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The Innovation LandscapeA (very) Short Course

Some Basic Perspectivesto Help Interpret Innovation Ideas

Innovation as a Concept• It’s a Process with Identifiable Steps

• People play Roles in the Process

• It’s studied by many Disciplines

• It’s part of many Frameworks

• It can be Systematically Modeled

• It produces Results and Added Value

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What Innovation is Not

• Artistic Creativity

• Invention

• The “Bright Idea”

• Scientific Discovery

• Problem-Solving

• Simple Incremental Improvement

Innovation at Different Levels• Individual - creative skills & ideas

• Team - problem-solving

• Large Unit - innovation roles defined

• Organization - process supported

• Industry - new technology

• Societal/Marketplace - diffusion

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3 Views ofInnovation as a Process

• New Product Success Factors

• Innovation as New Product Development

• Innovation as New Technology

• Innovation as Management Improvement

New Product Development as Innovation

• Strategic planning• Allocate resources to support the innovation• Generate a product concept• Test its technical feasibility• Develop and refine the product• Prepare the product for manufacture• Full-scale production of the product• Place the product in the marketplace• Support problem-solving and improvement

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New Technologyas an Innovation Trigger

• Recognize a “breakthrough technology”

• …or recognize a user need

• Formulate an application idea

• Resolve any technology problems

• Translate idea into a solution

• Develop and refine the solution

• See the solution ‘adopted’ by users

Management Practiceas an Innovation

• Observe needs and opportunities from within an organization

• Generate an idea for addressing the need or opportunity.

• Test the idea for feasibility

• Refine the idea for acceptability

• Sell the idea to users and employees

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Generic Process Steps in an Innovation

• Scanning• Recognition• Ideation• Concept

Development• Prototyping• Testing & Evaluation

• Production• Positioning and

Selling• Adoption and

Diffusion• Support and

Refinement• Re-Creation

Innovation’s Role Players

• Spotter• Inventor• Tester• Champion• Gatekeeper

• Process Manager

• Sponsor• Protector• Seller

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Innovation Diffusion(as defined by Everett Rogers)

• The process by which an innovation is communicated through certain channels over time among members of a social system.

• Diffusion is the process by which a new idea or product is accepted by the market.

• The rate of diffusion is the speed that the new idea spreads from one consumer to the next.

Innovation AdoptionCycle

Innovators EarlyAdoptersEarly MajorityLate Majority Laggards

Techies:Try it!

Pragmatists:Stick with the herd! Conservatives:

Hold on!

Skeptics:No way!

Visionaries:Get ahead of the herd!

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Managing Innovation Value• Intellectual Property Management – generate

more intellectual properties; focus on short-term returns of patent licensing.

• Intellectual Asset Management – focus on broader intellectual assets; assemble both unprotected and protected assets.

• Intellectual Capital Management – harness the ‘hidden value’ of an innovation; deploy intellectual capital toward the firm’s vision

Acting like an Innovator[…after Leonardo Da Vinci’s 7 Principles: Gelb]

• Quest for continuous learning• Be willing to learn from mistakes• Ability to scan for opportunity• Willingness to embrace ambiguity• Balancing right and left brain viewpoints• Cultivating a style to express your ideas• Recognition of ‘systems’ relationships

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Innovation Landscape Summary• Understanding basic innovation vocabulary and

concepts will help you navigate the course material.• Exploring the textbook’s index will build your

innovation vocabulary.• Three basic forms of innovation—New Products,

New Technologies, and New Management Processes will comprise the range of innovation activities in an organization.

• Managing these processes is what innovation management is all about.