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GGI RapidNews R&D Product Development eZine: Volume 7, Issue 9- October 4, 2006
GGI RapidNews is published approximately once a month.

In This Issue

UPCOMING PUBLIC SEMINAR - Dec06 R&D-Product Development Innovation Summit - Early Bird Rates Through Friday October 13

MANAGEMENT PRODUCTIVITY - Business to Consumer Marketing Responds to Changing Demographics

MANAGEMENT PRODUCTIVITY - Executive Pay, the Boardroom, and The Bottom Line

BOOK REVIEW - Innovation: The Five Disciplines for Creating what Customers Want

CONFERENCES OF INTEREST - MRT 11th Metrics Conference & PureInsight Innovation Seminar

THE WISDOM iSTORE FEATURED PRODUCT - Primary Research On NPD Capacity

THE WISDOM iSTORE NEW LISTINGS - No New Listings This Month

BIENNIAL PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT SURVEY - 2004, 2002, 2000, 1998 Results

GATEWAYS TO KNOWLEDGE - A Monthly Feature

CALENDAR OF INDUSTRY EVENTS - A Monthly Feature

TELEVISION EVENTS - Alexander Haig's World Business Review

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UPCOMING PUBLIC SEMINAR - INNOVATION SUMMIT Dec 06 - Early Bird Rates

GGI will sponsor its third R&D -- Product Development Innovation Summit on Dec 5-7, 2006 in metro Boston.  Please join us for eight comprehensive modules that surround the subject of Innovation in R&D and Product Development. 

Early Bird Rates will be in effect through EOB Pacific Time Friday October 13.  Several hundred dollars may be saved by registering early.

The Innovation Modules that will be offered are:

Module 1 -Innovation vs. The Innovation Process
Module 2 - Strategic Drivers Of Innovation
Module 3 - Inventory Of Innovation Tools & Techniques
Module 4 - Three Key Innovation Techniques
Module 5 - Innovation and Intellectual Property
Module 6 - Software For Innovation
Module 7 - Measuring, Rewarding, and Recognizing Innovation
Module 8 - Outsourcing Innovation

All modules feature some level of case study discussion and examples from a range of industries.  There will be three group exercises where attendees will "try out" well-regarded innovation methodologies to achieve some level of "hands-on." As with all GGI Summits, we will pave the road for you to direct the selection and implementation of tools and processes that will bring leverage to your organization.

If RN readers are planning on attending, please register now for the Innovation Summit.

For more details on the Product Development Innovation Summit, please go to GGI's Innovation Summit Web site which is also available through our home page. If you are already registered, leisure time activities may be useful for planning transportation, meals, and personal time outside the Summit.

 

MANAGEMENT PRODUCTIVITY

Business to Consumer Marketing Responds to Changing Demographics

Condensed from "The Color of Money, Marketers Grapple with Challenges of Reaching Diverse Audiences," by Sharon Tregaskis,the Cornell Enterprise, Spring 2006, p. 31 published by The Johnson School, Cornell University.

In the first half of 2005, national concerns such as Procter & Gamble, PepsiCo and the U.S. government spent as much on Hispanic TV as they had on this audience during the entire proceeding year. This is in response to the growing American minority population, which, according to the Census Bureau, will hit 33 percent by 2010 and 47 percent by mid-century.

To reach these growing markets, organizations must understand the dynamics of the culture in order to communicate in a relevant and non-offensive manner, says Dr. Verges Jones of Muse Communications. For firms lacking expertise in certain cultural segments, Jones recommends collaboration with niche advertising companies such as Muse Communications, Burrell, InterTrend and Conill. He also points to the importance of market research. He says it is unwise to forgo spending $50-$100,000 on basic research then launch a multi-million dollar media campaigns without knowing if you are communicating the right message.

While "boutique advertising" is a way of communicating with growing segments of the population, it is not always necessary, notes Doug Stayman, associate professor of marketing at Cornell University. Many companies fail to fully consider whether cultural specificity has any bearing on the managing a particular brand. "Imagine a Ford F-150," he suggests. "Perhaps both Anglo and Hispanic men of a certain age could be enticed to purchase the truck without a culturally specific appeal."

