Please Help Watch the video clip \"Innovation at Procter & Gamble\" and answer t
ID: 355836 • Letter: P
Question
Please Help
Watch the video clip "Innovation at Procter & Gamble" and answer the following questions:
LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvIUSxXrffc
1-How does P & G define innovation?
2- How do they involve consumers in the innovation process?
3-Who’s involved in the innovation process?
4-How do they evaluate the success rate for innovation?
5-What is the starting point and what are the steps for the strategic planning process?
6-What should a leader do to ensure innovation remains a priority in a company?
Explanation / Answer
How does P & G define innovation?
P&G defines innovation as “The brand in addition to the product; it’s the design of the shopping and the usage experience; in addition to the functional attributes and benefits; it is the business model; it is the way we go to market and the supply chain; it is the way we create cost structure so we can deliver the life for new products at affordable cost.”
How do they involve consumers in the innovation process?
A.G. Lafley, Chairman and CEO, Procter & Gamble states as below “When we get it right and where we get it right and this is a journey and not the end point. We really put the customer or the end consumer at the center of everything we do. In the case of innovation process, P&G wants consumer engaged at the front end. Right after we have an idea and right after we have the concept of technology, right after we have the primitive or the prototypes we engage with consumers. The idea is literally co-create and co-design with target consumer prospects which most likely become the product that the consumer buys”.
Who’s involved in the innovation process?
The people involved in the innovation process are critical players in the innovation strategy program review. They are Head of the business, Head of R&D, Head of design and Head of consumer understanding.
How do they evaluate the success rate for innovation?
1. Integration of business goals and business strategies and related and integrated innovation strategy. P&G tries to integrate innovation strategies with the business goals and process. 2. If P&G aspired to grow x% do we have innovation in development that will actually deliver that growth in the market place. 3. How the desired strategy innovation and program stack up vs the best competition in a given industry. 4. What will it take to deliver this stream of innovation through development, through qualification, through commercialization in the actual market place.
What is the starting point and what are the steps for the strategic planning process?
The starting point is the use of posters for the innovation program review. The role of posters plays both the high tech and low tech innovation role. P&G tries to achieve a conversation, a discussion on critical issues so that the company can really advance in innovation program or strategy. The process has 5-10 posters and 3-5 papers to prepare for the review. P&G prefers the poster approach. Posters have the prototypes of the key issues to analyze if they have innovative solutions (like proprietary technology, iterations with consumers in the prototype phase). If the poster is in the development phase, what are the milestones, what the killer issues are, and what are the things that brings success if corrected. Hence, the process is focused, conversational and they gather around one poster and they work one poster at a time until they get a solution. Finally, they step back and review if the innovation leads the company to be the leader in the industry.
What should a leader do to ensure innovation remains a priority in a company?
A leader makes others take the lead in conversations such as principal scientist, Team Leader from any of the functions, Head of R&D and design or consumer understanding. The leader ensures that the key issues are addressed. If the leader is not in the game, if they are not really engaged in the process and to the people who are responsible for innovating and eventually commercializing, then innovation will not happen. Additionally, a leader is responsible for creating the innovation culture and this happens by having open minded; innovation is all about connections (connecting ideas from different areas) and the leader needs to be comfortable working in teams as this is a team work. All this is required for creating the innovation culture and sustaining them in the company.