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Emily Veele 5-1 Report: Process for Managing Innovation Southern New Hampshire University

2 As middle manager, I was tasked with recommending an innovation option for the organization. In my previous proposal I recommended using incremental innovation, adding a new piece of technology into an existing model and then incrementally into the broader product line. Of course, that was before our competitor recently announced they will be bringing a fully autonomous luxury sedan to the market in the next two years. Suitable Processes Our organization has a couple different methods we can use to address the external change we are facing. We can go with Stage-gate, Agile, Lean, or Discover-Iterate-Pivot. Stage Gate is the process of reducing uncertainty through a series of problem-solving stages, moving through the phases of scanning, and selecting and into implementation – linking market and technology related streams along the way (Tidd, 2021). This process moves new products to the market quickly and efficiently. Agile development places a focus on flexibility through the life cycle of the project. This allows the team to respond quickly to changes. With this development model businesses place an emphasis on flexibility and rapid decision making (Eldermir, 2020). The Lean process is basically about maximizing the customer value while minimizing waste. The Discover-Iterate-Pivot process is changing the direction of a project when you realize the current products or services aren’t meeting the needs of the market (Agrawal, 2020). Recommendation I recommend using a hybrid of the Stage-gate and the Agile process. This approach will provide a framework for dealing with uncertainty and ambiguity in the front end, accelerates the process using time-boxed iterations, and focuses on the results via development of tangible product increment as the measure of progress (Cooper et al., n.d.). This process requires the team to interact with customers from the early stages resulting in feedback and possible validation.

3 This hybrid process has the potential to increase success rates of new products because of the feedback and interaction with customers from the start. By interacting with customers early on we will be able to stay relevant and current with external changes like what the customers wants and needs are. The process has a flexible design and adapts rather easily and quickly to changes not to mention it accelerates development. Cross Functional Team To combine Stage-gate and agile processes we will need to ensure cross-functional teams. Our research and development team will work hand in hand with our engineers, marketing team, and investors. One pro of this hybrid process is better communication. That is because our teams are all working together to get the product to launch and using the feedback given from our customers. Success will not be measured by if the product gets to launch but by how the team communicates and accomplishes the goal that is set in each stage. The project will be done when 1. A product is ready for launch or 2. When the product no longer is feasible to the company or for the market. Concerns It is no surprise with changes internally or externally there will be concerns from all that are involved and have an interest in our organization. From our R&D team concerned with how this is going to affect their jobs and how we are going to stay relevant and competitive. Our finance team has questions and concerns coming in from our investors asking how is this going to affect the bottom line? What does my return of investment look like? Or concerns with our partnerships asking, what is this new innovation/product going to do to your other products and their production time?

4 There is no question about it that we are delving into a new chapter of our company. With the news of the fully autonomous luxury SUV being released within the next two years we must step it up and quickly. What I can say is that we will not be moving resources from our production and other products. We have made commitments/promises and we will stick to those! We have looked at our yearly budget and have found it plausible to adjust it to make sure we will have the money and resources needed to move forward. Our organization has money set aside for times like this, where we will buy new technology and create new products that will be able to compete with the fully autonomous car. Conclusion After careful review of all the suitable processes for innovation our organization could choose, I recommend going with the hybrid process of Stage-Gate and Agile. I think this will be the most effective, efficient, and financially responsible option. To stay relevant, we need to think like the competition and be just as innovative if not more! With that being said, let’s start with how we innovate.

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Reference: Eldermir, V. (2020, February 1). Business Agile Methodology: An Introduction. In Clarizen. Retrieved from https://www.clarizen.com/business-agile-methodology-anintroduction/?cn-reloaded=1 Agrawal, V. (2020, July 3). How to Pivot Successfully in Business. In Forbes. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/theyec/2020/07/03/how-to-pivot-successfully-in-business/? sh=5703ccbc7316 Cooper, R., Kielgast, S., & Vedsmand, T. (n.d.). Integrating Agile with Stage-Gate® – How New Agile-Scrum Methods Lead to Faster and Better Innovation. In Innovation Management. Retrieved from https://innovationmanagement.se/2016/08/09/integrating-agilewith-stage-gate/...