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This book has been considered “a knock-out because of its very straight-forward advice for companies on how to create a thriving innovation environment.”2 arguments support.A good argument given in the book is “Don’t concentrate on what you believe is important (or cool) but what’s actually vital to your customer”. Also, another important argument given through the second chapter is: “The goal is to achieve exponential improvement that will put you ahead of the exponential improvements occurring in your activity by your competitors”.How the definition of “Innovation” is different from other definitions based on your research of no less than 2 other definitions.The authors’ definition of innovation: “Innovation is the process of creating and delivering new customer value in the marketplace” it is very different to other definitions since usually definitions are very verbose while his definition it is very short and understandable. Another definition founded from an organization is: “Innovation is the successful creation and delivery of a new or improved product or service in the marketplace”.What are the important components of “added value” according to the authors? (Please choose an industry of your interest and research to discuss this in class).A value addition can either increase the product’s price or value. For example, offering one year of free support on a new computer would be a value-added feature. Additionally, individuals can add value to services that they perform, such as bringing advanced financial modeling skills to a position in which the hiring manager may not have foreseen the need for such skills. For example, the industry Prosodie- Capgemini has a very specific market positioning. It enables the company to design and develop innovative services with a high added value that meets all customer expectations. This added value is based on four key components: a)Performance and ability linked to the telecoms operator status b)Extensive technical expertise with expertise in designing, developing, integrating and hosting all types of Front Office solutions and platforms. c)A comprehensive service in cloud mode, with an impressive ROI, based on optimized costs and no extra investment; a pay-per-use type of service, highly flexible solutions that support companies according to their level of growth and a time-to-market response to speed up competitiveness. d)Business expertise particularly suited to the expectations of end users to increase their satisfaction.According to the authors, how should work on innovation be aligned with the goals of an organization?Employees need to be aligned with the “criteria” used to define the key needs of customers. What advice/suggestions did the authors provide for you to evaluate whether your project has criteria that clearly state what the key customer and market needs are?When approaching a new market opportunity, two essential criteria are: a) not being overrun by other unexpected developments, and b) ensuring that the opportunity remains feasible.Please use an industry example of your own to articulate the authors’ statement: “If you can’t state your value proposition, you don’t understand your job.”It is important to state your value proposition since customers are looking for solutions that will directly or indirectly improve their competitive advantage. The value proposition serves as the foundation for all of the marketing efforts and defines what makes you different from alternative solutions. As a good example, BB Marketing Plus: “BB Marketing Plus works with [B2B companies that have long sales cycles] to [increase sales productivity]. Unlike [companies that make cold calls for you or develop lead generation campaigns], we use [our Revenue Accelerator Methodology] to [make sure you get the right message to the right person at the right time about the right solution—and motivate them to act] as is evident from [our clients’ testimonials].”The NABC approach is presented in the book. Please write up a HNABCH based on a product or service of your choice. The need for the customer with this product is that it tracks IP addresses and can tell how badly you are getting hacked or not. For approaching availability, the company creates software that can be downloaded as a trial and then from there as a package. This makes it easy or the consumer to buy and trial to see if they have any further interest. This product benefits its customer by giving them an in depth analysis of the safety of their IP addresses. They can see if they are being hacked and how bad. This can then help them keep a better eye and make them buy better security. To see the best cost based on return you have to study the product and see how it performs. The risk is buying the product while the reward is actually working and helping you.What is a “value proposition”? Please write one including the components specified. A value proposition is a positioning statement that explains what benefit you provide for who and how you do it uniquely well. It describes your target buyer, the problem you solve, and why you’re distinctly better than the alternatives should be developed for. It has to be specific, quantitative and illustrative; they tell a story. A good value proposition would be: “We help large companies reduce the cost of their employee benefits programs without impacting benefit levels. With the spiraling costs of health care today, this is a critical issue for most businesses. One of our recent clients, a large manufacturing company similar to yours, was struggling with how to reduce spending in this area. We saved them over $800,000 in just six months. Plus, they didn’t cut any services to their employees, nor did their employees have to pay more.”Use your value proposition in the context of HNABCH to present a one-minute elevator pitch. “We can help your company be more competitive and gain an edge in the market. We help large companies reduce the cost of their employee benefits programs without impacting benefit