Business Innovation chapter 1 –
10
Chapter 1 - What is innovation and why does it matter
Incremental = doing what we do better
Radical = new of the world
this can happen on component level and system level
We innovate to survive and grow. Respond fast to signals from outside.
Core competencies = the resources and capabilities that comprise the strategic advantages of a
business.
Core competencies can become core rigidities when neglecting new competencies
Chapter 2 - innovation strategy
This involves 3 key steps:
1. strategic analysis - what could we do
Exploration of innovation space, likely changes in the future, who are the customers,
suppliers & competitors, etc.
- changes in products
- changes in process
- changes in position
- changes in paradigm (mental models that frame what the firm does)
2. strategic selection - what are we going to do, and why
How do we fit in? Barriers, threats, customers etc.
- gut intuition
- financial measures
- multi-dimensional measures
- portfolio methods in business cases
3. strategic implementation - how are we going to make it happen
What do we need, how do we get these resources, who do we partner up with, what are the
likely roadblocks?
Kaizen system = everyone comes up with ideas
Others need to see what you see to buy into it
Chapter 3 - identifying strategic capabilities
The core competencies tree:
- leaves, flowers, fruit = end product
- smaller branches = business units
- trunk and major limbs = core products
- the root systems = core competencies
dynamic capability = being able to change and adapt routines as the world shifts
capabilities = organizations potential for doing, carrying out a specific activity/set of activities
resources = stock owned, controlled and assessed by the firm
Assessing Capabilities
1. identifying key attributes (competitive advantages, strengths)
, 2. mapping attributes to resourcing competencies (regulatory, positional, functional, cultural)
3. assessing potential sustaining, protecting and exploiting competencies
Chapter 4 - leadership and organization of innovation
innovation leadership: leadership directly influences performance across the organization
6 factors leadership focus on:
1. innovation policy across the organization (innovation is rewarded)
2. not too much and not too little heterogeneity in teams
3. great team climate (safety, respect and joy through support and shared decision-making)
4. autonomy and space for idea generation and creative problem solving
5. time limits for idea generation and creative problem solving
6. team leaders with expertise should engage closely in evaluation of innovative activities
Different creative styles:
1. adopters = produce ideas closely to existing agreed definitions of a problem
2. innovators = reconstruct problems, challenge, do things different instead of doing better
collective and social
Teams have more to offer than individuals do and have a common vision
5 elements of high performance team working:
1. clearly defined tasks and objectives
2. effective team leadership
3. good balance of team roles which match to individual behavioral style
4. effective conflict resolution mechanics within the group
5. continuing liaison with external organization
Teams go through 4 stages of development: forming, storming, norming and deforming
Belbin’s groups of people: the plant (source of new ideas), the resource investigator, the shaper and
the completer/finisher
context and climate
- climate = recurring patterns of behavior, attitudes and feelings that characterize life in
your organization. quantitative research
- culture = the deeper and more enduring values, norms and beliefs. qualitative research
Chapter 5 - innovation as a process
A model of the innovation process:
- search = how can we find opportunities for innovation?
- select = what are we going to do and why?
- implement = how are we going to make it happen?
capture = how are we going to get the benefits from it?
behavioral routines = patterns of behavior which we learn in order to make something happen
, Chapter 6 - sources of innovation
Need to pull (=some form of demand). They need to meet a real or perceived need.
sources of innovation:
1. necessity/need pull
2. disruptive innovation (=Focuses on need to look for needs which are poorly or not being met)
3. crisis driven innovation
4. towards mass customization
5. users as innovators
6. benchmarking (=watching others and learning from them, Systematic comparison of
something against something)
7. recombinant innovation
8. regulation
9. futures and forecasting
10. design driven innovation
11. accidents
Chapter 7 - search strategies for innovation
New companies focus more on product innovation
Mature companies focus more on process innovation
zone 1 = exploit search
zone 2 = searching new territory, pushing what is known and deploying different search techniques
for doing so
zone 3 = associated with reframing
zone 4 = ‘edge of chaos’ environment, where innovation emerges as a product of coevolution
Strategies for searching: open innovation, innovation networks and knowledge management
Chapter 8 - forecasting emerging opportunities for innovation
Exploratory forecasting = attempts to explore the range of future possibilities
- customer or market surveys
- brain storming (internal analysis)
- benchmarking (external analysis)
- Delphi (external analysis) = acquiring opinions of large group of experts
- scenario development
10
Chapter 1 - What is innovation and why does it matter
Incremental = doing what we do better
Radical = new of the world
this can happen on component level and system level
We innovate to survive and grow. Respond fast to signals from outside.
