Innovation project management : methods, case studies, and tools for managing innovation projects

"PREFACE All companies desire growth. But without some innovations, the opportunities may be limited. And even if the firm does have a few successful innovations, failure can still occur if the company focuses on past successes without developing a culture for continuous and sustainable innovations. Today's industry leaders can become tomorrow's failures without constantly challenging results. If continuous and sustainable innovation is to occur, then innovation leadership and project management must be married together and with a clear understanding of each other's roles. Innovation defines what we would like to do, and project management determines if it can be done. The marriage also may require that both parties learn new skills and create a corporate culture that supports idea management practices. As discussed in several of the chapters in the book, companies are developing organizational units dedicated to innovation activities and idea management. Understanding each other's roles is the first step in making a company more innovative. This requires that the project managers and other innovation personnel understand what they do not do now but must do for long-term successful innovation. This also includes understanding the interfacing with marketing personnel and customers. The book is broken down as follows: Chapter 1: Discusses why innovation and project management are often not discussed together and some of the links that are needed to bridge innovation, project management and business strategy. Chapter 2: Discusses the different types of innovation. This is essential because each type of innovation may require a different form of project management. Chapter 3: Discusses how business strategy may determine the type of innovation required and links together project management with the different types of innovation. Chapter 4: Discusses the tools that traditional project managers need to learn in order to manage innovation projects. Many of these tools are not discussed in traditional project management programs. Chapter 5: Discusses why some of the processes used in traditional project management activities may not work within innovation projects without some degree of modification. Chapter 6: Discusses the growth in innovation management software that project managers are now using in the front end of projects for idea management, alternative analyses and decision making. Chapter 7: Discusses the new metrics that project managers and innovation personnel are using for the monitoring and controlling of innovation projects. Chapter 8: Discusses innovations related to business models rather than products and services. Chapter 9: Discussed how disruptive innovation requirements may need a completely new form of project management and the need to interface closely with the consumer marketplace. Chapter 10: Discusses the roadblocks affecting the working relationship between project management and innovation. Chapter 11: Discusses how some projects, including innovation activities, have degrees of success and failure rather than complete success and failure as defined by the triple constraints. Chapter 12: Discusses the innovation culture that several companies have developed as well as the functional units they created to support innovation creation. Chapter 13: Case studies that discuss issues with innovation"--