While establishing market differentiation can be accomplished by introducing innovative new products, maintaining that market differentiation may prove to be a bit more difficult. Here we have put together a ten-part series on how to generate higher returns from your innovation investments.

From our series of highly informational articles, companies will learn: how to treat innovation as a cross-functional business process, how to align innovation execution and business strategy; how to create sustainable innovation; how to train your senior executives to successfully execute innovation initiatives; how to effectively manage process and project management; how to measure performance of your processes; how to ensure broad stakeholder buy-in; how to understand the importance of product roadmaps; how to provide the tools necessary for successful product innovation; and finally, how to ensure that portfolio management coincides with process management.

Here is one of the ten practices that leading innovators use to increase the payback from innovation spending: Effectively Managing Process and Project Management.

Effectively Managing Process and Project Management

Many organizations make the mistake of equating innovation process management with project management. Innovation process management allows executives, portfolio managers, and process owners to take a global view of how product innovation is being strategically planned and systematically executed throughout the organization. In effect, process management provides the foundation for project management. Conversely, project management entails tracking and scheduling hundreds, if not thousands, of tasks related to creating a new product and bringing it to market.

For example, in the lifecycle of a new vehicle 80,000 or more tasks may be required to design, manufacture, market, and sell the car. However, the decision support needs of senior management center on only a few, high-level considerations, such as safety requirements, benefit to the customer, and the unique needs of particular geographical areas. A well-conceived innovation process allows senior managers to determine how these requirements and other external market, technological, and regulatory factors might impact the overall value of the car.

Though project management and process management serve dramatically different purposes within an organization, there is a symbiotic relationship between the two. For a company to get the most out of their investments in innovation, both are needed.

For more insight into the top practices that leading innovators use to increase their returns on innovation spending, look for the next article in this ten-part series: Measuring Performance of Your Processes.

One way to establish market differentiation is through the introduction of innovative new products. Establishing that differentiation is one thing, but maintaining it is quite another. Here we have put together a ten part series on how to generate higher returns from your innovation investments.

From our series of highly informational articles, companies will learn: how to treat innovation as a cross-functional business process, how to align innovation execution and business strategy; how to create sustainable innovation; how to train your senior executives to successfully execute innovation initiatives; how to effectively manage process and project management; how to measure performance of your processes; how to ensure broad stakeholder buy-in; how to understand the importance of product roadmaps; how to provide the tools necessary for successful product innovation; and finally, how to ensure that portfolio management coincides with process management.

Here is one of the ten practices that leading innovators use to increase the payback from innovation spending: Training Your Senior Executives to Successfully Execute Innovation Initiatives.

Training Your Senior Executives to Successfully Execute Innovation Initiatives

It’s imperative that senior management comprehend and actively support the processes that govern and drive innovation within your organization. Unless your executives know the role they need to play in those processes, it’s unlikely that your organization will see anything more than incremental improvements in its return on innovation spending. Senior leaders need to understand:

1. The benefits of having a structured, automated innovation process.

By providing a common framework for executives and process owners to review and discuss project information, you will enable them to make better, more informed decisions. This provision will also help development teams execute more efficiently on product plans.

2. How to prepare for “go/kill” decision meetings about proposed new products.

If an executive has visibility to key projects in your development pipeline, and understands the impact (positive or negative) that those projects will have on the top and bottom line, he/she will make investment decisions more quickly and confidently.

3. The function and value of using specific, consistent scorecard criteria to evaluate new product ideas.

This practice dramatically heightens the probability that your organization will end up focusing on winning, high-value projects.

4. How to manage gate meetings to get the information needed for sound investment and resource allocation decisions.

It’s imperative that executives be willing to play an active role in facilitating project decision-making. Your organization can help them to be proactive rather than reactive by involving them in projects from the start.

For more information on the top practices that leading innovators use to increase their returns on innovation spending, look for the next article in our ten-part series: Effectively Managing Process and Project Management.

One way to establish market differentiation is through the introduction of innovative new products. Establishing that differentiation is one thing, but maintaining it is quite another. Here we have put together a ten part series on how to generate higher returns from your innovation investments.

From our series of highly informational articles, companies will learn: how to treat innovation as a cross-functional business process, how to align innovation execution and business strategy; how to create sustainable innovation; how to train your senior executives to successfully execute innovation initiatives; how to effectively manage process and project management; how to measure performance of your processes; how to ensure broad stakeholder buy-in; how to understand the importance of product roadmaps; how to provide the tools necessary for successful product innovation; and finally, how to ensure that portfolio management coincides with process management.

Here is one of the ten practices that leading innovators use to increase the payback from innovation spending: Treating Innovation as a Cross-Functional Business Process.

Innovation as a Cross-Functional Business Process

While it is not uncommon for organizations to view innovation as a technical process, relegated to the realm of idea generation by research scientists and engineering staff, for innovation to be truly effective however, it should be treated as a business process that supports strategic decisions throughout the life of a product, from inception to retirement.

When you think about it, the various things companies must do to innovate successfully fall into the following categories: planning, investing, designing, manufacturing, supplying, or selling products. Most companies make substantial investments in systems to support the last four of these functional areas. However, when it comes to supporting the strategic planning and investment decision-making facets of innovation process management – points where organizations place huge bets to ensure their future success – many companies have no system in place!

Effective management of innovation processes requires close coordination of daily development activities and the synchronization of product planning information across a broad set of stakeholders. Representatives from principal functions of the organization must be able to contribute easily and thoughtfully to a long-term, business-centric view of market and product opportunities to ensure investments are made in the right projects at the right time.

Additionally, recent studies indicate that more than half of senior corporate executives are dissatisfied with the returns their organizations are generating from investments in innovation. 1 At the same time, some organizations are realizing as much as forty to sixty percent more revenue and profit from new products than their industry peers. What sets these companies apart?

For more information on the top practices that leading innovators use to increase their returns on innovation spending, look for the next article of this ten-part series: Aligning Innovation Execution and Business Strategy.