At PepsiCo, multicultural marketing is a natural extension of the firm's commitment to corporate diversity. Combining input from a combination of internal employee networks and ethnic advisory boards, the company launched three new products in 2005: Doritos Guacamole, Lay's Chile Lemon, and Wasabi Funyuns.

"Understand your customer intimately," Jones urges. "Multicultural marketing is marketing to a new general audience. Without this knowledge, it is virtually impossible to be effective in marketing."

To view a copy of the above article, "The Color of Money," by Sharon Tregaskis, visit the Cornell Enterprise Web site.

 

MANAGEMENT PRODUCTIVITY

Executive Pay, the Boardroom, and The Bottom Line

Except from "Big Bucks and Boardrooms," by Shannon Dortch, The Cornell Enterprise, Spring 2006, p.36 published by The Johnson School, Cornell University.

This Management Productivity article may be a bit tongue-in-cheek, but it is noteworthy non-the-less.

Ground-breaking research by Lucian Bebchuk of Harvard Law School and Yaniv Grinstein of Cornell's Johnson School shows that executive compensation saw unprecedented growth in the last decade, cutting a bigger slice of the pie out of companies' bottom lines.

In their 2004 report "The Growth of Executive Pay," Bebchuk and Grinstein found that from 1999 to 2003, the top five executives at each of the 1,500 largest publicly traded US firms cumulatively received $122 billion in salary, bonus and stock compensation. This represents a 44 percent increase over the cumulative total from 1993 to 1997.

This is the first study that highlights the fact that the last decade has seen unprecedented growth in the size of executive compensation and that this compensation has become economically meaningful. This trend also raises the question of of whether the way executive contracts are determined are as important a factor as market forces in setting compensation levels.

For example, the bargaining process between boards of directors and executives is often weighted in favor of the executive. Many CEOs exert strong influence over the board, both by controlling their agenda and by bringing in new members. When it comes time to negotiate a new contract,board members may find it difficult to haggle with the person who recommended them for the board.

Bebchuk and Grinstein's next research project will explore the relationship of firm expansion to CEO pay. Grinstein also plans a third study that will look at the correlation between an executive's wealth (as opposed to compensation alone) and corporate performance.

Click here to download the paper "The Growth of Executive Pay," by Bebchuk and Grinstein.

 

BOOK REVIEW

Innovation: the Five Disciplines for Creating What Customers Want, by Curtis R. Carlson & William W. Wilmot. Crown Business, August 8, 2006. Copyright 2006 by Curtis R. Carlson and William W. Wilmot, ISBN 0307336697, 368 pages.

This well-organized, easy-to-read book provides five techniques to create innovations that will take the market by storm. Authors Carlson and Wilmot are key players at SRI International, the organization behind the computer mouse, robotic surgery and the domain names .com, .org, and .gov. They argue that successful innovation is the creation of a product or service that provides value to the customer and a sustained profit to the originating organization. Included in the list of key disciplines are:

* Identifying important, not merely interesting, problems.
* Analyzing customer value not only in terms of cost and quality, but also with convenience and conscience in mind.
* Crafting a value statement, or a NABA (This includes: a statement of the customer's Need; an explanation of your unique Approach to address this need; an analysis of the Benefits per costs of this approach; and a description how these benefits per costs are superior to the Competition's.) The NABA will help align all aspects of product development.
* Appointing a champion who is 100% committed to the project. "No champion, no project, no exception," Carlson says.

The authors suggest that innovation works best when managers and the people who are on the "front lines" work together. They provide up-to-date examples of ground-breaking innovations and contrast them with ideas that missed the mark. We recommend this book for anyone involved in product development,from the research engineer to top management.

You can find more information about Innovation or purchase it online on Amazon.com.

 

CONFERENCES OF INTEREST

MRT 11th Annual Metrics Conference: Management Roundtable will hold its 11th annual conference, "Product Development Metrics: Assess, Predict and Foster Innovation,"  on  November 6-8, 2006 in Chicago, IL. The conference will explore how to most accurately assess new product opportunities, predict the value of your innovation pipeline, and ensure that your company's metrics will foster innovation. This year's program features an exceptional line-up of metrics gurus, thought leaders, advanced practitioners, and those "in the trenches" who must bridge theory with reality.

