1. Semester Innovation Project Analyze an Innovation of your Own Choosing Due Date: 23 Nov 2006

2. Deliverables The product of the assignment specified below is a paper (document) with a maximum of 7 text pages (double spaced, 12 pitch) but you are allowed unlimited use of schematics, pictures, and other devices – your tools in pursuit of brevity are schematics and pictures to describe the building blocks of successful innovation strategy; and pithy, focused observations of fact to cover the rest. You may work in groups, but these should not exceed four (4) individuals.

3. Articulate your personal ‘innovation’ of choice, and to analyze the requirements and pitfalls that you might expect to face on the road to commercialization You should not choose an innovation that has already been commercialized. You will not be analyzing an existing company; but defining the product strategy and business model for a novel invention, or a novel way of commercializing an existing invention. If you are having trouble choosing or articulating an innovation, let me suggest that you search the Web through Google for detailed information about particular products or services and they way their inventors perceive their markets.

4. Assessment Articulate your invention, and as a start to determining its commercializability, describing the target customer for the company’s product (age, income, medical history, and other demographics). Draw a value map describing your companies proposed business model, and provide some indication of the costs and revenues that will flow into and out of the business. (20 points) What will differentiate your innovation from competitors’ in the customer’s minds? List the three features that are important to the target customer, and rank them from most to least important. (15 points)

5. Assessment Define a performance metric for each of these 3 features – i.e., a particular way that you will measure the utility or attractiveness of each of these features to the target customer. The performance metric provides a numerical measure, it is not just an abstract concept like customer satisfaction. You have to tell me how you will get a number that can be compared to those measured for competing products. (15 points) Define your innovation’s top competitor in each of these 3 features (i.e., a company marketing a competitive product or service). Choose one competitor for each feature. (10 points)

6. Assessment Two kinds of knowledge underpin any innovation: Component and Architectural. The following 2x2 schematic describes (according to Henderson and Clark) the degree of reengineering of the firms business model and core competences that will be required by their innovation. Describe the product knowledge that you will be required to acquire in the development and commercialization of your invention (i.e., where will your invention sit on this 2x2 schematic?); explain the reasoning behind your answer. (10 points)

7. Assessment Contrast your answer to the last question by looking at the Abernathy-Clark framework (it’s the same Clark – Kim Clark, now the Dean of Harvard B- school) where the two kinds of knowledge that underpin an innovation are Technical and Market. The following 2x2 schematic describes (according to Abernathy and Clark) the degree of reengineering of the firms business model and core competences that will be required by a new innovation. Describe the product knowledge that you will be required to acquire in the development and commercialization of your invention (i.e., where will your invention sit on this 2x2 schematic); explain the reasoning behind your answer. (10 points)

8. Assessment Two factors are instrumental to profiting from an innovation: Imitability and Complementary Assets. The following 2x2 schematic describes (according to Teece) who will profit from an invention. Describe the product knowledge that you will be required to acquire in the development and commercialization of your invention (i.e., where will your invention sit on this 2x2 schematic); explain the reasoning behind your answer. (10 points)

9. Assessment Design a Logo and tagline for your company; define them so that they portray the essence of your business – the message you want to convey to your customers.

10. Deliverables Due Date: 23 Nov 2006 The product of the assignment specified below is a paper (document) with a maximum of 7 text pages (double spaced, 12 pitch) but you are allowed unlimited use of schematics, pictures, and other devices – your tools in pursuit of brevity are schematics and pictures to describe the building blocks of successful innovation strategy; and pithy, focused observations of fact to cover the rest. You may work in groups, but these should not exceed four (4) individuals.