The Innovation Process Assembled by Arsene Kodjo

The innovation process Defintions Discovery - The process of recognising or observing for the first time a particular natural phenomenon or object. Invention - The creation of an idea and its reduction to practice, Rothwell and Zegveld (1985: 47) Innovation = Invention + Commercialisation Diffusion – Diffusion is the process by which an innovation is communicated through certain channels over time among the members of a social system, Rogers (2003: 5),

The innovation process Different types of innovation Different types of innovation 1)Radical innovation- Major advance in the technological ‘state of the art’. Radical product innovation- radical change in the things (products/services) which an organisation offers”. Radical process innovation- radical change in the ways in which they (products/services) are created and delivered” 2) Incremental innovation- Providing minor or major improvements in functionality and performance to an existing innovation. Can involve Incremental product innovation and Incremental process innovation

The innovation process Evaluating success 1.Financial criteria– The level of profit or turnover generated by the innovation 2.Technical criteria - Improvement in performance and functionality 3.Market criteria - The rate of adoption of the innovation, 4.Strategic criteria- Ability to build or sustain a competitive advantage through the development of superior product or service offerings 5.Process criteria - The compression of time

The innovation process Models of the innovation process 1.Technology-Push- focus on investing in scientific and technological means rather than responding to the needs of the marketplace. Prominent in the 1950s and mid-1960s. 2.Demand-Pull- Focus on the need of the market and an emphasis on marketing to gain marker share. Prominent in the 1960s and 1970s 3.Coupling’ or ‘Interactive’- Focuses on coupling the technology- push and the demand-pull and also encourages interactions between internal factors as well as external factors in the microenvironment. 4.(Refers to page 316 for the diagrams on the different module of innovation process)

The innovation process Organising for innovation (by Burns and Stalker 1.Mechanistic mode- Characterised by hierarchy, bureaucracy, and role specialisation. 2. Organic mode- Characterised by network structures, integration, boundary-spanning, and role fluidity. 3. Building a “learning organisation” for innovation (by Peter Senge) Leadership- Create a shared vision, structures Strong culture- Culture of pride, of change, view employees as “important (not just well treated)” and “capable”, Horizontal structure- Team-based, enabling collaboration Shared information- Open book management Empowered employee- Encourage decentralisation of decision making Emergent strategy- Try new things, accept mistakes and move on

The innovation process Reasons For Failure Lack of top management support Under resourcing lack of cross-functional interaction launching of innovations with minimal advantage over existing offerings Competition

The innovation process Managing the innovation process 1.Idea generation –Generate ideas Ex. Attribute listing (Product oriented); Brainstorming(Creativity Orientated) 1.Idea screening – select workable idea Ex. Risk analysis, Portfolio models, Scoring and checklist models 3. Concept development and testing- make ideas meaningful to end-users. Ex: conjoint analysis. 4. Business analysis Ex. cash flow analysis 5. Translation- Translation of the concept into a new product, process or service 6. Market testing- introduction of the innovation into a specific market 7. Post-project audit- lesson learnt

The innovation process Accelerating the NPD process Encouraging the role of the product champion Where appropriate, conducting activities in parallel Discouraging the spreading of resources thinly across too many project Decentralising decision making, to encourage team commitment and ownership, whilst reducing excessive external interference, Integrating suppliers better with the NPD process and innovation team, involving (potential) customers early in the NPD process, and employing enabling technologies, such as computer-aided design (CAD) and stereo-lithography, to allow early visualisation and rapid prototyping of the innovation

The innovation process External sources of innovation The product or service User - Role of the user in the NPD 1.User as a source of ideas 2.Continuous interaction with user 3.User as co-developer 4.User as innovator 5.User as entrepreneur

The innovation process criteria for selecting Users Users that are representative. Users that are innovative. Users who benefit significantly. Users that are demanding.

The innovation process External sources of innovation Supplier as a source of ideas Continuous interaction with supplier. Supplier as co-developer. Supplier as innovator.