How do you drive an organization forward to achieve the most rapid innovation possible?
Based on my twenty plus years in both corporate (enterprise) and also supporting very early stage software companies, it strikes me the realities are still the same.
1.) Having a very clearly defined product or service vision of what you are trying to achieve, and an understanding of why the market should purchase this experience from you needs to be very acute and differentiated?
2.) Developing an employee engagement culture that ensures talent is motivated by your vision, mission and can believe the results you are striving to achieve are real and they can align their minds and hearts to focus on realizing the dream or customer promise you are aspiring to fulfil.
3.) Creating a customer experience that is uniquely differentiated to other experiences in the market. Each customer touch point makes a difference along the value memory highway. How you condition an organization to think and behave can be explicitely programmed into your organizational culture DNA, but also must be embedded into your business processes and measurement systems.
All these points add up, but there is nothing more critical than ensuring that you can successfully commercialize your products and services and secure consistent customer footprints, and create a brand that creates a following.
We are now at the same that employee engagement and customer engagement are constant heart beats in developing innovation capacity.However to drive innovation on steroids we need to add to this current formula fix a focus on community experiences.
What needs to be added to the mix?
As more and more trust moves to web based experiences where consumers rely on purchasing guidance or advice from trusted networks, the only growth engine remaining for innovation capacity is really community influence and mining for community intelligence to propel growth more rapidly forward.
When one looks at the success of companies like Zappos (shoe retailer sold to eBay for $850 million after attempts from eBay and others failed), or other companies like eBay or Facebook which are aggregating communities around deep product niches demonstrate new approaches to developing corporate business models.
Pathways for Innovation Execution Excellence
If you are looking to develop a deep digital social media strategy around your product or service offering, we have two new offers at my firm that may interest you:
1.) Digital Social Media Market Differentiation Rapid Scan - we quickly look at your digital social media offerings, scan the market, and give you clear recommendations of ways to differentiate and improve your go to market capabilities.
2.) Pilot Innovation Community Bazaars - we have learned that developing a rapid pilot with an existing community to test your product or service is a very effective way to gain rapid customer insights. There is a community these days for almost everything so stepping back and going directly to an existing community vs creating a new community is a far smarter way to innovate and be more agile.
Showing posts with label Innovation and Management. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Innovation and Management. Show all posts
Monday, August 23, 2010
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Innovation A Top Growth Priority Yet Management Shortcomings.
Three studies uncover opportunities for companies to make improvements in management of innovation process --
Innovation is a top priority for companies seeking to grow in the wake of the economic downturn, but flaws in managing innovation may hinder their progress, according to three studies released today by Accenture (NYSE:ACN).
In one study of more than 630 U.S. and U.K. executives, almost half (48 percent) of those surveyed said their companies had increased funding for innovation in the preceding six months, while one-third (33 percent) said their innovation funding remained the same.
Additionally, nearly nine out of 10 respondents (89 percent) said that innovation is as important, if not more important, than cost reduction to their company’s ability to achieve future growth.
However, the studies found several flaws in the corporate management of innovation, including:
· failure to learn from mistakes;
· widespread risk aversion;
· the need for more collaboration; and
· too much emphasis on making incremental improvements.
These are among the key findings that emerged from three studies conducted by Accenture in the first half of 2009. The U.S.-U.K. study queried executives across several industries, including automotive, banking, capital markets, consumer goods and services, electronics and high-tech, insurance, manufacturing, pharmaceutical and medical products, and retail. The second study focused on innovation in the consumer technology industry in North America, Europe and Asia. The third focused on the communications industry across the U.S. and Europe.
“Companies can’t afford to avoid risk; they must learn from their mistakes and make the bold moves required to grow their company and position it for the economic upturn,” said Mark Foster, Accenture’s group chief executive, Global Markets and Management Consulting. “Unfortunately, many companies don’t have the processes that would enable them to conduct the risk-benefit analysis required to comfortably make the decisions associated with pursuing big bets, which is why innovation oftentimes doesn’t deliver the silver bullet companies seek.”
“Managers must lead by example, collaborate across departments, communicate the business strategy down the line and inspire their teams to engineer the next category-defining product,” Foster said. “Companies that fail to do so may lose significant ground to competitors who understand the value of innovation and manage it well.”
In the most recent study, 50 percent of respondents in the U.S. and the U.K. reported that their most successful innovation has been development of a new product or service. Yet, 74 percent of the respondents said their companies pursue incremental improvements, such as line extensions, and two-thirds (66 percent) said their organizations have made short-term financial results a priority over long-term investments.
Additionally, nearly three-quarters (73 percent) of U.S. respondents and nearly one-third (30 percent) of U.K. respondents said their organizations failed to learn from their mistakes.
Among the reasons respondents from both countries cited most frequently for new product or service launch failures were their inability to meet customer needs (57 percent), being late to market (54 percent) and incorrect pricing (52 percent). They also cited the lack of a new or unique customer-perceived value proposition (50 percent), supply chain issues (44 percent) and incorrect forecasting (43 percent).
One-third of the respondents (33 percent) also cited their inability to leverage new technology as a hurdle to innovation.
Consumer technology and communications, media and high-tech studies reveal similar findings
Many of the innovation-related challenges uncovered in the cross-industry study are similar to those Accenture found when it surveyed executives in the consumer technology and communications provider industries.
For the consumer technology study, Accenture interviewed executives who work for companies that generate nearly two-thirds of the industry’s annual global revenues. Typical of the results found in all three surveys, one executive said that about 60 percent of his company’s innovation pipeline was focused on incremental rather than breakthrough innovation. The study also revealed that business units typically work in silos, lack communications across departments and pursue innovation projects that impede collaboration. It also showed that employees are unwilling to collaborate because they fear the risk of someone else taking credit for their ideas.
One executive described the situation this way: “If companies are doing something truly innovative, they are probably going against existing business practices. Opposing forces will likely counteract them. Among some consumer technology firms there is the belief that if it’s innovative, everyone will embrace it, but often just the opposite happens.”
Meanwhile, communications, media and high-tech executives in the U.S. and Europe participating in the third of the three studies said their companies want to decrease the time required to launch new products and reduce development costs. In fact, 58 percent of the respondents said their companies’ new-product development budgets are plagued by cost overruns. And, 70 percent of the respondents said that as the economic downturn evolved, the development of at least some services and products was stopped – a decision that also reflected budget cuts and a shortage of people with the expertise to generate innovations or manage new-product development . The study also found that communications, high-tech and media firms in Europe will lead the way in new-product and service launches in the coming year.
Research Methodology
Study of U.S. and U.K. executives
Accenture commissioned an online survey in May 2009 of more than 630 vice presidents, directors and managers at large U.S. and U.K. companies across a broad range of industries, including automotive, banking, capital markets, consumer goods and services, electronics and high-tech, insurance, manufacturing, pharmaceutical and medical products, and retail. The purpose of the study was to gain further insights about management perceptions of innovation processes.
Study of consumer technology company executives
Accenture conducted in-depth, one-on-one interviews with executives at the director level and above from 28 of the world’s largest consumer technology companies worldwide to better understand the status of innovation across this industry sector. To qualify for inclusion in the study, respondents had to be a final decision-maker, highly involved in or part of a team that works on new product and service launches; part of the company that develops and sells technology to the consumer market; or in the corporate division involved with computer PC development, mobile handset development, or consumer electronics development, such as audio, video and gaming.
Study of communications, media and high-tech company executives
Accenture commissioned an online survey of 277 communications, media and high-tech executives in France, Germany, the U.K. and the U.S. to identify the challenges these industries face related to new product innovation. Nearly two-thirds of those who responded (63 percent) work in telecommunications, 26 percent work in the high-tech sector, and 11 percent work in the media industry. The online survey explored the correlation between companies that meet or exceed their new-product launch plans and those committed to open innovation. The findings are contained in a February 2009 report.
Innovation is a top priority for companies seeking to grow in the wake of the economic downturn, but flaws in managing innovation may hinder their progress, according to three studies released today by Accenture (NYSE:ACN).
In one study of more than 630 U.S. and U.K. executives, almost half (48 percent) of those surveyed said their companies had increased funding for innovation in the preceding six months, while one-third (33 percent) said their innovation funding remained the same.
Additionally, nearly nine out of 10 respondents (89 percent) said that innovation is as important, if not more important, than cost reduction to their company’s ability to achieve future growth.
However, the studies found several flaws in the corporate management of innovation, including:
· failure to learn from mistakes;
· widespread risk aversion;
· the need for more collaboration; and
· too much emphasis on making incremental improvements.
These are among the key findings that emerged from three studies conducted by Accenture in the first half of 2009. The U.S.-U.K. study queried executives across several industries, including automotive, banking, capital markets, consumer goods and services, electronics and high-tech, insurance, manufacturing, pharmaceutical and medical products, and retail. The second study focused on innovation in the consumer technology industry in North America, Europe and Asia. The third focused on the communications industry across the U.S. and Europe.
