What was your strategy for choosing incremental or discontinuous
innovation in Milestone One?
My rationale for selecting incremental innovation was based on the ability to
leverage existing product lines for income while still developing new IoT
innovations. The specific reasons listed in my presentation for incremental
were:
•Upgrade initial project line to test feasibility and customer acceptance
•Low risk of failure compared to discontinuous innovation
•Low cost compared to discontinuous innovation
•Easy to disseminate info about enhancements
•Using existing technology to advance provides competitive advantage to
those who need to develop from scratch
•Leverage existing product lines for introduction of IoT enhancements
What were your reasons for selecting the processes for managing innovation
you used in Milestone Two?
For milestone 2, I selected lean as the process to manage innovation. This
process offers the expedience benefits of agile while preserving limited
resources. Since the company is rather small in the automotive industry, the
preservation of resources is paramount so the company can continue to
produce vehicles that bring in revenue that supports R&D.
How do your recommendations for the organization structure promote a
climate for innovation in your project?
The recommendations made in the organizational structure were largely
inspired by the 3M case study. In my proposed changes, open lines of
communication along with the ability to work side-by-side with members of
other departments to inspire innovation. Company leadership was also going
to lead the charge for more decentralized decision making, enabling
individual work centers to develop and streamline their own processes. A
reward system was also recommended for employees that went above and
beyond in their innovative efforts. Perhaps most important, was the
recommendation to support employees in any kind of innovations, regardless
of their success, and not punish ones that do not succeed.
