Innovation Management Process PDF

5 INNOVATION MANAGEMENT PROCESS Arancha López de Sancho, Carmen Dominguez, Amaia San Cristobal Macho, Pablo Vidal Álvarez, Federico Martire 5.1 Learning objectives In this module, you will get familiar with the innovation process, its phases, and the main elements you must take in account to ma...

5 INNOVATION MANAGEMENT PROCESS Arancha López de Sancho, Carmen Dominguez, Amaia San Cristobal Macho, Pablo Vidal Álvarez, Federico Martire 5.1 Learning objectives In this module, you will get familiar with the innovation process, its phases, and the main elements you must take in account to manage innovation. Develop innovation process is not an easy undertaking, but a demanding initiative. Innovation do not come by chance, it responds to a studied and planned work, which arises from a firm commitment to evolve new concepts, products, services or ways to develop our professional activity. After reading this module, you will be familiar with: what does the innovation process involve basic knowledge of the key elements to manage innovation processes the environment of innovation systems the relevance of a good organisation to develop innovative activities some European programmes to support innovation 5.2 Introduction Innovation is the creation or developing of new and more effective processes, services, products, technologies, as well as the successfully assimilation and exploitation of them. Innovation helps to improve economic growth, social development and business competitiveness. Inside enterprises or companies, innovation is linked to useful changes in competitiveness, productivity, efficiency, effectiveness, access to markets or management. Innovation management appears as an essential management tool, able to contribute significantly to the success and development of the company or organisation. In this module, some key points of innovation processes and innovation management are presented. They provide a concise approach to the main elements you must know to develop an innovation strategy in your company, as well as useful guidelines to look for more information in the field of innovation New ways to understand innovation Innovation is changing every day, and there are a wide range of examples and types of innovation adapted to achieve specific goals in a concrete environment. Moreover, there are many ways to define how to interpret the innovation and what should be the key points to be I n n o v a t i o n M a n a g e m e n t focused. Find new approaches to innovation below. Open Innovation Open innovation is the use of purposive inflows and outflows of knowledge to accelerate internal innovation, and expand the markets for external use of innovation, respectively. \[This paradigm\] assumes that firms can and should use external ideas as well as internal ideas, and internal and external paths to market, as they look to advance their technology. Chesbrough, H. (2006): Open innovation: researching a new paradigm Eco Innovation Eco-innovation is the production, assimilation or exploitation of a product, production process, service or management or business method that is novel to the organisation (developing or adopting it) and which results, throughout its life cycle, in a reduction of environmental risk, pollution and other negative impacts of resources use (including energy use) compared to relevant alternatives. Kemp, R. and Pontoglio, S. (2007): Workshop conclusions about panel survey analysis and definitions of eco-innovation 5.3 The innovation process The objective of innovation process must be focused on the use of the available resources in the institution (material and immaterial resources), to increase and improve the creative processes to obtain new knowledge and original and feasible ideas. 5.3.1 Stages of innovation Regarding to the innovative process, it is possible to define key stages, as a route to achieve progresses for the innovation. However, it be taken into consideration that innovation is a multicausal and not-lineal phenomenon, which is defined as a result of a wide range of links, interactions, cycles and feed-backs. Attending to these considerations, we can draw 5 main stages in this process, summarized as follows: Find a opportunity Definition and redefinition of the opportunity Idea creation (methodologies) 75 76 I n n o v a t i o n M a n a g e m e n t Idea selection Implementation Finding new opportunities may involve: periodic review of external and internal opportunities of the organisation, establish the proper communication channels (in order to "hear" the opportunities), develop methodologies to identify trends and insights, using of utility maps... Table 3: Internal and External Opportunities To redefine the opportunity, it is necessary to describe and analyze the opportunities and possibly related problems, identify limitations, develop criteria to find solutions, consider alternative options, research new specifications or carry out an exhaustive diagnosis of the opportunity (or problem). In order to maximize the creative potential of the problem solving group, the idea generation activity should be collaborative in nature. This can be accomplished in many ways. Idea management and innovation process management often provides collaboration tools, while facilitators of brainstorming and other ideation events should promote collaborative idea development. If at first, the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it. Albert Einstein There are several methods to select ideas. Instead of basing selection on arbitrary decisions, it is recommended to apply a set of business criteria to the idea and rank how well the idea meets each criterion. If an idea achieves a sufficiently high ranking, either as is or through additional modification, it should be developed further. Ideas that have passed successfully testing and development criteria, are ready to be implemented. Now, you can integrate the innovation into your ongoing routine, production activity, etc. Internal Opportunities External Opportunities Parallel stages of production Elements to add value Task combination New niche market Reduce inventory and waste Increase clients Combine efforts Increase buying of current clients Providers review Revolutionary ideas Review use of components and packaging Harness the potential of product and services 77 I n n o v a t i o n M a n a g e m e n t 5.4 Managing innovation Innovation is driven by the ability to identify opportunities and linkages, to see interactions or connections between two or more (seemingly) isolated facts, and to take advantage of them. Sometimes, the process to innovate is more complex than we can expect at the beginning, and a quality, effectiveness and efficient management of the process will increase our possibilities of success. To manage this process it must be taken in account the following aspects: Planning (Innovation Plan) The process of innovate (see chapter 1.4) The management of innovation projects and technology How to finance innovation Competitive intelligence, technological watch and benchmarking 5.4.1 Planning Innovation process is based on detect potential innovations, process these signals and develop the capacity to change and take advantage of them. Once you have processed, assimilated and selected the most significant of them, they must be concatenated in a strategic plan. The strategic plan will define the better way to achieve the desirable situation. Figure 1: Strategic plan A strategy defines where you can be within reasonable period of time. If the goals are determined to be reached in the closest short-term, the strategic plan can become obsolete quickly. Besides this, if the objectives are determined for the further long-term, likelihood of use non adequate information will increase. 5.4.2 Management of innovation projects Project management The discipline that deals with organises and administrates resources in order to complete all work required in the project within scope, time and cost defined. 78 I n n o v a t i o n M a n a g e m e n t Project management helps to ensure that: Projects are supportive of overarching strategic objectives of the company and of development partners We are improving the scope and performance of the project Optimize time and cost project objectives Standardisation Projects are feasible, meaning that objectives can be realistically achieved within the constraints of the operating environment and capabilities of the company Improve and optimize future planning Think about the last innovations developed in your company. Any of them could be improved using proper methodologies for project management? What do you think about the importance of a good planning and designing of the innovation processes? Is innovation = improvisation? 