Reducing the Time from Basic Research to Innovation in the Chemical Sciences A Workshop Report to the Chemical Sciences Roundtable (2003) / Chapter Skim
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2. Techniques for Structured Innovation
2. Techniques for Structured Innovation
Pages 18-27
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From page 18... ...
The highly esteemed management professor Peter Drucker once said, "Success is more likely to result from the systematic pursuit of opportunities than from a flash of genius." I will discuss the systematic pursuit of innovation used at ExxonMobil Chemical Company to increase the yield from basic science to commercialization. Although innovation is thought of as an inherently fuzzy process, my role in the last 5 to 10 years of my 35-year career has been to add a fair amount of structure and discipline to the process of innovation.
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From page 19... ...
The circular shape and curved arrows between these elements indicate that interaction and recycling continuously occur among all five elements. Moreover, these elements are influenced by a number of factors that are largely uncontrollable: the business climate, the economic climate, the customers, and the competitors.
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From page 20... ...
The preliminary assessment, or Stage 1, of these ideas consists of activities designed to answer a number of basic questions. These include whether the project idea fits with the company's business strategy, whether it can make a profit, whether the market is large enough to justify developing the idea, and whether the idea is technically feasible.
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From page 21... ...
· Formalize project management practices. Formalizing project management practices will reduce cycle time because it ensures strategic and operational alignment across the entire organization.
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From page 22... ...
Speed is important not only because it lowers cost and allows the product to be first to market but also because speed yields higher success rates due to the increased likelihood of hitting rapidly changing targets. Of course, less time spent on obtaining results from research and development means that less money is spent, a higher margin is gained, and a longer product life cycle ensues.
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From page 23... ...
Allen Clamen: Yes, the expected value of an idea can indeed be adjusted by its probability of success based on both technology and commercial risk. The technology risk associated with a particular idea can be estimated based on a number of variables that have been validated by past experience.
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From page 24... ...
Allen Clamen: Manufacturing and marketing managers tend to have projects that are a little bit shorter term than your technology manager. They report to a business manager, who is responsible for longterm prospects as well as the long-term success of his enterprise.
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From page 25... ...
It is really an act of hibernation. Allen Clamen: If you recall the New Concept Development Model, unused ideas return to an idea bank.
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From page 26... ...
They believe that only one or two will actually make it all the way through the pipeline, which right now takes about 8 to 12 years. The company wants to identify those ideas that will succeed and those that will fail very quickly, and they call that "failing fast." They do celebrate killing those projects despite emotional ties.
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From page 27... ...
Mary L Mandich: Could you comment on the human money resource versus the actual computers, workstations?
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