Innovation strategies: beyond new product development

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The first way to develop an innovation strategy is to (re)define where the firm wants to compete, what it defines as being part of its (new) “core business”. Specifically, this means finding new ways to explore – not just exploit – and reconfigure its business portfolio.Fig_1_21

The second way to develop an innovation strategy is to redefine how the firm wants its businesses to compete and which product/market positioning and value chain it wants them to build and sustain.

Fig_1_22

A key element of an innovation strategy is to understand that first is not always best. A firm should assess and define how quickly it wants to enter new business areas and manage innovation accordingly.

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One high-risk/high-potential innovation strategy is to challenge generic strategies and define and implement a “strategic innovation,” a radical redefinition of where and how a firm wants to compete and shape its future.

Fig_1_24

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Innovative corporate strategies: (re)define the core business

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Innovative business strategies: redefine how to compete

Keywords: Ansoff matrix, business strategy, business value chain, cost leadership, disintermediation, industry value chain, intermediation, product/market strategy

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Timing: first is not always best

Keywords: experience curve, incumbent, first mover (dis)advantage, follower, imitation, learning curve, lock-in, network effect, persistence of innovation, switching costs

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Off the beaten paths: strategic innovations

Keywords: Blue Ocean strategy, strategic innovation

  • (Book) Chan Kim, W. & Mauborgne, R. (2005) Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant Harvard Business School Press
  • (Book) Govindarajan V. & Trimble Ch. (2007) “10 Rules for Strategic Innovators: From Idea to execution” Harvard Business School Press Boston, Massachusetts
  • (Book) Markides, C. C. (1999) All the right moves: a guide to crafting breakthrough strategy, Cambridge MA, Harvard Business School Press
  • (Book) Markides, C. C. (2013). Game-changing strategies: How to create new market space in established industries by breaking the rules. John Wiley & Sons.
  • (Video) What is Blue Ocean Strategy? Harvard Business Review
  • (Video) What is strategic innovation? – Professor Costas Markides
  • (Video) 7 Keys to Strategic Innovation. Educause, 2016
  • (Article) Assink, M. (2006),”Inhibitors of disruptive innovation capability: a conceptual model”, European Journal of Innovation Management, Vol. 9 Iss: 2 pp. 215 – 233
  • (Article) Chan Kim, W., & Mauborgne, R. (2004). Value innovation: The strategic logic of high growth. Harvard Business Review, 82(7-8), 172-180.
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  • (Article) Govindarajan, V., & Trimble, C. (2004). Strategic innovation and the science of learning. MIT Sloan Management Review, 45(2), 67.
  • (Article) Hamel (1998) “Strategy innovation and the quest for value”, Sloan Management Review, 39, p. 78
  • (Article) Markides, C. (1998). Strategic innovation in established companies. Sloan Management Review, 39(3), 31-42
  • (Article) Markides, C., & Charitou, C. D. (2004). Competing with dual business models: A contingency approach. Academy of Management Perspectives, 18(3), 22-36.
  • (Article) Schlegelmilch et al. (2003) ‘Strategic innovation: The construct, its drivers and its strategic outcomes’, Journal of Strategic Marketing, vol. 11, p. 117-132

(c) Prof. Benoit Gailly, Louvain School of Management

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