You have been appointed the CIO (Chief Innovation Officer) of a major enterprise. This will be a large enterprise you know or can be chosen from existing global firms where adequate detail of internal operations is available. If you cannot find sufficient information about the firm you choose to study, you may make reasonable assumptions about the firm’s operations, including its new product development and commercialisation processes. You have been given the task of ramping up the firm’s innovative capacity through the introduction of a major, new technological innovation to be developed and commercialised within the firm. This is a difficult task because few firms understand the comprehensive theory behind technological innovation.
The output
The written innovation plan you prepare will focus on a comprehensive evaluation of a major new technological innovation planned for development and commercialisation within the firm of which you are the CIO, and must include an assessment of the project’s likely impact upon the firm’s overall success over the next 5 to 10 years.
This innovation plan needs to be written up as a report to top management. You are to use theory where appropriate to support your analysis and arguments and to justify your conclusions.
This assignment focuses upon the theories, models and concepts about innovation development and commercialisation presented in Mazzarol and Reboud (2017) Chapter 11: 362-368, Chapter 12: 384-409; and the Workbook Appendix C. You may introduce any other theories and concepts you feel may be relevant to your plan.
A recommended structure for the written innovation plan is set out below. Executive summary
Table of contents
Introduction
• • •
The objective of the plan
A brief description of the firm and the project What the plan will cover
Outline of the new project (product or process). What is it?
The new product development and commercialisation process to be adopted for the
technological innovation?
See discussion of the three development and commercialisation process models (NPD, Stage-Gate Spiral Development and Lean Startup process models in Mazzarol and Reboud (2017), Chapter 12: 399-409. Choose ONE of these process models only. Explain why you have chosen this model of development and commercialisation and how it will apply to the proposed technological innovation.
How prepared is the firm for this technological innovation?
Use the Innovation Diamond tool (Mazzarol and Reboud (2017) Workbook Appendix C) to benchmark the current capacity of the company or project team to move forward with development and commercialisation of the major new project. The outcomes of this diagnostic need to be discussed in this section and the actual diagnostic tool must be added as an appendix.
Return-risk analysis of the new technological innovation?
To analyse the return-risk profile of the project, use the RENT model and planning response contingency matrix in Mazzarol and Reboud (2017) Chapter 11: 362-368 plus the Workbook Appendix C. Be sure to set out your conclusion on what you consider this analysis reveals about the project’s return-risk profile.
Commercialisation of the technological innovation: Some special considerations
Four key market considerations for commercialising technological innovation (Mazzarol and Reboud, 2017, Chapter 12: 384-387)
Five steps to develop (spot and cultivate) technological innovation (Mazzarol and Reboud, 2017, Chapter 12: 388-391)
Three critical tests of strategies to implement technological innovation (Mazzarol and Reboud, 2017, Chapter 12: 391-392)
Four key issues surrounding market adoption of technological innovation (Mazzarol and Reboud, 2017, Chapter 12: 392-394)
Creating a new market space for technological innovation (Mazzarol and Reboud, 2017, Chapter 12: 394-399).
Evaluation of the impact of the new project on the firm’s overall success over the next 5 to 10 years. Specifically:
At a firm level, consider whether the balance is right between radical, synthetic or incremental innovation, as opposed to simply fine-tuning current products and services.
Also, consider the firm’s organisation structure and balance between champions of innovation and innovation champions. Are the right management processes in place to nurture ongoing innovation in the firm?
Discussion on findings and analyses Conclusion
References Appendix
Innovation Diamond results
Return-risk analyses, including RENT and planning response
contingency matrix