|
The Challenge:
A UK food industry leader’s maintenance
tracking software had begun to lose
its edge after a successful 6-year
run. Competitors entered the market
with better offerings, and the company
learned it could no longer rely on
its technology partner to make enhancements
to its own product portfolio.
The client made the
decision to develop its own software,
marking a revolutionary departure
from its traditional business model.
Despite best intentions, the project
struggled early on. Significant resources
were consumed, but little tangible
progress was made towards commercializing
a new product.
The Approach:
Working with senior managers, Market
Edge applied high-level organizational
change and assessment techniques.
Market Edge helped the company’s
New Product teams identify "over-innovation"
as the roadblock to success. The creative
ideas the team generated were innovative,
but these ideas were neither acted
on nor supported by other departments
within the organization.
This discovery was shared
across the company. Previously, unbridled
creativity and idea generation were
key cultural values. The teams now
realized that adaptive, structured
problem solving was equally important
to success. As a result the project
planning process was significantly
modified:
- Support was provided for structured
thinkers,
- Operational feasibility received
greater attention
- Defined criteria were established
for implementing new ideas.
The Outcome:
Improvements made at each stage of
the new product pipeline (ideation,
design, prototyping, and delivery)
enabled the client to regain its market
position. Variations in product design
and costly late-in-the-project changes
were significantly reduced, and time-to-market
rates improved appreciably. With Market
Edge’s assistance, the client
was able to optimize its innovation
processes and culture to regain its
market leadership position.
|