5.4.3 How to finance innovation In addition to the usual financial resources available in the company, it is possible to access to various grants, subsidies and other instruments that some public bodies and institutions provide. Financing instruments: Subsidies (European, national and regional and local programmes) Credits Participative loans Venture capital Tax incentives Respect to European Union, it is remarkable to take in account two funding programmes for the innovation and one European innovation network: Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/understand\_en.html Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP): http://ec.europa.eu/cip/index\_en.htmI n n o v a t i o n M a n a g e m e n t EUREKA http://www.eurekanetwork.org 5.5 Managing the context 5.5.1 Environment Innovation is not an isolated process, the interaction among the stakeholders shapes the outcome of the innovation process. The environment of the innovative enterprise is formed by universities, specialized technical training, scientific and researcher community, common funds of knowledge, human resources, internal effort and policies, and support of public administrations and other organisations. Figure 2: Environment of the innovative enterprise 79 I n n o v a t i o n M a n a g e m e n t Nevertheless, there are other factors with significant importance in the environment of an innovative enterprise, as innovation policies of national/local/supranational governments, macroeconomic and legislative context, communications infrastructures, financial institutions, access to markets, or industrial structure and competitiveness conditions. 5.5.2 Organisation and innovation The innovation is found to be based on strategy, is dependant on effective internal and external linkages and requires enabling mechanisms for making change happen, in a supporting organisational context. The social component of the innovative company is considered strategic for the organisational change. The influence of the social context will determine acquisition of knowledge processes and the learning paths. Besides this, the strategy, financing and organization of innovative enterprises, are a dynamic and interactive process, resulting in learning. The source of long-term and inimitable differences among companies is organizational differences, especially differences in abilities to generate and benefit from innovation, rather than differences in the management of particular technologies. A good organisational performance will be (in addition to an appropriate strategy) one of the best ways to develop an innovative process. It means that the company must successfully connect innovation an organisation in the following fields: Generate immaterial and material resources for developing new products/services/ technologies Develop process and structures able to solve problems in the innovation process and connect innovations with business opportunities Incorporate innovation as a main component of the company's strategy Innovation does not occur by chance, some organisations facilitate innovation, whereas others do not promote it. But it is not possible to define with exactitude infallible rules for the innovation, though it is possible to draw some organisational behaviours which help innovative processes: Small organisations could develop more potential than big ones Communication channels must be fluent Team works must be dynamics and able to incorporate different views and approaches Methodologies and process must be flexible The location to develop the innovative process is important Too much rules could be prejudicial to innovation 80 81 I n n o v a t i o n M a n a g e m e n t 5.6 Additional cases Self evaluation questionnaire This self evaluation questionnaire is a simple self scoring one to allow you record your own perception about innovation in your company or organization. Please, indicate how much you agree with each of the statements below (from 5, I completely agree, to 1, I disagree). Download: Self evaluation questionnaire 5.7 Examples Case study iPhone Innovation in product: iPhone One of the most famous cases of innovation in the last years has been the iPhone. In this particular case it is possible to distinguish both types of product innovation: introduction of new products and improve existing products. As a new product, the iPhone was a revolution, a new concept in the field of new technologies. The iPhone has started a new era into the telecommunications; it is more than a telephone. Phone calls stopped to be essential in the phone to be just part of it. iPhone is a real computer, but also you can make calls. But innovation does not end, Apple has continued improving the product. To offer new services and to cultivate the loyalty of the customers, the company is continuously developing new applications (free and paid apps): browser, maps and compass, games, access to social networks... 82 I n n o v a t i o n M a n a g e m e n t 6 NEEDS ANALYSES Arne Kullbjer, Borut Likar, Urška Mrgole 6.1 Learning objective A well performed innovation process is closely linked to the needs of potential users. A technically brilliant and original product will not be useful (not an innovation) if nobody asks for it. This module deals with qualitative and quantitative tools for the need analysis supporting the invention-innovation chain. Tools for finding the needs are different and the chapter presents a brief background on some of them like questionnaires, SWOT-analysis, On-line tools, Focus groups and Technology watch methods incl. a subchapter Searching via internet. A reader can find a method description, methodology of using it, expected results and some practical tips for its application as well as some examples from praxis. 6.2 Introduction Innovation is closely linked to needs. However brilliant and innovative a product it will be of no use if nobody asks for it. Innovation is also related to design and sustainability. If we do not foresee sustainable development using renewable resources, low energy etc there is no need to develop a product further. Design is an important factor taking the interest of the end user of a product into account. Extensive background information about end users needs is important before even thinking of developing a new innovative product. Tools for finding the needs can be very different and here we will just give a brief background on some of them like questionnaires, SWOT-analysis, On-line tools, focus groups and technology watch methods. 6.3 Questionnaires Most of us have probably responded to different types of questionnaires. This is however not equivalent to the construction of a questionnaire where your intention is to get responses and adequate answers to your problems and the items you want to investigate. Many questionnaires include simple and short questions which fail to be carefully prepared and there are just too. This is mostly not effective and takes a long time to answer for the best results. If too ambitious, many questions not being applicable, the response could be low and the results not as representative as they should be. 83 I n n o v a t i o n M a n a g e m e n t It is important to exactly define the information you need and not go beyond these borders even if tempting. Define and write a clear objective to get the scope of the survey and then make a draft of the questionnaire. If you have settled your objectives then it is easy to define the exact items planned to be measured by the questionnaire. A reference group or colleagues could be consulted. You could also use a small group of responders, who you know very well, to get an input from their reaction on the draft version of the questionnaire. 6.3.1 Type of questions Open questions where the responders are expected to give written answers are easy to construct but also often tend to give less response than other type of questions. Of course you could include some questions of that type to get further information from some of the persons responding. If you expect many responses to the questionnaire it might create problems in the process of evaluating the responses. Be careful. Try to make the questions as objective as possible. If you make a scale where the respondents are expected to choose between a number of boxes and numbers to choose, make it as conform as possible through questionnaire. One example can be seen in Table 4. Rate the questions from 0 to 5 according to the following chart: Table 4: Scale for closed type of questionnaires Such an approach makes it easier for the respondent to fill in the questionnaire. It could also be discussed if there should be a middle-point where you do not take any positive or negative response to the question. This procedure would be a way to force the respondent to take a standpoint. Questions like "Yes-No" and "Multiple choice" might be needed to include into the questionnaire. Important to keep in mind at all time is; All questions should be coherent with the well defined objectives of the questionnaire All questions should enable answers from the respondents 0 1 2 3 4 5 Don\'t know/ N.A. Strongly disagree Don\'t agree Indifferent I agree Strongly agree Rarely Quite/ Enough Easily Never Not often Some-times Almost always Always No YesI n n o v a t i o n M a n a g e m e n t All questions should produce answers you really need All questions should be easy for the respondents to understand A nice, attractive layout, professionally printed, is important. Such a serious approach will make the response rate higher. 