Topic 5: Invention and Innovation
5.1 Invention
5.2 Innovation
5.3 Strategies for Innovation
5.4 Stakeholders in Innovation
5.5 Product Life Cycle
5.6 Roger's Characteristics
5.7 - Innovation, Design, & Marketing Specifications
Drivers for Invention
The Lone Inventor
Intellectual Property
Strategies for Protecting IP
Categories of Innovation
Sustaining Innovation
Disruptive Innovation
Process Innovation
First to Market
Innovative Strategies (Design)
Shelved Technologies
Relative advantage
Architectural Innovation
Desire to make money - Financial return can be invested in further research and development
Desire to help others - Improving the world is an essential aspect of design
Scientific of technical curiosity - Inventions may come about as a part of scientific or technical curiosity
Constructive Discontent - Dissatisfaction with the current state of things
Express creativity or personal interest - Inventors may have a creative or personal interest that motivates them to create a new design
Modular Innovation
Configurational Innovation
Innovative Strategies (Market)
Diffusion
Suppression
Challenges to Inventions Becoming Innovations
Market Ability
Financial Banking
Marketing
Need
Price
Resistance to change
Risk
Act of Insight
Adaptation
Technology Transfer
Analogy
Chance
Technology Push
Individuals working outside or inside an organization who is committed to the invention of a novel product
Often become isolated because they are engrossed with ideas that may be resisted by others
Market Pull
Common types of IP -
Benefits of IP
Legally recognized as creations of the mind
Copyright
Trademark
Patents
Trade dress
Trade secrets
Lone Inventor
Product Champion
Entrepreneur
Multidisciplinary Approach to Innovation
Differentiating themselves from competitors
Allowing the sale or licensing of technology that can generate revenue
Defining marketing and branding
Establishing a brand that has value as an asset
Product Life Cycle
Launch
Growth
Compatibility
Maturity
Decline
Complexity
Trialability
Obsolescence
Planned Obsolescence
Technological Obsolescene
Functional Obsolescence
Style (fashion) Obsolescence
Trademark - A symbol, word, or words legally registered to represent a company or product
Design Protection/Trade Dress - A simple and cost-effective way to protect an innovative shape
Copyright - Legal right that grants the creator of an original work exclusive ownership for its use and distribution
Patents - An agreement from a government office to give someone the right to make or sell a new invention for a certain number of years
Observeability
The idea that the benefits of the innovation are visible to the user
Design Specifications
The degree to which a design is easy to use
The extent to which a design is more efficient than designs that came before it
Marketing Specifications
Market Analysis
Target Audience
Target Market
User Need
How compatible is it to the user’s lifestyle and environment
Competition
Service Mark - A trademark used to identify a service rather than a product
Aesthetic Requirements
Cost Constraints
Environmental Requirements
Size Constraints
Safety Considerations
Performance Requirement and Constraints
Material Requirements
Manufacturing Requirements
Advantages
Disadvantages
The first product that created a new market
Consumer impact by delivering a new and innovative product to meet needs
Lack of competition
Name recognition as your product defines the product category
Other companies can learn from mistakes
Consumers may perceive that the time or cost they have to invest in a new product is not worth it
Consumers may be reluctant to adopt a new and innovative product
Retail price may not match consumers perceived value of the product
Shipping, advertising, storage, distribution, and sales may not be effective
Low market demand for an innovation
A company may lack the financial resources to bring innovation to the market
No perceived need for the product
The ability to try out a product before investing time or money in it
A process where a market will encouragingly accept a new idea
A process where a market will accept a new idea slowly
The technology remains the same, but the configuration is changed to create a new design
The basic configuration remains identical, but one or more key components are altered
Changes in both technology and organization
Continuous development of a product
Improvement in how a product is manufactured and distributed
Products that challenges existing companies
A technology that is invented and developed but is not brought to the market
An idea that suddenly comes to a person
A solution in one field is used to provide a solution to a new problem in a different field
An idea from one area to develop an innovation in another area
Unexpected discoveries
Technical development will be the driving force of innovation
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Only the innovators are aware
Sales are low
No competition
An extensive marketing effort may be needed to move the product to the next stage in the life cycle
A technology developed in one context is applied in different and new contexts
Consumers’ demand for an innovation or solution
Reasons
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Early adopters begin to use the product
Sales and profit begin to grow
Competitors introduce competing products
Current costs for manufacture are too high
Key technological innovations may be lacking
Consumers are not ready for the product
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Many competitors
Crowded and saturated marketplace
Few new companies join the competition
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An influential individual who can take an invention to a market through finance
Sales and profit drop sharply
Public abandons product
Advanced technology may replace the product
An individual who is committed to the invention of a new product
An influential individual who develops an enthusiasm for a particular idea and “champions” it within the organization
Drawing knowledge from multiple expertises, which can be utilized at different stages of product development
Advantages
Disadvantages
Wide knowledge
Combination of different perspectives to create unique solutions
Individuals may be reluctant to share ideas for fear of losing ownership
Miscommunication can happen
Individuals may not like working in a team