Chapter 4 Flashcards
(40 cards)
Q: What everyday activity drives innovation by making non-obvious connections?
A: Creativity—the day-to-day act of linking ideas in new ways.
Q: List four common roadblocks to idea generation.
A: Groupthink, targeting error, poor customer knowledge, complexity.
Q: How can “itemized response” protect fragile ideas?
A: Listeners must articulate a new idea’s advantages first, then voice negatives only in constructive terms.
Q: What is creative abrasion?
A: Deliberately pairing unlike personalities (e.g., visionary + pragmatist) to spark productive conflict and new ideas.
Q: Name four barriers to firm-level creativity that managers must balance.
Cross-functional diversity (diverse team lead to difficulties in problem solving)
- Allegiance to functional areas (team members need to have a sense of belonging)
- Social cohesion (friendly agreement might result in less innovative ideas)
- The role of top management (encourage the team to be adventurous and try newer ideas)
Q: Why do the most creative people distrust group rewards?
A: They feel group contributions are never equal and prefer personal recognition.
Q: How do leading firms “store” past ideas for reuse?
A: With a computerized ideas database of earlier, unused projects.
Q: What are the three inputs every creative product concept needs?
A: Form (physical embodiment / service steps), technology (how form is achieved), need/benefit (value to customer).
Q: How do technology and form interact in a concept?
A: Technology enables creation of a form that delivers the target benefit.
Q: Definition — Product concept statement
A: A verbal or prototype claim of proposed customer value that describes need, form, and technology.
Q: Why must both technical staff and target customers approve the concept statement?
A: To confirm it is technically feasible and market-worthy before development.
Q: Give three “ready-made” reservoirs of new-product ideas.
A: User toolkits, crowdsourcing, lead-user analysis.
Q: Definition — User toolkit
A: A self-service design interface that lets customers customize or invent a product themselves.
Q: What simple retail example counts as a user-toolkit?
A: An online “build-your-own laptop” configurator
Q: Definition — Crowdsourcing
A: Openly soliciting product ideas from a large group of customers or the public.
Q: Crowdsourcing tends to yield what degree of innovation?
A: Mostly modest product improvements.
Q: Definition — Lead user
A: A customer at the front edge of a trend, who faces future market needs early and often prototypes solutions.
Q: Why are lead users “doubly valuable”?
A: They reveal emerging needs and frequently have starter solutions the firm can refine.
Q: Definition — Open innovation
Intentionally working with outside partners—bringing in their ideas, tech, or IP and, when useful, licensing or selling your own—to speed internal innovation and extract value beyond the firm’s walls.
Q: Distinguish inbound vs outbound open innovat
A: Inbound = acquiring external tech/ideas; outbound = licensing or selling internal IP.
Q: What key managerial challenge does open innovation raise?
A: Protecting intellectual property while partnering widely.
Q: How must the classic new-products process adapt under open innovation?
A: It needs checkpoints for external IP, partner integration, and shared commercialization paths.
Q: Explain complexity as an idea-generation roadblock.
Q: Explain complexity as an idea-generation roadblock.
Q: Why should top managers keep overall control yet let employees “do the work” on innovative projects?
A: To maintain strategic alignment while preserving frontline creativity and speed.
