Exam 7: Section 1: Innovation and Change

Organizational development__________ .

In order from beginning to end, the phases of a technology cycle within an innovation stream consist of_________________ .

When significant improvements in performance can ONLY be gained through radical new designs or new performance-enhancing materials, it is likely that a company is___________ in the S-curve pattern of innovation.

An innovation stream moves from one technology cycle to another through the process of____________ .

The purpose of multifunctional teams is to_____________ .

The use of milestones in the experiential approach to innovation_____________ .

The General Electric workout is a special kind of_________ .

Dominant designs emerge because they solve a practical problem, are a result of the negotiations of independent standards bodies, or because of critical mass.

There are eight general steps for organizational development intervention. The first step is__________ .

Nearly all technology cycles follow the typical___________ pattern of innovation.

In terms of innovation streams, what________occurred when customers purchased flat-screen computer monitors to replace the older, bulkier monitors.

The auto industry has been perfecting the internal combustion engine (ICE) for some 120 years. The Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles (PNGV), a cooperative program between the Big Three and the U.S. government to replace ICEs with electric engines, has been operating since 1993. The internal combustion engine (ICE) is an example of______________ .

Resistance to change usually results from organizational factors: such as the absence of promotion guidelines, bonuses, and praise.

The same techniques for managing innovation work equally as well after technological discontinuities as during periods of incremental change.

Titleist has been manufacturing golf balls for several years, but each year it comes out with new golf ball designs. Titleist's development of the new Pro VI golf ball with a solid core designed to benefit players with high swing speeds is one example of how the manufacturer survives through__________ .

Provide one example of a common error made by managers when they lead change at each of the three steps of the change process.

Levi Strauss Emily Morgan is a 30-year veteran at Levi Strauss & Company. She joined the company as a secretary in the advertising department and slowly began rising through the ranks. The more she saw how the company worked, the more dissatisfied she became. According to Morgan, the company was “dysfunctional” and “internally competitive, one division against another.” This is why Morgan became a part of the change initiative when talk of reinventing the company spread through headquarters. She led the team that designed the Develop Sources process, a system for working with suppliers. In 1995, Morgan became vice president for fulfillment, Asia. Her job was to convince Levi’s Asia suppliers to adopt more efficient production and distribution techniques. The Asian suppliers were afraid of change. Once Morgan and her staff showed suppliers how use of the Develop Sources program would benefit them, Morgan’s job to transform Levi’s Asian operations became easier. -Refer to Levi Strauss. Which of the specific techniques for dealing with resistance to change did Morgan use to convince the Asian suppliers that it was in their best interest to adopt the Develop Sources process?

W. L. Gore Bill Gore started the W. L. Gore Company in his basement when he left DuPont to develop innovative uses for Teflon (polytetrafluoroethylene or PTFE), the then-new non-stick plastic. Today, W. L. Gore is best known for Gore-Tex, a waterproof, windproof, and temperature-resistant fabric that breathes and does not trap perspiration and body heat. Marketed as “Guaranteed to Keep You Dry,” Gore­Tex is used not only for coats, gloves, and camping and hiking gear but also for protective outerwear worn by firefighters and military, emergency, and medical personnel. But in recent years Gore-Tex sales have steadily declined. One reason is that a number of alternative fabrics, like Entrant GII and eVENT, work nearly as well but cost only $6 to $8 per yard compared to $15 to $30 per yard for Gore-Tex. So the challenge for W. L. Gore is to reduce its dependence on Gore-Tex, which accounts for 21% of its $1.6 billion in revenues, by coming up with ways to consistently develop innovative products in other areas. In general, W. L. Gore goes for dramatic rather than incremental improvements. On its web site, it declares, “At Gore, we take our reputation for product leadership seriously, continually delivering new products and better solutions to the world. Gore's products are designed to be the highest quality in their class and revolutionary in their effect.” Gore has created a number of innovative products, including Glide dental floss, the first floss that didn’t shred, tear, and get caught in your teeth. Gore used its expertise in stretched plastics to essentially create a thin, Teflon-like tape used as dental floss. Glide was soon the number two floss in the market and today is the number one floss recommended by dental professionals. Gore then sold Glide to Procter & Gamble. But since Gore still makes Glide for P&G, Gore continues to make substantial profits that it then reinvests in other innovative products such as CleanStream filters, which filter dirt particles out of the air before it comes out of your vacuum cleaner; Radome, which is used to cover microwave transmission sites (think of the large “golf ball” structures you sometimes see around airports); medical stent-grafts, stents that are attached to an aorta to treat aortic aneurysms; and many more. Gore has also been innovative in the processes it uses to develop new products. The company frequently asks potential customers for help when designing new products (i.e., design iterations and testing). When Gore engineer Dave Myers was developing Elixir, Gore’s best­selling acoustic guitar strings, which are coated with a thin layer of plastic that avoids the accumulation of dust, microscopic layers of skin (from musicians’ fingers), and dirt and oil, all of which affect musical quality and sound, he talked to Chuck Hebestreit, another Gore engineer who played the guitar. They, in turn, asked experienced guitar players to give them feedback on the product. Steve Young, who now heads Elixir products for Gore, said, “We gave it to guitar players to try out, and they were amazed that it [meaning the guitar sound] didn't go dead [unlike regular guitar strings].” Why? Because, thanks to their resistance to dust, skin, dirt, and oil, Elixir guitar strings last five times as long as normal guitar strings. Elixir guitar strings now have a 35% share of the market. Gore also provides flexible options for innovation by making “time for dabbling.” What this means is that everyone in the company is encouraged to spend 10% of their time on new ideas or products. If those ideas have potential, a Gore “sponsor,” typically a more senior person, will guide and coach that employee on how to further advance their ideas or products. When ideas or innovations are to the point where further development requires a significant investment by the company, they are reviewed by a multifunctional team that goes through an exercise called “Real, Win, Worth.” Gore’s former CEO Chuck Carroll explained how this works: “Is the opportunity real? Is there really somebody out there that will buy this? Can we win? What do the economics look like? Can we make money doing this? Is it unique and valuable? Can we have a sustained advantage [such as a patent]?” -Refer to Gore. Elixir, Gore's acoustic guitar string, is coated with a thin layer of plastic that avoids the accumulation of dust, microscopic layers of skin (from musician's fingers), and dirt and oil, all of which affect musical quality and sound. To develop Elixir, Gore employees used___________ .

Backward compatibility is an important consideration for software users who are using an accounting program to facilitate their tax preparation and who want to use a newer version that has greater capacity. Therefore, many software manufacturers engage in_____________ .

The use of milestones in the experiential approach to innovation________________ .