Can the Japaneese even crack creativity? Yes & very well.

Suggestions. Suggestions. Suggestions. How is it then that a culture so focused on hierarchial mechanisms for incrementalism benefits so highly from a suggestion based system? Simple. Focused incrementalism on the suggestions themselves. Of 10 firms systematically researches, all 10 had between 38 and 833.2 suggestions per employee greatly increasing the value to the firm of new product development initiatives as well as solutions to existing problems. How did they do it?  Here is how; Cracking the Incremental Paradigm of Japanese Creativity

Radical NPD is intrapreneurship and of 10/21 firms say they all face the same challenges

After investigating 21 manufacturing firms, it was found that the issue of resource allocation in radical NPD efforts inside the firm inevitably cause the most pain. How do you mitigate them? My Changing Strategies and Tactics for New Product Development to focus on external resources in a skunkworks model. Does it cause internal stress w/teams and those wanting to get ahead? Yes, but then again, no risk no reward and that’s not something employees want to hear however there are ways around it as presented here.

Want more synergy between marketing + R&D. The Matrix. It’s all in the matrix.

The steps for full integration and connection of Creating synergy between marketing and R&D is detailed in this article in the journal of Product Innovation Management detailing how large fortune 500 firms are able to coordinate the efforts of desperate geographic groups and assure that functionality and brand values are communicated to users.

Creative Propolution – pushing it forward

Sternberg, Kaufman, Pretz, get it right in their quantative research on Creative Propolution surrounding the 6 forms of creative leadership for innovation launches. Although missing the point of the initial internal senior management capability to stifle innovation due to internal politics, regardless a fulland well organized model is presented. For a framework, it solves the basic architecture surrounding creativity in organizations.  Based on the framework and a little awareness, any product can make it out. Here's how.

Stimulating the Potential: Creative Performance and Communication in Innovation Teams

How is it then to keep teams talking, and more making sure that they are formally and tactily communicating across sometimes disperse geographic environments? Technology? No. Micromanaging? No. Stimulating the Potential: Creative Performance and Communication in Innovation Teams  details 44 NPD teams in eleven companies, and particularly surprisingly that interaction frequency and subgroup-formation have negative relationship to team creativity. Why? Smaller is simply better. Here’s how they do it.

Check your creative head: Order and Disorder in Product Innovation Models

How is it that creativity is mitigated in an environment of corporate watchdogs and ROI demands? Via five NPD models presented: the sequential, compression, flexible, integrative and improvisational models a mechanism for product innovation management shows a changing position to less mechanistic, and towards organic models of, in particular, creativity better accepted as Order or maybe “Disorder” in Product Innovation Models

13 western sectors can be wrong: innovation isn’t NPD

When innovation is used incorrectly as NPD a damaging effect occurs: a low down of the reality of breakthrough. Via the results of a 13 western sector analysis it’s Improve quality, Open new markets and Extend service range as the “innovation” capabilities that these firms focus on. This is NPD. Further analysis shows alternative methods, the real crux of innovatin.

Want mature firm innovations? Justifying R&D ROI has it’s challenges there.

How are project conceived, and more R&D justified to CFO’s? Financing R&D in mature companies - An empirical analysis is that detail. Models shown and techniques used to communicate as well as analyize and finaically model create the framework for the toolset necessary. More a clear path to R&D for IP protection is discussed and mitigated against the “get it to market” only model.

Innovation and coordination - not much different than the artist/creator model

When management, vertical integration and advertising are put in place it might seem that innovation is the lost. In fact it often is. In Innovation and coordination - A schutzian perspective we see a system of mechanistic models stifiling the creative process however monetizing and tracking all of the necessary steps to provide “safety” in launch. What to do, or what not to do, the architecture is clear and determines your firms typology. Where do you stand? It’s how your firm sings their own innovation song. 

Firm #’s in your sector shrinking? Why? R&D density. Start innovating!

What is R&D density and why is it important to your survival? The inverse of average firm sales or simply the number of firms divided by industry sales determines sectors with high R&D intensity are sectors with future forward competitive environments requiring intense focus and investment to enter. And how to break in. Here’s how via a simple theory and evidence on the determinants of firm R&D

R&D apple seeds to hot apple pie ROI

The national science foundation is the precursor to breakthrough innovations. When does funding research by smaller firms bear fruit - Evidence from SBIR programs gives the detailed systems on how to review and invest in the emerging.

Offices & staff in far off places? Can you literally listen for creativeity? Yes

Models for decentralized innovation parsing is a mechanism for not missing weak signals for R&D investment, new client possibilities or breakthrough products. But can you do it from within an organization? Yes by using Insourcing Creativity with Listening Posts in Decentralized Firms by utilizing 3 types of determinants to listen inside an organization:  trend scout, technology outpost and matchmaker.