Is discontinuous innovation on your corporate radar?

© Advanced Institute of Management Research (AIM)In a fast moving world, one of the biggest challenges facing organisations is dealing with discontinuous innovation (DI). Most organisations understand that innovation is an organisational imperative. They learn to listen to customers and constantly evolve their existing products and services, continuously improve their processes, so that they are not left behind by competitors. The ability to deal with this steady state type of innovation – the constant storms of change within an industry – is essential. Every so often, however, a whirlwind blows through an industry – whether caused by regulatory or political change, a technology, or a product, so radically different that it changes the shape of an industry completely and in doing so puts many existing, successful companies out of business. In the early 1900s the buggy whip manufacturers in the US, an entire city dedicated to making a supposedly indispensable item, were put out of business almost over night by a new fangled machine called a quadracyle, built by a young inventor called Henry Ford. More recently Polaroid, one of America’s great and longest standing companies, almost went the same way as the buggy whip manufacturers. The instant photography company was wrongfooted by the advent of digital photography, making a number of strategic mistakes in responding to this threat to its business. For an organisation to be truly successful and sustain that success over many years it needs to be good at both steady state, conventional innovation, and to be able to sense a radical new discontinuous innovation on the horizon, and, preferably, come up with one itself. Being ready for discontinuous innovation requires a specific set of organisational skills, not least the ability to search for signs of the potential whirlwind that may sweep through an industry, or, as with the internet, across entire business sectors right around the world. This briefing document focuses on that search skill. By looking at what some leading organisations are doing in this area it suggests 12 different strategies for developing a search capability to detect triggers of discontinuous innovation. These strategies are also useful for more conventional innovation, and all organisations should employ some at least, if they aim to remain both competitive and durable.Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC

Search Practices for Discontinuous Innovation: Scale Development and Construct Validation

Managing innovation and particularly searching for new ideas in a steady state environment is really different than in discontinuous conditions where traditional practices and routines may prove ineffective. This paper reviews and empirically explores the field of search strategies and practices for discontinuous innovation and, for the first time, tests the validity of a "Discontinuous Innovation (DI) Search Capacity" construct. Based on a comprehensive literature review on the innovation search stage and on the evidence of more than 80 case studies reported by the Discontinuous Innovation Lab a questionnaire was developed and submitted to a 500 high tech firm sample. Four DI Search dimensions were identified, each consisting of a bundle of interrelated yet distinct practices. We empirically tested the DI Search Capacity and measured it as second-order construct by using the Structural Equation Modelling

Radical innovation: making the right bets

Report published by Advanced Institute of Management ResearchOur research reveals that organisations, here in the UK and elsewhere, must face up to the complex challenges associated with exploring and developing radical ideas and innovations if they are to continue to be successful in the long term. ■ Discontinuous innovation – ‘doing something different’ innovation – is often the driver of sustained competitive advantage and shareholder value creation. As such the ability to support radical innovation is an essential organisational competence. ■ The decision-making process in which resources are allocated to innovation projects is extremely challenging, as the degree of uncertainty involved means that using conventional systems and processes often leads to radical ideas being rejected. ■ The research identifies twelve excuses that organisations use to justify their decision not to pursue radical innovation. Organisations must learn to recognise when they are making these excuses and find other ways of evaluating how to behave when faced with radical innovation. ■ The innovation selection environment that operates in organisations can be described in terms of four zones. In two of those zones, new strategies are required for innovation selection decision-making. ■ There are a number of promising strategies that can help organisations to back an innovation winner. These include: building alternative visions; bridge-building to/from outside the box; probe and learn method; using alternative evaluation and measurement criteria; mobilising sponsorship and championship; using alternative decision-making pathways; deploying alternative funding structures; using alternative – dedicated/devolved/decentralised – implementation structures; mobilising entrepreneurship inside and outside the firm. ■ Through a thorough understanding of the innovation selection process, organisations can avoid the pitfalls that lead to abandoning potentially marketwinning radical ideas. At the same time they can learn how to implement strategies that nurture and develop that all-important discontinuous innovation.Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)and Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC

Requirements for an IoT-lock enabling asynchronous physical handovers of temi-trailers in road freight relay-transport

In long-distance road freight transport, capacity utilization of semi-trailers is less than 30 % due to mandatory steering and rest periods. Truck parking spaces are overcrowded while resulting parking search traffic leads to additional emissions. At the same time, the acute driver shortage and customers' expectations of ever faster functioning supply chains force the highest efficiency in transport means and personnel. Multi-carrier relay-transport represents an approach to solving these problems and exploiting untapped efficiency potentials: Via a digital platform, long distances are intelligently divided into short route sections which are distributed among different carriers. At predefined switching points, the asynchronous handover of semi-trailers to rested drivers takes place. To enable a secure cross-company physical handover, IoT-locking mechanisms play a crucial role. This paper details the asynchronous handover process and introduces the technical design of an IoT-lock which provides effective theft protection while the trailer is parked and reliably connects tractor and semi-trailer during transport. Based on an analysis of stakeholder requirements, software functionalities and mechanical properties of the IoT-lock are derived, which ensure effective theft protection as well as real-time data transmission for relay transports. In addition, legal requirements for asynchronous transfers are investigated to determine liability in case of damage or loss. These form the basis for digital handover protocols that record the condition of the freight and trailer during the handover process

Using Data-Centric Platforms To Improve Demand Forecasting And Capacity Utilization For Less Digitized Multi-Site Quarrying Businesses

The quarrying industry, which largely consists of less digitized SMEs, is an integral part of the German economy. More than 95% of the primary raw materials produced are used by the domestic construction industry. Quarrying companies operate demand-oriented with short planning horizons at several locations simultaneously. Due to the low level of digitization and the reluctance to share data, untapped efficiency potential in data-based demand forecasting and capacity planning arises. The situation is aggravated by the fact that SMEs have a heterogeneous mobile machinery so as not to become dependent on individual suppliers, and that transport distances of over 50 kilometers are uneconomical due to high transport costs and low material values. Within the research project PROmining a data-centric platform which improves demand forecast accuracy and multi-site capacity utilization is developed. One of the core functionalities of this platform is an industry-specific demand forecasting model. Against this background, this paper presents a methodology for establishing this forecasting model. To this end, expected demands of secondary industry sectors will be analyzed to improve mid-term volume-forecasting accuracy for the local quarrying industry. The data-centric platform will connect demand forecasting data with relevant key performance indicators of multi-site asset utilization. Following this methodology, operational planning horizons can be extended while significantly improving overall production efficiency. Thus, quarrying businesses are enabled to respond to fluctuating demand volumes effectively and can increase their personnel and machine utilization across multiple quarry sites

Designing a Waterless Toilet Prototype for Reusable Energy Using a User-Centered Approach and Interviews

User-oriented community engagement can reveal insights into ways of improving a community and solving complex public issues, such as natural resource scarcity. This study describes the early process of co-designing a novel, waterless toilet to respond to the water scarcity problem in the Republic of Korea. It presents how we designed a toilet focusing on three factors???a sanitization function, an ergonomic posture, and clean aesthetics???by conducting focus group interviews as part of a user engagement approach to understand what community users want from a toilet and ways of improving their toilet experiences. The results not only supported the development of an experiential service design project to raise community awareness of water scarcity but also supported scientists and engineers in experimenting with and developing new technologies by collaborating closely with designers

Imperfect Homoclinic Bifurcations

Experimental observations of an almost symmetric electronic circuit show complicated sequences of bifurcations. These results are discussed in the light of a theory of imperfect global bifurcations. It is shown that much of the dynamics observed in the circuit can be understood by reference to imperfect homoclinic bifurcations without constructing an explicit mathematical model of the system.Comment: 8 pages, 11 figures, submitted to PR

Gestión del diseño de producto y capacidad de aprendizaje organizativo en varios tipos de empresas del sector cerámico

[ES] Este trabajo estudia la relación entre la gestión del diseño de producto y la capacidad de aprendizaje organizativo en el sector cerámico español. A partir de un estudio de casos comparativo en cuatro empresas del mencionado sector, se determina qué factores facilitadores del aprendizaje organizativo son esenciales para cada una de las fases de la gestión del diseño de producto: la fase analítico conceptual y la fase técnico creativa. El estudio de casos evidencia una relación directa y positiva entre dichos factores facilitadores de aprendizaje organizativo y la gestión del diseño de producto. En concreto, cuatro de ellos están asociados a la obtención de conocimiento del mercado, la empresa y la tecnología, lo cual está vinculado a la fase analítica-conceptual del proceso de diseño de producto. Otros diez factores estarían asociados a la divulgación y uso del conocimiento, lo cual estaría vinculado a la fase técnica-creativa o la dirección integral del proceso de diseño.[EN] The main contribution of this paper is the formulation of an alternative to experimental determination of loss factor and, consequently, to improve the predictions of airborne sound insulation for any type of monolithic or laminated glass. In addition, a review of the standards related to measurement of mechanical parameters of glass is carried out, with particular interest in laminated glass Indeed, one of the problems that arise in the current context of building acoustics is to meet the requirements of facades airborne sound insulation of existing Building Technical Code (BTC). It is known that the blind and the hollow part of the facade should be distinguished. The weakest part regarding to airborne sound insulation is the empty one (consisting of glass, woodwork and other elements). Choosing an adequate woodwork makes the glass surface become the limiting factor. The Constructive Elements Catalog (CEC) of the BTC, the UNE-EN 12758:2011 standard, as well as some, increasingly, data vendors provide information about airborne sound insulation for monolithic glass, laminated glass and double glazing. In the case of laminated glass, these data are limited only to those with a single intermediate layer, and also nonacoustic. Can therefore be said that there is a gap of knowledge in this regard. To obtain reliable predictions of airborne sound insulation of multilayer partitions, such as laminated glass, mechanical characteristics must be known, being loss factor one of the most important.Chiva, R.; Lapiedra, R.; Devece Carañana, CA.; Gil Pechuán, I. (2012). Gestión del diseño de producto y capacidad de aprendizaje organizativo en varios tipos de empresas del sector cerámico. Boletín de la Sociedad Española de Cerámica y Vidrio. 51(4):231-238. doi:10.3989/cyv.332012S23123851