Managetoinnovate

Welcome to Manage to Innovate

I have set up this site to act as both a resource on innovation management and a space to suggest concepts and constructs that I have developed. I have worked in early stage R&D management for over a decade and studied Innovation Management to masters level. I have worked within multiple research programmes for both large companies and the public sector looking after individual research projects and helping to build entire research programmes. I hope you find this site a useful resource and if you have any comments or would be interested in contributing just contact me through the comments link up top.

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Key sections from this website

You can explore this website through the menu bar at the top but below are a few of the key sections I would like to highlight.

Key Terms There are a number of terms used throughout this website some of which are unique to the approaches created for this site. The table below provides definitions to these terms and can be used as point of reference whilst exploring this site. Term Description Business Model Product Options can be taken to the market through a number of different Business Models including direct sales, through a distributor, rental, service contracts, IP licensing or even Open Source. When a Product Option is taken to market through a specific Business Model we have the companies Value Proposition. Design Option A Design Option is an individual element that when combined with other Design Options will create a single product offering. It can be physical or it can just be documentation that details the limits of performance and dependencies between other design options. It exists to provide the final integrator with sufficient information to consistently reproduce the final Product Option. Front Line Researchers The scientists, engineers, designers and even the project managers who get their hands dirty (well maybe not the project managers) tackling the R&D Challenges. Function Functions in the context of this website are the defined as the way in which a product will deliver it's Requirements. If a torches requirement is to light up a dark space then it's function will be different ways of achieving this i.e. burning something, electrical resistance, chemical reaction. Innovation Well I suppose I can not have a website with the name ManageToInnovate and not try and define the word Innovation. The definition of this term has been discussed at length around the world and I would argue to the point where it has really lost any real meaning. The best definition I have come across is ‘the successful implementation of novel ideas within an organisation.‘ (Amabile et al., 1996). This then changes the focus of debate from what is innovation to what is success and what is novel. By doing this you can see why it is a word that has become so confused as success to one person will be completely different to another. It also suggest that something can only be classified as innovative retrospectively. Market Need A problem that needs solving or a desire that may be wanted. This is usually used to describe what it it is the final Product Option will be purchased for. It is a simple concept but extremely important as ultimately the only reason a technical organisation exists is to generate solutions to market needs. Nearly all R&D Models have Market Need as there starting point. Product Option A Product Option is created by combining a number of Design Options. It can simply be thought of as the potential products an organisation could make. These are then offered up to the business to take to market through their desired Business Model. R&D Challenge R&D Challenges can also be thought of as R&D Questions. These are essentially the bits of the current Design Options that we do not know how to deliver. R&D Challenges do not have to come from product concepts and may exist to explore interesting Technology or build core capabilities within the R&D Function so they can deliver future Design Options. R&D Function This the part of an organisation responsible for delivering the Technologies and combining these to make Product Options to the business. R&D Project R&D projects are the work that carried by the Front Line Researchers as they attempt tackle the R&D Challenges. Requirements These are the what the Product Option needs to do in order to meet its purpose. Technology The definition of technology is almost as hard to pin down as Innovation so I will not try to create a comprehensive definition. In the context of this website I see a technology as a piece of science that has the potential to be applied to provide some sort of benefit within a Product Option. Certain Design Options will be simply the application of a technology. Value In the context of this website I have taken Value to be the additional benefit the customer perceives they will gain from purchasing a Product Option. Value Proposition This is the offering made to the customer when a company takes one of its products to the market through a specific Business Model. Providing something of Value to the customer is what encourages them to purchase said product.

Resource Library Below are the the interesting resources that I have come across. They are structured around the key terms, tools and techniques for the management of R&D projects. 1 Overarching Resources 1.1 General Resources Resource Name Description Resource Type Innovation Management a Network Perspective I submitted this study as part of my requirement for completing an MSc in Management at the University of Bath. It looks at the overlap between innovation management and network management theory. The results of the literature review were applied to a programme of innovation projects from within the UK Ministry of Defence. The results highlight a strong link between network management capability and innovation success and examines the implications for wider management and academic theory. Presentation Open Innovation: The New Imperative for Creating And Profiting from Technology This is hands down the best book you will read in the field of technology management. It has heavily influenced all of my thinking throughout this wiki and is an absolute must read. Book The Core Competence of the Coorporation - Prahad and Hamel (1990) Prahad and Hamel were the first people to suggest the core competence model for business strategy. They essentially argued that a company should concentrate on what it is that makes them best in class (your core competencies) and the bits they are not great at they should look to partner with externals to achieve this. This approach is really the start of Open Innovation as companies realise they can't do it all. Journal Article When is virtual virtuous? - Chesborough and Teece (1996) I've always seen this article as the perfect accompaniment to the core competence article by Prahad and Hamel. It discusses how a company needs to warey of outsourcing so much that they become a "hollow organisation" not really adding any value and easily replaced. Journal Article 1.2 Open Innovation Articles Depending on who you ask, there are a number of responses to "what is open innovation?". Here are just a few of the definitions as described by the literature: Setting research challenges to the general public i.e. open calls, Influencing your supply chain to get them to solve your problems, Outsourcing research and development capabilities, Co-development of products with other companies, Licensing in or out technologies. In my opinion open innovation is all of these and should really just be thought of as the conscious effort of an organisation to benefit from minds outside of their own four walls. Resource Name Description Resource Type A Discussion About Crowdsourcing and Open Innovation With Dwayne Spradlin (CEO of Innocentive) Presentation on how using crowdsourcing services such as those offered by Innocentive. Obviously he is slightly biased but he makes some very strong arguments for companies to start looking outside there own four walls. Video Academic engagement and commercialisation – A review of the literature on university–industry relations This article