Systematic Implementation of Innovation Best Practices:Thota Framework for Innovation

The Product Development and Management Association(PDMA)comparative performance assessment studies(CPAS)teach us that the new product development(NPD)and innovation management practices continue to evolve.However,advances in the practice of NPD and innovation did not yield significant increases in new product success rates.However,the PDMA 2003 CPAS reported a significant difference in the success rates for top performing businesses versus the"rest".This paper summarizes innovation practices of top performing businesses from CPAS and compares them with the practices of PDMA Outstanding Corporate Innovator(OCI)Award winning companies.The paper verifies that what the top performers say they do in research surveys is actually what the outstanding corporate innovators do in practice.The paper then raises the question of how underperforming companies can implement key learnings from the best to improve their own innovation performance.The development of Thota framework for innovation as a systematic framework to help underperformers implement the best practices is discussed.As a case study,the implementation of the Thota framework for innovation is illustrated with BMW,an OCI award winning company.The Thota Framework for Innovation is based on three organizing principles and eight actions.Underperforming businesses can improve their innovation performance by internalizing the three organizing principles and rigorously implementing eight actions specified in the Thota framework for innovation.

Kodak Digital Camera and The Lost Business Opportunity

A systematic study of Kodak’s annual operations and business strategies during 2000-2010revealed that Kodak management faltered in transitioning the Kodak Company from an analog business model to a digital business model.In 2000 Kodak delivered strong performance and it appeared to be smart to be in the picture business.In 2002Kodak was the best-performing stock among companies that made up the Dow Jones Industrial Average.In 2005Kodak future looked bright.A confident Chairman and CEO Antonio M.Perez pronounced that by 2008he expected all of Kodak’s businesses to be leaders in their industry segments.In 2008Kodak remained as the most recognized and respected brands in the world but it played in the hyper competitive markets in which price and technological advances drove the market.So Kodak was unable to reap premium prices from its famous brand and it became a nonviable business due to sustained losses from continuing operations.During 2008-2012 Kodak fell from being a market leader to becoming a bankrupt Company.Using the analogy of"behind the power curve",this article shines light on Kodak’s crash to the ground,i.e.bankruptcy filing in 2012and asserts that Kodak management triggered the process of falling behind the power curve in 2000when it embraced the infoimaging strategy to extend the benefits of film.Kodak’s 2003digital business model and other strategies that followed it did not allow Kodak to become a strong competitor in the digital world.Kodak digital camera business became a lost business opportunity.

Evolution of Product Innovation Best Practices and Insights to Improve NPD Performance in SMEs

Product innovation practices are documented in the historic 1968and 1982Booze,Allen&Hamilton(BAH)studies followed by the Product Development and Management Association’s(PDMA)four longitudinal best practices/comparative performance assessment studies(CPAS)conducted since the 1990s.These significant NPD best practices benchmarking studies are reviewed within the context of evolution of product innovation practices during 1968-2012.The widening gap in share of profits from new products between the best NPD firms and the rest in 2012informs us that the Schumpeter’s theory of innovation is still relevant in current markets.The PDMA 2012CPAS found that in Asia,small enterprises were not very proficient in NPD.Where as large Asian enterprises needed 7ideas for one commercial success in line with the proficiency of North American enterprises,small Asian enterprises needed 18ideas for one commercial success.A key insight for small Asian enterprises from 2012PDMA CPAS is that it is more important to strive to become the"best"than endeavoring to introduce a large number of new products each year.Insights to improve NPD performance in SMEs are offered along with a systematic framework to achieve successful product innovation.SMEs can begin their improvement effort with self-assessment utilizing the three organizing principles for NPD and eight action categories outlined in the Thota framework for innovation.