6.4 Online tools It is of course possible to provide the questionnaires on-line over the Web. Many commercial websites are available where you can create the survey, conduct it on-line, make the analysis and download the results which could be presented in different forms/software. Just search the web for on-line surveys and you will find many such examples. The on-line questionnaires and services offered by them are naturally of interest as they might analyse and present the data in a convenient form. But they could go even further and suggest actions as a result of the analysis. Example: One example is a project, eCASME (2004), coordinated by University of Limerick which has developed a tool for Training Needs analysis where the training (or Competencies) is broken down into sub components to specify training needs into detail. From this a training plan is generated to individual employees. The training plan specifies a method to allow companies to generate their own training content where possible (Devetak, 2002). The result of the analysis is an individualised training plan per employee specifying content required for a training program. One further development of it could be to offer on-line training compiled from "Learning objects" that exactly matches the need of the employee. In principle all could be generated on-line and offered to the employee. This point has not been reached yet, but it is not an unrealistic future vision. Example: Another example is the project COMBAT. This being a co-operation of eleven partners based in eight different EU countries. As part of the Leonardo da Vinci umbrella they have developed a methodology that guides companies step by step in the most effective and efficient training for their personnel. As part of this project a number of tools were developed: competency analysis assessment of workers at the workplace training needs analysis training plan development training delivery These examples cover training need analysis, but they also give views on how much further 84 85 I n n o v a t i o n M a n a g e m e n t you might go with on-line tools compared to the paper based questionnaires. We will probably see more of these types of need analysis tools not only making surveys but also providing solutions to the results analysed, and why not make it a part of the innovation process when new products are being developed. 6.5 SWOT analysis SWOT-analysis is a tool where you can find out your own Strengths and Weaknesses as well as looking for Opportunities and Threats you face now or will face in the future. It is a simple method but nevertheless quite powerful to help you understand your business and how to act in the future. The SWOT analysis is often presented in a worksheet or diagram with four boxes according to Table 5. In the diagram you can write down Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Table 5: SWOT analysis diagram Strengths and Weaknesses are considered to be internal to your business or organisation while Opportunities and Threats are more depending on external factors. It is of course also possible to try to analyse your competitors through a SWOT-analysis even though you probably do not have all data available to be sure how correct the analysis is. 6.5.1 SWOT analysis - steps There are of course a number of questions you could write down the answers for in this diagram and after that try to make an analysis. Several criteria's could be placed in more than one of the boxes and could for instance both be a Threat and an Opportunity. Try to make the analysis not too big and complicated, just finish up not exceeding 4-10 sentences in each box. With a good analysis you can focus to decrease threats and take advantage of your business opportunities. You might also make an SWOT analysis on a personal basis to identify your own opportunities and threats. Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats 86 I n n o v a t i o n M a n a g e m e n t Examples on criteria are shown in Table 6. Table 6: Examples on criteria in SWOT analysis 6.6 Focus groups The method of focus groups is often used for planning, marketing and/or evaluation of a product or a service especially during a development phase. This is a possibility to strengthen the process of new innovations within a company. The focus group could be chosen to collect information and to check out your assumptions while being in an innovation process. They could also get involved in the marketing process and definition of the market. If you want to establish a focus group it is important to be very clear with the purpose/ objective of the group and to define the questions to be tackled and answered to. The members of the group should be well prepared and have a good understanding of the purpose, be given background material etc. After a preparation time of 1-2 months there will be a session where the focus group meets in a convenient location for maybe one day. During that session a facilitator will lead the discussion and keep it at all time focused on the objectives to gain most possible output from the group. After the session it is important to analyse and document the outcomes. Strengths Weaknesses Advantages of your business Your capabilities Experience and knowledge Marketing Innovative aspects and possibilities Resources Price Improvements needed What to avoid Capability gaps Cash flow Quality Market penetration Missing resources Opportunities Threats Opportunities you think you have Market Production innovation Technology innovation Geographical expansion Trends you could foresee Strengths that could be opportunities Obstacles Competition Cash-flow problems New technology threats Key staff Market changesI n n o v a t i o n M a n a g e m e n t The focus group should not be very formal and exact, it is more essential that the members of the groups are comfortable with the situation, especially during the session when they are supposed to give their contribution and answers to the questions defined. Choose a nice surrounding with good support during the meeting. 6.7 Desk research Desk research is as the term suggests a research you can do at your desk using a computer. This term is mainly used as an expression when trying to define customers and market to your product, and the competition you are facing. Internet is nowadays the main source to find and to use published information. To make desk research you must know what you are looking for and understand the quality of the material you find. Correct information is essential. It is easy to find material on Internet, but the problem arises when using a search engine you receive an enormous amount of links. Which ones are the most interesting? To make an analysis of the market or the competitors related to a certain product will probably take several days. The analysis takes time and even though being careful it is easy to leave out key issues within the material. The quality aspect needs a lot of experience. You need to look for how the information has been gathered, and if the website seems to be reliable. As to the market analysis you often get only small pieces from different sources needed to evaluate and to put together to get the proper overview and understanding. During desk research always bear in mind where and what to look for, quality and selection of necessary information. It is easy and tempting to get into directions beyond the scope of the research but try to keep your focus during the whole process. 6.8 Technology watch 6.8.1 The purpose of technology watch Technology watch encompasses establishing the state of research and technology in international scale. We wish to establish what has been done in a specific field of technology or which the guide criteria of development are. 87 88 I n n o v a t i o n M a n a g e m e n t Table 7: Technology watch Type of data Sources of information Level of applicability for enterprises Development guide criteria of states, EU, USA and similar governmental documents official state web sites, EU -- e.g. CORDIS strategic decision-making of enterprise R&D projects (current) -- universi ties, institutes, com mercial research laboratories specialized databases (national, EU -- 6 & 7 Framework Programme, Marie Curie and similar) publications at scientific conferences strategic decision-making sources of knowledge and ideas for enterprises with leading strategy R&D projects (concluded) -- univer sities, institutes, commercial research laboratories specialized databases (national, EU -- 6 & 7 Framework Programme, Marie Curie and similar) publications in scientific and expert journals reports of R&D groups and national as well as EU tenders strategic decision-making sources of knowledge and ideas for enterprises with leading strategy Patents specialized databases on granted patents (Espacenet, USPTO...) patent representatives strategic decision-making sources of knowledge and ideas for enterprises with leading strategy Enterprises -- commercial offer enterprises' web sites and other materials specialized databases (yellow pages and similar) fairs, exhibitions strategic decision-making sources of knowledge and ideas for enterprises with Experts' analyses specialized databases tailor-made production strategic decision-making sources of knowledge and ideas for enterprises with tracking or leading strategy Other info macroeconomic reports, financial statements of enterprises, stock ex change data, news and similar strategic decision-making sources of knowledge and ideas for enterprises I n n o v a t i o n M a n a g e m e n t Knowledge on the state of technology proves to necessary due to rapid development of technology and globalisation effects, that is to say not only in the development of new products and services, selection of material and components, purchase of development and production equipment, logistics as well as following the competition as regards the development but also their marketing activities. The results of analysis serve also at managerial decision-making on new inventions and of course strategic decisions of the management. 