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