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Thursday, May 3, 2007
Improve Your IQ (Innovation Quotient)
10 Techniques for Increasing Innovation within Your Company
Presenters: James Twerdahl and Leland D. Shaeffer
First delivered at the 2006 PDMA International conference
Innovation is becoming essential for the survival of a business, as competition continues to heat up and business models (as well as products) become obsolete at a faster rate. Faster and better execution, while necessary, is no longer sufficient to grow or even sustain a business. The organization must continuously think “out of the box”, not just in products but in all aspects of their business, in order to keep pace.
In this program, we discussed ways of increasing innovation, not just in products but in other aspects of the business as well. Attendees learned:
- 10 techniques for increasing innovation throughout the product’s lifecycle.
- The key enabler required for innovation to occur
- A perspective on whether talking to the customer stifles creative, as some pundits claims
We provided techniques that can be applied immediately, together with an overall framework for increasing the “IQ” (Innovation Quotient) in your organization and tips for making innovation stick within your company.
This special event was co-hosted by PDMA LA & the Technology Council of Southern California
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This event was sponsored by:
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Accept Software provides the leading solution for enterprise-class product planning in its Accept 360° application suite. Accept 360° allows distributed product teams, including product managers, strategic planners, and product engineers to collaborate in making and implementing the best decisions about which products to build and which features to include. For more information, please go to www.acceptsoftware.com. |
About the Presenters
James Twerdahl is a seasoned consumer products executive, having served as president and CEO of Jensen Sound Laboratories (car stereo), JBL Incorporated (loudspeakers and professional audio), Marantz Company (audio and video components) and Simtech International (video and security products). For 12 years he was Chairman and CEO of Coloramics, a manufacturer of products for the art, school, hobby and craft markets. He was a division chair and director of the Consumer Electronics Association, and an instructor in brand and product management at USC’s Marshall School and at the graduate business school at Loyola Marymount University.
Leland D. Shaeffer has over 20 years practical experience in engineering and product management at companies ranging from venture capital backed start-ups to Apple Computer, Unisys and Imagery/Eastman Kodak. He started his business career at McKinsey & Company, where he specialized in product/market strategy. He also is an instructor at Caltech and at USC’s Marshall School where he is highly regarded for his interactive style, practical approach and liberal use of real world examples. Lee is active in the PDMA and has written for Visions Magazine and the upcoming New Product Development ToolBook 3 (co-author with James Twerdahl).