provides a comprehensive overview of the literature covering university-industrial engagement. It focuses on individual relationships between academics and companies and draws out a number of key themes which act as good guidance to anyone looking to operate in this space. Academic Paper Coping with open innovation - Responding to the challenges of external engagement in r&d This is a really good article that looks at the practicalities of implementing an Open Innovation agenda at the individual level. Academic Paper CreativeBarcode - Legal protection for disclosures within crowd-source communities An interesting company that looks to bring legal coverage to ideas in their early stages developed by communities. They provide a simple QR code which is attached to the documentation (normally online) and when it is shared the reciever must agree to the terms and conditions to view it. This ensures confidentiality is maintained and makes disclosures controlled such that future IP filings are not jeopardised. Company Website Crowdsourcing.org This is an interesting website that pulls together resources from across the internet on crowdsourced development. Website Does IP Strategy Have to Cripple Open Innovation? This is a really good article that looks at how IP can actually act as enabler for and Open Innovation strategy. It presents an interesting framework to help businesses to decide on different strategies depending on the type of environment they are operating within Online Article Getting help with Open Innovation Report How Intellectual Property (IP) Enables And Protects Open Innovation Platforms This Forbes article discusses how in order for companies to succeed in an Open Innovation strategy they must have a strong IP strategy to allow them to work openly and get maximum benefit. Online Article How to implement open innovation: lessons from studying large multinational companies This is a great report which looks at how you actual implement open innovation in an organisation. Report IP protection and Open Innovation can work together (if you do it right). Report Innocentive - Companies put technical challenges to the community and pay for the best solutions Innocentive are one of the longest running community based open innovation companies. They operate a challenge based model where companies place their technical challenges with a cash reward for the best solutions. Company Website Integrating IP Protection with Open Innovation Business Practices Report Intellectual Property and Transfer of Technology and Licensing This video is from the head of the World Intellectual Property Office on the aspects of IP that an organisation must take into account if they are looking to take part in collaborative development. After listening to this you will either be completely put off the idea of collaborative development, or you will see that it is achievable but you better get some good IP lawyers on your side. Video Intellectual property knowledge unleashing the opportunities for crowd sourcing and funding Article discussing the implications of crowd sourcing and crowd funding on intellectual property. Article Intellectual ventures Company Website Interfacing Intellectual property rights and Open innovation Journal Article Looking Back on a Decade of Open Innovation Journal Article MANAGING OPEN INNOVATION IN LARGE FIRMS To mark 10 years since the publication of his seminal book, Henry Chesborough has produced this report looking at companies attitudes to Open Innovation. The main findings were: 78 % of firms in the sample report practicing open innovation, No firms in the sample report abandoning their practice of open innovation, 71 % report that top management support for open innovation is increasing in their firm, 82 % report that, compared to three years ago, open innovation is practiced more intensively today, universities and suppliers are the three leading open innovation partners reported by survey respondents. Report Marblar - Collaborative community looking to breathe new life into patents A novel web based approach that looks to the open community to find applications to existing patents. People who help work on an idea get a share of the royalties. Company Website Open Innovation - Is it really open? Report Open Innovation - Where We've Been and Where We're Going Journal Article Open Innovation and Intellectual Property Rights – The Two-edged Sword Journal Article Open Innovation in the Eighteenth Century - The Longitude Problem The Longitude problem is one of the first examples of a competition based approach to Open Innovation. The UK government put up a prize fund worth millions in todays money for anyone who could create a technology that could accurately calculate the longitude of a ship when it was at sea. Video Open Innovation: The New Imperative for Creating And Profiting from Technology This is hands down the best book you will read in the field of technology management. It has heavily influenced all of my thinking throughout this wiki and is an absolute must read. Book Quirky - Online community of inventors Online community of inventors. Company Website TedX talk - Charles Leadbeater on Innovation Leadbeater discusses amateurs practicing creative collaboration in this video. He uses the example of mountain bikes. The mountain bike was not really created in a Research and Development lab of some large corporation. Rather, it was an evolution of ideas, started by a crowd of consumers who were unhappy with the limitations of their current bikes. This community drew on each individual’s expertise to collective create a product that now accounts for 65% of bike sales in the United States. Leadbeater’s main point is that since technology is so accessible, amateurs are no longer limited by a lack of equipment. By working together, these groups of amateurs can change the world. Video The Role of the Innovation Capitalist in Open Innovation Report The evolution of open innovation: an interview with Henry Chesbrough Interview World Intellectual Property Office - Views on Collaborative Innovation WIPO holds a conference each year looking at the effects of open innovation and collaborative development on IP. They believe IP can be a key enabler as long as people break the problem down into manageable chunks whilst always keeping an eye on the bigger picture. Article 1.3 Innovation Management Articles A relatively new discipline in management theory, innovation has been closely studied as it is ultimately something that all organisations strive for. The term has been so misused over the years that it is worth reminding ourselves what it actually means. Resource Name Description Resource Type Architectural Innovation: The Reconfiguration of Existing Product Technologies and the Failure of Established Firms Journal Article Fortified R&D Castles In his book on Open Innovation, Henry Chesbrough compared old "closed innovation" models used by organisations to fortified castles. The work was carried out inside the four walls and no knowledge came in or out. This is discussed at length in the his book (see resource library) but there is a free article which discusses this analogy in the context of drug development. Innovation Management a Network Perspective I submitted this study as part of my requirement for completing an MSc in Management at the University of Bath. It looks at the overlap between innovation management and network management theory. The results of the literature review were applied to a programme of innovation projects from within the UK Ministry of Defence. The results highlight a strong link between network management capability and innovation success and examines the implications for wider management and academic theory. Presentation Innovationmanagement.se Website Innovations and Networks Combined This m2i webpage looks at the overlap between Innovation Management and Network theory. M2i wiki page Killer Innovations - Phil McKinney Book Managing Innovation - Integrating Technological, Market and Organisational Change This is a great website put together by two pro's from the Innovation Management community Joe Tidd and John Bessant. There are loads of great resources on this website so it's well worth a