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.
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?
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 analysed
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 te innovation is provided in the desired time
and can be adapted to market changes, thus gaining a competitive
advantage for the company.
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. d
