The Innovation Navigator

Innovation is a top strategic priority for firms across all industries. In The Innovation Navigator, Tucker J. Marion and Sebastian K. Fixson explore four innovation archetypes or modes – "specialist," "venture," "community," and "network" – which feature prominently in the expanding innovation landscape. Specialists employ technologies to achieve entirely new solutions and superior product performance. New corporate ventures lower the barriers for employees to self-select into entrepreneurial projects, while reducing the constraints of bureaucracy. The community brings new sources of knowledge by expanding past the firm's boundaries, dramatically increasing the number of participants. The network creates partnerships and ecosystems that create innovations that could not be developed by individual companies alone.The Innovation Navigator guides the reader in exploring and exploiting these different modes of innovation. Individual chapters provide key insights into the inherent opportunities and challenges from a number of vantage points: from the impact on organizational resources to the role of incentives. The book also provides a framework for how firms can leverage dynamic mode shifts and multimode strategies. Firms across the industrial spectrum are profiled, from new additive manufacturing companies such as Formlabs, community-based solution providers like Forth, to traditional firms exploring new modes like GE Appliances and their FirstBuild initiative. The Innovation Navigator will assist executives in building the capabilities for peak performance in this new innovation landscape.

Tucker J. Marion is an associate professor of innovation and new product development at the D’Amore-McKim School of Business, Entrepreneurship & Innovation Group at Northeastern UniversitySebastian K. Fixson is a professor of innovation and design, Technology Operations and Information Management Division at Babson College.

"Innovation is often an ill-posed need that organizations struggle to translate into tractable goals. The Innovation Navigator provides an approachable foundation for an innovation framework with practical guidelines for customizing and putting the process into action. While Marion and Fixson provide ample examples in the digital design and manufacturing arena to elucidate their methodology, the framework is equally applicable to software development with its synergistic ecosystems for apps, cloud services, and platforms."Edmond Mesrobian, former Chief Technology Officer, Tesco and Expedia"The Innovation Navigator is both relevant and profitable to today’s business environment. The content pertains to range of industries that can benefit from the framework and applications provided, which have already provided maximum value within top companies."Marco Mancini, former R&D Transformation Lead, Bristol-Myers Squibb"With The Innovation Navigator Marion and Fixson provide a rigorous but highly practical framework to structure the wide area of corporate innovation. Their analysis and guidance helps us to make (and give) sense of and apply the many current practices and approaches in the field."Frank T. Piller, Vice Dean for Strategy of the School of Business & Economics, RWTH Aachen University"To call innovation a noun is like calling the Roman Colosseum a stadium. It’s way more than that. Innovation is a mindset. Innovation starts with empathy for the struggle humans are facing and then becoming a champion to make it better. Great innovators are trained warriors in the arena, shoulder to shoulder, fighting the good fight, relentlessly navigating life’s complexities with you, for you, never giving up until you, not them, emerge the victor. The Innovation Navigator is a playbook for innovators everywhere to up our game!"Robin Glasco, Chief Innovation Officer, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts"Marion and Fixson analyze the implications of the powerful forces exerted by the digitization of design and by rich new modes of collaboration. The result is a logical framework comprised of four distinct approaches to innovation. The book presents clear prescriptions for improved practice illuminated by clear and interesting examples. The book is an essential guide to creating effective strategy in today’s rapidly evolving environment for innovation."Karl T. Ulrich, Vice Dean of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania

Alternative names:

• ISBN The Innovation Navigator: Transforming Your Organization in the Era of Digital Design and Collaborative Culture book English 200 pages