6.8.2 Independently or with a help of an expert Overview of the state of technique is performed mainly by large enterprises themselves, while small and medium-sized enterprises may order the analysis from the qualified institutions. As regards the quality the prices range between a couple of thousands and some ten thousands of euros. A good analysis may be performed only by a well-qualified expert -- generalist, who knows the method of work and payable databases at his disposal and by cooperating with experts from concrete fields (universities, faculties, consultants, senior managers and similar). The work is mostly performed via Internet since the latter may prove to be a valuable source of information if used deftly. In recent times, even professional information agencies collect a significant part of the information they require on Internet. According to some data more than 80 % of information is collected in such a way. The work is carried out in numerous stages. In order to obtain appropriate information, the problem needs to be clearly defined otherwise the right information may be hard to select among a great number of obtained information. This phase is followed by information collection -- outside experts may be brought in if thus proves necessary. After this phase, filtrating is essential together with organising of obtained data as well as their analysis. This is followed by the preparation of basic report and the presentation to the contractor. Paying regard to contractor's comments, additional data collection is carried out followed by analysis and preparation of final report. In praxis, the results prove to be considerably more useful to the contractor if the latter continuously cooperates during the work since the research is oriented and directed according to the needs of the contractor. It is worth mentioning that some enterprises perform part of this process on permanent basis. They follow different Internet or other resources, visit fairs, exhibitions, and expert conferences. They are at least partly familiar with the competition and suppliers of technology and equipment. Yet the praxis indicates that systematic analysis on the basis of new and considerably more in-depth approaches including experts may represent the enterprise value added which is used to their benefit during the business process. 89 I n n o v a t i o n M a n a g e m e n t 6.8.3 Searching via internet-general use General browsers may be used for independent substantiation of the state, such as Google (www.google.com), Altavista (www.altavista.com), Hotbot (www.hotbot.com). Yet we may also use special type of browsers which try classify more or less successfully the hits according to technological-entrepreneurial nature. Examples of the said browsers are www.search4rss.com, technology.monster.com. It is furthermore advisable to have a look at the web sites which specialise in following technological development. Perfect information of course cannot be found but you may find performed comprehensive studies, papers, reviews, assessments and similar, which partly comply with your area of interest. Thus documents (researches) on technology development in the field of e-learning, nanotechnology, new technologies of screens, optical telecommunications and similar may currently be found on www.primetechnologywatch.org.uk. It is also worth highlighting more challenging databases such as Dialog (www.dialog.com) which deals with the filed of entrepreneurship and finances (over 14 million American and international enterprises), chemistry, energy and environment, food, patents, medicine, pharmacy, technology and similar. The use of the said databases is demanding and above all not cheap. Particularly useful are databases collected within EU information service (http:// cordis.europa.eu) (CORDIS -- Community Research and Development Information Service). Numerous databases on R&D work may be found under the heading "Database and Web Services" which is financed by the European Union. Moreover, the said web site also offers browsers of partners for R&D work, databases of programmes and projects and similar. When browsing for literature, search and purchase of literature via Internet bookstore Amazon.com (www.amazon.com) proves to be popular. Amazon.com has been followed by other bookstores such as Barnes&Noble (www.barnesandnoble.com). The purchase of books may be made easier by checking the table of contents of the book and sometimes reading the purchasers reviews of the book. 6.8.4 Searching via internet patents databases The Internet offers numerous browsers of patents databases yet only a few are free of charge. The browser of the American Patent Office USPTO (www.uspto.gov/patft) and the browser of European Patent Office (ep.espacenet.com) prove the best in praxis (Figure 3). The former enables browsing through American patent files which is necessary for a serious investigation, while the latter enables reciprocal browsing through European (EPO), international (WIPO) and Japanese patent database. 90 I n n o v a t i o n M a n a g e m e n t Figure 3: The result of enquiry in EPO The result of a simple enquiry in EPO patent database describes technical solution for a wooden beam (wood\* AND (beam OR pillar)). As clearly evident, the enquiry obtained more than 422 hits, which are far too many for detailed reviewing, and the search shall need to be limited more precisely. Furthermore, it is worth establishing that the patents files for solving a concrete technical problem are numerous. Which is of course bad since it indicates that many things are already patented yet also good because very often a particular niche may still be found for protecting our own technical solution (EPO, 2006). By using a browser, we often obtain many hits which meet our searched series of items. Numbers of patents, date of issue and the name of the patent are written out. By clicking on the number of patent, we may obtain basic information on the patent, including the abstract, listed literature, a list of patents onto which the patent in question relates, as well as the patents which mention the said patent. All of the aforementioned makes our further search easier since we can easily find all required patents with one good "hit". Beside the already described, the patent includes the classification into which the patent was classified. By clicking the basic classification of the patent, we obtain all hits of the patents which include the said classification and a list of related classification at the same time. Information on technology development is thus numerous on the Internet, all we need to do is take some time and thoroughly "browse" as well as "winnow chaff from grain". 6.9 Summary This module deals with qualitative and quantitative tools for the need analysis supporting the invention-innovation chain. Tools for finding the needs are different and the chapter presents 91 I n n o v a t i o n M a n a g e m e n t a brief background on some of them like questionnaires, SWOT-analysis, On-line tools, Focus groups and Technology watch methods incl. a subchapter Searching via internet. For further reading, we prepared some additional materials (see Further reading). 7 IDEA CREATION Cyril Chovan, Silvia Medova, Vassilis Tsaggaris, Peter Fatur, Borut Likar 7.1 Learning objective In this module, you will get familiar with some simple and more sophisticated ways of creating good ideas that your business may require. A good idea has a potential to develop a new product, process, service or an entirely new business. A good idea may be a solution to a problem you have in mind. Also a problem itself can be hiding a good idea. Identifying a problem (of your customer, for example) is often a good part of the solution that your customer will be glad to buy. There is no creative business without a starting idea. Therefore, idea creation is a crucial step in the innovation chain of your company. After reading this module, you will be familiar with: different sources of ideas you may have available, knowledge on the most used techniques used to create ideas (brainstorming, brain writing, Gordon's technique, fishbone diagram and six thinking hats). 