Earlier posts discussed Do you have a Product Innovation Charter (PIC)?,From Product Innovation Charter to the Product Protocol,Innovation: Product Innovation Charter (PIC) helps prevent scope creep in technology and market. This post is about what the PIC contains.Research suggests that there are three broad topics that the PIC must address viz. Focus, Objectives and Guidelines.Keep in mind that the PIC is a document put together by the top management after which the innovation team or NPD (New Product Development) team is left free to think outside the box and come up with innovative solutions. The PIC should contain the Focus, Objectives and Guidelines
Author Archives: StratoServe
Company website deals don’t seem to reach distributor salespeople
Just as gas gets cheaper and Auto sales rev up for the July 4th holiday it is surprising that salespeople at auto dealers don't seem to assume that a customer is very likely to have checked on the website offers of the manufacturer. This disconnect between company website and distributor salespeople is amazing because todayContinue reading “Company website deals don’t seem to reach distributor salespeople”
Stopping J.C. Penney Coupons was a bit like introducing New Coke
The troubles at JC Penney that started with stopping coupons in February sort of reminds one of the New Coke fiasco. In both cases company leaders misjudged what their brand really means to their customer. Here is what happened: JCPenney marketing folks figured that their customers hated all those coupons and keeping track of theContinue reading “Stopping J.C. Penney Coupons was a bit like introducing New Coke”
Credit Cards: What do people complain about ?
The US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has put out the complaints that it has received about credit card companies since June 1. Banks are naturally unhappy. But they should not be because instead of a "buzz" in forums, Facebook here are actual complaints that give huge insight as to what annoys folks the most.Continue reading “Credit Cards: What do people complain about ?”
Steps in Engineering Outsourcing : What goes out – must come back
Given the interest in an earlier post on engineering outsourcing its timely to think about the steps of engineering outsourcing and keep in mind that what goes out must come back! Here are the most basic steps of the engineering outsourcing process: Core competence: As discussed in several articles innovation and intellectual property is bestContinue reading “Steps in Engineering Outsourcing : What goes out – must come back”
From Strategy to Execution via Website: the Power of Web Analytics
As Web Analytics evolves (see earlier post) the possibility of organizations to map website—>organizational structure—> strategy —-> to execution via website analytics is an enormous opportunity. And this applies to the mission of the organization, its functions including Marketing, Investor Relations, Supplier Relations to Employee Relations. Here is how: Websites are becoming better with moreContinue reading “From Strategy to Execution via Website: the Power of Web Analytics”
Innovation: Product Use Testing is the most overlooked type of testing
Innovation and New Product Development (NPD) involves three types of testing viz. concept testing, product testing and market testing. Of these the product testing or product use testing is the most overlooked one with avoidable negative outcomes for market success. But first are the three types of testing: Concept Testing: occurs in the early partContinue reading “Innovation: Product Use Testing is the most overlooked type of testing”
Mayors Innovation Challenge for US cities from NYC Mayor Bloomberg
The Mayor's Challenge for US cities from New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is a great idea. The rationale for the Mayors Challenge is explained in the video alongside and details of the competition are available at the Bloomberg Philanthropies website. Mayor Bloomberg is personally funding the effort and it is available to all citiesContinue reading “Mayors Innovation Challenge for US cities from NYC Mayor Bloomberg”
New Service Development involves experimentation
New Service Development involves experimentation unlike the development stage approach of new product development. Recently a financial services industry executive mentioned that there was no real need for them to develop a prototype, do a product use test and then go into large scale manufacturing followed by market testing and product launch. Here was theContinue reading “New Service Development involves experimentation”
From Product Innovation Charter to the Product Protocol
The Product Protocol is a written document that the multi-disciplinary new product development team puts together to help team members from functions like R&D,Design,Marketing,Procurement, Production co-ordinate.