“Companies can’t afford to avoid risk; they must learn from their mistakes and make the bold moves required to grow their company and position it for the economic upturn,” said Mark Foster, Accenture’s group chief executive, Global Markets and Management Consulting. “Unfortunately, many companies don’t have the processes that would enable them to conduct the risk-benefit analysis required to comfortably make the decisions associated with pursuing big bets, which is why innovation oftentimes doesn’t deliver the silver bullet companies seek.”
“Managers must lead by example, collaborate across departments, communicate the business strategy down the line and inspire their teams to engineer the next category-defining product,” Foster said. “Companies that fail to do so may lose significant ground to competitors who understand the value of innovation and manage it well.”
In the most recent study, 50 percent of respondents in the U.S. and the U.K. reported that their most successful innovation has been development of a new product or service. Yet, 74 percent of the respondents said their companies pursue incremental improvements, such as line extensions, and two-thirds (66 percent) said their organizations have made short-term financial results a priority over long-term investments.
Additionally, nearly three-quarters (73 percent) of U.S. respondents and nearly one-third (30 percent) of U.K. respondents said their organizations failed to learn from their mistakes.
Among the reasons respondents from both countries cited most frequently for new product or service launch failures were their inability to meet customer needs (57 percent), being late to market (54 percent) and incorrect pricing (52 percent). They also cited the lack of a new or unique customer-perceived value proposition (50 percent), supply chain issues (44 percent) and incorrect forecasting (43 percent).
One-third of the respondents (33 percent) also cited their inability to leverage new technology as a hurdle to innovation.
Consumer technology and communications, media and high-tech studies reveal similar findings
Many of the innovation-related challenges uncovered in the cross-industry study are similar to those Accenture found when it surveyed executives in the consumer technology and communications provider industries.
For the consumer technology study, Accenture interviewed executives who work for companies that generate nearly two-thirds of the industry’s annual global revenues. Typical of the results found in all three surveys, one executive said that about 60 percent of his company’s innovation pipeline was focused on incremental rather than breakthrough innovation. The study also revealed that business units typically work in silos, lack communications across departments and pursue innovation projects that impede collaboration. It also showed that employees are unwilling to collaborate because they fear the risk of someone else taking credit for their ideas.
One executive described the situation this way: “If companies are doing something truly innovative, they are probably going against existing business practices. Opposing forces will likely counteract them. Among some consumer technology firms there is the belief that if it’s innovative, everyone will embrace it, but often just the opposite happens.”
Meanwhile, communications, media and high-tech executives in the U.S. and Europe participating in the third of the three studies said their companies want to decrease the time required to launch new products and reduce development costs. In fact, 58 percent of the respondents said their companies’ new-product development budgets are plagued by cost overruns. And, 70 percent of the respondents said that as the economic downturn evolved, the development of at least some services and products was stopped – a decision that also reflected budget cuts and a shortage of people with the expertise to generate innovations or manage new-product development . The study also found that communications, high-tech and media firms in Europe will lead the way in new-product and service launches in the coming year.
Research Methodology
Study of U.S. and U.K. executives
Accenture commissioned an online survey in May 2009 of more than 630 vice presidents, directors and managers at large U.S. and U.K. companies across a broad range of industries, including automotive, banking, capital markets, consumer goods and services, electronics and high-tech, insurance, manufacturing, pharmaceutical and medical products, and retail. The purpose of the study was to gain further insights about management perceptions of innovation processes.
Study of consumer technology company executives
Accenture conducted in-depth, one-on-one interviews with executives at the director level and above from 28 of the world’s largest consumer technology companies worldwide to better understand the status of innovation across this industry sector. To qualify for inclusion in the study, respondents had to be a final decision-maker, highly involved in or part of a team that works on new product and service launches; part of the company that develops and sells technology to the consumer market; or in the corporate division involved with computer PC development, mobile handset development, or consumer electronics development, such as audio, video and gaming.
Study of communications, media and high-tech company executives
Accenture commissioned an online survey of 277 communications, media and high-tech executives in France, Germany, the U.K. and the U.S. to identify the challenges these industries face related to new product innovation. Nearly two-thirds of those who responded (63 percent) work in telecommunications, 26 percent work in the high-tech sector, and 11 percent work in the media industry. The online survey explored the correlation between companies that meet or exceed their new-product launch plans and those committed to open innovation. The findings are contained in a February 2009 report.
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