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Six objectives:
1. Deciding on the innovation assignment.
2. Choosing the evaluation criteria for the new product concepts.
3. Selecting the internal and external participants for the ideation team.
4. Jointly going through and establishing the FORTH approach and planning.
5. Reaching an agreement on the time and costs required.
6. Acquiring basic support from senior management.
The innovation focus workshop is a meeting with senior management aimed at taking
decisions.
Duration:
A four‐hour session will suffice, provided that the organisation has a clear vision about
innovation, innovation is a regular item on the management agenda, and the workshop has
been properly prepared. Two 4‐hour sessions would be recommended for organisations
where innovation is still in its infancy or only put ad hoc on the management agenda.
Location:
Choose an unexpected external location that is somehow linked to the innovation
assignment to be formulated. For instance across the road of an Aldi supermarket (if it turns
to be the bottom of the market revolution), in a ROC (if young people become the target
group) or in a cyber café (if new on‐line products are the subject‐matter).
Participants (four to six):
the manager responsible for innovation (CEO, chairman of the board, business unit
manager);
board members and line managers involved;
intended ideation team leader
facilitator FORTH process.
Script:
Four items are on the agenda:
1. innovation assignment and evaluation criteria;
2. participants of the ideation team;
3. planning FORTH approach;
4. time required and costs.
The intended team leader, in collaboration with the facilitator, has carefully prepared the
four items on the agenda and forwarded the concept documents to all participants of the
workshop prior to the meeting.
1. Deciding on the innovation assignment and the evaluation criteria.
a. Characterise the current market position:
1. Market phase: market phase and growth
2. Market position: market share
3. Mental market role: rule taker, rule maker, rule breaker
b. Characterise the business vision, strategy and ambition
c. Describe the specific reason for innovation:
External
‐ opportunities through dominant trends
‐ opportunities through changing legislation or market liberalisation
‐ opportunities through shifting consumer needs
‐ (the threat of) a new competitor
‐ (the threat of) a new promising product by a competitor
Internal
‐ a new, promising, technological application
‐ ambitious growth of turnover and profit
d. Choose the innovation focus:
‐ evolutionary at the top of the market
‐ revolutionary at the bottom of the market
‐ revolutionary in an entirely new market
e. Formulate the innovation assignment using the evaluation criteria for the new
product concepts:
‐ 6 Ws:
1. Why (reason or objective)?
2. Who (target group)?
3. Where (distribution channels, countries, regions or continents)?
4. What (evolutionary or revolutionary concepts)?
5. When (intended year of introduction)?
6. What (criteria the new product concept has to meet)?
‐ C‐SMART:
1. Challenging. Has the assignment been formulated in a such a challenging way for
it to give positive energy to the ideation team?
2. Specific. Does the assignment have clear direction?
3. Measurable. Has the expected specific result also been described in a measurable
manner?
4. Acceptable. Are the assignment and the objective acceptable?
5. Realistic. Are the assignment and the objective realistic?
6. Timing. Has a timeframe been set for the realisation of the assignment?
‐ Evaluation criteria:
1. Turnover. How much turnover will the new product concept generate within x
years? Or, taking into account the ongoing consumption of existing products:
how much extra turnover will the new product concept generate within x years?
2. Profit margin. What should be the profit margin on the new product concept?
3. Appealing and different. How appealing and different will the new product
concept be in the eyes of the target group?
4. Positioning. To what extent will the new product concept fit in the chosen brand
or corporate positioning?
5. Feasibility. To what extent will the new product concept be feasible (using the
existing in‐house production facilities)?
6. Strategic fit. To what extent will the new product concept fit in the strategy of the
organisation?
2. Selecting the internal and external participants for the ideation team.
See checklist 3.
3. Jointly going through and establishing the FORTH approach and planning.
See figure 7 in chapter 3.
4. Reaching an agreement on the time and costs required.
See checklist 4.
Tip: create a special ideation team room within the organisation! That would be a central
area for the team for insight sessions where concepts and business cases can also be worked
out. After some time, the room will be overflowing with creative concepts. And will
therefore arouse the curiosity of other staff members in a pleasant way.
Source: Nieuwe Producten Bedenken, 2006 Gijs van Wulfen; www.forth‐innovation.com; e‐
mail: gijs@bigtree.nl; Big Tree Marketing Innovators, Ondiep‐zuidzijde 6, 3551 BW Utrecht,
The Netherlands; telephone: +31651483575 & +31302456320.