I hope everyone is doing well. It’s hard to believe we are in our last
week of this course. I have thoroughly enjoyed this class and have
gained some valuable knowledge that I can apply in my current
position at work, and throughout my career.
What was your strategy for choosing incremental or discontinuous
innovation in Milestone One?
After looking at the risks and benefits for incremental and
discontinuous innovations from the scenario, I chose a discontinuous
innovation approach for the automobile manufacture. An incremental
approach would have been simpler and less expensive. The approach
would have possibly boosted sales increasing the company’s market
shares. However, using the current vehicle platforms would have
limited the innovative possibilities, and would have not attracted a
new customer segment. Also, after looking and comparing the
forecasted sales, and project costs for IoT vehicles I was able to see
that the return on investment was greater for developing a new
vehicle platform, and possibly building a new market, and customer
base. It would take more R&D to do this, and the initial costs would
be higher, but the investment would be better, and it would provide
the company with a new vehicle platform to build a marketing
campaign, and a platform to implement new innovations into. I also
believe that the company should implement incremental innovations
into its current vehicle lines to boost sales and market shares to
increase its revenue and help offset the costs of designing a new
platform.
I am curious if anybody else would suggest implementing incremental
innovations into the company’s current automobile lines while
building a new model, or just continue with the current line, and
invest more into the new platform?
What were your reasons for selecting the processes for managing
innovation you used in Milestone Two?
I chose a hybrid approach for the process of managing the
development of a new vehicle platform. The hybrid project
management we would use is a combination of agile, lean, and the
stage-gate process. The reason I chose this is that Innovation is
constantly changing, and if a typical waterfall or stage-gate process is
used the innovations we are developing do not have a chance to
adapt to the ever-changing market, thus possibly becoming obsolete
before they are released. With an agile methodology, the project can
be broken down into smaller iterations where teams work on the
innovation with specific goals. However, these teams will be close to
the customer, so changes can be made to the innovation quickly
ensuring they are building the desired deliverable. To help ensure the
project is efficient and does not include wasted steps we will utilize a
lean approach where each step is measured, and Kaizen events can
be used to brainstorm and identify issues, waste, opportunities, and
road maps for the innovation. These Kaizen events can be between
or within cross-functional teams and will help provide an efficient
environment. Since the project is a large one it will need structure
and approval. That is why I chose the stage-gate process. The
process will be broken down into milestones, tasks, and subtasks, so
each team will have goals to work towards. Each task and subtask
will be implemented into a GANTT chart, WBS, and action item
register. This will help to define the timelines, assignments, priority of
work, and give the teams and project manager the ability to track the
project's progress. It will also allow for the development of KPIs to
alert all stakeholders of issues or changes needed for the project. A
Kaizen structure in the gate phase of the stage-gate process can be
utilized to help ensure all factors for the innovation are identified and
analyzed ensuring we are providing the desired deliverable and giving
it the ability to be adapted to any changes needed. I feel with this
hybrid approach we can ensure the innovation is provided in the
desired time and can be adapted to market changes, thus gaining a
competitive advantage for the company. b
How do your recommendations for the organization structure
promote a climate for innovation in your project?
To help promote a creative and supportive culture to support the
innovation project The new structure will incorporate various
improvements that promote communication, collaboration, support,
and creativity. It is vital for an organization’s culture to support its
employees and teams and provide them with the ability to utilize
their creativity and critical thinking skills. This is especially true for
innovative projects, so to achieve this we will utilize communications
and transparency to help drive the culture. This communication will
not only use the top-down approach but allow for communications
from every aspect of the company, and the customers, thus allowing
inputs from all stakeholders driving the development of the
innovation. The improved culture will be supportive of the
employees and teams and encourage them to drive innovation
whether they fail or succeed. It will give rewards and recognition to
help provide and drive a creative culture, and ensure the employees
are empowered. By doing this employee will feel safer in their
positions, and know that their inputs are valued and welcomed, thus
providing a culture that promotes innovation and forward-thinking
helping drive the development of a new vehicle platform.
