Background
The race
is on to find out which companies can turn customer insights
into innovative new products and speed them to market in record
time. Accelerating development speed is not a new quest -
speed has always been a critical issue in product development.
However, the pace of development in many industries is
quickening and with the aid of new technologies and development
approaches, speed is poised to achieve a whole new level.
But
here’s the dilemma. As Business Week put it,
If
you’re not fast, you’re dead. But if you’re not also good,
you’re still dead.
Clearly
there are risks and trade-offs when you go for speed.
Questions include:
-
Will a speed initiative keep you
focused on incremental growth instead of true game-changer
opportunities?
-
Will
product quality be compromised?
-
Will a
compressed development process allow you to incorporate
changing customer needs and emerging technologies – or will
you lose flexibility in your all-out quest for speed?
-
Is it
better to have “first-mover advantage” or be a fast
follower?
Management
Roundtable’s exclusive new conference on
“Speeding
Innovation: Concept to Launch in Record Time”
will bring together the top minds in product development to
explore:
-
How
to build a strategy for speed – what organizational
structure is best, how to standardize (and simplify)
processes, communication and decision-making to achieve
speed
-
How
to structure your innovation process for speed and get
products through your innovation pipeline faster– when to go
outside for R&D
-
What tools and technologies will enable fast decisions;
how to map your development process on the critical path
-
How to gain speed and innovation with global partners and
alliances
-
How
to balance new product introductions with the level of
innovation and the newness of each
-
When and where speed pays off – weighing market
readiness, product quality, cost and speed
-
How
to ensure that your development
process isn’t stifling innovation and fostering
incrementalism
-
“Speed-to-kill” - how to allocate resources to
high-value, high-priority projects and kill less promising
projects early
