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GGI RapidNews R&D Product Development eZine: Volume 4, Issue 10, October 3, 2003
In This Issue
2002 METRICS SURVEY RESULTS
NEWS AND NOTES
2004 METRICS SURVEY
BOOK REVIEW - Differentiate
or Die: Survival in Our Age of Killer Competition
MANAGEMENT PRODUCTIVITY - Three
Rules for Practical Innovation
NEW BIENNIAL SURVEY - 2002
RD&E Survey Results available now
NEW WEB CONTENT - Updated GTKs:
Calendar, Reverse Engineering Equipment and Software
FEATURED iSTORE PRODUCT - 2000
Product Development Metrics Research Summary
CONFERENCES OF INTEREST - MRT
Metrics; IQPC
WEBINARS OF INTEREST - Sopheon's
Winning Practices for Product Development
TELEVISION EVENTS - Alexander
Haig's World Business Review
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2002 METRICS SURVEY RESULTS
GGI's 2002 Product Development Metrics Survey, which
focused on resource and capacity management practices
and metrics, was published earlier this year.
From April through August, GGI shared with RapidNews
readers selected results from each section of the survey,
with the survey population considered as a whole.
We have also analyzed the data in "Special Cuts"
by segmenting the population into the following five
groups: Public vs. Private, Smaller vs. Larger,
Process vs. Repetitive/Discrete vs. Job Shop Operations,
Higher Technology vs. Lower Technology, and More vs.
Fewer Employees. Over the next five months, we
will share selected results from each of these segment
analyses. This month, we present the first segment,
selected results from the "Public vs. Private"
segment.
- 80% of Public and 78% of Private companies reported
use of 2.5-Step or 2-Step processes, but 16% of the
Private companies indicated they used "No Step."
- At Milestone 2, 95% of Public companies and 56%
of Private companies hold formal meetings.
- For top-level planning, Public companies tended
to use "Architectural Models" (26%) or "No
Abstractions/Judgement" (36%) compared to Private
companies (16% and 28%, respectively). Private
companies favored "Size Models" (41% vs. 20%).
- 42% of Private companies and 32% of Public companies
have a defined set of metrics used for managing RD&E.
Next month, look for the second segment, "Smaller
vs. Larger."
To view selected results of the survey population
as a whole, look in the GGI RapidNews archives:
http://www.goldensegroupinc.com/GGI_RapidNews/Rnews.shtml
The original survey questionnaire can be downloaded
at http://www.goldensegroupinc.com/biennial/surveys/2002MetricsSurvey.pdf. Complete
survey results are available for purchase at http://www.goldensegroupinc.com/cgi/catalog.cgi?display_p355.
NEWS AND NOTES
New Role: John R. (Dick ) Power has
just been named as Chief Operating Officer of Goldense
Group, Inc. In this new role, Dick is responsible
for planning and execution of day-to-day business operations
as well as implementation of new initiatives and products.
Dick will retain his previous responsibilities as Director
of Executive Education. He brings to his new duties
broad experience in operations management in commercial
organizations large and small and in the US Military,
as well as exceptional credentials in project management.
Our Virtual Team: GGI gets more virtual
all the time. Our webmaster, Gordon Withers, has just
relocated to Florida for personal reasons. He
is still a member of the GGI team, handling our webmaster
duties remotely. We wish him the best in his new
home. Gordon will continue to have x203 at GGI,
and his GGI email, grw@goldensegroupinc.com, will continue
unchanged.
Position Available: GGI is actively
seeking a part-time web developer for development and
maintenance of our web site, and for other internal
development activities. Please contact Dick Power
at jrp@goldensegroupinc.com for more information.
2004 METRICS SURVEY
GGI's next Product Development Metrics Survey will
be conducted in 2004. We are now in the initial
planning stages. Please contact me at ars@goldensegroupinc.com if you wish
to participate, and please note if you wish to be part
of our Beta-Test group to proof the survey. All
participants receive a complimentary copy of the Executive
Summary of the Survey results.
BOOK REVIEW
Differentiate or Die: Survival in Our Age
of Killer Competition, by Jack Trout with
Steve Rivkin. John Wiley & Sons. 2001,
1st edition. 240 pages.
To be successful, companies must distinguish themselves
from their competitors by staking out a unique position
to win customers. The explosion of product choices
in nearly every category in recent decades underscores
the need to attract and retain customers through differentiation.
Marketing expert Jack Trout and co-author Steve Rivkin
explore a number of approaches to differentiating a
product, service, or company that do and don't work,
which are summarized here.
First the authors explain what doesn't work for differentiation
and why: quality, customer satisfaction, price,
creativity and breadth of selection. Both quality
and customer orientation are expected as a given, cannot
be compromised, and must remain at high levels just
to "stay in the game." Price as a differentiator,
while sometimes an initial approach, leaves a company
vulnerable to the competition taking the same approach
and cutting prices. Creativity itself gives customers
"no substantive reasons to buy your company's products
and services." Offering a broader selection
generally frustrates customers with more choices and,
as with price, provides no way to keep competitors from
using the same strategy.
