Answer

Innovative Product Evaluation

Introducing an innovation system to Volkswagen can prove challenging. Like any other organization, introducing a new concept can be both advantageous and disadvantageous depending on how the employees and clients receive the change. While going through the innovation process, the organization is likely to undergo several obstacles. Hence, there is a need to develop ways to mitigate against the disadvantages to leverage the advantages therein. The innovation process also requires project champions who would help push the project forward to its success, reducing the risks involved over the benefits. The type of procedure to use in implementing the change is also essential as it is with the influence Stage-Gate process, and the involvement of customers and suppliers on the development cycle time and innovation costs. Assessing all the above variables would help Volkswagen determine whether to continue with the development of the innovative product or not.

Some of the obstacles that are likely to be encountered when attempting to adopt the innovation process include access to finance and the market. Resources to develop higher value-added products prove limited, making it challenging to improve production quality (Mustafa & Yaakub, 2018). The other obstacle might be market access. Mostly, when a new product gets into the market, it is rated at high cots. Therefore, it is possible that the new Volkswagen driver’s assist system might not get as much access as it should due to its high cost; hence only a few people might afford the latest product of technology. The organization is tasked with getting enough funds to adopt the innovation product and market for it. 

Getting to control the disadvantages identified during the innovation process through outsourcing to leverage the advantages is an essential step to maximizing profits and improving efficiency gains. Rodrigo (2015) mentions contracting a third party provider to handle the business functions as one way to maximize the benefits of an innovation product. However, this method can be dangerous as disappointments are likely to occur. Rodrigo (2015) suggests different types of outsourcing that an organization could choose, hence avoid disappointments. Total outsourcing gives out 80% of the business, selective outsourcing equally divides the outsourced responsibilities between the contracted and the original organization, while the in-sourced functions and de facto in-sourcing give Volkswagen enterprise total control of the innovative product.

A project champion is meant to ensure that everyone responsible for implementing a new project is on board and the project attains its ultimate success. In this instance, the Volkswagen project manager bears the burden to ensure the success of the project. Miles (2013) says that a project champion does not take no for an answer; hence they push hard to complete the innovation product. Some of the traits of a project champion include but not limited to the qualification and the ability to understand all the components about the project, should be able to inspire the team to buy-in hence partake in the project’s success, and is exceptional in problem-solving skills. Therefore, the project champion can surpass the obstacles and maximize the benefits.

Using either sequential or parallel processes has its advantages and disadvantages to developing the innovation product. Sequential process has disadvantages such as a product design that proceeds with no manufacturing considerations and requirement which brings the project back and forth, making the process time-consuming. The parallel process outdoes this situation. Hall (2018) mentions that a parallel process can work out several projects at one given time. However, the process has a disadvantage that makes it overwork the available employees. More times than not, the work is always more than the available people. With overworked employees, morale goes down, and the product is likely to be delayed with an inefficient work model.

The parallel process does very well with the Stage-Gate processing. This may be due to parallel processing’s ability to design most products and processes within three stages available in the Stage-Gate process, hence not disrupting other models. With the correspondence, using parallel process and Stage-Gate process would require the former to follow the three stages one after the other without overlapping. Overlapping might violate the Stage-Gate prescription to use different models like Go/Kill gate in between the steps. Therefore, the Stage-gate process has an element of discipline that requires anyone who uses it correspondently with the parallel approach to follow; thus, there is a need for a sequential process in developing the new product.

It is vital that all stakeholders, including customers and suppliers, are involved in developing the innovation product. Sillanpaa et al. (2015) justify that the suppliers and buyers need to work together and build a stronger long-term relationship. Involving the two stakeholders would help in the supplier development hence fulfill the changing development requirement for Volkswagen as only customers note the difference between similar products from various enterprises. Sillanpaa (2015) mentions critical commodity development and initiating communication to validate good relationships between customers and suppliers concerning innovation product development. Therefore, engaging all stakeholders and maintaining a good relationship enhances and promotes the development of the new product.

From the analysis, continuing with the development of the driver assists system for Volkswagen is viable. The company has established a good communication system between the buyers and suppliers and can gather feedback and work on their weaknesses as they tighten their strongholds. The evaluation gives a roadmap to a successful project implementation and helps minimize the disadvantages of the change idea. 

REFERENCES

• Hall, M. (2018). Parallel development is killing your productivity! Lean. from https://agilevelocity.com/lean-economics-101-parallel-development-is-killing-your-productivity/.

  Miles, C. (2013). The project champion: A management best practice. Small Business Trends. from https://smallbiztrends.com/2013/12/what-is-a-project-champion.html.

  Mustafa, H., & Yaakub, S. (2018). Innovation and technology adoption challenges: Impact on SMEs’ company performance. International Journal of Accounting, Finance, and Business, 3(15), 57-65.

  Rodrigo. (2015). Outsourcing: benefits and risks-a case study on Unilever. The Writepass Journal. from https://writepass.com/journal/2015/03/outsourcing-benefits-and-risks-a-case-study-on-unilever/.

  Sillanpää, I., Shahzad, K., & Sillanpää, E. (2015). Supplier development and buyer-supplier relationship strategies – A literature review. International Journal of Procurement Management, 8(1/2), 227. https://doi.org/10.1504/ijpm.2015.066283