Conference keynote speakers include: GGI's Brad Goldense, Dr. Scott J. Edgett (CEO and Co-Founder of the Product Development Institute), Dr. Liisa Valikangas (Managing Director of Woodside Institute), and Wayne Mackey (Principal, Product Development Consulting, Inc.).

Brad Goldense will deliver a keynote address titled "The Impact of Innovation on Corporate Strategy, Tactics, and Metrics." The address will highlight trends in innovation and the resulting changes in business strategies and tactics. It will also identify initial measurement areas and metrics that are likely to be central to the emergence of innovation as a new management science. Brad will  conduct a pre-conference workshop on Monday, November 6, 2006, titled "Proactive and Predictive R&D Metrics."

For more information, go to the Conference's Registration web page.

PureInsight Seminar: PureInsight, (formerly Knowledge Roundtable Europe) will present an intensive two-day seminar titled "Driving Predictable, Sustainable Innovation into New Product Development," on November 15-16, 2006, in London. This seminar will help executives and senior managers improve their ability to generate profitable innovations.

The seminar will begin with a discussion of differences between Innovation and The Innovation Process. Industry benchmark information including product selection, and intellectual property management and decision processes; pipeline yield rates from ideation to commercialization; and relative innovativeness of tools and techniques used by today's product developers will also be presented.

The second section contains in-depth information on four major innovation-enablers including: Lead User Analysis, Six Hats, Triz, and Semantic Processing.

The seminar will conclude with a discussion of insourcing and outsourcing innovation, metrics and measures for innovation environments, and reward and recognition processes and mechanisms.

Seminar Leaders will be Bradford L. Goldense and Donald M. Stewart of Goldense Group, Inc. (GGI), Needham, MA. Brad Goldense is Founder and CEO of GGI, a 20 year old consulting and education firm. Mr. Goldense has consulted to over 200 of the Fortune 1000 companies and is an internationally recognized expert on both rapid product development and R&D metrics.

Donald Steward has been practicing in the marketing and new product business strategy areas for the past 35 years, and in the concurrent engineering area for 15 years. Mr. Stewart worked for 20 years with Teradyne, Inc., the leading U.S. designer and manufacturer of semiconductor test systems.
 
For more information on the seminar, visit the PureInsight Web site.

 

THE WISDOM iSTORE FEATURED PRODUCT

Discounted Item:  Periodically, GGI's iStore features one item that we discount 40%.  We just changed the item a few days ago.  For the first time we are discounting our primary research report, including ground breaking research on staffing ratios and time spent on new product development, that we performed in 2002 and published in 2003.

MR24h           "2002 Product Development Metrics Research Results (Hard Copy)" [list price $1,784.00]
Goldense Group, Inc., Needham, MA, USA
March 28, 2003     [223 pages]     $1070.00

The 2002 Product Development Metrics Survey focused on resource and capacity management practices and metrics. Results of the research are offered in three reports of increasingly detailed description and analysis: Research Highlights (MR21), Research Summary (MR22), and Research Results (MR24). These three separate reports provide, respectively, an executive summary, middle-management-level, and detail-level view of the survey data.

The 2002 Product Development Metrics Research Results is a 223-page report containing text and presentation slides that describe and analyze the survey population both as a whole and segmented as follows: Public vs. Private Companies; Smaller vs. Larger Companies; Process vs. Repetitive/Discrete vs. Job Shop Companies; Higher vs. Lower Technology Companies; and Companies with More vs. Fewer Employees. The report summarizes the overall survey results and provides details on the profiles of the survey respondents.  The five research subject areas were  loading the RD&E capacity pipeline,  providing capacity for RD&E activities, balancing cross-functional resources (staffing ratios), systems,tools, and metrics used to manage capacity, and RD&E metrics used in industry.

This research provides interesting results regarding the methods companies use to select projects and to establish and manage backlog. The report provides details on staffing ratios and the resources, both within the development function and in the cross functions, that companies are allocating to new and existing products. Also discussed is the infrastructure in place to enable resource and capacity planning and management.

