Opportunity Identification and Selection:Strategic Planning for New Products

Innovation Innovation = Ideas

Innovation = Ideas + Execution

Innovation = Ideas + Motivation

Innovation = Ideas + Process

Innovation = Ideas + Leader

Innovation = Ideas + Leader + Team + Plan

The PIC: Why Does a Firm Need a New Products Strategy?To chart the new product teams directionWhat technologies? What markets?To set the teams goals and objectivesWhy does it exist?To tell the team how it will play the gameWhat are the rules? Constraints?Any other key information to consider?3-*

The Company Within A CompanyThis describes a new products team as they do everything a firm does develop a budget, do financial analyses, assign tasks, and so on.They need strategic direction on where they must, and must not, go.Product team managers ask, What sandbox should I be playing in? before beginning to think of specific products.3-*

Corporate Strengths Provide Direction for the TeamNew products in this firm will:Use our fine furniture designers (Herman Miller)Gain value by being bottled in our bottling system (Coca-Cola)Utilize innovative design (Braun)Be for babies and only babies (Gerber)Be for all sports, not just shoes (Nike)Be for all people in computers (IBM)Proliferate our product lines (Rubbermaid)Be almost impossible to create (Polaroid)Use only internal R&D (Bausch & Lomb)Be offered to the market hard to get (Ganz Webkinz)Have high value to us and to the customer (Kodak)3-*

Product Platform PlanningMany firms find that it is not efficient to develop a single product. Platform: product families that share similarities in design, development, or production process.Car industry: $3 billion price tag on a new car platform is spread out over several models.Sony: four platforms for Walkman launched 160 product variations.Boeing: passenger, cargo, short- and long-haul planes made from same platform.P&G: Liquid Ariel for European market, Liquid Tide for North America, and Liquid Cheer for Japanese market.Black & Decker: uses a single electric motor for dozens of consumer power tools.3-*

Opportunity Identification: Greenfield MarketsFind another location or venue. Once McDonalds had taken up the best locations for traditional fast-food restaurants, it continued its U.S. expansion by placing stores inside Wal-Marts, in sports arenas, and elsewhere. Starbucks Coffee complemented coffee-shop sales by selling its coffee beans and ice creams in supermarkets.Leverage your firms strengths in a new activity center. Nike has recently moved into golf and hockey, and Honeywell is looking into casino opportunities.Identify a fast-growing need, and adapt your products to that need. Hewlett-Packard followed the need for total information solutions that led it to develop computing and communications products for the World Cup and other sporting events.Find a new to you industry: P&G in pharmaceuticals, GE in broadcasting (NBC), Disney in cruises, Rubbermaid in gardening products either through alliance, acquisition, or internal development.

Source: Allan J. Magrath, Envisioning Greenfield Markets, Across the Board, May 1998, pp. 26-30.3-*

Opportunity Identification: Emerging Societal TrendsJust-in-time lifeSensing consumersThe transparent selfIn search of enoughnessVirtual made realCo-creation

Source: A. Hines, J. Calder, and D. Abraham, Six Catalysts Shaping the Future of Product Development, Visions, 33(3), October 2009, pp. 20-23.3-*

What is the Product Innovation Charter (PIC)?It is the new product teams strategy.It is for Products (not processes).It is for Innovation (think of the definition of new product).It is a Charter (a document specifying the conditions under which a firm will operate).Typically, it is a document prepared by senior management designed to provide guidance to the strategic business units (SBUs) on the role of innovation.3-*

Do Many Firms Have a PIC?Most do, according to research, even if they dont call it by that name.PDMA study: 75% of firms have a formal new product policy of some type (a partial PIC).29% have a formal, written complete PIC. 80% of firms have formalized at least a few of the phases in the new products process.86% of the Best firms have a PIC and only 69% of the Rest.According to an independent study:The more detailed and specific the PIC, the higher are the firms innovation rates.The more specific the corporate mission and senior management direction is spelled out in the PIC, the better is the performance of the firms new products.3-*

The Contents of a Product Innovation Charter

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Focus

At least one clear technology dimension and one clear market dimension. They match and have good potential.

Guidelines

Any "rules of the road," requirements imposed by the situation or by upper management. Innovativeness, order of market entry, time/quality/cost, miscellaneous.

Goals-Objectives

What the project will accomplish, either short-term as objectives or longer-term as goals. Evaluation measurements.

Background

Key ideas from the situation analysis; special forces such as managerial dicta; reasons for preparing a new PIC at this time.

An Illustrative PIC for the Apple iPadFocus: Technology strengths include Apples operating system, hardware, applications, and services, product design and development skills. Marketing requirements include products on the cutting edge that offer seamless integration and high performance, yet are intuitive, simple, and fun to use.Goals: Revolutionary new products should also be platforms for future products, due to the cost of really new product development. New products should occupy the leadership position in the market.Special Guidelines: Apple aims to be the best, not necessarily the first, in new product categories. The Result: Apples first tablet computer, a revolutionary new product seen by many at the time as the next big thing. No one tablet computer had established a dominant position yet, so Apple could be the standard bearer with the iPad. The plan for the future was to add capabilities and applications to future iPads.3-*

Purposes of PICFocus and integrate team effortPermit delegationEstablish the size and range of the sandbox3-*

Risks of Poor PIC DevelopmentScope creep: Product definition keeps changing: who is the customer? Is it a standalone product or a platform?Unstable product specifications: Required performance level keeps changing.Both of these risks are elusive targets (moving goalposts) that occur because the sandbox was never defined, or vaguely defined. 3-*

PIC Steps: Background, Focus, and GoalsBackground: Why did we develop this strategy?Focus, or Area: technology and market drivers that (1) fit and (2) have good potential.Goals and Objectives: profit, growth, market status3-*

PIC Steps: Special GuidelinesDegree of InnovativenessFirst-to-marketAdaptive productImitation (emulation)TimingFirstQuick secondSlowLateMiscellaneousAvoidance of competition with certain firmsRecognition of weaknessesPatentabilityProduct Integrity3-*

Product Portfolio: The New Products Strategic FitStrategic goals (defending current base of products versus extending the base).Project types (fundamental research, process improvements, or maintenance projects).Short-term versus long-term projects.High-risk versus low-risk projects.Market familiarity (existing markets, extensions of current ones, or totally new ones).Technology familiarity (existing platforms, extensions of current ones, or totally new ones).Ease of development.Geographical markets (North America, Europe, Asia).3-*

ProjectProduct Innovation CharterMarket Need Identification (Gap Analysis) Idea Generation (Brainstorming) Problems That Could be Faced Concept Development

**Figure 3-3The Flow that Produces PICs -- Special Emphasis on Role of Corporate and Platforms**************