimension (Salter & Alexy, 2014; Trott, 2012). Business success is normally associated with firm ability to create and distribute wealth but also to its differentiation, normally linked to innovation, in the market (Ketchen, Ireland, & Snow, 2007). In this study, we analyzed how innovation processes are managed in Portuguese companies and what are the most important routines influencing innovation performance. Luís Vala, M.Sc., independent researcher, Lisbon, Portugal. Renato Pereira, Ph.D., researcher, OBSERVARE/UAL; Guest Professor, ISCTE-IUL, Lisbon, Portugal. Isabel Caetano, M.Sc., manager, COTEC Portugal; Ph.D., student, ISCTE-IUL, Lisbon, Portugal. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Renato Pereira, Rua Santa Marta, 47, 1150-293 Lisbon, Portugal. DAVID PUBLISHING D