levels. With the spiraling costs of health care today, this is a critical issue for most businesses. Let me tell you about some of the work we’ve done recently. One of our recent clients, a large manufacturing company similar to yours, was struggling with how to reduce spending in this area. We saved them over $800,000 in just six months. Plus, they didn’t cut any services to their employees, nor did their employees have to pay more. My name is Ana, and if you are interested you can contact me to save money using our services. With this money, you could invest in more market research which will allow you to gain an upper hand over other companies”What defines such a champion? List three reasons that “each and every innovation requires” to be such a champion.Each and every innovation requires a champion. A champion who identifies with the customer, and who attends to such issues as funding, politics. A true champion is passionately committed; they’re builders with a clear vision who inspire others to collaborate.Please list the key traits of an effective champion. (be prepared to illustrate with examples of your choices on the exam).The key traits of an effective champion include:-Superior listening and learning skills.-Fail often to succeed early.-Ask for ideas before asking for resources .-Learn from the mistakes.-Surround yourself with enthusiastic volunteers.-Build business and financial models early, being skeptical.-Share the credit by thanking the thinkers and praising the participants.-Trust the process.What does this example tell us? Example: Australia.This is a great example of a big U.S. company not listening to customers – Starbucks. Starbucks went to Aussie assuming it could take over in a very sophisticated coffee market. It failed. After a year or two, it closed 70% of its 80 franchises. The example of Starbucks’s failure in Australia demonstrates how being successful in one particular market will not guarantee success in another if you do not adapt well to the new consumers. Although we can assume that Australian coffee consumers are not completely different compared to the ones in the US, we can be sure that they had different expectations for Starbucks once it was moving to Australia. Starbucks is a typical franchise, which in terms means it does not vary its look from shop to shop.Collaboration is the “fuel for the innovation engine.” Please use an example from an industry, or your own example, to illustrate this claim by the authors.Collaboration provides fuel for the innovation engine. When the members of a team really “click”, they can win. For example, a high performance team pick players that fit together rather than looking for the star player. With this strategy, they can win and be successful together.“Collaboration may be viewed as a three-legged stool…” What are the three legs?Collaboration may be viewed as a three-legged stool: shared vision, unique complementary skills and shared rewards, based on real accomplishment..A “shared vision” is the magnet that pulls people towards a common cause. To demonstrate this, the authors quote well-known business author Jim Collins. What is the quote and why is it a powerful quote?The authors quote well-known business author Jim Collins: “Get the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus, and the right people in the right seats.” Jim Collins’ quote from Good to Great is famous and powerful in its simplicity and logic. It is all about the Right People. Great companies know that talented people are their greatest resource, and the hardest asset to find and keep. Great leaders spend an inordinate amount of time on people issues: finding, recruiting, developing, coaching, and providing feedback to them. As Jim Collins points out, great companies have a constant feeder process of developing the leaders and employees of the future. People change based on DNA: Desire to change, New vision of where to go, Action plan of how to get to the vision. Give a scenario of a business of your own to illustrate the DNA specified here.The DNA of change (desire, new vision, and action plan) not only applies to individuals, it plays out in organizations too. For example, at a restaurant there is sometimes agreements about the need to make a change, while some people say “our team is fine” but slowly, the company would understand the issues confronted in the exponential economy and why the need of a change. After a while, people stopped talking about the need and started talking about a new vision and where it should go. Eventually, the discussion moved from the new vision to the action plan, making the change happen.The authors state upfront that innovation best practices can be applied effectively at the team level. Top management does not have to bless such practices. What are their reasons behind this claim?The authors gave their own experience during their company crisis working back in 1986, where they started having pizza-meetings every two weeks to share what they learned to be able to spread and explore the successful innovation practices developed. This experiences proved that best practices can be applied locally within their team. They do not require upper management’s permission. From their pizza-meeting story, the origins of the ideas came from a group that was midway down in a large company. There was no executive support or acknowledgement for the activities at the time. It was neither asked for nor needed. When you’ve achieved alignment, this means you’ve obliterated the barriers that were impeding you from your goals, according to the authors. Do you believe so? Why? (Hint: think about some industries that have done so or failed to do so to get some ideas).The authors explained how alignment means that barriers to success have been eliminated and the organizational support needed for success can be put in place. Team and innovation alignment starts by achieving the first four disciplines and failure to achieve alignment within the project, the team, and the enterprise can lead to either costly delays or outright