Reverse-engineering innovation

We began by reverse-engineering the innovation process. Which means we started by asking how managers can capture value from an innovation? 

We focused on unpacking three key elements,

1. Appropriability regime
2. Dominant design paradigm 
3. Complementary and cospecialized assets

We applied this to the HP Kittyhawk case. We explored the challenges with “estimating” profit from innovation, though central questions are whether demand and cost estimates are free from bias

• Are demand and cost estimates free from politics?
• Are demand and cost estimates used to manipulate financial decisions to provide resources?
• Will customers actually buy what they say they will buy?

We then examined the distinction between product and process innovation, as well as the emergence of a dominant design, and explored the role and importance of of complementary assets.

Problem-finding and problem-solving

On the second day we started with a problem-finding and problem-solving perspective and looked at how managers can assemble and organize “knowledge” to search from valuable solutions.

Professor Nickerson showed multiple examples from industry.  He then discussed how organizations vacillate between exploration and exploitation, providing an example to illustrate the concept. He then discussed how managers can minimize envy and social comparison costs that can come with having exciting innovation projects in organizations. He closed by discussing how to manage an innovation pipeline and an innovation portfolio.