7.2 Introduction Ideas come from people we know, stories we hear, the work we do, our interests, our opinions and our experiences. Some could help you get ahead at work, improve your business operations or even make your fortune. Business ideas are all around you. Some business ideas come from a careful analysis of market trends and consumer needs; others come from luck. But how can you find a source of ideas and knowledge? You could start by examine your own (or personnel's) skill set for business ideas. To find a viable business idea, ask yourself, \"What have I done? What can I do? Will people be willing to pay for my products or services? Do I have the skills to develop this idea?\" It is also essential to keep up with current events and be ready to take advantage of business opportunities. Keeping up with current events will help you identify market trends, new fashions, industry news -- and sometimes just new ideas that have business possibilities. Observation of the market is another source of generating ideas and can lead to invent a new product or service. The key to coming up with business ideas for a new product or service is to identify a market need that\'s not being met. Ask yourself, \"How this situation could be improved?\" Ask people about additional services that they\'d like to receive. Focus on a I n n o v a t i o n M a n a g e m e n t particular target market and brainstorm business ideas for services that that group would be interested in. Another opportunity appears at changing existing products or services by adding value to an existing product or improving an existing product or service. You might also add services, or combine the product with other products. What business ideas can you develop along these lines? Focus on what products you might buy and what you might do to them or with them to create a profitable business. There are very few products (or services) that can\'t be improved. Start generating business ideas by looking at the products and services you use and brainstorming ideas as to how they could be better. Ideas and suggestions from current customers could be also a source for developing an idea. You could use Customer Feedback Forms with simple questions on what they are expecting from your product/service, what other services they would like to receive etc. Gather their answers and discuss them with your partners and start exploring if any of these ideas could be a marketable product or service. We all live in the world in which it is sometimes more important to identify the \'right\' problem rather than to solve one. Naturally, if a problem appears we tend to ask a lot of questions which produce even more answers. As a result, we work with lots of ideas and can easily get lost or diverted from the core problem. Therefore, in order to remain on the right track one must start by asking questions in a more systematic and controlled way. There are several idea generation techniques available which vary by the degree of their scientific complexity. This chapter, however, focuses on the ones that are most efficient in terms of everyday business use. We will take a closer look at techniques such as brain storming, brain writing, Gordon's technique, fishbone diagram and six thinking hats. They are among the most popular ones because of their simplicity and efficiency not only in generating but also in organizing ideas. Of course, there are hundreds of other techniques or variations to these: http://www.mycoted.com/Category:Creativity\_Techniques Make it simple When Ford Corporation was almost ready to start production of the new truck, they posted its drawings on the walls. Employees were asked to comment, writing right on top of the 94 I n n o v a t i o n M a n a g e m e n t drawings, on the design and manufacturability. They received over 300 ideas they implemented in three months. These design changes helped this truck be such a success. One idea shows how simple this can be. One worker asked, \"Why do we always put the bolts in the truck bed from the bottom? I have to stand in a grease pit and hold a heavy bolt gun over my head. Sometimes I get tired and let a couple of trucks go by while I rest. Why can\'t we put the bolts in from the top?\" Of course, the answer was, \"We\'ve always put them in from the bottom.\" No one could even remember the reason. Now they put them in from the top, no more grease pit, no more missed bolts. From: Godfrey, A. B. Creativity, Innovation and Quality. Juran Institute, Inc. 7.3 Brainstorming Brainstorming involves creating an atmosphere in which people feel uninhibited and free to propose the sort of wild and improbable solutions to problems that often point to the best course of action. The technique requires some practice and skill to use effectively but is not difficult if certain guidelines are followed. Brainstorming refers to the process of liberal generation of a large volume of ideas from a number of participants by encouraging each of them to volunteer their creative inputs one at a time in an atmosphere free of criticism and judgment from other participants. In general, there are two basic forms of brainstorming -- structured and unstructured. The unstructured brainstorming encourages participants to give ideas as these come to their mind, whereas structured brainstorming provides certain rules that participants must follow in order to make the gathering of inputs more orderly and evenly distributed. Practical experience show that the latter is more efficient. It enables to collect ideas from all team members about a certain topic, issue, or problem in an organized manner; encourages team members to be more creative and be open to new or non-traditional ideas; prevents dominant team members from controlling the output of the team\'s idea gathering efforts; and promotes synergy among team members by letting them build on each other\'s creative thinking. The \'structured\' process is also ideal for use by teams that are new to brainstorming sessions, since unstructured brainstorming may be difficult to handle under certain situations. The notion of brainstorming as an idea generating technique was pioneered by Alex Osborn, an advertising executive, as a way to think of as many ideas (good, bad, or both) as possible (Cory and Slater, 2003, Osborn, 2003, Robbins and Coulter, 2005). In 1941, a team led by Osborn coined the term \"brainstorm\". Finding that conventional 95 I n n o v a t i o n M a n a g e m e n t business meetings were inhibiting the creation of new ideas, Osborn proposed some limited rules designed to help stimulate them -- rules which would give people the freedom of mind and action to spark off and reveal new ideas. According to Osborn, \"Brainstorm means using the brain to storm a creative problem and to do so in commando fashion, each stormer audaciously attacking the same objective.\" Brainstorming was presented in 1948, in a book called \"Your Creative Power\". Osborn developed this technique to encourage original and spontaneous thinking among his employees and to produce the maximum number of new ideas. 7.3.1 The brainstorming process Structured brainstorming basically consists of the following steps (Brainstorming, 2006) State the central brainstorming theme in a question form and write it down where every participant can see it (e.g., white board or flipchart). Ensure that all the members have a full understanding of the question, since they cannot provide answers to it if they don\'t. Try to optimize the manner in which the question is written by having a couple of members paraphrase it with the objective of improving it. Let each team member have a turn to give his or her input as answer to the question. Start with any team member and proceed to the next in seating arrangement, either in clockwise or counter clockwise direction. If a team member cannot think of any input when his or her turn comes, he or she simply needs to say "Pass", and the next member gets the turn. Write each input in large bold letters on the board or flipchart as it is given. During these brainstorming rounds, nobody is allowed to criticize an input, no matter what. The facilitator simply writes down the input on the board or flipchart using exactly the same words used by the input giver. This encourages the members to open up and keeps the input gathering in a continuous fluid motion. Repeat the brainstorming rounds until everybody says "Pass" in the same round. This indicates that the ideas of the team have already been exhausted. The last step is where the team members are required to "sanitize" the inputs. Review each of the listed inputs for further improvement in the way it is written and maximize its clarity. Now is the time that other team members can ask the input giver what he or she actually means by his or her input. Discard all inputs that are duplicates of another input. Similar but different ideas must be preserved on the list, though. Very often this phase of idea evaluation or "sanitizing" is performed separately with a slightly different structure of group members. The brainstorming can be very effective as it uses the experience and creativity of all group members. When individual members reach their limit on an idea, another member\'s creativity and experience can take the idea to the next stage. Therefore, group brainstorming tends to develop ideas in more depth than an individual can do. Where possible, participants in the brainstorming process should come from as wide a range of disciplines as possible. This brings a broad range of experience to the session and helps to make it more creative. 