The Innovation Strategy Design Database (Beta!) has been created as a fun way to explore and design your team’s next innovation strategy or business model intervention. Strategy Design requires consideration of the problems encountered. It also needs an understanding of the solutions available and the tools needed. Additionally, it considers the competitive advantage achieved by solving the problem.
The current Strategy Design Database is a Beta version. This means the model will be updated ongoing. The way tools, strategies, and problems are assigned & defined will also be updated. So check back for updates as the definitions and model are refined!
High Level View of the Database Model & Workflow
When exploring the database consider other types of innovation and problem types as well. These will help build a broader foundation for strengthening your company’s business model, vision, strategy, and ability to deliver. Filter the database by problem type, competitive advantage, or innovation type in order to focus the team’s goals or approach.
Type of Innovation
The Innovation Strategy Design Database was originally built with four core innovation types in mind. These include Sustaining, Breakthrough, Disruption, and Basic Research (Greg Satell, HBR 2017).
- Sustaining: We want to improve existing capabilities in existing markets. We have a pretty clear idea of what problems need to be solved. We also understand what skill domains are required to solve them.”
- Breakthrough: “Open Innovation strategies can be highly effective in this regard. They help to expose the problem to diverse skill domains.”
- Disruption: This occurs “when the basis of competition changes. Technological shifts or other changes in the marketplace can cause this. Companies can find themselves getting better and better at things people want less and less. When that happens, innovating your products won’t help…”
- Basic Research: “Pathbreaking innovations never arrive fully formed. They always begin with the discovery of some new phenomenon.”
Please note, the current database is a beta version. This means that the granularity and precision of the database model is still fairly high level. Future updates to the model will improve precision.
Solution Types
Solution Types focuses directly on the different Problem Types mentioned below. This includes:
- Improve Capabilities (to Ideate & Deliver)
- Diversification of Approach (Modelling, Products, & Service Offerings)
- Change the Business Model (Strengthening Planning, Evaluation, Execution, & Dependency Management), &
- Explore New tools & Research Next Steps (to Strengthen the Company & move from Follower to Leader)
Innovation Strategies are identified and selected based on the impact and type of innovation pursued. Many industries can pursue different types of innovation. Therefore, there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach to innovation planning. Evaluation and management must be tailored to each case.
Innovate Vancouver currently has over 22 interactive planning tools. It offers 5 innovation strengthening courses and four mobile applications. There are also 130 innovation strategy posts and whitepapers. The company targets over 20 strategic service domains.
Innovation Problem Types
The Innovation Strategy Design Database currently refers to a model that references four problem types targeted by innovation strategies. These include:
- Unable to Deliver: Needing to improve current capabilities and capacity to plan, evaluate, execute, and improve.
- Product & Services Offerings are Limited: Researching complexity needs to improve existing product & service offerings
- Business is Inefficient & Costly: Changing the business model to updated outdated & legacy structures, inter-dependencies, and assets
- Company is Stalling & has no Vision: Exploring new tools and strategies to identify what is suggested for closing the gap between the present legacy state and the desired future innovation state
Tools & Equipment
This step is not explicitly answered with contents of the database or this website. But it remains important to identify the tools and resources needed to deliver on your project. This might include:
- Software
- Technology
- Hardware
- Training
- Templates
- Inventory
- Expertise
- Information
- Equipment
- Facilities
- Teams
- Transportation
Tools & Processes also refer to project specific competencies. These competencies fall into the PMBOK Process Groups: Initiation, Planning, Execution, Monitoring, and Closing.
Competitive Advantages
The Problem Types are solved with the Solutions Types. These in turn help the company strengthen its business model. They enhance the ability to execute on its corporate vision. They also build competitive advantages that will help it dominate the industry. Competitive Advantages were listed as: Low Cost, Differentiation, Best Cost, Rsearch.
The five basis of competition as identified by Michael Porter (cited, Chappelow on Investopedia, Aug 2020), and include:
1. Competition in the industry
2. Potential of new entrants into the industry
3. Power of suppliers
4. Power of customers
5. Threat of substitute products
Training & Research Resources
Innovate Vancouver has resources across different domains and subjects to help your company succeed. Check out the Innovation Strategy Design Database to explore what is available. Explore the rest of the website to identify additional free resources available to the public.
Database Model Showing the Primary & Foreign Keys (linking tables)
Click on each of the database cards below to expand and access links to additional resources. Explore additional Innovation Domains to identify further strategies and opportunities to support Innovation. A ‘search box’ is also available on the lower left column on this website. Use it to search with additional keywords and phrases. This helps to identify resources.
Logic Model Explaining the Purpose of Each Database Table
Click on each card in the database to learn more about the following:
- Innovation Types
- Problem Solutions
- Problem Types
- Competitive Advantages
- Resources Available
Innovation Strategy & Design Plan
The following planning tool can help your team identify problems to address. It will assist in pinpointing solutions anticipated and tools needed. This process will reveal the competitive advantages and innovations that result. Explore the accordion and database above to help identify your team’s next innovation project strategy.
Check out the interactive article, Knowledge Management in Sharepoint!
Travis Barker, MPA GCPM
Innovate Vancouver
Innovate Vancouver is a Technology and Business Innovation Consulting Service located in Vancouver, BC. Contact us to help on your next project.
Resources:
Chappelow, J. (2020, August 28). Porter’s 5 Forces. Retrieved September 01, 2020, from https://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/porter.asp
Competitive Strategy: Four Types of Competitive Strategy. (2019, October 17). Retrieved September 01, 2020, from https://www.iedunote.com/competitive-strategy
Satell, G. (2018, August 01). The 4 Types of Innovation and the Problems They Solve. Retrieved September 01, 2020, from https://hbr.org/2017/06/the-4-types-of-innovation-and-the-problems-they-solve
