When you think of Samsung’s innovation, how highly do you think they rank innovation in terms of importance in their company?
With constant advancements in their TV’s, Tablets, smartphones etc. it’s safe to say that innovation is a key part of Samsung’s business model.
So how do they innovate?
Do they have one person who constantly churns out their ideas?
Do they go up and down their business seeking the next big idea?
Well, it’s a little more systematic than that.
You see, Samsung developed a New Concept Development (NCD) process that could be executed when innovating new products and services.
So they assembled a Project Innovation Team that would follow this NCD process and work with every business unit to provide more insight into the market.
So what is this NCD process?
Well, it is a 4 stage process to drive innovation in Samsung.
The 4 stage process is categorised as follows:
1. Understand
Having a clear understanding of what’s trending around the world is key for any global company.
The innovation team gains this understanding by conducting research and collecting data, ideas and information on how users are behaving with the trends.
They also follow startup companies to see who’s making the most noise in the marketplace
2. Ideate
Once the innovation team have a clear understanding of all the trends in the marketplace, they will then brainstorm ideas.
This brainstorming stage will determine if the company can find solutions to market demands or use innovation to stay on top of competitors.
3. Concept Development
This is the stage where the team will take all of their research and ideas and build them into one concept.
4. Concept Finalization
The final stage is where the innovation team works with the business units to finalize a product concept based on the market and customer requirements they have found.
Now that you know how Samsung innovate, how are you going to innovate?
However, in the age of the internet, Ford and Alibaba are radicalising their own change for this model:
However, in the age of the internet, Ford and Alibaba are radicalising their own change for this model: