Sourcing new ideas
Let’s learn more about Sourcing new ideas. The starting point for new products can be expanding an existing line, new materials, new production techniques, inspiration from nature, cultural heritage, travel, books and magazines, discussions with buyers and even conversations with family and friends.
Some ideas may be low-hanging fruit, but they still require time and resources to implement. It’s important to take care of two things before implementation: budget and resource. Clearly identify who should take ownership for implementation and how much it will cost to do it. Sometimes, it makes sense to incorporate implementation of these ideas into the existing product launch or revision processes. Setting up regular review meetings to track progress is essential.
Product design teams evaluate these ideas and make changes to their products. They may need to source new vendors or retool their manufacturing processes. Dell’s business model focuses on selling directly on-line and relies on its channel and retailer partners to sell off-line. Dell itself is not directly responsible for storefront experiences or engagement.
As Pam Dider quoted, It takes time, process, budget, and people to implement ideas from your customers. Once an idea is piloted successfully, it also takes time and effort to “scale” to different stores, different manufacturing facilities, or different countries. Customers should not see the effort behind the scenes, but they should know you’re listening to them and working on ideas and issues they care about.
Also, quoted Marc Chason, Motorola Labs, by In our company, an internal corporate business unit, reporting to the CTO, acted as an internal Venture Capital fund. Ideas/concepts were submitted to this group, with a champion assigned to develop the idea for technical relevance and market feasibility. Business cases were developed and reviewed initially by senior management for technical relevance, and if it passed muster, by other senior managers for market assessment and funding. In parallel, developing ideas that could impact an existing business unit in the near term were the responsibility of that business unit to develop.
