Embryonic stage

1. Product Life Cycle • Embryonic stage • Customers are unsure what the product has to offer, and it has yet to gain widespread acceptance. • Growth stage • Many consumers are entering the market and purchasing the product for the first time. • Example: global positioning systems • Maturity stage • Consumers are buying replacement products • Examples: cars, telephones, PCs • Decline stage • Demand falls, often because of obsolescence • Example: VCRs

2. Types of Innovation • Quantum technological change • reforms the way products are made • Examples: personal computers and genetic engineering • alters competitive relations within the field • Incremental technological change • improves base technology • Examples: Intel’s newer microprocessors and more efficient gasoline engines • favors existing leaders in the field

3. Strategic Innovation • R&D is an ongoing process • Something should always be “in the pipeline” • Incremental innovation • develops existing markets • solidifies leadership in field • Quantum innovation • riskier than incremental improvement • potential to unseat industry leaders • Focus!!!

4. Managing Innovation • Stage-gate development funnel • improve control over innovation and new product development • Invest in best ideas over time • Cross-functional teams and a product team structure

5. Managing Innovation • Skunk works • a task force created to expedite new product design and promote innovation by coordinating activities of functional groups. • New venture division • a new division that manages a project from beginning to end • Creating a culture for innovation • values and norms that reinforce the entrepreneurial spirit