In 4 Sources of Advantage, authors Peter S. Cohan and Barry Unger tell us that technology leaders create success cycles by the way they perform four critical business processes – which they call “the four sources of advantage.”
The four processes are:
– Entrepreneurial leadership
– Open technology
– Boundaryless product development
– Disciplined resource allocation
So where does your company stand? If you’re seeking to accelerate your company’s, take this self-assessment and find out: [hint – A is good, B is bad]
Entrepreneurial leadership
1. Hiring
A. Hires engineers with strong technical skills and keen business sense; or
B. Hires engineers with strong technical skills and limited business sense.
2. Self-driven research
A. Gives engineers, say 10 per cent to 20 percent, of their time to work on projects they choose; or
B. Requires engineers to work exclusively on manager-directed projects.
3. Publishing
A. Allows engineers to publish current research in peer reviewed publications after appropriate patent disclosures have been made; or
B. Requires engineers to keep their research company confidential.
4. Peer recognition
A. Holds annual celebrations for engineers who develop innovative products; or
B. “Rewards” engineers who innovate by letting them keep their jobs.
5. Culture
A. Uses culture and supporting measurement and reward systems to emphasise how society benefits from its products; or
B. Uses culture and supporting measurement and reward systems to focus on enhancing shareholder value.
Open technology
6. Speed to market
A. Acquires companies or licenses technology to obtain rapid access to products its customers want to buy; or
B. Uses only internally developed technology to develop new products.
7. Customer perspective
A. Builds technologies that create customer value; or
B. Builds technologies that satisfy executive requirements.
Boundaryless product development
8. Cross-functional teams
A. Uses cross-functional teams of, say, engineering, manufacturing, sales, marketing, finance, and early
adopter customers, to design new products; or
B. Uses its engineering department to design new products.
9. Prototypes
A. Uses cross-functional team input to build new product prototypes; or
B. Manufactures product based solely on engineering blueprints.
10. Fast feedback
A. Redesigns prototypes using feedback from early adopter customers, manufacturing, and other functions; or
B. Redesigns products only after they’re out in the market.
Disciplined resource allocation
11. Timing discipline
A. Creates strong incentives to meet project milestones; or
B. Lets product development deadlines slide.
12. Expected value discipline
A. Validates development projects’ expected value (EV) via continuously updated market research and kills them if their EV goes negative; or
B. Once their budget has been set, sticks with development projects.
13. Learning discipline
A. Allocates resources and shares learning through control systems that measure competitive performance; or
B. Rewards those who tell the CEO what the CEO wants to hear and fires those who contradict the CEO.
14. Renewal discipline
A. Develops a deep bench of management talent; or
B. Dismisses ambitious managers to protect the CEO.