failure. Sometimes, there is inevitable organizational conflicts that clown down the project and sometimes kill it, so it is best to create a n entirely new enterprise. For example, at SRI International they incubate major initiatives such as raising the resources needed within the organization and then they spin them out as new companies. The authors take an opposing stand on organizational cultural change. As they bluntly assert: “We never talk about changing culture.” The goal is to “…deliver superior results.” What pros and cons do you see or envision for such practice? The authors explained that some enterprises think that it is necessary to change the organization’s culture while any of the individuals has volunteered to have their culture changed. Changing the culture, it feels insulting and catalyzes resistance. To be able to improve, it is necessary to deliver superior results instead of involving the enterprise’s management structure or political battles that can be created while trying to change the culture. Over time, there is efficiency savings with understanding customers’ needs which is the starting point for developing new customer value. Carlson and Wilmot present seven essential elements to achieving organizational alignment. What is the one you wish to practice and why?Carlson and Wilmot present seven essential elements to achieving organizational alignment:1) Shared vision, strategy, values, goals2) Commitment to delivering superior value to customers3) Commitment to continuous improvement processes using innovative best practices4) Creation of innovative organizational structures and processes5) Organizational transparency (e.g., communication and knowledge)6) Shared recognition and rewards7) Commitment by the CEO and the senior management team. A)The one I wish to practice would be the first one: “Shared vision, strategy, values, goals”. It takes time and effort to create shared vision, to form an effective team, to communicate over and over with the team creating strategies and setting goals and to manage all the personal interactions between team members. Because these activities take time and effort, it would be interesting to practice while learning to value each member and getting engaged in constructive criticism.
– principles of FC: 1. Master the Courage to Interrogate Reality. No plan survives its collision with reality, and reality has a habit of shifting, at work and at home. People change and forget to tell one another – colleagues, customers, spouses, friends. We are all changing all the time. Not only do we neglect to share this with others, we are skilled at masking it even to ourselves. Principle 2: Come Out from Behind Yourself, Into the Conversation, and Make It Real .While many fear “real”, it is the unreal conversation that should concern us. Unreal conversations are incredibly expensive, both for the individual and for the organization. No one has to change, but everyone has to have the conversation. If you want to transform the relationship, you have to have the conversation. When the conversation is real, the change occurs before the conversation is over. Principle 3: Be Here, Prepared to Be Nowhere Else.Our work, our relationships, and our lives succeed or fail one conversation at a time. While no single conversation is guaranteed to transform a company, a relationship, or a life, any single conversation can. Speak and listen as if this is the most important conversation you will ever have with this person. It could be. Participate as if it matters. It does. Principle 4: Tackle Your Toughest Challenge Today .The problem named is the problem solved. Identify and confront the real obstacles in your path. Today is the day to have the conversation you have been avoiding. All confrontation is merely a search for the truth. Stay current with the people important to you. Travel light. Agenda free. Principle 5: Obey Your Instincts .Don’t just trust your instincts. Obey them. Your radar screen works perfectly. It’s the operator who is in question. An intelligence agent is sending you messages every day, all day. You hear them in your head, feel them in your gut, and discern them in your heart. Tune in. Pay attention. What we label as illusion is the scent of something “real” coming close. Principle 6: Take Responsibility For Your Emotional Wake.There is no trivial comment. Something you may not even remember saying may have had a devastating impact on someone who looks to you for guidance and approval. Learning to deliver the message without the load allows you to speak with clarity, conviction, and compassion. Remember, the conversation is not about the relationship; the conversation is the relationship. Principle 7: Let Silence Do the Heavy Lifting.When there is simply a whole lot of talking going on, conversations can be so empty of meaning they crackle. Insight occurs in the space between words. Memorable conversations include breathing space. Learn to love the sweet territory of silence, where an intelligent universe waits to engage you in a dialogue, the first word of which will take you farther than you could have imagined.-FC 4 Objectives: 1.interrogate reality.2.provoke learning.3.trackle tough challenges.4.enrich relationships.Innovation: define innovation as the creation and delivery of new customer value in the marketplace with a sustainable business model for the enterprise producing it. This definition takes us far beyond ideas and creativity to an organization-wide, managed process.Important Needs: Work on important customer and market needs, not just what is interesting to you.Value Creation: Use the tools of value creation to create customer value fast.Innovation Champions: Be an innovation champion to drive the value-creation process.Innovation Teams: Use a multidisciplinary, team-based approach to innovation to create a collective, genius-level IQ.Organizational Alignment: Get your team and enterprise aligned to systematically produce high-value innovations. Alignment is assuring that the enterprise is constructed to deliver the highest customer value.