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CONTINUOUS INNOVATION

Healthcare - Medical Products Company

In response to increasing competition, the Vice President of R & D/Product Development for a major division of a national medical products company wanted to significantly decrease time-to-market for new products, and to increase reliability and consistency of process performance. We assessed the new product development process and the effectiveness of the organizations and teams involved, from Concept through Manufacturing Implementation. Some key outcomes of the project included:

• Clarification and simplification of key process phases.
• Increased emphasis on customer needs and business risk, and away from over-reliance on avoidance of regulatory risk, as project management drivers.
• Tightened linkages between customer requirements and product design specifications.
• Elevated priority of new product development projects in the performance management and compensation systems.
• Enhanced linkages between the budget development process and the project planning process to ensure tighter focus on high priority projects and adequate funding of selected projects.
• Implementation of formal, multi-disciplinary project teams with shared accountability for results.
• Increased training of project team leaders and members in Project Management skills.
• Increased empowerment (decision-making power) of project teams.
• Implementation of a Project Review process and a Best Practices Forum for purposes of organizational learning and process improvement.
• Increased cultural emphasis on experimentation and learning, as opposed to fear of "making a mistake".
  

Renewable Corporate Entrepreneurship: The Path to Sustainable Growth

While touted as a marketplace nirvana, the reality of the global marketplace has brought with it an unanticipated, strange and painful consequence: somehow, dominance has become as much a liability as an asset. Small, nimble competitors can emerge from nowhere, move with blinding speed, and subvert industry incumbents, because incumbents can't respond quickly and effectively. Disconcertingly, dominance can disappear almost overnight. To survive - let alone thrive - in this climate requires creating and continually renewing a spirit of disciplined entrepreneurship…

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About Dean Robb, Ph.D.

Dr. Dean Robb is President of Robb Consulting, LLC. Since 1994, he has helped numerous domestic and foreign business leaders build high-performing, innovative, entrepreneurial enterprises. His expertise combines 26 years of practical, real-world experience in corporate America with in-depth research in human and organizational systems. His website is www.robbconsulting.com. He can be reached at drobb@robbconsulting.com or at (908) 757-4721.

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