Innovation and Product Management

This chapter explains different types of innovations concerning their degree of novelty. Based on this approach, the core tasks and elements of innovation management are presented and the significance of innovations for business management is discussed. A detailed description of crucial success factors of innovation management, which has been clustered into the four dimensions innovation strategy, innovation process, resources & organization and innovation culture, represents the main focus of this chapter.

The main objective of this chapter is the presentation of a fundamental process model of an integrated innovation and product management. The conception of this model takes place on the task spectrum of product management on the one hand, and on a representative phase model of the innovation process on the other. During the course of this chapter, the evolution of innovation process models is represented and design as a relevant core process of innovation management is discussed. At the end of this chapter, a three step approach for the implementation of innovation process models is introduced.

Building on the discussion of the integrated innovation and product management process, this chapter will start out with an explanation of the Front End of Innovation (FEI) with its high degree of uncertainty that differentiates the early stages from the remaining new product development (NPD) process. Furthermore the success factors of the early innovation phases are presented. Based on this the FEI process and its phases are highlighted and the core characteristics of different FEI models are discussed, each one reaching the goal of reducing uncertainty in a different way.

This chapter begins with a analysis of the term strategy and the positioning of innovation strategy as an integral part of a strategic business management with a focus on long-term objectives. First, managers must have a consistent understanding of innovation strategy. Furthermore, innovation strategy characteristics are illustrated and overcoming uncertainty is discussed from a supplier’s perspective. The chapter closes with a step by step discussion of a process-oriented approach that brings innovation strategy to life.

This chapter explains the relevance of an open innovation approach, presents the core processes and offers an overview of the sources of information used for idea generation within the scope of innovation management. The main focus of this chapter is a description of tools and methods that can be used to implement an open innovation approach. At the end of the chapter, the framework conditions for a successful management of ideas are discussed.

This chapter explains the creative process and its four phases, based on the definition of creativity. It forms the basis for the effective application of creativity techniques and can be divided into two main areas—systemic analytical models and methods simulating and enhancing intuition. Seven selected creativity techniques will be explained using examples and it will be shown how they can enhance the problem solving process. Finally, several techniques will be compared in terms of their application as well as the time and effort required to implement.

This chapter explains how the conception of a product or service links product idea generation with product development. In this context the product concept process is presented and its phases are explained. Here tools and methods for analyzing markets and competitors as well as for defining, testing and approving product and service concepts are described. Three modern methods for reducing market uncertainty, which are target costing, conjoint analysis and House of Quality, are discussed in detail.

This chapter deals with processes in the development of new products. In practice, there is a range of established New Product Development (NPD) processes that are often divided into two groups: innovation and new product development. Innovation processes begin with the phase of idea generation and ends in the successful market introduction of the product. In contrast, new product development processes solely serve the purpose of structuring the processes of a product development activity. In this chapter different structures and implementation approaches for development processes derived from the so-called V-Model are discussed along with various tools and methods. Subsequently, simultaneous engineering and its principles are introduced. Finally, virtual and rapid prototyping as methods in today’s NPD process are explained.

This chapter depicts the product lifecycle concept as an essential explanatory model of product management. In this context the significance of the introduction phase for the market success is enlightened and the characteristics as well as the marketing implications of this phase are discussed. This is followed by remarks on the information base for product upgrades and a description of a strategy continuum in product maintenances. Subsequently, the characteristics of the remaining lifecycle-phases growth, maturity and decline are presented and adequate marketing measures for these phases will be explained.

This chapter details different types of organizational structures and their influence on dealing with uncertainty. First, there is an explanation of the basic dimensions of organizations. Second, there is a discussion of organizational structures for innovation and product management. Finally, there is an introduction of an organizational structure framework capable of exploring new knowledge and exploiting existing knowledge, with the important benefit of being used as a template in practice.

Companies go abroad to interact with the most demanding customers, the best suppliers and the leading research environments so they can learn how to compete in new markets for their technologies. Corporate R&D is increasing rapidly in countries outside the domestic market especially for customization of technologies to suit local market conditions. There is an ongoing transition from an internal knowledge base to increasingly open and globally distributed knowledge networks. The benefits of global designs include influencing consumer preferences, establishing global brands and dominant designs, anticipating emergent segments, leveraging existing knowledge, and improving firm performance. As a result, global product designs are being increasingly sought by companies. With the increasing speed of innovation, the world scale of many new technologies and the ability to acquire and to apply knowledge quickly in uncertain environments is an essential characteristic of a firm’s success.

This chapter describes the importance of services and hybrid goods in maintaining a company’s competitiveness. After discussing the reasons for this increased significance the characteristics of services as well as the specifics of a service development process are enlightened in detail. Then the specifics of service marketing caused by the intangible and integrative nature of services are explained.

Every company desires to be the next Apple and emulate its a design-driven culture. Companies see the benefits: 50–200 % return-on-design, substantial press coverage, impassioned word-of-mouth, disruptive effects on industry, and the subsequent spawning of new standards.