Chpt 2 Innovation Managment: Idea Generation

Question 1

Sources of new product ideas

Answer 1

1. Company internal sources
2. External sources

Question 2

Company internal sources

Answer 2

 Employee suggestion system
 Innovation workshops
 R&D department employees (e.g., with respect
to trends in technology)
 Field sales force
 Customer service/service hotline employees
 Complaint department

+ inexpensive
+ quickly available
− “organizational blindness”

Question 3

External sources

Answer 3

 Customers (direct interviews/surveys, focus
groups with customers, observation of product
usage by customers, customer
suggestions/requests)
 Competitors (e.g., analysis of exhibitions, trade
fairs and new product announcements)
 Market innovations in other markets
 Technological developments
 Experts (e.g., interviews with distributors and
intermediaries or industry experts)
 Findings from trend and market research
institutes, business consultants and advertising
agencies

+ tend to provide more innovative solutions
− higher costs
− take more time

Question 4

Customer integration into new and successful product development

Answer 4

1. Ideation
2. Product concept creation

Question 5

Selected approaches for generating and evaluating ideas

Answer 5

1. Brainstorming
2. Analogies
3. “Means-End“-Interviews
4. (N)etnography
5. Preference Measurement/Conjoint Analysis (see part 1.2)
6. Lead User Method

Question 6

Brainstorming: Pros and Cons

Answer 6

Pros
Possibility to generate a large number
of ideas in a very short time
Cost-effective, less complex procedure
Creativity-enhancing atmosphere
within the group
Due to different backgrounds and
thought patterns of the participants,
ideas which would not have been
emerged separately come up (synergy
effects)

Cons/criticism
“evaluation apprehension“ (inhibition of
the participants because of fear of other
people‘s opinions)

“free-riding“ (less effort because there is no
direct responsibility in groups for the
quality of ideas)
production blocking“ (while listening and
waiting, the generation of ideation is
blocked)
Danger of a convergence of the ideas in a
certain (especially “crazy“) direction

Question 7

Brainstorming success factors

Answer 7

 Respect the basic rules
 Clear definition of the topic
 Brainstorming as trainable ability:
 First, silent listening to experienced groups
 Listening and concentration is crucial

 Group composition
No extreme hierarchy differences to avoid “evaluationapprehension“
 Persons with different backgrounds
 Involve experienced participants
 Consideration of group dynamical processes
 Use of an electronic platform
(anonymization & parallelization)

Question 8

Analogies

Answer 8

Analogical thinking is a basic mechanism underlying creative tasks, in which people
transfer information from familiar, existing categories (i.e., base domains) and use it in
the construction of their new idea (i.e., the target domain

Question 9

Analogies - Bionics

Answer 9

in bionics, ideas are gained from nature and transferred to technical problems

Question 10

Means end approach

Answer 10

(product attributes > consequences) means = > values, means > end purposes

The means-end approach is a problem-solving strategy that involves identifying the desired end goal (the “end”) and then determining the most effective means or methods (the “means”) to achieve that goal

Question 11

laddering

Answer 11

in-depth, one-on-one interviewing technique used to develop an understanding of how consumers translate the attributes of products into meaningful associations with respect to self, following Means-End Theory

Laddering is an interviewing technique designed to trace the underlying attitudes, feelings and emotions about a subject. It begins with a simple question, followed repeatedly with questions probing the response.

Question 12

Etnography

Answer 12

 Application of anthropologic methods to study consumers in the realm of their
daily lives
 Principles:  Entails the study of behavior in natural settings  No adequate knowledge of social behavior can be developed without an understanding
of the symbolic world of the subjects of the study  Requires extensive presence in the field (increases likelihood of spontaneously
encountering important moments in the ordinary events of consumers‘ daily lives)  Paticipation in cultural life to develop an understanding of cultural/symbolic meanings
 Methods  Observation (open vs. hidden)  Structured/semi-structured interviews,  Informant diaries  …  Advantage  Identification of latent needs

Question 13

Etnography procedure

Answer 13

1. Planning
   * Research question / select research setting
   * Who to study and how to gain access?
   * Choose setup and determine the role of researcher
2. Data Collection
   * Determine nature of information needed as field notes (running
   description, personal impressions and feelings, …)
   * Nature of capturing information (video, audio, …)
3. Data Analysis
   * Coding and analysis (e.g., descriptive labels, sorting for patterns, identification
   of outliers/atypical events)
4. Interpretation
   * Generalize constructs and theories

Question 14

Netnography – Idea & Procedure

Answer 14

Idea in brief
 Name combines the words ‘Internet’ and ‘ethnography’
 Major difference: netnography allows researcher to disguise or hide identity, even
his/her presence; not possible in ethnography
 Refers to both the collection of information on groups of interest as well as the
written description of the study of those groups

1. Planning
   * Research question / selection of markets
   * Identification of relevant communities / sites
2. Data
   Collection
   * Manually or software-based
   * Broad keyword searches
3. Data
   Analysis
   * Coding and extraction, visualization
   * In-depth reading and qualitative analysis
4. Interpretation
   * Interpretation and verification
   * No a priori expectations vs. application of existing framework

Question 15

netnography site identification

Answer 15

Identification of relevant sites for netnography
 Relevance: site can inform and clearly link to your research focus and question
 Active: possessing both recent and regular communication between members
 Interactive: manifesting a flow of question-answer or posting-comment responsive
communication between participants and the group
 Substantial: offering a critical mass of communicators and a lively, energized cultural
atmosphere

Question 16

Lead User Approach

Answer 16

Lead user innovation involves working with individuals or groups who play a pioneering role in identifying new needs or trends. These “lead users” provide unique insights and ideas that drive the development of new products or solutions and often lead to highly customized and forward-looking innovations

Question 17

Benefits of the Lead User Approach

Answer 17

User view:
 A company‘s innovations are often
not utility-maximizing for individual
customers
 oriented towards average
customer needs
 companies react slowly to
changing needs
 value that stems from the
innovative activity itself
 Therefore: own innovation activity
often beneficial for the user

Provider view:
 Concept of “sticky“ information
(von Hippel 1994, 1998)
 In contrast to central economic
assumptions, the transfer of information
is often associated with costs
 Transformation of “tacit information“ into “explicit information“
 Difficulties of information coding
 Lack of processing capacity within
companies
 Efficiency of information transfer often
dependent of the frequency of usage
 Company information often helps
many users, user information
is individual
 Therefore: Information transfer from
company to users is more efficient

Question 18

Open innovation

Answer 18

Open innovation is the practice of businesses and organizations sourcing ideas from external sources as well as internal ones. This means sharing knowledge and information about problems and looking to people outside the business for solutions and suggestions.

Question 19

connected innovator

Answer 19

In open innovation, connected innovators play a crucial role in driving
innovation by collaborating with other companies and relevant actors
to exchange knowledge and co-develop products and services in
loosely coupled networks . Connected innovators are individuals who
build relationships and seek solutions from others with ease, whether
connecting with the colleague at the next desk, a trusted mentor
from early in his or her career or a brand new external partner who
possesses the right expertise to help get the job done .