look. Book Managing Your Innovation Portfolio Online Article Organising for Breakthrough - Rejuvenating the established firm This report has been put together by the Cambridge Based research group at the Institute for Manufacturing. Report RADMA Website RD Insights Website Strategic Innovation and the Intellectual Property Rights This is a talk from Marshall Phelps former corporate VP for IP Policy & Strategy at Microsoft and VP got IP & Licensing at IBM. His role in shifting the focus of IP from a company cost to a profit centre was revolutionary. This is a great presentation which starts with a background to IP in the US and then talks through the benefits brought by using the IP portfolio as a way to generate income. He talks through his story which is fascinating and shows how licensing agreements are absolutely essential to creating successful products. He finishes up by highlighting some of the issues with the way in which IP is managed in the US and makes suggestions on how the system can be changed for the benefit of innovation. Video Surfing the right waves This analogy works quite well when thinking about trying to choose which early stage technologies an organisation should jump on board with. The basic premise is that it is like being sitting on a surfboard just off the coast waiting for the perfect wave to come so you can ride it to shore. It is very hard to see which waves are going to become the best ones ("narly" I think) to ride but with practice it is a skill that can be learnt. I can't remember where I first read this so I can't quote the original source but here is an article which summarises it quite well. The Ideafactory 2, Introduction to Innovation Management Video Types of Innovation (Extract from Book) This is a chapter from a general book in innovation. This chapter introduces the reader to the different types of innovation and talks about the Incremental v Radical against Modular v Architectural matrix. Book 1.4 Intellectual Property Articles Intellectual Property is perhaps one of the most important concepts described here. It is through Intellectual Property that a technical company is able to generate a sustainable income. The R&D department of a company exists either to generate IP (internal innovations) or provide the company with the intelligence to evaluate or generate external IP (Open Innovation). Understanding the finer points of IP is the key to innovation success. Resource Name Description Resource Type Collaborative Research between Business and Universities: The Lambert Toolkit 8 Years On This report was put together to review how well the Lambert Toolkit has been adopted since its introduction in 2005. The report shows that it has been adopted but only within a limited group. Those who were aware of the toolkit believe it has helped them in their contract negotiations and would recommend it. Report Communities of Innovation Report CreativeBarcode - Legal protection for disclosures within crowd-source communities An interesting company that looks to bring legal coverage to ideas in their early stages developed by communities. They provide a simple QR code which is attached to the documentation (normally online) and when it is shared the reciever must agree to the terms and conditions to view it. This ensures confidentiality is maintained and makes disclosures controlled such that future IP filings are not jeopardised. Company Website Dark Intellectual Property’: Why We Need a Kickstarter for Patents Online Article Delta Sight An interesting company who offer an approach to mine both patent and non patent information to spot trends in technology. Company Website Does IP Strategy Have to Cripple Open Innovation? This is a really good article that looks at how IP can actually act as enabler for and Open Innovation strategy. It presents an interesting framework to help businesses to decide on different strategies depending on the type of environment they are operating within Online Article Does IP need IP? Accommodating intellectual production outside the intellectual property paradigm Report Effective IP Licensing Strategies to Drive Predictable Growth Innography produce some great articles. You will need to provide an email address but their reports are worth it. Report Funding Eureka - The world needs a capital market for invention The CEO of Intellectual Ventures put forwards a new approach to invention. Report Getting help with Open Innovation Report How Intellectual Property (IP) Enables And Protects Open Innovation Platforms This Forbes article discusses how in order for companies to succeed in an Open Innovation strategy they must have a strong IP strategy to allow them to work openly and get maximum benefit. Online Article IP protection and Open Innovation can work together (if you do it right). Report IPHandbook Website This webpage is an absolute brilliant resource for learning about the finer points of intellectual property and how it effects technology development. Webpage Innography An impressive piece of IP mining and analysis software which allows the user to interrogate all patents filed worldwide. There are are a few products out there that aim to deliver this capability but this is hands down the best. Company Website Innovation for the 21st Century: Harnessing the Power of Intellectual Property and Antitrust Law Report Integrating IP Protection with Open Innovation Business Practices Report Intellectual Property and Transfer of Technology and Licensing This video is from the head of the World Intellectual Property Office on the aspects of IP that an organisation must take into account if they are looking to take part in collaborative development. After listening to this you will either be completely put off the idea of collaborative development, or you will see that it is achievable but you better get some good IP lawyers on your side. Video Intellectual property knowledge unleashing the opportunities for crowd sourcing and funding Article discussing the implications of crowd sourcing and crowd funding on intellectual property. Article Interfacing Intellectual property rights and Open innovation Journal Article Lambert Review of Business-University Collaboration Report Licensing complementary patents: "patent trolls," market structure, and "excessive" royalties Report Open Innovation and Intellectual Property Rights – The Two-edged Sword Journal Article Ready-to-sign license speeds up tech transfer Sandia National Laboratories have conducted R&D for the US government for decades and have recently put in place a database of ready to sign IP. This articles provides an overview of this approach and discusses its implications for future technical development. Book Strategic Innovation and the Intellectual Property Rights This is a talk from Marshall Phelps former corporate VP for IP Policy & Strategy at Microsoft and VP got IP & Licensing at IBM. His role in shifting the focus of IP from a company cost to a profit centre was revolutionary. This is a great presentation which starts with a background to IP in the US and then talks through the benefits brought by using the IP portfolio as a way to generate income. He talks through his story which is fascinating and shows how licensing agreements are absolutely essential to creating successful products. He finishes up by highlighting some of the issues with the way in which IP is managed in the US and makes suggestions on how the system can be changed for the benefit of innovation. Video Technology Trends: Technology Transfer article This is a great article explaining from a legal contracts perspective how universities can provide industry access to their current and future IP. Article The Cost of Price: Why and How to Get Beyond Intellectual Property Internalism Report The Creativity Effect Journal Article The Lambert Toolkit Webpage Transcending the Tacit Dimension:Patents, Relationships, and Organizational Integration in Technology Transfer Journal Article Valuing academic patents and intellectual properties : Different perspectives of willingness to pay and sell Journal Article World Intellectual Property Office - Views on Collaborative Innovation WIPO holds a conference each year looking at the effects of open innovation and