Why Learning Is Central to Sustained Innovation Case Solution And Analysis, HBR Case Study Solution & Analysis of Harvard Case Studies

Supervisors frequently say they wish to enhance their product development ability based on so-called "lean"principles and practices to allow them to innovate while reducing costs and enhancing quality. The writers have found that operational excellence is not reached by simply applying lean practices to every process, in studying production in the last two decades. They say, it requires humanizing an anticipation for constant improvement and an aptitude within every employee. What is significant in product development, the authors say, is not just following the appropriate measures - it is how the work is done. Until organizations basically view people as central and leaders act properly, the danger of development process improvement attempts not actually civilizing anything is worryingly high. In practice, the authors challenge, most company devote very little in folks development in comparison.

The underlying theories of lean product development have been around since the 1980s, the authors note, when a MIT study found that Japanese automotive firms followed practices that were profoundly different from those of other auto manufacturers. In new product development, thin is about advancing the skills of individuals through technical training and processes of cooperation so that each developer is able to design, develop, and produce services and better products. Companies can promote individual command, in the authors' view, by asking three questions: (1) What do we need to learn about our customers, products, and generation processes to design better products? (2) How do we learn this? The authors outline several measures companies should take to improve the development of their people. These include developing standards and building it into the reward system and how individuals work and making technical mastery an anticipation and using them. The starting point for standards can be the knowledge that already dwells within the organization; standards can be systematically updated based on the learning obtained on each development project. Additionally, firms should hold regular technical design reviews with the explicit purpose of developing their folks, and they should take a critical look at the proper development process. Eventually, executives should request their leadership teams to focus more on instructing, and less on decision making and assigning work and enhancing.

PUBLICATION DATE: April 01, 2016 PRODUCT #: SMR552-PDF-ENG

This is just an excerpt. This case is about LEADERSHIP & MANAGING PEOPLE

Why Learning Is Central to Sustained Innovation Case Solution