GGI's Featured Item changes approximately every other month and is always offered at a 40% discount. To order this material, please go to GGI's Featured Item.

 

Recently Released Items:  While not a featured item, we want to make you aware of a recently released coursebook, the one that is used for GGI's 3-Day Innovation Summit (S8).

S8  "R&D - Product Development Innovation Summit Coursebook"
1st R&D - Product Development Innovation Summit, Goldense Group, Inc., Needham, Massachusetts, USA, Copyright © 2006 Goldense Group, Inc., ISBN 1-932468-44-7     
January 2006     [520 pages]

This coursebook covers the range of topics around the subject of innovation that are of interest to persons responsible for directing and managing innovation at the corporate and business-results levels.  This is the material that underlies GGI's 3-Day R&D-Product Development Innovation Summit which was first offered to the public on January 17-19, 2006 in Norwood, Massachusetts, USA.   While in MS Powerpoint format, this is a data-intensive document that is consistent with GGI's industry reputation in the quantitative aspects of product development and innovation.

The first section of the R&D Innovation Summit Coursebook contains industry benchmark information about:  product selection and intellectual property management and decision processes, pipeline yield rates from ideation to commercialization, relative innovativeness of tools and techniques used by today's product developers, top management short list of practices that fuels R&D productivity, and an inventory of "all" innovation tools in the marketplace today.

The second section contains more in-depth information about four major innovation-enablers:  Lead User Analysis, Six Hats, Triz, and Semantic Processing.  The second section also contains more in-depth information about:  Trade Secrets, Trademarks/Servicemarks, Copyrights, and Patents.

The third section contains information on five subject areas that are part of an overall innovation environment: additional software such as self assessment and DSS and IP management, insourcing and outsourcing innovation, metrics and measures for innovation environments, and reward and recognition processes and mechanisms.  The Summary highlights the contributions of five prominent books in the field of innovation that are used by corporations.  The brief Conclusion indicates the places in product development processes where the use of innovation tools may have the best impact, along with positioning innovation strategically, and within technical and product management functions.

For more information, or to order, any GGI products please go to The Wisdom iStoreS8 is specifically located at The Wisdom iStore.

 

THE WISDOM iSTORE NEW LISTINGS
No new items were added to the The Wisdom iStore since we last wrote you. For more information, or to order any GGI products, please go to The Wisdom iStore.

 

BIENNIAL METRICS SURVEY RESULTS

2004 Product Development Metrics Survey - Product Selection, IP Management, and Top Corporate Metrics:  The Summary Report (MR32h) and Highlights Report (MR31h) for GGI's 2004 Biennial Product Development Metrics Survey are now available for purchase by the public through GGI's Wisdom iStore.  These reports are completely based on primary research performed by GGI researchers.  The research includes 202 respondent companies.  There was a 5% response rate.

McKinsey & Company, Texas Instruments, Rockwell, Kimberly Clark, JDS Uniphase, Shure, Curtiss Wright Flight Systems and Datacard are representative of companies that purchase market research from GGI.

The 2004 Survey focused on the following five areas of product selection and IP management:
Product Selection Process
Product Selection Tools
IP Management Process
IP Management Tools
Top Corporate Metrics Used in Industry RD&E

We have already shared many results with GGI RapidNews readers since we began this line of business in 1998.  2004 Survey results ran in six RN issues, RN V5I11 - RN V6I5, which may be found in the RN archives, along with results from prior years.

Some additional complimentary information about the survey is available:
Marketing Brochure
Descriptive Brochure
Detailed Description of Research Topic Areas

The three commercial versions of the survey results that we currently offer for public purchase are:

1. 2004 SURVEY HIGHLIGHTS: A text-only report (75 pages), including the full text of all the results and analysis of the survey population analyzed as a whole, and
2. 2004 SURVEY SUMMARY: A report of composite results, where the survey respondents are analyzed as a whole (149 pages, includes a full set of graphed answers for every survey question).
3. 2004 SURVEY RESULTS:  A report of composite results, where the survey respondents are analyzed as a whole AND five different cross-sections of the survey data contrasting Public vs Private, High Tech vs Low Tech, Big vs Small Revenues, Large Number of Employees vs Few Employees, and Process vs Repetitive, vs Discrete vs Job Shop (313 pages, includes a full set of graphed answers for survey questions).

