A Catalyst for Growth An Executive Program Challenges Business Innovation Strategy
Too often “innovation” is defined solely in terms of product or service line extensions, says Wharton professor George S. Day, academic co-director of the Wharton Executive Education program Full-Spectrum Innovation: Driving Organic Growth and co-director of the Wharton School’s Mack Center for Technological Innovation.
Innovation was a hot topic during the “exuberant” market of the last five years, but what happens when the going gets tough? The savvy risk-takers will “double down” and look for opportunities in the turmoil of a downturn, says Day.
The Full-Spectrum Innovation program gives attendees tools and exposure to a variety of disciplines for bringing innovation to customer experience and business model changes, in addition to product and service development. Faculty drill down on the ways organizations can evaluate their innovation options amid ambiguity and uncertainty. “Essentially, we try to create a roadmap and help them manage growth as a strategic process,” says Day.
“My discussions on what I learned at the program helped us to move forward,” says James E. Cowan, president of Neutrik USA Inc. in Lakewood, N.J. Neutrik, a supplier of professional entertainment connector products, had mature and conservative markets in the entertainment, medical, transportation, and aircraft sectors. By mid-2007, Cowan says, Neutrik executives were mulling how to grow without buying other companies.
Broadening the company’s innovation processes beyond its traditional engineering strengths was necessary, says Cowan. “Without looking at the marketing standpoint, the company’s not going to grow,” he says.
Today Cowan reports that Neutrik has in place a platform for growth: it has a new director of marketing; its marketing/advertising firm is working on a new ad campaign geared toward younger musicians in the U.S.; and a newly hired consultant is working with Neutrik’s new marketing director and department heads to develop a company-wide roadmap.
Sara Medina, a member of the board of the international consulting firm Sociedade Portuguesa de Inovação (SPI) in Portugal, is using the innovation strategies she took away from the program to develop a methodology for implementing Blue Ocean Strategy framework processes for clients. The customer-centric Blue Ocean process, first developed by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne, is a way to identify new value propositions that make the competition irrelevant.
“It's very important to have practical examples,” says Medina, who valued the case studies and scenarios presented by program faculty member Larry Huston, managing director of the consulting firm 4INNO. As the former vice president of innovation at Procter & Gamble, Huston invented the “Connect & Develop” product innovation model by expanding P&G’s R&D organization beyond its 9,000 in-house employees to “in-source” ideas and expertise from more than 1.5 million innovators.
"Everybody is dealing with the same uncertainty," says Day. "The ones who see more clearly the better opportunities where to place their resources, and figure out exactly the times to move, are the ones who consistently and systematically grow faster."
