$2.$ Changing Things: New Products and Processes

This diagram shows you the three categories of innovation strategies and the techniques used with each strategy. Organizations can engage in product innovation, in which they change the products they sell, or in process innovation, in which they change the way in which the organization does its work.

A chart shows that discovery, horizontal collaboration and innovation, and innovation roles and structure are the three innovation strategies for new products services and technologies. Discovery represents creativity bottom up approach internal contests and idea incubators. Horizontal collaboration and innovation represents horizontal coordination mechanisms customers partners and open innovation. Innovation roles represent idea champions new venture teams skunkworks and new venture fund.

Source: Adapted from Reinmoeller, P$.,$ & van Baardwjk, N$.(2005,$ Summer$).$ The link between diversity and resilience. MIT Sloan Management Review, $6165.$

DiscoveryHorizontal Collaboration and Open InnovationInnovation Roles and Structures

In discovery, employees create new ideas. These ideas can come from work experiences or personal characteristics such as open$-$mindedness and originality. Organizations can be designed to encourage creativity if they are loosely structured, allow eccentricity and give people the freedom to pursue their ideas. Managers who use a bottom$-$up approach to creativity listen to gain new ideas from their employees. They may also encourage employees to create new ideas through the use of internal innovation contests and idea incubators.

A company has strong if it continuously seeks new ideas from customers and by looking for ways to use new technologies.

To promote an entrepreneurial spirit, an organization might assign employees to a $,$ a separate unit where people work to develop and implement a major new activity.

The chief advantage of bottom$-$up approaches and internal innovation contests is that both these techniques:

solicit new ideas from existing employees.

broadly increase the diversity of ideas available to a company.

provide employees with a physical space where they can develop new ideas.

prevent senior managers from interfering with the implementation of employee ideas.