96 I n n o v a t i o n M a n a g e m e n t To run a group brainstorming session effectively, it is recommended to do the following: define the problem you want solved clearly, and lay out any criteria to be met; keep the session focused on the problem; ensure that no one criticizes or evaluates ideas during the session. Criticism introduces an element of risk for group members when putting forward an idea. This stifles creativity and cripples the free running nature of a good brainstorming session; encourage an enthusiastic, uncritical attitude among members of the group. Try to get everyone to contribute and develop ideas, including the quietest members of the group; let people have fun brainstorming; Encourage them to come up with as many ideas as possible, from solidly practical to wildly impractical ones. Welcome creativity; ensure that no train of thought is followed for too long; encourage people to develop other people\'s ideas, or to use other ideas to create new ones. 7.3.2 The analysis of ideas Once the brainstorming session is over it is then necessary to perform thorough analysis. As all the ideas are scattered all over the white board/flipchart, it is recommended to put them all into one electronic list. With the ideas stored electronically you can easily restructure them and send them to other people by email. Technically, the brainstorming session is over at this point and the analysis or evaluation process has begun. It is important to make this distinction. Brainstorming is only the generation of the ideas. When you start to analyze the ideas you are not brainstorming. However, brainstorming without analysis is pointless. The analysis of the ideas can be done individually or in a group. Sometimes, the group can be the same group who did the brainstorming or even better, it can be the dedicated group of colleagues who will eventually be implementing the chosen ideas. Because it is best to have \"external\" people in the brainstorming session it is often the case that the group which analyzes the ideas is a different group to that which produced them. Even there is a group analyzing the ideas it is always helpful to do an initial sort-out to remove duplicates and remove ideas which are really impractical. This removal should be based on valid physical criteria such as cost, time and physical laws. However, one should be very cautious and should not remove any remotely possible solutions at too early a stage. The remaining ideas can be then clustered into various matrixes or groups (depending on the session's goal). For example, they can be divided into the following three lists: Excellent -- definitely will work and can be implemented immediately. Interesting -- will possibly work or may require further analysis to decide if it will work. 97 I n n o v a t i o n M a n a g e m e n t Needs more investigating. May work in the future. Useless -- will not work. Depending on the lists it is possible to plan and implement the excellent ideas and to investigate the interesting ones. This is where the management and leadership skills are necessary. Shut up and eat your M&M! One of the most widely used techniques to open up an organization to new ideas is brainstorming. This simple technique frees up people to contribute without criticism. It helps break down quickly the fear of sounding stupid, of having one\'s idea picked to pieces. It also allows us to quickly build on other ideas. An easy way to introduce this idea into company discussions comes from Armstrong International. Their problem was simple: How were they going to get people to accept new ideas? The solution was to hand out M&M chocolate candies. The team manager handed everyone entering a meeting an M&M. Then he told them: \"You are allowed one negative comment during the meeting. Once you make that comment, you must eat your M&M. If you don\'t have an M&M in front of you, you can\'t say anything negative.\" \"It was great! Instead of being threatened by new ideas, people supported them. Anything negative was instantly met with a joking \"Shut up and eat your M&M.\" From: Godfrey, A. B. Creativity, Innovation and Quality. Juran Institute, Inc. 7.4 Brainwriting Brain writing is a technique very similar to brainstorming. There are many varieties, but the general process is that some/all ideas are recorded by the individual who thought of them. They are then passed on to the next person who uses them as a trigger for their own ideas. The method can be carried out in several different ways such as Brain writing pool, Brain writing 6-3-5, Idea card method, Brain writing game, Constrained brain writing, etc. 98 99 I n n o v a t i o n M a n a g e m e n t 7.4.1 Brainwriting pool Each person, using post-it notes or small cards, writes down ideas, and places them in the centre of the table. Everyone is free to pull out one or more of these ideas for inspiration. Team members can create new ideas, variations or piggyback on existing ideas. 7.4.2 Brainwriting 6-3-5 The name brainwriting 6-3-5 comes from the process of having 6 people write 3 ideas in 5 minutes. Each person has a blank 6-3-5 worksheet (see Table 8). Everyone writes the problem statement at the top of their worksheet (word for word from an agreed problem definition). Then they write 3 ideas on the top row of the worksheet in 5 minutes in a complete and concise sentence (6-10 words). At the end of 5 minutes (or when everyone has finished writing) pass the worksheet to the person on your right. You then add three more ideas. The process continues until the worksheet is completed. At the end there is going to be a total of 108 ideas on the 6 worksheets. These should be thoroughly assessed and analyzed. Table 8: Brainwriting table 7.4.3 Idea card method Each person, using post-it notes or small cards, writes down ideas, and places them next to the person on his or her right. Each person draws a card from the neighbours' pile as needed for inspiration. Once the idea has been used, it is passed on to the person on the right along with any new, variations or piggybacked ideas. 7.4.4 Brainwriting game This method is set in the form of a light-hearted competitive game. Creativity methods normally avoid competition because it tends to be divisive. However, as long as the game atmosphere is fun rather than overly competitive, and the facilitator ensures that there are no significant losers, the game format might be useful, particularly in training contexts where Idea 1 Idea 2 Idea 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 I n n o v a t i o n M a n a g e m e n t winning and losing are likely to be less of an issue and both can be used to provide teaching material. The game takes a little longer than some other brainwriting techniques. However, on the other hand, a very little facilitation skill is needed. The structure should be as follows: Display the problem statement, and explain that the winner of the game is the one who devises the most unlikely solution. The facilitator sells each group member an agreed number of blank, serially numbered cards at, say, 10 currency units each, pooling the money to form the prize. Each group member signs a receipt that records the serial numbers of their set of cards. Members try to think of utterly implausible solutions, writing one per card. The cards are then put up on a display board. Members now have 15 minutes to silently read all the solutions, and to append to them (on further un-numbered cards or post-its) ways in which they could be converted into a more practical way of solving the problem (so reducing that ideas' chances of winning). Each member then has two votes to vote for what s/he now considers to be the most improbable idea on the numbered cards. The idea that attracts most votes wins the pooled money. Form two sub-groups, give half the cards to each, and give each group 15 minutes to develop six viable solutions from their cards. Each sub-group tries to "sell" their ideas to the other sub-group. Everyone comes together and agrees on the best ideas overall. 7.4.5 Constrained brainwriting On a number of occasions it is necessary to constrain ideas around a pre-defined focus, rather than ranging freely. The versions described here use the standard brainwriting pool technique, but bias the idea generation by using brainwriting sheets prepared in advance. Present starter ideas: The leader initiates the process by placing several prepared sheets of paper in the pool in the centre of the table. Private brainwriting: Each group member takes a sheet, reads it, and silently adds his or her ideas. Change sheet: When a member runs out of ideas or wants to have the stimulation of another's ideas, s/he puts one list back in the centre of the table and takes one returned by another member. After reviewing this new list s/he has just selected, s/he adds more ideas. Repeat until ideas are exhausted. No discussion at any stage. 