collaborative development on IP. They believe IP can be a key enabler as long as people break the problem down into manageable chunks whilst always keeping an eye on the bigger picture. Article 1.5 Crowdsourcing Resources When online communities come together to work on a challenge. Crowd sourcing has already made a huge impact in the software world (Firefox, Linux, Open Office) but it is now starting to make its way into more tangible products. Resource Name Description Resource Type A Discussion About Crowdsourcing and Open Innovation With Dwayne Spradlin (CEO of Innocentive) Presentation on how using crowdsourcing services such as those offered by Innocentive. Obviously he is slightly biased but he makes some very strong arguments for companies to start looking outside there own four walls. Video CMNTY Platform Now clearly this crowd sourcing thing must be taking off when companies like this exist solely to provide the internet back end for running community challenges. Cascade: Crowdsourcing Taxonomy Creation A clever algorithm that allows the crowd to create a taxonomy for a large data set. Article Challenge Question Formation for Crowdsourcing Article CreativeBarcode - Legal protection for disclosures within crowd-source communities An interesting company that looks to bring legal coverage to ideas in their early stages developed by communities. They provide a simple QR code which is attached to the documentation (normally online) and when it is shared the reciever must agree to the terms and conditions to view it. This ensures confidentiality is maintained and makes disclosures controlled such that future IP filings are not jeopardised. Company Website Crowdsourcing.org This is an interesting website that pulls together resources from across the internet on crowdsourced development. Website Crowdsourcing: How Do You Engage Those on the Edge? This video has a consultant from the IDEO talking through the open collaboration branch of the business Open Ideo. He discusses the concepts behind the site along with some interesting observations on how such a community can be built. Video HitRecord This community of creatives is coordinated by Joseph Gordon-Levitt and produces everything from music and videos to poetry and stories. The work is created collaboratively, released and all contributors receive a share of all the profits. Company Website Hypios Another crowd sourcing company who will put teams of experts on your challenges. Idea Connection IDEO are probably one of the most well known design consultancies in the world. They take a design centred approach to their clients. Their CEO literally wrote the book on The Art of Innovation, Another crowd sourcing company who will put teams of experts on your challenges. Company Website Ideaken Another crowd sourcing company who will put teams of experts on your challenges. Innocentive - Companies put technical challenges to the community and pay for the best solutions Innocentive are one of the longest running community based open innovation companies. They operate a challenge based model where companies place their technical challenges with a cash reward for the best solutions. Company Website Innoget Another crowd sourcing company who will put teams of experts on your challenges. Intellectual property knowledge unleashing the opportunities for crowd sourcing and funding Article discussing the implications of crowd sourcing and crowd funding on intellectual property. Article Intellectual ventures Company Website Interfacing Intellectual property rights and Open innovation Journal Article Kaggle An interesting competition led crowd sourcing company who have a community of data scientists who will solve complex data challenges. Company Marblar - Collaborative community looking to breathe new life into patents A novel web based approach that looks to the open community to find applications to existing patents. People who help work on an idea get a share of the royalties. Company Website Nine Sigma Nine Sigma are one of the leading companies in the crowd sourcing for industry world. Company Website Open Ideo Open IDEO is a crowd sourcing community who look to tackle some of the worlds big issues such as "How might we make low-income urban areas safer and more empowering for women and girls?" or "How might we all maintain well being and thrive as we age?". The site is an extension to IDEO who are one of the worlds leading design consultancies. Company Website Presans Another crowd sourcing company who will put teams of experts on your challenges. Quirky - Online community of inventors Online community of inventors. Company Website Quirky's Ben Kaufman introduces the company and discusses the link with GE Quirky are an interesting company who used online communities to build on ideas from the public. In this video the CEO introduces the company and discusses the recent partnership with GE. Video TedX talk - Charles Leadbeater on Innovation Leadbeater discusses amateurs practicing creative collaboration in this video. He uses the example of mountain bikes. The mountain bike was not really created in a Research and Development lab of some large corporation. Rather, it was an evolution of ideas, started by a crowd of consumers who were unhappy with the limitations of their current bikes. This community drew on each individual’s expertise to collective create a product that now accounts for 65% of bike sales in the United States. Leadbeater’s main point is that since technology is so accessible, amateurs are no longer limited by a lack of equipment. By working together, these groups of amateurs can change the world. Video The Crowdsourcing Revolution at KPMG: How to Harness the Power of the People KPMG now offer a service to their clients where they will put questions to their staff all over the world for a crowdsourced response. This video talks about how the service came to be. Article with video What the Failed $1M Netflix Prize Says About Business Advice The $1M Netflix prize is touted around as the ultimate CrowdSourcing success story. Netflix put up a prize to improve their film reccomendation algorithm which was claimed by code combined by multiple entrants. It fits the "sum is greater than it's parts" rhetoric but most references to this story fail to mention (or actually never checked their references) that the algorithm was never implemented. This is a great article which discusses how success in Crowd Sourcing is much trickier than just running a competition. Organisations have internal checks and balances for their R&D not just to give people with bureaucratic tendencies an outlet but to ensure the outputs are actually commercially viable. It does not mean the Crowd Sourcing is doomed, but it sure as hell is not the only part of the equation. Video World Intellectual Property Office - Views on Collaborative Innovation WIPO holds a conference each year looking at the effects of open innovation and collaborative development on IP. They believe IP can be a key enabler as long as people break the problem down into manageable chunks whilst always keeping an eye on the bigger picture. Article Yet2.com Yet2.com are one of the most established corporate crowd sourcing websites where industry can set challenges to their community of experts. Company Website 1.6 Technology Readiness Level Resources Also known as TRL's, this is an extremely powerful approach which provides a simple framework for articulating the maturity of a given technology. This framework, if used correctly, can be applied to multiple technologies and it will provide a single number which will be valid for comparison across all technologies. It has been adopted widely by the Defence, Space and Automotive industry and is increasingly being used as a way of consistently reporting progress of elements of a wider technical system. Resource Name Description Resource Type NASA EDGE - Innovative Technology (part 3 of 3) Video TRL's The main wiki page on the subject. Wiki page 1.7 Business Models Resources Product Options can be taken to the market through a number of different Business Models including direct sales, through a distributor, rental, service contracts, IP licensing or even Open Source. When a Product Option is taken to