Technology Innovation Management

Module Structure

• The module covers topics from defining the innovation management process to revision.
• The module's parts include:
• Building the innovative organization
• Developing an innovation strategy
• Search Strategies for Innovation
• Exploiting Project Management for Technology Innovation
• Strategic Alliances and Innovation Networks
• Decision-Making Under Uncertainty
• Managing Sources of Innovation
• Reading Week (GIS)
• Revision Week

Lesson Learning Outcomes

• Modern dissimilar search strategies of technology innovation will be reviewed.
• Understanding the contingency approach to innovation management is a goal.
• Reasons why firms and technologies converge will be discussed.
• Path dependency is a constraining factor of innovation and change.
• The role and significance of dominant designs will be analyzed.
• The resource-based view of the firm will be a topic of discussion, as it applies to innovation.
• Reasons for periods of discontinuity will be identified.
• Describing the main steps involved in knowledge management is a learning aim.

Topic Introduction

• Many companies lack a clearly articulated and well-communicated product innovation and technology strategy.
• This strategy is strongly linked to positive performance in product innovation.
• Despite investments, innovation is frustrating for many companies.
• Innovation initiatives frequently fail and successful innovators have trouble sustaining their performance.

Developing an Innovation Strategy

• Innovation strategies are "Rationalist" or "Incrementalist".
• There is Innovation "Leadership” vs “Followership".
• Dynamic capabilities of firms appropriating the benefits from innovation are important.
• Exploiting technological trajectories can be a strategy.
• Developing firm-specific competencies also creates strategy.
• The globalisation of innovation is a topic.
• Enabling strategy making will be reviewed.

"Rationalist” vs “Incrementalist" Strategies for Innovation

• ‘Rationalist' strategy consists of describing, understanding, and analysing the environment.
• Determining a course of action in light of analysis is key.
• Carrying out the decided course is necessary.
• An 'INCREMENTALIST' strategy involves making deliberate steps toward the objective.
• Measure and evaluate step effects.
• Adjust the objective if necessary, and decide on the next step.

Innovation "Leadership” vs “Followership"

• Firms must also decide between two market strategies.
• Innovation ‘leadership' focuses on being first to market and relies on technological leadership.
• This strategy requires a strong corporate commitment to creativity and risk-taking.
• It also requires close linkages to major sources of relevant new knowledge and to customer needs/responses.
• Innovation 'followership' focuses on being late to market via imitating/learning from technological leaders.
• A strong commitment to competitor analysis and reverse engineering is required.
• It requires cutting costs and learning in manufacturing.

Boundary-Spanning

• Boundary spanning describes individuals within an innovation system.
• They link the organization's internal networks with external information sources.
• Boundary Spanning Managers must gain access to information needed to forecast future issues.
• Boundary spanning involves relating to people outside the organization.
• Increasing levels of management involved in spanning yields better decision making.
• Boundary Spanning Roles: Managers in boundary spanning roles feedback information to other managers.

Sources and Search Strategies for Innovation

• Identify if there is is clear innovation strategy.
• Then select what to do and why.
• Implementation is the next step.
• Capture the process to get the benefits.
• Also need to know if the organization is innovative.
• Sources of innovation include:
• Shocks to the system
• Accidents
• Watching others
• Recombinant innovation
• Regulation
• Advertising
• Inspiration
• Knowledge push
• Need pull
• Users as innovators
• Exploring alternative future and opening up different possibilities

Five-Question Framework for Innovation

• The five questions are:
• What?
• When?
• Who?
• Where?
• How?
• These questions are used in searching for innovation opportunities

Lesson Summary

• Firms and technologies converge as individuals face similar decisions.
• Path dependency, the setting of future direction by past decisions, constrains innovation and change.
• Dominant designs block innovation as they are very hard to redefine.
• The resource based view of the firm has recently been applied to innovation process management.
• Periods of discontinuity punctuate periods of stability as new ideas displace incumbents.
• Knowledge management has been a popular, but often unsuccessful tool for formalizing organizational learning.
• There are many reasons for firms to enter into alliances.

Software Project Execution Phases

• Requirements Analysis
• Involves analysing the feature
• Talk to users
• Creating a prototype
• Precisely defining what needs to be created
• Design
• Architecture: Defining how orders are stored in a Database table
• UI Design
• Code-Level design: Hierarchies from basic versions
• Development
• Write software that fulfils each of the requirements
• base it upon the chosen design
• Testing

Key Point for Software Projects

• Code for a feature is created during the DEVELOPMENT phase of its life-cycle.
• For a high-quality feature you should:
• Perform REQUIREMENTS ANALYSIS
• DESIGN before it is developed
• Thoroughly TEST it afterwards