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Searching for Innovation Opportunities: Idea Generation and Technology Development

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Product Innovation Management

Part of the book series: Management for Professionals ((MANAGPROF))

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Abstract

What distinguishes consistently innovative companies is their organizational capability in systematically exploring new opportunities, the second level of the innovation pyramid (discovery). This exploration capability emerges in (1) activities aimed at generating new product ideas (creative ideation) and in (2) technology development, whose objective is the resolution of knowledge gaps through research and experimentation to ensure the feasibility of new product ideas and introduce significant or radical changes in the performance and technical attributes of products.

The combination of these two types of activities leads to the creation of a shelf of novel and feasible product ideas—preliminary concepts of potential future products that can range from clear statements about anticipated product features and benefits to early prototypes.

As we have seen in Chap. 3, we can identify four different approaches to creative ideation: the default mode, called idea fishing to highlight its passive and reactive nature, where product ideas are merely collected; and three proactive approaches (idea hunting). In the next paragraphs, we will examine in depth the logic of the two opposite ways of moving away from the passive approach of the idea fishing: innovation workshops (based on collaboration between a limited number of selected people) and innovation contests (centred around competition between a unknown crowd of problem-solvers). In the last section, we will direct our attention to technology development.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    IDEO (www.ideo.com) is a leading consultancy firm in the field of product and service innovation; see Kelley (2001), Brown (2008), Kelley and Kelley (2013).

  2. 2.

    “Design thinking is a human-centred approach to innovation that draws from the designer’s toolkit to integrate the needs of people, the possibilities of technology, and the requirements for business success” (https://designthinking.ideo.com).

  3. 3.

    In IDEO the “prototype” is an artefact with which you can interact; a set of post-it, a role-playing activity that simulates a service, an object, a virtual simulation, a drawing, a storyboard, etc. Prototyping in IDEO must follow the “3R” rule: Rough, Rapid, & Right.

  4. 4.

    Kelley (2001), Brown (2005), Thomke (2001).

  5. 5.

    On the concepts of Value Innovation and Blue Ocean Strategy, see Kim and Mauborgne (2005, 2017).

  6. 6.

    The five-step process is described in Blue Ocean Shift (Kim & Mauborgne, 2017): (1) set the scope of the initiative by focusing on a specific “product/service offering” or business; (2) analyse the current state with the Value Curve (“strategy canvas”); (3) discover the pain points of existing customers and the ignored needs of noncustomers; (4) gain new insights on how value could be unblocked through the six-paths framework, redefine the value curve through the four-actions approach (Reduce, Raise, Create, Eliminate), and identify multiple “future-state” options; (5) select the to-be Value Curve to pursue.

  7. 7.

    The inside-out process is briefly described in Verganti (2016); see Verganti (2017) for more details.

  8. 8.

    Verganti (2016).

  9. 9.

    Verganti underlines the importance of the work of the sociologist Michael Farrell Collaborative Circles: Friendship Dynamics and Creative Work (2001), who studied the collaborative dynamics of the impressionists and other innovative groups in art and science.

  10. 10.

    For a compelling analysis on the birth of Microsoft Xbox and the role of the radical circles, see Verganti and Shani (2016).

  11. 11.

    Phaal et al. (2007).

  12. 12.

    See Michalko (2010).

  13. 13.

    For an interesting analysis on the origin of “good ideas”, see Johnson (2010).

  14. 14.

    The story of John Harrison and the development of the four timekeepers in response to the Longitude Prize is fascinating; see Sobel (1996). The watches are on display at the Royal Observatory Greenwich in London.

  15. 15.

    See Bullinger et al. (2010) and Hutter et al. (2011).

  16. 16.

    Boudreau and Lakhani (2013).

  17. 17.

    Afuah and Tucci (2012).

  18. 18.

    Johansson (2004).

  19. 19.

    Jeppesen and Lakhani (2010).

  20. 20.

    Boudreau and Lakhani (2009).

  21. 21.

    See Birkinshaw (2012) and Pink (2011).

  22. 22.

    Malhotra et al. (2017).

  23. 23.

    We will not consider basic research activities, typically carried out in public institutions and Corporate Research facilities of very large multinational companies. This activity is characterized by very long-time horizons and aims to advance scientific knowledge.

  24. 24.

    See Eldred and McGrath (1997a, 1997b).

  25. 25.

    On the issue of decoupling between technological development and product development, see Chiesa (2001), Nobelius (2004), Chiesa and Frattini (2007), Chiesa et al. (2009), De Toni et al. (2015).

  26. 26.

    See Ajamian and Koen (2004) and Cooper (2006).

  27. 27.

    Sykes and Dunham (1995).

  28. 28.

    Hall (2007).

  29. 29.

    For an in-depth analysis of the four forms of collaboration, see Chiesa (2001); Chiesa and Manzini (1998).

  30. 30.

    See Spradlin (2012).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Management and Engineering, University of Padua, Padova, Italy

    Stefano Biazzo & Roberto Filippini

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  1. Stefano Biazzo
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  2. Roberto Filippini
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Biazzo, S., Filippini, R. (2021). Searching for Innovation Opportunities: Idea Generation and Technology Development. In: Product Innovation Management. Management for Professionals. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-75011-4_5

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