market through a specific Business Model we have the companies Value Proposition. Resource Name Description Resource Type Board of Innovation Interesting consultancy who specialise in business model innovation. They have some interesting literature worth looking at. Company Website Servitization - A horrendous word but an important concept The term servitization refers to the concept of companies moving away from providing their products as a simple one off transaction but thinking about it more as a service. Instead of selling people washing machines you sell them a service for cleaning their clothes, instead of selling people a car you sell them a service for transporting yourself from A to B. Rolls Royce pioneered this concept and coined the phrase "Power by the Hour". Instead of selling their engines to the aircraft companies, they sell them a service where they rent the engines along with maintenance and upgrade contracts and charge by the amount these engines are actually used. This document looks at how UK based manufacturing companies are moving to this model to increase their competitiveness in this global market. Report 1.8 R&D Models Resources There are a number of different models that have been designed to manage the process of taking a concept and developing it into a product. Resource Name Description Resource Type A Better Way to R&D Online Article Dual Vee Model This is the main page from Wikipedia on the a variation of the standard Systems Engineering V-Model. Wikipedia Page Iterations of innovation In this page I present a number of different processes for managing R&D activity, some of which I have developed myself. M2i webpage Phase Gate Model This is the main page from Wikipedia on the Phase-gate model. Wikipedia Page Systems Engineering V Model This is the main page from Wikipedia on the Systems Engineering V-Model. Wikipedia Page Toward a new economics of science Journal Article Towards the sixth generation of R&D management Journal Article 1.9 Design Theory Resources The art of creating new products. Design theory is an extremely important concept taught to all product designers. It is something that more traditional engineers or scientists may feel uncomfortable with but some would argue without it, final products will be at best soulless and at worse useless. Resource Name Description Resource Type A new approach of innovative design: An introduction to c-k theory Report Design Thinking: Understanding How Designers Think Book How Designers Think: The Design Process Demystified Book IDEO IDEO are probably one of the most well known design consultancies in the world. They take a design centred approach to their clients. Their CEO literally wrote the book on The Art of Innovation Company Website Notes on The Sciences of the Artificial Journal Article Stanford Design Thinking Virtual Crash Course Video The Art of Innovation This book is an absolute must read for people interested in a design focused approach to innovation. It has been written by the founder of probably the most well respected and successful design consultancies IDEO. This books talks through their approach to creating new projects. Book The Sciences of the Artificial - Full Text Book Tim Brown - From Design to Design Thinking Lecture from the CEO of IDEO Tim Brown about how design has lost its way and needs to go back to the days of design thinking pioneered by Isambard Kingdom Brunel. He argues that Design Thinking is an approach where you really try to understand what the problem is, looking at it from different angles and explore solutions through quick prototyping. He argues that this approach when applied to areas such as climate change, healthcare and social benefits can create revolutionary solutions. Video 1.10 Non disclosure agreements Non Disclosure Agreements are one of the first things required when you are looking to work with someone outside of your own organisation. They allow confidential information to be exchanged safe in the knowledge that if the receiving party tell anyone else they will be breaking the law. Resource Name Description Resource Type Overview of NDA's This site provides a good overview of Non-Disclosure Agreements. Wikipedia page 1.11 University Based Research The link between industry and universities can be a powerful tool for generating new technology. This section discusses how this relationship works in practice and suggests approaches to help make the experience more likely to succeed. Resource Name Description Resource Type A Review of Business–University Collaboration Report Academic engagement and commercialisation – A review of the literature on university–industry relations This article provides a comprehensive overview of the literature covering university-industrial engagement. It focuses on individual relationships between academics and companies and draws out a number of key themes which act as good guidance to anyone looking to operate in this space. Academic Paper Best practices for Industry-University collaboration Report Collaborative Research between Business and Universities: The Lambert Toolkit 8 Years On This report was put together to review how well the Lambert Toolkit has been adopted since its introduction in 2005. The report shows that it has been adopted but only within a limited group. Those who were aware of the toolkit believe it has helped them in their contract negotiations and would recommend it. Report Coping with open innovation - Responding to the challenges of external engagement in r&d This is a really good article that looks at the practicalities of implementing an Open Innovation agenda at the individual level. Academic Paper Encouraging a British Invention Revolution: Sir Andrew Witty’s Review of Universities and Growth Report How to Create Productive Partnerships With Universities Academic Paper Lambert Review of Business-University Collaboration Report Technology Trends: Technology Transfer article This is a great article explaining from a legal contracts perspective how universities can provide industry access to their current and future IP. Article The Lambert Toolkit Webpage 1.12 Fuzzy Front End Articles This is a term used to describe the chaotic nature of early stage product development. Resource Name Description Resource Type Does Strategic Planning Enhance or Impede Innovation and Firm Performance? Journal Article Elucidating the fuzzy front end Report From Preliminary Ideas to Corroborated Product Definitions: MANAGING THE FRONT END OF NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT Journal Article Management control and strategic renewal in the front end of innovation Journal Article Sourcing, Filtering, and Evaluating New Product Ideas: An Empirical Exploration of the Performance of Idea Markets Journal Article The Fuzzy Front-End of Discontinuous Innovation: Insights for Research and Management Journal Article Use of Evaluation Criteria and Innovation Performance in the Front End of Innovation Journal Article 1.13 Knowledge Management Articles There has been a lot of work done over the years on how organisations should capture and structure the knowledge they generate. The ultimate aim is to keep it in such away that it can be queried in the future to provide useful results. Resource Name Description Resource Type Main Wiki Page on Knowledge Management Wikipedia Page Making internal collaboration work: An interview with Don Tapscott Interview The Ideafactory 2, Introduction to Innovation Management Video The Innovator Who Knew Too Much Online Article The Knowledge Management Theory Papers - A series of papers on the theories, processes and practices behind Knowledge Management Report 1.14 Network Theory Resources The concept of looking at a department or entire organisation as a node within a much wider network. This perspective can help you appreciate the mammoth task of trying to influence this. Resource Name Description Resource Type Innovation Management a Network Perspective I submitted this study as part of my requirement for completing an MSc in Management at the University of Bath. It looks at the overlap between innovation management and network management theory. The results of the literature review were applied to a programme of innovation projects from within the UK Ministry of Defence. The results highlight a strong link between network management capability and innovation success and examines the implications for wider management and academic theory. Presentation Innovations and Networks Combined This m2i webpage looks at the overlap between Innovation Management and Network theory. M2i wiki page Network Theory This the main page from with wiki on Network Management., The concept of looking at a department or entire organisation as a node within a much wider network. This perspective can help you appreciate the mammoth task of trying to influence this. || M2i wiki page 2 Concept Generation In this context we define a concept as a solution to a problem or an unexploited opportunity. The first step in creating a concept is understanding the problem/opportunity space and what it is that the end user is looking to get from interacting with this concept. The techniques identified here can help both with understanding this space and generating the actual concepts. 