L30 - Technology Innovation RD Management Flashcards
What is an innovation in an industrial or research environment?
• Innovation – bringing something new into an environment/market
o New product → new sales ∴ innovation is good
o “New” thing could originate from discovery (finding something that already exists), invention (creating something new), or tech transfer (use something in a new way)
S curve - Cycle of an innovation
• Knowledge Curve is the derivative of the S Curve
o Shows that after significant event, most knowledge has been generated and the subject is no longer interesting → exit strategy implemented for innovator
Inventor exit points
• It is not feasible for the same people to be involved in all stages of an innovation life cycle
o An inventor does not have the capacity to develop an innovation into a sales model, and a developer doesn’t want to stick around for long term sales into maturity – each has an optimal exit point
• WHAT is the entry and exit strategy?
• Innovations can fail b/c of insufficient resources in final stages
Disruptive innovation
• Disruptive innovation – an innovation that creates a new market, thereby disrupting an existing market and displacing an earlier technology
o All firms in a field are innovating all the time ∴ crucial to continue innovating. As one product nears maturity the next product should be experiencing the significant event
o Steam engine starting industrial revolution, transistor starting information tech revolution, home VCR
o Sustaining innovation is just better technology in the same market
o Watch out for technology hype! Not all seemingly good innovations will meet expectations
Problems of introducing innovation in an industrial/research environment
o People like staying within their current scope/comfort zone
o Implementation costs not worth the risk
o Nobody knows how/if it works
o Insufficiently improves on performance of current model
o Inability to explain to management
o Failing attempts to show how it works
Reasons innovation is adopted in industrial/research environment
o New product requested and no existing experience
o New management (young)
o Failure of current technology
o It proposes a real solution to problem that leads to $$ loss
o Clear and concise identification of facts/figures
o All resources needed are available
o The solution: gives a quantifiable advantage, is already “known” by management, has easy industry access, doesn’t oppose management
Innovation Triangle Initiative (ITI
o Connects inventor, customer, and developer
o Funding at three levels – proof of concept, demonstration of feasibility/use, tech adoption
Analyze the need for a patent application
• Patent – public document that describes an invention and protects the inventor’s right to exploit it
o Only in country where patent has been filed
o Must monitor patent infringements oneself – time consuming and often useless
• Utility model – similar to a patent but cheaper, only for mechanical inventions
• Trade secrets – keeping information confidential ie Coke recipe
• Criteria – useful industrial application, novel w/respect to current state-of-the-art, significant advancement, willingness to disclose invention creation
• Patent can be used offensively (prevent competitors from further developing their products) or defensively (prevent competitors from copying)
• Patent decision tree b/c engineers don’t always know the value of their innovations
Evaluate the Technology Readiness Level of a given technology in the context of a specific application
• TRL – systematic metric that supports assessments of the maturity of a particular technology and the consistent comparison of maturity between different types of tech
1-4 means independent of application, 5-9 is application specific
TRL 5 indicates first accurate cost/time estimate for development
- To evaluate…has it been used before? How? Independent of application?
- Only repeatedly flight proven technologies, in various applications, remain at TRL 9
- Can track through technology trees of an organization – who is responsible for what
Plan and implement the management of a small to medium research and development group
• Good Client/problem + good technology/solution = good R&D
o Client or technology oriented? Tech or is cheaper/more creative but client or is more responsive to clients’ needs
o Best option is mix between the two
• Match problems w/best solutions available (share w/other research groups!)
• Junior researchers don’t have preconceived ideas about what should be done → give them new problems!
• Senior researchers have experience and expertise → give them short term operational problems
• Document knowledge
• Rigid flexibility – assign clear/specific problems to each researchers, identify output required, provide all resources necessary, follow up in writing, recognize achievements
o Know what you want but be flexible in getting there – difficulties are tresures!
• Which projects should be tackled in a R&D Portfolio? Those that balance return and risk
• Job of research manager is to capture everything that can come out of a story from all the bits and pieces that come in (including mistakes) – random products of bounces between different stages of innovation