Some of the best strategies for differentiation are
1. Be the first to market - and the first in a customer's
mind
2. Own an attribute - be the leader in an aspect
of your product category
3. Establish your leadership - sales, technological
or performance - as credentials of performance
4. Be a market specialist - the expert in making
a specific product
5. Be the latest or the hottest - customers want
next generation products
MANAGEMENT PRODUCTIVITY
Three Rules for Practical Innovation
Summarized from "Fast Ideas for Slow Times"
by Christine Canabou. Fast Company, Issue
Number 70, May 2003, page 52.
Innovation in these highly competitive times is fraught
with many competing demands. There always exists the
struggle to balance the risk of making fatal mistakes
with the intense pressure to make a commercial success.
Through examples at various companies, the author offers
three rules for "conservative creativity."
1. Do more of what matters. To survive, companies
must "out-innovate and outcompete" competitors.
For example, Southwest Airlines' ground operations group
has used a team approach to develop creative solutions
to handle customer issues.
2. Test, mess up, learn -- only faster. Jump
on ideas and develop them quickly. The author
gives an example of a meeting with surgeons seeking
a new surgical tool at the design and product development
firm, IDEO. During the meeting, an IDEO employee left
and quickly returned with a simple prototype made out
of office supplies that roughly matched the surgeon's
vision of the tool.
3. Define innovation. Clarify what is meant
by radical innovation or incremental innovation, and
define what you need. Use a systematic process
to evaluate and select ideas with the best likelihood
for commercial success.
NEW BIENNIAL SURVEY
2002 RD&E Survey - Resource & Capacity
Management: Complete results from our 2002 Product
Development Metrics Survey are now available, including
our most detailed "RESULTS" report.
The survey focused this year on the following 5 areas
of resource and capacity management:
- Loading the RD&E capacity pipeline,
- Providing capacity for RD&E activities,
- Balancing cross-functional resources (staffing
ratios),
- Using systems, tools, & metrics to manage capacity,
and
- RD&E metrics used in industry.
The 3 versions of the survey results reports that
we offer for sale to the public are
1. 2002 SURVEY HIGHLIGHTS: A text-only report (65
pages),including the full text of all the results and
analysis of the survey population analyzed as a whole,
2. 2002 SURVEY SUMMARY: A report of composite results,
where the survey respondents are analyzed as a whole
(116 pages, including a full set of graphics), and
3. 2002 SURVEY RESULTS: The most detailed report,
complete with the composite results and "special
cuts," where the survey population is segmented
and analyzed in the following groups: Public vs. Private,
Smaller vs. Larger, Process vs. Repetitive/Discrete
vs. Job Shop, Higher Technology vs. Lower Technology,
and More vs. Fewer Employees (223 pages).
These reports are available in the Market Research
section of GGI's iStore (http://www.goldensegroupinc.com/iStore/store.html). The original survey
questionnaire as well as a description of the survey
(including survey focus and demographics, tables of
contents for the 3 reports, and examples of key findings)
can be found at the Market Research Reading Room at
http://www.goldensegroupinc.com/readmarket.shtml.
NEW WEB CONTENT
GTK-Gateways To Knowledge: Your resource for
industry and product development related information
and contacts offers thousands of links to providers
of technologies and services for line management functions.
The main entrance to GTK can be found at:
The calendar has a new look with graphical buttons
and all educational offerings in one place! This is
one of our top 3 MEGA Gateways, the Calendar of Industry
Events MEGA Gateway, a listing of links to conferences,
seminars and distance learning opportunities. We have
just restructured the Calendar of Industry Events MEGA
Gateway to include all educational opportunities in
one Gateway by adding the following options: Webinars,
Colleges & Universities, Executive Education, and
Corporate-Sponsored Universities. Check out the redesigned
Gateway with new graphics. This free service for
our readers will soon be front and center on GGI's Home
Page. For the next few months, please find the
Calendar of Industry Events MEGA Gateway at:
Another one of our top MEGA Gateways is the Technology
Providers MEGA Gateway, which is a directory of
hundreds of links organized by technical topic (hardware
and software). The Technology Providers MEGA Gateway
can be found at:
Reverse Engineering Equipment: This
UPDATED Gateway offers links to over 20 companies that
provide reverse engineering equipment. Find it
in the Technology Providers MEGA Gateway. The
URL is located at:
Reverse Engineering Software: This UPDATED
Gateway offers links to nearly 40 companies that provide
reverse engineering software. Find it in the Technology
Providers MEGA Gateway. The URL is located at:
FEATURED GGI iSTORE PRODUCTS
Featured Item: GGI's iStore features one deeply
discounted offering, which changes periodically. The
current Featured Item is the "2000 Product Development
Metrics Research Summary" (MR12).
