UNIVERSITI KUALA LUMPUR

Innovation management
(WBB 10202)
Prepared by : Maziar Azimzadeh Irani

CHAPTER THREE
The origin of innovation

1.

Identify the innovation issues and

practices in mature organizations and
new business venture.

2.

Describe the innovation issues and

practices in top-down and bottom-up
management style.

3.

Explain the innovation issues in

teamwork and transforming
individuals into teams.

4.

Discuss the behavior of innovators,

how they change the rules of the
game, and how they manage the

INTRODUCTION
No one has monopoly over innovation.
Innovation is open to those who are
courageous and are able to take on the
challenges of promoting something new
that changes the current status.
How the innovator functions and how the
organization views the innovator depends
on the type of organization.

Innovation in mature
organizations
Mature organizations normally face the
frightening challenge of their core
business while pursuing new business
opportunities and developing new
markets.
Organizational design directly impacts
on an organizations ability to deliver on
innovation.
Mature organizations always promote
past accomplishments without realizing
that success will not last long.

Innovation in mature
There are mature organization that
organizations

provide leadership in innovation. These

organizations are able to withstand
vulnerable situations without major
catastrophes.

Organizational agility and resilience

have become critical, especially in times
of rapid change when business priorities
quickly shift and require us to redirect
our efforts and redeploy capabilities and
resources.
The challenge is to design an
organization with agile functions and

Innovation in mature
organizations
Some companies establish special
governance structures such as
innovation councils, to determine
corporate priorities and move innovation
projects through critical funding and
decision cycles.
To enable innovation in a mature
organization with rigid structures, some
companies have formed venture
groups, particularly when a new
technology will impact or cannibalize an
existing product line.
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Innovation in new business

venture
Developing a successful new
technological company is a very
difficult, risky, and time consuming
exercise.
Success is not guaranteed and many
people are not suited to this new
regime.
This route is taken when we believe
that the commercial opportunity is
sufficiently attractive to secure the
necessary support and resources

Innovation in new business

venture
Factors to consider:

Viable business model

Attractive gross margin
Large market
Experienced managers
Alignment of innovation with business strategy
Technology can result in new product and
services
corporate partner can be convince to join in
start-up venture
Existence of reliable data for validation of the
technology functionality
The industry segment is structured in a way
that new business venture can compete
effectively
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Innovation in new business

venture
Expectations when starting a new
business:
CEO is just another employee
Well defined and more focused
objectives
The reason for new business is
innovation
Management structure is not important
to employees
The innovator him/her self leads the
new business
Organizational structure is flat and direct in
communication
Lots of founding problems

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Innovation in new business

venture
Type of the person to run a new business

should be able to tolerate uncertainties and

risks

Capital is always short

Many new business want start big
New business always start with high
expectations , inexperience, knowledge
gaps, and failure to understand what it
takes to start from zero.
New businesses are strongly advised to
start by building a sound business

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Innovation issues and

practices
In mature organizations, innovation

derives either from top-down or bottomup

Top - down Innovation

Set by top management:
The approaches : set target; explore
new market; set competition; provide
the funding; employ new technology

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Innovation issues and

Mechanism:
practices
1.

Freewheeling, individualistic; selfgoverned; e.g.. Apple Computer

Macintosh: Innovation: team work with
clear direction using incremental
innovation.
2. Well-organized e.g.. Canon plain
paper copier: Innovation: integrating
design with production engineering
Both examples using project team as
the project champion.
Meet the innovation equation:
Innovation = Invention +
Implementation/

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Innovation issues and

practices
Vice president
Middle
Front
line
management
management

Top-down innovation
management style
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Innovation issues and

practices
Bottom - up Innovation
Innovation originated from the low level
in an organization structure: everyone
(innovator) is encourage to participate
in innovation project
They are the lifeblood of the company
who willing to take up challenges to
realize their ideas
The challenges
Innovation is definitely a learning

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Innovation issues and

practices
Specific type of person for bottom up
innovation:

Willing to put in personal time and effort

to achieve a goal
Has the drive to pursue a goal in spite of
a possible negative career impact
Will not take no for an answer
Innovation is about having the
competence to integrate knowledge of
the marketing and technical issues, as
well as viewing the innovation from a
strategic perspective.

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Team function in innovation

Innovation starts with one person

efforts and eventually requires a team.
Four different roles of a dedicated
innovation team:
Information facilitation
Opportunity consultant
Opportunity enabler
Execution delivery

Successful innovation teams start by

selecting a diverse group of people who
are analytical and creative in equal
measures and have networks that are 17

Team function in innovation

Ten tips for high performance
innovation teams:
1. Start by building a bigger box rather
than trying to think outside the box
2. Select your teams for who they know
as well as what they know
3. Pick a leader and provide autonomy
needed to be successful
4. Build a team that can identify both
gaps in the market and markets in
the gap
5. Find team members who tell great
stories

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Team function in innovation

6. Understand the different between
good and bad conflict
7. Supplement the innovation core team
with an external provocateur
8. Remember to set goals and measure
progress
9. Think like a start-up enterprise
10.Ensure team members have both feet
in

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Transforming individuals
into team members

Innovation starts with an idea that

eventually is transformed into a real-life
concept.
Real operational and partnership
innovation team:
Working around the clock
Targets are stretched for every one and
every participating group
Everyone is involved and recognize their
role in the process
Normal rule are broken
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Focus on business objectives

Innovators behavior
Innovation takes off anywhere in the
kitchen, the garage, the basement; most
probably in all three locations.
The spirit that supports and guides
these innovators presents us with
wonder.
Why are there so few of them? Granted,
for every successful one, many never
succeed.
They have a vision and mission and will
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Change the rules of the

game
Innovators not only
break the rules of
the game but also change the game
itself.
Apple Inc.
Canon
Yamaha
Texas instrument
Lever brothers
Competition was attacked without the
help of radical technological innovation.
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Managing the pressure in

Most humansinnovation
prefer the status quo
because the change create pressure.
Innovation creates emotional and
mental pressure.
Managing the following dynamic
pressures determine the level of
innovation:
The change agents and status quo
The focus of short-term and long term
Constrain and freedom
Stability and change
Routine and creativity

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END OF CHPTER 3
Any Questions?

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