Innovation is hard to grasp – but product profitability is tangible and readily measured. Best-in-Class companies take different approaches to creating innovation and developing it into profitable products. This report serves as a guideline to help companies understand what Best-in-Class companies have done to gain significant performance advantages in product innovation and profitability, and provide insight into what they have planned to maintain or extend their leadership position. In the December 2005 Product Innovation Agenda benchmark report, Aberdeen Group investigated how companies leverage product innovation. The Product Innovation Agenda 2010 report reassesses the 2005 product innovation agenda and looks at its relationship to the corporate agenda today and beyond.
Table of Contents
Executive Summary 2
Best-in-Class Performance 2
Competitive Maturity Assessment 2
Required Actions 3
Chapter One: Benchmarking the Best-in-Class 6
Product Innovation on the Executive Agenda6
The Challenges of Product Innovation7
The Maturity Class Framework 7
Best-in-Class Strategies 8
The Best-in-Class PACE Model 9
Chapter Two: Benchmarking Requirements for Success 12
Competitive Assessment12
Product Innovation, Product Development, and Engineering Today 13
Product Innovation 13
Product Development14
Product Design and Engineering15
Enabling Technology 16
Product Innovation, Product Development, and Engineering Tomorrow17
Product Innovation 18
Product Development18
Product Design and Engineering19
Enabling Technology 20
Technology Landscape and Outlook21
Chapter Three: Required Actions 23
Laggard Steps to Success: Establish the Basics 23
Industry Average Steps to Success: Solidify and Extend23
Best-in-Class Steps to Success: Extend and Sustain24
Appendix A: Research Methodology27
Appendix B: Related Aberdeen Research 29
List of Figures
Figure 1: The Role of Innovation in Corporate Strategies6
Figure 2: Percent of Products Meeting Product Development Targets8
Figure 3: Top Strategic Actions across the Performance Framework 9
List of Charts
Table 1: Benefits of Enhancing Product Innovation7
Table 2: Top Challenges of Product Innovation 7
Table 3: The Best-in-Class PACE Framework 10
Table 4: The Competitive Framework in 2008 - Innovation 14
Table 5: The Competitive Framework 2008 - Development 15
Table 6: The Competitive Framework 2008 - Engineering 16
Table 7: The Competitive Framework 2008 - Enabling Technology 17
Table 8: The Competitive Framework 2010 - Innovation 18
Table 9: The Competitive Framework 2010: Development 19
Table 10: The Competitive Framework 2010 - Engineering 19
Table 11: The Competitive Framework 2010 - Enabling Technology 20
Table 12: Top 20 Innovation Technology Investments 2008-2010 21
Table 13: The PACE Framework Key28
Table 14: The Competitive Framework Key28
Table 15: Relating PACE to the Competitive Framework28
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