Individual sections of the research reports, as well as logical combinations of sections are also available.  All reports are available in printed or electronic versions.

These reports are available in the Market Research section of <http://www.goldensegroupinc.com/cgi/catalog.cgi?display_p355>GGI's Wisdom iStore.

2002, 2000, 1998 Product Development Metrics Survey:  The Summary and Highlights Reports for GGI's prior Biennial Product Development Metrics Surveys are also available for purchase by the public through GGI's Wisdom iStore.  These reports are completely based on primary research performed by GGI researchers.  Information about the purpose and focus of prior surveys may be found in our biennial survey archives.

 

GATEWAYS TO KNOWLEDGE

GTK-Gateways To Knowledge is a DIRECTORY OF THOUSANDS OF LINKS to providers of engineering, purchasing, and manufacturing technologies and services.  If you hit the right subjects, it is more useful than a search engine! The "main entrance" to GTK can be found at:

http://www.goldensegroupinc.com/gateway/index.shtml

For those of you that do not want to risk going through the main entrance above, some of the Gateways that we believe you will find useful or entertaining are highlighted below.

Technology Providers
Service Providers
Professional & Trade Associations
Government Services
Travel

 

CALENDAR OF INDUSTRY EVENTS

GGI's Calendar of Industry Events contains an up-to-date listing of links to Conferences, Seminars, Distance Learning Centers, Colleges & Universities, Executive Education, and Corporate-Sponsored Universities.   The calendar has just been updated with more conferences and seminars throughout 2005.  The categories we follow are:
Seminars
Distance Learning Centers
Colleges & Universities
Executive Education
Corporate-Sponsored Universities

The categories of conferences, seminars, and distance learning are further organized into the following subject areas:
Strategic, Knowledge & General Management
Marketing & Sales - Mechanical, Electro-Mechanical, Electrical, & Electronic
Marketing & Sales - Pharmaceutical, Biotechnology, & Life Sciences
Product Development - Mechanical, Electro-Mechanical, Electrical, & Electronic
Product Development - Pharmaceutical, Biotechnology, & Life Sciences
Manufacturing & Automation - Mechanical, Electro-Mechanical, Electrical, & Electronic
Manufacturing & Automation - Pharmaceutical, Biotechnology, & Life Sciences
Software, Internet & IT
Project Management
Metrics

If you are looking for a conference or other learning opportunity, check out the Calendar.  This free service for our readers is front and center on GGI's Home Page.  Or, go directly to the Calendar of Industry Events MEGA Gateway.

 

TELEVISION EVENTS

Alexander Haig's World Business Review: Brad Goldense has made several appearances on Alexander Haig's World Business Review. Streaming video is available for all shows, which aired on August 4, September 29 and December 15, 2002 and on May 20, 2003. See below for details.

May 20, 2003 Broadcast of September 29th In-Studio with Alexander Haig (22.5 minutes): Streaming video for this segment is available on GGI's web site.

December 15, 2002 In-Studio with Alexander Haig (7.5 minutes) on CNBC paid programming: Streaming video for this segment is available on GGI's web site.

September 29, 2002 In-Studio with Alexander Haig (22.5 minutes): Streaming video for this segment (as well as the entire 30-minute show) is available on GGI's web site.

August 4, 2002 On-Location at GGI (3.5 minutes): This On-Location field report is available in streaming video on GGI's web site.

The web page includes links to download a streaming video player, if you do not currently have one installed on your computer.

For more information on any of Brad's appearances on television, go to:

http://www.goldensegroupinc.com/ggi-goldense-product-development-tv-television-broadcast.shtml.

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GGI RapidNews is an e-mail publication from Goldense Group, Inc (GGI). Its subject matter includes survey findings, company news, book and article reviews, key industry conferences and R&D information of interest to clients and associates. Please send communications to rn(at)goldensegroupinc.com. Thank you.