100 I n n o v a t i o n M a n a g e m e n t Kill the "Not invented here" syndrome Another impediment to fast innovation is the belief that we must create all ideas ourselves. We have a major emotional roadblock to stealing ideas. We have been taught for years that this is wrong. We must have original ideas. As children we\'re taught stealing is wrong. But in business that\'s not always true. You should \"borrow\" unpatented ideas from the best people and companies you can find. It\'s an efficient way of satisfying your customers. The \"if it\'s not invented here we won\'t use it\" syndrome can be fatal. There\'s nothing wrong with swiping an unpatented idea if the idea will help you do a better job serving your customers. As AT&T became more competitively challenged in the early 1980s and began working hard to change the culture in order to quickly develop and introduce new products into the market place, this NIH syndrome became a burden. One lab then created a wonderful way to break down this barrier to creativity and innovation. They created a new award, the \"thief of the month.\" Each month they would honor the individual or team who stole the best idea from somewhere else. These \"thieves\" would be pictured in the Bell Labs News with a story describing how using these ideas accelerated the development process and reduced unnecessary redundant work. From: Godfrey, A. B. Creativity, Innovation and Quality. Juran Institute, Inc. 7.5 Gordon´s technique Gordon technique is another method used for generating ideas and decision-making. It is closely related to brainstorming and many people think that it is a variation of the famous technique. The main difference is that the moderator of the group knows the exact nature of the problem under consideration while the participants do not. Leader starts the group discussion and presents the true situation only when the participants are close to a satisfactory solution. 7.5.1 Key points of the method The fundamental point of this method is that participants are kept in the dark in order to generate more ideas and suggestions from the very beginning of the session and avoid generating the "solution" very soon. 101 I n n o v a t i o n M a n a g e m e n t The first and most difficult task of the leader is to select a topic for discussion. The subject must be closely related to the problem at hand, but its exact nature must not be revealed. Usually, this subject will be a physical principle which is related to the problem that must be solved. Gordon believes that there is danger in a typical brainstorming session of a participant becoming convinced that one of the ideas he has proposed is the best possible solution to the problem. Consequently, participant may cease producing additional ideas, and devote his / her energies to defending and selling his \"creation". On the contrary, Gordon technique avoids this danger since there can be no best solution proposed for a problem that has never been stated. Additionally, leader does not provide any specific towards a specific problem and participants discuss broadly, talking about the problem but never getting anywhere. Although it seems time wasting, the beneficial point of this technique is that participants usually cover aspects which it would never discuss them if they did know the specific problem. The following problem situations are examples of how this technique works: The problem is one of seeking solutions to the parking problem of a large city. The group leader could start the session by asking participants to discuss ways to \"store things\". Assume that the problem is to design a new roofing system. Thus, the group leader might have the group discuss \"enclosures\" or \"ways things are enclosed.\" The problem is to review procedures for washing windows, so the group leader selects the topic of \"removing dirt.\" This process may produce some unusual approaches which otherwise may not have been associated with the problem at hand. It is well to remember that these leads are important since they direct you toward the final solution. 7.6 Fishbone (Ishikawa) diagram The fishbone diagram can help to structure the process of identifying possible causes of a problem. Its possible causes are presented at various levels of detail in connected branches, with the level of detail increasing as the branch goes outward. An outer branch is a cause of the inner branch it is attached to. Thus, the outermost branches usually indicate the root causes of the problem. The diagram encourages the development of an in depth and objective representation ensuring all participants keep on track. It discourages partial or premature solutions, and shows the relative importance and inter-relationships between different parts of a problem. The Ishikawa Diagram is employed by a problem-solving team as a tool for collating all inputs (as to what are the causes of the problem they are addressing) systematically and graphically, 102 I n n o v a t i o n M a n a g e m e n t with the inputs usually coming from one of the techniques of idea creation. It enables the team to focus on why the problem occurs, and not on the history or symptoms of the problem, or other topics that digress from the intent of the session. It also displays a real-time \'snap-shot\' of the collective inputs of the team as it is updated. Figure 4: Fishbone (Ishikawa) diagram 7.6.1 The process The method is ideally organized over a number of meetings, enabling the team to become deeply immersed in the problem. Fresh suggestions regarding possible causes can arise during the break and members are more likely to forget who originated every idea, thus making subsequent discussions less inhibited. The procedure should be carried out as follows: On a broad sheet of paper, draw a long arrow horizontally across the middle of the page pointing to the right, and label the arrowhead with the title of the issue to be explained. This is the 'backbone' of the 'fish'. Draw spurs coming off the 'backbone' at about 45 degrees, one for every likely cause of the problem that the group can think of; and label each at its outer end. Add sub-spurs to represent subsidiary causes. Highlight any causes that appear more than once -- they may be significant. The group considers each spur/sub-spur, taking the simplest first, partly for clarity but also because a good simple explanation may make more complex explanations unnecessary. Ideally, it is eventually re-drawn so that position along the backbone reflects the relative importance of the different parts of the problem, with the most important at the head end. Circle anything that seems to be a 'key' cause, so you can concentrate on it subsequently. Experienced users add more branches and/or use different categories, depending on what would be more effective in dealing with the problem. There are many ways to interpret the Ishikawa Diagram. The fastest and simplest way to do it 103 I n n o v a t i o n M a n a g e m e n t is for the group to choose the top five causes on the diagram and rank them, using their collective knowledge and any data available. The selection of the major causes may be done by voting or any other process that allows the group to agree on the ranking. The selected causes are then encircled on the diagram, with their ranks written beside them. The team may then investigate these causes further and use problem-solving techniques to eliminate their occurrences. Figure 5: Example of using Ishikawa diagram 7.7 Six thinking hats Many successful people think from a very rational, positive viewpoint. This is part of the reason that they are successful. Often, though, they may fail to look at a problem from an emotional, intuitive, creative or negative viewpoint. This can mean that they underestimate resistance to plans, fail to make creative leaps and do not make essential contingency plans. Similarly, pessimists may be excessively defensive. Emotional people may fail to look at decisions calmly and rationally. If you look at a problem with the \'Six Thinking Hats\' technique, then you will solve it using all approaches. Your decisions and plans will mix ambition, skill in execution, public sensitivity, creativity and good contingency planning. 