2.1 Requirements Management Resources Requirements management is an established technique used by project managers to deliver projects. It has traditionally been used in software development (2008, Hood, Wiedemann, Fichtinger and Paut, pp 21) as a tool to ensure that the end capabilities delivered are actually what the customer needs. It has increasingly been used in other industries and many development models have requirements at their hearts (see section on R&D Models.) Resource Name Description Resource Type Network Competence and Open Innovation Behaviour in the Food Sector: An Empirical Investigation Book Requirements Management: The Interface Between Requirements Development and All Other Systems Engineering Processes Book 2.2 Creativity Resources There is an increasingly growing body of evidence that suggests that creativity is not a talent that you either have or do not but one that anyone can learned and developed. This section looks at this in more detail and discusses the techniques that have been designed to turn even the most uninspiring employee into a regular Da-Vinci. Resource Name Description Resource Type Edward de Bono Website This is guy is a complete legend in the field of creativity and quite literally wrote the book on lateral thinking. He has written a number of books in this space which you can find on Amazon but this is his official website. Website Managing for Creativity Journal Article TEDxFullerton - Matthew Jenusaitis - Importance Of Creativity In Business Video 2.3 Product Pull versus Technology Push Resources R&D projects broadly fall into two categories. Technology Push projects are ones where you start with a technology and are looking for an application. Product pull projects start with a product problem or requirement and the technology is looked for. Resource Name Description Resource Type Push–pull strategy This is the main page from Wikipedia on the Push-Pull Strategy. Wikipedia Page 2.4 Value resources In the context of this website I have taken Value to be the additional benefit the customer perceives they will gain from purchasing a Product Option. Resource Name Description Resource Type Identifying markets I created the following presentation when I was asked to think about ways in which markets could be identified for future product concepts. The process outlined is one I have developed. Presentation 3 Concept Deconstruction All systems can be broken down into smaller ones. At this stage the initial concept is broken down into manageable chunks. It is essential that the relationships between these "chunks" are captured to ensure that work carried out on a sub-systm is sensitive to how local changes impact on the golbal and also ensure that the concept can reconstructed later down the line. 3.1 Systems Engineering Resources Systems Engineering is a well defined approach to creating and delivering complex products/capabilities. It is the discipline of defining a problem and breaking down the solution space into manageable chunks. As long as the interfaces between these chunks are well defined they can be managed realtively independently. This approach has been widely adopted by the defence industry but has rarely been used for less technically complex products. A big focus of this website is exploring how this may work., An extremely powerful concept which teaches you the skills to define the boundaries of something physical or non-tacit and then unpack it into smaller sub-systems whilst understanding how these sub-systems interact. Resource Name Description Resource Type Functional Analysis in Systems Engineering:Methodology and Applications Journal Article History of Systems Engineering Presentation Introduction to Systems Engineering - Texas A&M University This is really good introduction to the principles of Systems Engineering. Presentation Network Competence and Open Innovation Behaviour in the Food Sector: An Empirical Investigation Book Requirements Management: The Interface Between Requirements Development and All Other Systems Engineering Processes Book Systems Engineering V Model This is the main page from Wikipedia on the Systems Engineering V-Model. Wikipedia Page The Function Analysis Diagram: intended benefits and co-existence with other functional models Report 3.2 Morphological Analysis Resources Morphological Analysis is a useful technique for breaking down the product design space. Resource Name Description Resource Type Morphological Analysis Presentation 3.3 Quality Function Deployment Resources First conceptualized in 1966 as a method or concept for new product development. QFD is used to translate customer requirements to engineering specifications. It is a link between customers - design engineers - competitors - manufacturing. Resource Name Description Resource Type Interactive House of Quality This is a great interactive interactive tutorial on the House of Quality (HOQ) matrix. This matrix forms the central tool for Quality Function Deployment (QFD). Wikipedia page 3.4 Pugh Concept Selection Resources The Pugh Matrix is a tool that allows for the comparison of a number of design options leading ultimately to which best meets a set of criteria. It also permits a degree of qualitative optimisation of the alternative concepts through the generation of hybrid candidates. Resource Name Description Resource Type The Systems Engineering Toolbox - Pugh Matrix This is a good overview of Pugh Matrices. Wikipedia page 3.5 Functional Analysis Resources Functional breakdown is the process of taking a concept and decomposing it into discrete packages that describe the things it needs to perform to deliver what it needs to. Resource Name Description Resource Type Functional Analysis in Systems Engineering:Methodology and Applications Journal Article The Function Analysis Diagram: intended benefits and co-existence with other functional models Report 4 Identifying Solutions and Highlighting Knowledge Gaps Even the best resourced R&D departments will not be able to answer all of the R&D questions the generate so a process is required to select the activity that will be taken forwards. The techniques identified here are well established for project selection and management but care must be taken when applying them to early stage R&D activity. We are dealing with unknowns so no process will tell you what you should tackle, expertise, intution and plain gut feel must play apart here. 4.1 Technology Scouting Resources Scouting is an important part of bringing new ideas and technologies into an organisation. This is a skilled discipline and there are a lot tips, techniques and tools that have been developed to assist with scouting. This section introduces a number of these techniques. Resource Name Description Resource Type How good scouting can beat good R&D: The Cisco vs. Lucent example Although this is slightly a marketing spiel about the benefits of using their software, this blog does highlight some good criteria for delivering good scouting within an organisation. Online Article Sciencescape This quite an interesting company who aim to help researchers stay current in their fields without the need to trawl through publication after publication. The