— E x e c u t i v e S e s s i o n —
Better, Faster Innovation
LEADING THE FLEXIBLE ENTERPRISE
August 11-12, 2004 / Hilton Boston Back Bay

Agenda / Course Outline

SESSION FORMAT
This two-day interactive course will encompass case discussions via the Case Method, lectures, small group discussions and industry practitioner case presentations to give attendees ample opportunity to immerse themselves in the topic, its challenges and practical solutions. The session will require pre-work assignments that will be mailed to participants two weeks in advance of the session. To encourage a strong interactive component to this session and achieve maximum benefit for attendees, this session has been limited to 60 participants.

Wednesday - August 11
6:45 – 7:45	Registration and Continental Breakfast
7:45 – 8:00	Introduction Preston Smith & Stefan Thomke
8:00 – 9:00	Discussion Groups Focus on Pre-Workshop Assignment
9:00 – 10:20	SESSION I: Case Discussion - BMW Stefan Thomke, Harvard Business School Show how BMW reengineered its proven development process for higher speed and flexibility How to manage organizational change and experiments through development projects How to leverage new experimentation technologies (e.g., CAD/simulation) for higher development performance.
10:20 - 10:40	Refreshment Break
10:40 - 12:00	SESSION II: Lecture - Experimentation Matters Stefan Thomke, Harvard Business School Impact of experimentation and new technologies (computer modeling and simulation) on innovation and R&D performance Experimentation’s critical role in innovation and how to integrate new technologies into your innovation process New rules for managing and organizing product development
12:00 - 1:00	Lunch
1:00 - 2:30	SESSION III: Featured Presentation - The Art of Innovation Tom Kelley, IDEO How to identify innovation opportunities by viewing real people in real-life settings to better understand latent human needs How to sustain a culture of continuous innovation by not aiming for perfection – using multiple rapid prototypes to build on many small failures to ultimately reach market success How to successfully promote brands through the creation of authentic brand experiences More info
2:30 - 3:45	SESSION IV: Group Discussions - Preston Smith, Facilitator This session will allow participants to break into small working teams to discuss product development and innovation issues at their specific companies. In addition to transferring the morning learnings to their businesses, the groups will also have the opportunity to address issues that go beyond these discussions. Each team will then present its respective learnings to the entire group to leverage take-aways and identify several key improvement projects.
3:45 - 4:00	Refreshment Break
4:00 - 5:00	Team Presentations & Discussion
5:00 - 6:30	Networking Reception at the Top of the Hub
6:30 - 8:30	Dinner at the Top of the Hub
Thursday - August 12
7:00 – 8:00	Continental Breakfast
8:00 – 9:00	Discussion Groups Focus on Pre-Workshop Assignment
9:00 – 10:20	SESSION I: Case Discussion - The Rise and Fall of Iridium Alan MacCormack, Harvard Business School Understand the types of mistakes that are made in complex projects, especially those encompassing significant amounts of technological and market uncertainty Determine why smart managers tend to under-invest in flexibility, with a focus on organizational pressures and cognitive biases which push them in the “wrong” direction Explore the dimensions along which projects can be more flexible, and discuss the trade-offs that are required to achieve such an objective
10:20 - 10:40	Refreshment Break
10:40 - 12:00	SESSION II: Lecture - Achieving Flexibility in NPD: New Processes and New Ways of Organizing Alan MacCormack, Harvard Business School Review the latest research on the performance benefits of flexibility, including evidence on whether this is a new “best practice” or whether firms must adopt a “contingent” approach Understand the constructs that underlie a more flexible development process, and illustrate their application in a wide range of settings Identify some of the biggest barriers to change in achieving greater flexibility, highlighting the top 10 questions that an organization must address as it attempts to move forward
12:00 - 1:00	Lunch
1:00 - 2:15	SESSION III: Industry Case Presentation - Hewlett-Packard Bill Crandall, Hewlett-Packard How to right-size product development strategies for different business strategies How HP manages its product development processes to deliver the cost, quality, speed, and risk afforded by the specific business strategy What techniques HP uses to manage customer and market uncertainties More info
2:15 - 3:30	SESSION IV: Group Discussions - Preston Smith, Facilitator
3:30 - 3:45	Refreshment Break
3:45 - 4:45	Team Presentations & Discussion
4:45 - 5:00	Executive Session Wrap-Up - Preston Smith, Facilitator The program will conclude with workshop moderator, Preston Smith, providing a synthesis of the important revelations of the two-day session and guidance on how you can implement and benefit from the wealth of information shared.