104 I n n o v a t i o n M a n a g e m e n t \'Six Thinking Hats\' is a technique used to look at decisions from a number of important perspectives. This forces you to move outside your habitual thinking style, and helps you to get a more rounded view of a situation. Six Thinking Hats is a good technique for looking at the effects of a decision from a number of different points of view. It allows necessary emotion and scepticism to be brought into what would otherwise be purely rational decisions. It opens up the opportunity for creativity within decision making. The technique also helps, for example, persistently pessimistic people to be positive and creative. Plans developed using the \'6 thinking hats\' technique will be sounder and more resilient than would otherwise be the case. It may also help you to avoid public relations mistakes, and spot good reasons not to follow a course of action before you have committed to it. 7.7.1 How to use the tool You can use Six Thinking Hats in meetings or on your own. How does it work? In meetings it has the benefit of blocking the confrontations that happen when people with different thinking styles discuss the same problem. Each \'Thinking Hat\' is a different style of thinking. These are explained below: White Hat: With this thinking hat you focus on the data available. Look at the information you have, and see what you can learn from it. Look for gaps in your knowledge, and either try to fill them or take account of them. This is where you analyze past trends, and try to extrapolate from historical data. Red Hat: 'Wearing\' the red hat, you look at problems using intuition, gut reaction, and emotion. The red hat allows the free expression of feelings, intuition, hunches and emotions without apology and without explanation, there must never be any attempt to justify or give the basis for the feelings. The red hat asks a person to express his or her feelings on the subject at this moment in time, it gives full permission to a thinker to put forward his or her feelings on the subject at the moment. Black Hat: Using black hat thinking, look at all the bad points of the decision. Look at it cautiously and defensively. Try to see why it might not work. This is important because it highlights the weak points in a plan. It allows you to eliminate them, alter them, or prepare contingency plans to counter them. Black Hat thinking helps to make your plans \'tougher\' and 105 I n n o v a t i o n M a n a g e m e n t more resilient. It can also help you to spot fatal flaws and risks before you embark on a course of action. Black Hat thinking is one of the real benefits of this technique -- many successful people get so used to thinking positively that often they cannot see problems in advance. This leaves them under-prepared for difficulties. Yellow Hat: The yellow hat helps you to think positively. It is the optimistic viewpoint that helps you to see all the benefits of the decision and the value in it. Yellow Hat thinking helps you to keep going when everything looks gloomy and difficult. Green Hat: The Green Hat stands for creativity. This is where you can develop creative solutions to a problem. It is a freewheeling way of thinking, in which there is little criticism of ideas. A whole range of creativity tools can help you here. Under the green hat, we put forward alternatives, seek out new ideas, modify and change suggested ideas, use provocations and movement to produce new ideas, generate possibilities Blue Hat: 'Blue Hat Thinking\' stands for process control. This is the hat worn by people chairing meetings. It is concerned with defining the problem and what is being thought about. It also concerns with: Outcomes, Conclusions, Summaries and what happens next. Blue hat is the organizer of the thinking process. 7.7.2 Example The directors of a property company are looking at whether they should construct a new office building. The economy is doing well, and the amount of unrented office space is reducing sharply. As part of their decision they decide to use the 6 Thinking Hats technique during a planning meeting. Looking at the problem with the White Hat, they analyze the data they have. They examine the trend in unrented office space, which shows a sharp reduction. They anticipate that by the time the office block would be completed, that there will be a severe shortage of office space. Current government projections show steady economic growth for at least the construction period. With Red Hat thinking, some of the directors think the proposed building looks quite ugly. While it would be highly cost-effective, they worry that people would not like to work in it. When they think with the Black Hat, they worry that government projections may be wrong. The economy may be about to enter a \'cyclical downturn\', in which case the office building may be empty for a long time. If the building is not attractive, then companies will choose to work in another better-looking building at the same rent. With the Yellow Hat, however, if the 106 107 I n n o v a t i o n M a n a g e m e n t economy holds up and their projections are correct, the company stands to make a great deal of money. If they are lucky, maybe they could sell the building before the next downturn, or rent to tenants on long-term leases that will last through any recession. With Green Hat thinking they consider whether they should change the design to make the building more pleasant. Perhaps they could build prestige offices that people would want to rent in any economic climate. Alternatively, maybe they should invest the money in the short term to buy up property at a low cost when a recession comes. The Blue Hat has been used by the chair of the meeting to move between the different thinking styles. He or she may have needed to keep other members of the team from switching styles, or from criticizing other peoples\' points. http://www.debonosociety.com/ 7.8 Additional cases Idea creation on the basis of needs analysis Borut Likar A Slovenian insurance company wanted to develop new products that would not only enrich their offer but also represent a cornerstone of their offer in the forthcoming decade, which would be primarily oriented towards the youth. The background to such approach is the joining to the EU and related social changes as well as market economy. Due to many reasons the insurance company engaged a group of young people in their search for new solutions. Primarily, the insurance company decided to take on such a group due to the fact that young people prove to be far more creative than the older ones and less burdened with their knowledge on the existing solutions. Furthermore, young people tend not to restrain their search for new ideas due to their unawareness of restrictions on implementation, which the insurance experts are well aware of. Last but not least, young people also represent potential users of insurance services and are well-familiar with their needs. The insurance company undertook the challenge with the idea creation techniques, namely brainstorming and brainwriting. After two sessions, the group of young people created more than two hundred ideas, out of which quite a few perfectly reflected their basic demands (orientation towards the youth, consideration of their life styles, Internet applications, differentiation as regards the social factors and similar). Since the project is still under way, concrete ideas may not be disclosed. However, after a detailed analysis of the course of their creative work, the insurance company discovered that certain restraints were met as regards the defined principles of the aforementioned idea creation techniques. Since the problem is 108 I n n o v a t i o n M a n a g e m e n t identified, the solutions most frequently fail to be original given that the participants are familiar with the existing insurance products at least partially -- creative suggestions thus loose their originality. In order to avoid the aforementioned restraints, the insurance company started thinking of benefiting from the potential of Gordon technique. Creative session of the said technique is NOT based on searching for solutions to an identified problem. As a result, unusual and also very original solutions may be expected. Nevertheless, the challenge was not tackled with the Gordon technique yet its principle was applied in the following way: in the first phase, the question was paraphrased, namely "What young people are concerned about?" During this activity the participants of the brainstorming activity (or brainwriting) did not actually know that the subject of the activity is insurance business, i.e. they were not familiar with the basic problem. The participants were thus reflecting on their health, studies, employment, social aspects and similar. The results were not concrete suggestions related to the insurance offer yet a couple of main areas were defined in which the young people see or suspect potential dangers as regards their future. Some of these areas are still uncovered by the insurance companies and thus represent possibilities which the developing insurances may cover. In the second phase, some concrete suggestions for a new insurance offer were sought for the aforementioned fears also by applying the idea creation techniques. In comparison with the initial approach, the final suggestions were considerably more original and applicable! 7.9 Summary In this module, some ways/techniques of creating ideas were presented. In spite of their common aim, each of them is characterized by its own advantages and disadvantages. A manager's task thus is to pick the one that works best in his/her concrete situation. Obviously, some experimentation and training is required. For additional methods, take a look at the "Further reading" or the following link. http://www.mycoted.com/Category:Creativity\_Techniques