Managing Innovation and technology strategically

Best Practice Workshop: Technology RoadmappingBrno, 5 February 2013

Dr Robert PhaalCentre for Technology Management

Wired Magazine

“Found - artefacts from the future”

www.wired.com/wired

Technology will continue to change the way we live…

Frederick Tudor1806

Carl Linde1895

Adapted from Bower, J. L. and C. M. Christensen (1995). "Disruptive technologies: Catching the wave." Harvard Business Review January-February.

Performance

‘Turbulence’

Technology

discontinuity

Time / Investment / Effort

Change and disruption

Industrial dynamics

Routley et al, 2013

“I think there is a world market for maybe five computers”

“Man will not fly for 50 years”

“640K (of RAM) ought to be enough for anybody”

“The global market for mobile phones could be as high as 900,000 units per annum”

Predictions are hard, especially about the futureNiels Bohr

Thomas Watson, CEO IBM, 1943

Wilbur Wright, 1901

Bill Gates, 1981

McKinsey study for AT&T, mid 1990s

So, why bother with strategy?

“About twice as many best performers (38%) use product roadmaps than do worst performers (19%).”

Cooper & Edgett (2009), Product innovation & technology strategy, Product Development Institute

Innovation strategy and business performance

The Innovation Funnel

Pre - DevelopmentInvestigations

DevelopmentProjects

IntroducedProjects

InnovativeIdeas

Source: Wheelwright & Clark

Critical strategic decisions!

Cooper, 2006

Technology & new product development stage gate processes

Identificationfocuses on technologies which do not currently

form part of the technology base yet may have a significant impact on the current

or future activities of the business

Selectionfocuses on the evaluation of potential technologies against a set of decision

criteria to determine which technologies should be supported and promoted

within the business

External Environment

InternalEnvironment

External Environment

External Environment

Protectionfocuses on preserving the company’s

knowledge and expertise and minimising the risk of unplanned transfer of technology outside the

organisation

Acquisitionfocuses on accessing the required technologies and their assimilation

into the organisation

Exploitationfocuses on the utilisation of technologies which already form part of the company’s

technology base

Technology management processes

Gregory, 1995

There are many tools and techniques available to he lp

For exampleQuality Function Deployment (QFD, or House of Quali ty)

Martinich, 1996

There are many tools and techniques available to he lp

For examplePortfolio methods

Cooper et al., 1998

There are many tools and techniques available to he lp

For exampleRoadmapping

• Mostly these have been developed by & for large tec hnology intensivefirms

There are many tools and techniques available to he lp

• They are equally applicable to small- and medium-siz ed companies,applied in a light-weight and agile manner

• Such tools typically have a visual format, and can be used to structurestrategic conversations and decisions, particularly between commercial and technical functions

Thank you

Questions?