This 96-page report presents the detailed results
of GGI's 2000 Product Development Metrics Survey, which
focused on metrics systems in use in industry as well
as portfolio management. The report is organized in
5 sections, each of which contains factual observations,
management analysis and a full set of graphics. This
report, which analyzes the survey population of 122
respondents as a whole, will provide you with detailed
information on
1. R&D linkages to corporate strategy,
2. Portfolio management metrics,
3. Product selection metrics,
4. Product success metrics, and
5. Actual metrics in use in industry.
This research is still valid, given the fact that
the economy has not been in a state of high growth for
the past few years. We have found consistency between
the 2000 and 2002 surveys in areas where we could compare.
The price for the report has been dropped from $1920.00
to $1152.00, a deep discount of 40%. For more information
or to purchase this valuable report, go to
CONFERENCES OF INTEREST
MRT 8th Annual Metrics Conference: Management
Roundtable will hold its 8th annual conference, "Product
Development and R&D Metrics: Quantifying Innovation,
Portfolio Value, and Resource Capacity," on November
3-6, 2003 in Chicago, IL. The conference brings
together leading metrics experts and advanced industry
practitioners to explore the latest approaches and methods
for using performance measurement systems to manage
new product development activities. The conference
features keynote addresses, case studies, expert clinics,
pre/post-conference workshops, and Q&A and networking
sessions.
Brad Goldense will be facilitating two expert clinic
sessions on Tuesday, November 4 on "Proactive and
Predictive Measurements." Brad will also
conduct a post-conference workshop, "Product Development
Metrics Portfolios," on Thursday, November 6.
More information is available at MRT's web site:
http://www.managementroundtable.com/event_center/MET03/MET03.html
IQPC Conference: IQPC's Conference
on Collaborative Product Development will be held on
December 8-10, 2003 in Scottsdale, AZ. The focus
of the conference is integrating partners, suppliers
and customers to save money, streamline processes, and
drive innovation. The sessions will explore the
strategic thinking, infrastructure, and working practices
that lead to superior and sustainable partnerships,
products, and profits.
Brad Goldense will be delivering the keynote presentation,
"Unlock Corporate Practices to Improve Innovation
through Collaboration" on Tuesday, December 9.
Brad will also be conducting a pre-conference workshop,
"Measuring Product Development Effectiveness"
on Monday, December 8.
More information is available on IQPC's web site:
http://www.iqpc.com/cgi-bin/templates/106512415971209716796800002/singlecell.html?topic=235&event=3939.
WEBINARS OF INTEREST
Winning Practices for Product Development:
This free, online seminar series
is co-sponsored by Sopheon and the Society of Concurrent
Product Development [SCPD]. These one-hour, online
events feature experts and leading practitioners who
will share process knowledge and practical advice about
ways to improve your product development performance
and results.
There are currently two scheduled
webinars:
16 October (8 am Pacific/11
am Eastern/16:00 UK) - "Innovation Process Implementation:
Critical Factors for Success," presented by
Rosemary Grabowski, VP Value Development at Mott's North
America
30 October ((8 am Pacific/11
am Eastern/16:00 UK) - "Effective Pipeline
and Portfolio Management: Prioritizing Projects,"
presented by Mark Wozniak, Ph.D, Technology Manager
of Consumer Products at Huber
Engineered Materials, part of J.M. Huber Corporation
For more information and to register, go to http://www.sopheon.com/events_onlineseminars.asp. Past Webinars have been archived and are also available online at the same
link.
TELEVISION EVENTS
Alexander Haig's World Business Review: Brad
Goldense has made several appearances on Alexander Haig's
World Business Review in the past year. 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 at: http://www.goldensegroupinc.com/ggi-goldense-product-development-tv-television-broadcast.shtml#wbr5
December 15, 2002 In-Studio with Alexander Haig
(7.5 minutes) on CNBC paid programming: Streaming
video for this segment is available at: http://www.goldensegroupinc.com/ggi-goldense-product-development-tv-television-broadcast.shtml#wbr3
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
at: http://www.goldensegroupinc.com/ggi-goldense-product-development-tv-television-broadcast.shtml#wbr2
August 4, 2002 On-Location at GGI (3.5 minutes):
This On-Location field report is available in streaming
video on GGI's website. To see the program, go to:
http://www.goldensegroupinc.com/ggi-goldense-product-development-tv-television-broadcast.shtml#wbr1
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:
GGI RapidNews is an e-mail publication from Goldense Group, Inc (GGI). Its subject matter includes survey findings, company news, book reviews, key industry conferences and R&D information of interest to clients and associates. Please send communications to rn(at)goldensegroupinc.com. Thank you. | |||