platform produces landscapes of literature highlighting the key articles and is continually updated through user interaction. Online Article Technology Radar-Scouting at CISCO This document describes the way in which scouting is performed at CISCO through a structured process involving all employees from around the world. This document introduces their scouting radar which is a nice way of visualising the results. Journal Article 4.2 Open Innovation Platform Resources There are an increasing amount of Open Innovation Platforms that operate a challenge based model. They work with companies to capture their reseach challenges and then either work with their own experts or open up the challenges to a community to get them to generate potential solutions. Resource Name Description Resource Type Innocentive - Companies put technical challenges to the community and pay for the best solutions Innocentive are one of the longest running community based open innovation companies. They operate a challenge based model where companies place their technical challenges with a cash reward for the best solutions. Company Website Intellectual ventures Company Website Nine Sigma Nine Sigma are one of the leading companies in the crowd sourcing for industry world. Company Website Yet2.com Yet2.com are one of the most established corporate crowd sourcing websites where industry can set challenges to their community of experts. Company Website 4.3 IP Discovery You can guarantee that nearly every challenge that an R&D team face, someone somewhere has had a go at sorting it out and probably filed a patent for it. There is also a high probability that the idea was useless but it is always worth looking. This section looks at the concept of thinking if register IP databases as a repository of ideas you can either learn from, purchase or use to identify people or companies who may be able to help you out. Resource Name Description Resource Type Delta Sight An interesting company who offer an approach to mine both patent and non patent information to spot trends in technology. Company Website Innography An impressive piece of IP mining and analysis software which allows the user to interrogate all patents filed worldwide. There are are a few products out there that aim to deliver this capability but this is hands down the best. Company Website 4.4 Technology Transfer Articles This term has a couple of meanings. It can be used to describe the process of taking fundamental technology and commercialising it (commonly applied to university or government research being exploited) but in the context of this site I take the more literal definition. New product doesn't necessarily mean new technology. Many of the greatest inventions have really just been rehashes of a existing idea applied in a different way. This section looks at this process in more detail. Resource Name Description Resource Type Architectural Innovation: The Reconfiguration of Existing Product Technologies and the Failure of Established Firms Journal Article Differences in technology transfer between science-base dand development-based industries:Transfer mechanisms and barriers Journal Article Intellectual Property and Transfer of Technology and Licensing This video is from the head of the World Intellectual Property Office on the aspects of IP that an organisation must take into account if they are looking to take part in collaborative development. After listening to this you will either be completely put off the idea of collaborative development, or you will see that it is achievable but you better get some good IP lawyers on your side. Video Product Technology Transfer in the Upstream Supply Chain Journal Article Ready-to-sign license speeds up tech transfer Sandia National Laboratories have conducted R&D for the US government for decades and have recently put in place a database of ready to sign IP. This articles provides an overview of this approach and discusses its implications for future technical development. Book Tacit Knowledge, Innovation and Technology Transfer Journal Article Technology Trends: Technology Transfer article This is a great article explaining from a legal contracts perspective how universities can provide industry access to their current and future IP. Article Technology transfer and the creation of companies: the CSIRO experience Journal Article Transcending the Tacit Dimension:Patents, Relationships, and Organizational Integration in Technology Transfer Journal Article Why Leveraging Technology Is More Powerful Than Innovating This is a really interesting article from Forbes which discusses a study performed by Google looking at discrepancy between the number of new spin outs Israel have created and the economic value they have created. Online Article 5 Defining Potential Projects and Resourcing them Even the best resourced R&D departments will not be able to answer all of the R&D questions the generate so a process is required to select the activity that will be taken forwards. The techniques identified here are well established for project selection and management but care must be taken when applying them to early stage R&D activity. We are dealing with unknowns so no process will tell you what you should tackle, expertise, intution and plain gut feel must play apart here. 5.1 Portfolio management Resources Research projects are inherently risky and even with good project management you can never guarantee success. The only way of increasing the likelihood of delivering success through research is by doing more, quite simply it's a numbers game. This logic dictates that the management of multiple projects (aka Programme Management) is synonymous with Innovation Management. This section looks at the tools and techniques around this specific discipline. Resource Name Description Resource Type Main Wikipedia page on Project Portfolio Management This is a the main page from wikipedia. Wikipedia page Portfolio Management This is the main page from this wiki, Research projects are inherently risky and even with good project management you can never guarantee success. The only way of increasing the likelihood of delivering success through research is by doing more, quite simply it's a numbers game. This logic dictates that the management of multiple projects (aka Programme Management) is synonymous with Innovation Management. This section looks at the tools and techniques around this specific discipline. M2i wiki page Project portfolio management in turbulent times Report The Standard for Portfolio Management Journal Article The application of a new research and development project selection model in SMEs Journal Article 5.2 Building a business case resources The importance of being able to clearly and concisely put together justification between a request for internal funding is an essential skill. Having a consistent approach can allow an organisation to build a culture where all employees are not just encouraged to come up with new innovations but provide a language to communicate the potential behind these innovations which all levels of management can undetstand. Resource Name Description Resource Type Building a Financial Business Case for Technology This is a good report on the subject but does require you to create an account. Presentation Making the business case for new technologies This is a summary of a wider report on the matter produced by the Institute for Manufacturing. Report 5.3 Heuristics and Biases Resources When selecting projects many people like to use their gut to chose. Unfortunately it is scarily easy for us to be swayed into bad decisions due to the way in which our brains are wired. These hard coded rules are known in psychology as heuristics and are well documented and undisputed. Being aware of them can help ensure decisions are made using sound logic and not just on gut. Resource Name Description Resource Type Heuristics and Biases This is the main page from this wiki, When selecting projects many people like to use their gut to chose. Unfortunately it is scarily easy for us to be swayed into bad decisions due to the way in which our brains are wired. These hard coded rules are known in psychology as heuristics and are well documented and