Core competencies = the resources and capabilities that comprise the strategic advantages of a
business.
Core competencies can become core rigidities when neglecting new competencies
Chapter 2 - innovation strategy
This involves 3 key steps:
1. strategic analysis - what could we do
Exploration of innovation space, likely changes in the future, who are the customers,
suppliers & competitors, etc.
- changes in products
- changes in process
- changes in position
- changes in paradigm (mental models that frame what the firm does)
2. strategic selection - what are we going to do, and why
How do we fit in? Barriers, threats, customers etc.
- gut intuition
- financial measures
- multi-dimensional measures
- portfolio methods in business cases
3. strategic implementation - how are we going to make it happen
What do we need, how do we get these resources, who do we partner up with, what are the
likely roadblocks?
Kaizen system = everyone comes up with ideas
Others need to see what you see to buy into it
Chapter 3 - identifying strategic capabilities
The core competencies tree:
- leaves, flowers, fruit = end product
- smaller branches = business units
- trunk and major limbs = core products
- the root systems = core competencies
dynamic capability = being able to change and adapt routines as the world shifts
capabilities = organizations potential for doing, carrying out a specific activity/set of activities
resources = stock owned, controlled and assessed by the firm
Assessing Capabilities
1. identifying key attributes (competitive advantages, strengths)
, 2. mapping attributes to resourcing competencies (regulatory, positional, functional, cultural)
3. assessing potential sustaining, protecting and exploiting competencies
Chapter 4 - leadership and organization of innovation
innovation leadership: leadership directly influences performance across the organization
6 factors leadership focus on:
1. innovation policy across the organization (innovation is rewarded)
2. not too much and not too little heterogeneity in teams
3. great team climate (safety, respect and joy through support and shared decision-making)
4. autonomy and space for idea generation and creative problem solving
5. time limits for idea generation and creative problem solving
6. team leaders with expertise should engage closely in evaluation of innovative activities
Different creative styles:
1. adopters = produce ideas closely to existing agreed definitions of a problem
2. innovators = reconstruct problems, challenge, do things different instead of doing better
collective and social
Teams have more to offer than individuals do and have a common vision
5 elements of high performance team working:
1. clearly defined tasks and objectives
2. effective team leadership
3. good balance of team roles which match to individual behavioral style
4. effective conflict resolution mechanics within the group
5. continuing liaison with external organization
Teams go through 4 stages of development: forming, storming, norming and deforming
Belbin’s groups of people: the plant (source of new ideas), the resource investigator, the shaper and
the completer/finisher
context and climate
- climate = recurring patterns of behavior, attitudes and feelings that characterize life in
your organization. quantitative research
- culture = the deeper and more enduring values, norms and beliefs. qualitative research
Chapter 5 - innovation as a process
A model of the innovation process:
- search = how can we find opportunities for innovation?
- select = what are we going to do and why?
- implement = how are we going to make it happen?
capture = how are we going to get the benefits from it?
behavioral routines = patterns of behavior which we learn in order to make something happen
, Chapter 6 - sources of innovation
Need to pull (=some form of demand). They need to meet a real or perceived need.
sources of innovation:
1. necessity/need pull
2. disruptive innovation (=Focuses on need to look for needs which are poorly or not being met)
3. crisis driven innovation
4. towards mass customization
5. users as innovators
6. benchmarking (=watching others and learning from them, Systematic comparison of
something against something)
7. recombinant innovation
8. regulation
9. futures and forecasting
10. design driven innovation
11. accidents
Chapter 7 - search strategies for innovation
New companies focus more on product innovation
Mature companies focus more on process innovation
zone 1 = exploit search
zone 2 = searching new territory, pushing what is known and deploying different search techniques
for doing so
zone 3 = associated with reframing
zone 4 = ‘edge of chaos’ environment, where innovation emerges as a product of coevolution
Strategies for searching: open innovation, innovation networks and knowledge management
Chapter 8 - forecasting emerging opportunities for innovation
Exploratory forecasting = attempts to explore the range of future possibilities
- customer or market surveys
- brain storming (internal analysis)
- benchmarking (external analysis)
- Delphi (external analysis) = acquiring opinions of large group of experts
- scenario development
