Post for Mberiah

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a large U.S. health maintenance organization came from actually playing the part of a patient: Make examining rooms larger to enable the nervous patient to have a friend or relative in the room while waiting for the doctor'34 Fresh Express asked IDEO to design an innovative single-serve package for salads. IDEO's solution (photo): A five-section package-one large section for the salad greens and four smaller ones for proteins, dressings, and so on-with each section sealed in plastic.

Competitive Products Analyzing the competition can lead to new-produgt ideas. For six months, the Marriott Corporation sent a six-person intelligence team to travel and stay at economy hotels around the country. The team assessed the competi- tion's strengths and weaknesses on everything from the soundproof qualities of the rooms to the softness of the towels. Marriott then budgeted $500 million for a new economy hotel chain-Fairfield Inns.

Smaller Firrns, Universities, and Inventors Many firms look for outside visionaries that have inventions or innovative ideas that can become products. Some sources of this open innovation strategy include:

" Smaller, nontraditional firms. Small technology firms and even small, nontradi- tional firms in adjacent industries provide creative advances. General Mills part- nered with Weight Watchers to develop Progresso Light soups, the flrst consumer packaged product in any grocery category to carry the Weight Watchers endorse- ment with a 0 points value per serving.35

o (Jniversities. Many universities have technology transfer centers that often partner with business firms to commercialize faculty inven- tions. The first-of-its-kind carbonated yogurt Go-Gurt Fizzix was launched in late 2007 as a result of General Mills partnering with Brigham Young University to license the university's patent to put the "fizz" into the yogurt.36

o Inventors. Many lone inventors and entrepreneurs develop brilliant new-product ideas-like Gary Schwartzberg's tube-shaped bagel filled with cream cheese. A portable breakfast for the on-the-go person, the innovative bagel couldn't get widespread distribution. So Schwartz- berg sold his idea to Kraft Foods, Inc., which now markets its Bagel- Fuls filled with Kraft's best-selling Philadelphia cream cheese in supermarkets across the United States.37

Great ideas can come from almost anywhere-the challenge is recog- nizing and implementing them.

Stage 3: Screening and Evaluation

Screening and evaluation is the stage of the new-product process that internally and extemally evaluates new-product ideas to eliminate those that warrant no further effort.

Internal Approach A firm's employees evaluate the technical feasibility of a proposed new-product idea to determine whether it meets the objectives defined in the new-product strategy development stage. For example, 3M scientists develop many world-class innovations in the company's labs. A recent innovation was its micro- replication technology-one that has 3,000 tiny gripping "fingers" per square inch. An internal assessment showed 3M that this technology could be used to improve the gripping of golf or work gloves.

Organizations that develop service-dominated offerings need to ensure that employ- ees have the commitment and skills to meet customer expectations and sustain cus- tomer loyalty-an important criterion in screening a new-service idea. This is the

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