undisputed. Being aware of them can help ensure decisions are made using sound logic and not just on gut. || M2i wiki page List of Cognitive Biases This is the main wikipedia on the subject. Wikipedia Page 5.4 Benefits Management Resources This concept looks to take a portfolio of projects and monitor the overall benefits they deliver as discrete items themselves. Ultimately a programme exists to deliver some kind of benefit but these benefits normally sit within multiple projects. This concept provides guidance on how to monitor the benefits and manage the programme to ensure they are effectively delivered. Resource Name Description Resource Type Benefits Management This is the main page from this site, This concept looks to take a portfolio of projects and monitor the overall benefits they deliver as discrete items themselves. Ultimately a programme exists to deliver some kind of benefit but these benefits normally sit within multiple projects. This concept provides guidance on how to monitor the benefits and manage the programme to ensure they are effectively delivered. || M2i wiki page 5.5 Project Selection Resources Most of the time we have more projects than money to pay for them. There are a number of techniques one can use to help make sure the best ones are taken forward. Resource Name Description Resource Type A SMART way to choose a car, or anything else This is a nice explaination of how to use the Simple Multi Attribute Rating Technique (SMART). Blog 5.6 R&D return on investment Normally in business when you have a number of options you will perform a return on investment to help you make an informed decision. Unfortunately calculating a return on investment for research (especially early stage) is next to impossible. Research can deliver its benefits years after it has been carried out, it rarely delivers a single, tangible output and most of the time it only creates knowledge, how can you even attempt to put a price against that after the event let alone before? This section explores the concept and discusses what can be done about it. Resource Name Description Resource Type How Businesses Balance R&D Spending against ROI Report Measuring the ROI of R&D is illusory, but shortcutting Prototyping & Scaling-up will destroy it Online article R&D Investments Return Dividend for U.S. Companies Online article R&D value measurement: Is R&D earning its investment? Report 5.7 Risk Management Resources There is no such thing as a risk free project, especially when it comes to R&D. Understanding the risk and effectively monitoring should decrease the chance that a showstopper will become a reality. Resource Name Description Resource Type Risk Management This is the main page from this wiki., There is no such thing as a risk free project, especially when it comes to R&D. Understanding the risk and effectively monitoring should decrease the chance that a showstopper will become a reality. || M2i wiki page 6 Research and Development Finally we get on with the fun stuff. This is the phase where traditional R&D is carried out. Note, everything so far has just been a way of making sure that the R&D we actually do carry out will be of use if successful. The outputs then feed into our understanding of the original problem space and may well identify new insights which had not been thought of before. 6.1 Design of experiments resources This branch of applied statistics deals with planning, conducting, analyzing and interpreting controlled tests to evaluate the factors that control the value of a parameter or group of parameters. Many experiments involve holding certain factors constant and altering the levels of another variable. This One–Factor–at–a–Time (or OFAT) approach to process knowledge is, however, inefficient when compared with changing factor levels simultaneously. DofE is an extremely powerful and a must for anyone conducting experimental R&D. Resource Name Description Resource Type Design of Experiments This branch of applied statistics deals with planning, conducting, analyzing and interpreting controlled tests to evaluate the factors that control the value of a parameter or group of parameters. Many experiments involve holding certain factors constant and altering the levels of another variable. This One–Factor–at–a–Time (or OFAT) approach to process knowledge is, however, inefficient when compared with changing factor levels simultaneously. DofE is an extremely powerful and a must for anyone conducting experimental R&D. Wikipedia page 6.2 Six Sigma Resources Six Sigma is a set of techniques and tools for process improvement. It seeks to improve the quality of process outputs by identifying and removing the causes of defects (errors) and minimizing variability in manufacturing and business processes. It uses a set of quality management methods, including statistical methods, and creates a special infrastructure of people within the organization ("Champions", "Black Belts", "Green Belts", "Yellow Belts", etc.) who are experts in these methods. Each Six Sigma project carried out within an organization follows a defined sequence of steps and has quantified value targets, for example: reduce process cycle time, reduce pollution, reduce costs, increase customer satisfaction, and increase profits. Resource Name Description Resource Type Six Sigma This is the main wikipedia page on the subject. Wikipedia page 6.3 Rapid Prototyping Resources Quickly manufacturing tangible prototypes for hands on testing can greatly increase the speed at which you get a product to market. New technologies such as 3d printing have revolutionised this space but we should not forget the more traditional modelling/sculpting skills that can still add enormous value to the r&d process. Resource Name Description Resource Type Rapid prototyping This is the main wikipedia page on the subject. Wikipedia page Rapid prototyping overview This is a great webpage which gives good overview of the subject. Wikipedia page 6.4 Iterative Design Process The Iterative Design Process is one widely used within product design. It focusses mainly making physical representations of a final product and testing it to see how it performs. The process can be summarised as design, make, test, break. Resource Name Description Resource Type Comparing the Engineering Design Process and the Scientific Method This is a really good overview of both the scientific method and the iterative design process (which they refer to Engineering Method. It highlights the similarities and differences between the two approaches. Website Design Engineering Process This is a simple flow diagram that summarises this process. Process diagram 6.5 Scientific Method The scientific method is the process that scientists have followed for centuries to advance our understanding of the world around us. It starts with gathering supporting knowledge, hypothesising, experimentation to test the hypothesis and then updating the supporting knowledge. Resource Name Description Resource Type Comparing the Engineering Design Process and the Scientific Method This is a really good overview of both the scientific method and the iterative design process (which they refer to Engineering Method. It highlights the similarities and differences between the two approaches. Website Scientific Method This is a simple flow diagram that summarises this process. Process diagram Scientific Method Wikipedia This is the main wikipedia page on the subject. Wikipedia page

A view of a technical organisation The diagram below has been designed to highlight the key activities of a technical product producing organisation. It aims to highlight the way in which the R&D function of the organisation carries out its main task of delivering answers to unknowns. It acts as a basic framework off which much of the thinking on this site will be placed.

Iterations of Innovation The diagram below shows a logical progression from concept to physical product. It represents the key stages required in early stage research management.

Managing the research projects The diagram below shows a simple overarching framework for taking a market need to a final product. The framework looks to bring a basic structure to what can quite often be chaotic process.