Innovation Evaluation Report

Innovation Evaluation Report

Identify the obstacles your organization might face in attempting to adopt an innovative product or process.

As Tesla continues to explore electric vehicle technology, it is more likely to struggle when coping with the fast-paced changes in the industry. Between 2003 and 2012, Tesla had a few competitors, but the competition for better electric vehicles and car batteries has increased in the last ten years. The company faces stiff competition from companies such as General Motors, Toyota, and Volkswagen. The rivals have invested in research and development to come up with new and improved products in the industry. It poses a great risk for Tesla as new technologies and changes resulting from rivals will reduce market share as consumers will choose the best products. Also technological changes can also render some of Tesla’s products obsolete or uncompetitive in the market.

Also, China’s exposure to electric vehicles imposes challenges on Tesla products. China’s market accounts for a quarter of its revenue from China because the country prioritizes green products to achieve its sustainability goals (Jing, 2020). However, there are upcoming china- based solid companies that are threatening the existence of Tesla in the Chinese market. The companies include Nio, Li Automotive, and Xpeng. The three companies with strong backing from the background are likely to take the Chinese market and other Tesla consumer markets. Thus, Tesla must match or exceed the technology crackdown to dominate the market.

Explain how to mitigate against the disadvantages and leverage the advantages you identify.

Tesla can mitigate the impacts of fast-paced changes in electric vehicles by prioritizing the use of big data, innovation, and other trendy technologies in the market. Tesla needs to be vigilant and keep abreast with new trends and technologies. The electric vehicle sector is young and exponentially growing, so new technologies and innovations are expected to come up in the next few years. Currently, there are many improvements and new technologies than it was in the last five years. Thus, Tesla can reduce the risk of losing the market by keeping abreast with new changes.

Tesla can reduce the possibility of losing its revenue over the Chinese growing firms on electric vehicles through market diversification. The electric vehicle has huge emerging and unexplored markets that Tesla can take advantage of in China and the rest of the world. For instance, Tesla has not fully explored geographic market segments such as Europe, Asia, and Africa. The segments can offer the opportunity for a large market base before Chinese firms grow and establish their market leadership.

Identify people who will make good project champions, including how project champions help ensure that you’ll achieve the benefits of championing and minimize the risks.

Tesla Inc. can choose a project champion from senior executives and managers to sustain the required momentum of the project. The senior executives have the power to support and fight for the project than appoint junior managers or external specialists to champion the project. Also, the managers directly impact the project as they have adequate supervisory skills in project management. Also, they have direct access to vital decision-making input that can help lobby for the project to get adequate funding and consultative support from top management.

Project championing is essential in a project. Foremost, champions facilitate allocating human and capital resources required to execute the project, especially new product development—appropriate allocation guarantees timely and quality project implementation (Schilling, 2020). Moreover, a project champion ensures communication and cooperation between team members. It reduces team conflicts that hamper the effective performance of the project.

Further, one of the ways to reduce the risk of championing is having anti-champions to prevent the champions from continuing with the project that is not viable. Also, the project champion plays a vital role in reducing the risks of project failure by ensuring project coordination from one phase to another. Projects that do not have champions from the top management are highly likely to take long or fail due to the issue of coordination (Thakhathi, 2018). Senior executives and managers can easily mobilize resources that eliminate the risk of failure resulting from inadequate staffing and funding. They also ensure a smooth transition from research to the commercialization of new products.

Consider whether to use mostly sequential or parallel processes.

 Parallel development is a suitable process for Tesla In. in electric vehicle production. Schilling (2020) argues that parallel processes are less time-consuming and eliminate costly iterations between each face of research. It becomes easier for the company to take advantage of innovation leadership to develop new products within the shortest time. Further, it allows option thinking in the processes that invigorate concept alternatives for testing during the development process. Consequently, the alternatives are used in new technical and market knowledge to utilize and improve performance.

Address the influence using Stage-Gate processes would have on development cycle time and development costs.

In the parallel processes, there are points of kill or go, and the aim is to reduce the risk associated with product development. It reduces time and costs by “killing off the dog projects (Schilling, 2020). Also, stage-gate provides the project’s blueprint that ensures it is implemented within the shortest time frame. Also, identifying kill-or-go avenues allows the company to avoid incurring additional costs if the project is not viable.

Analyze the benefits and costs of involving customers and suppliers in the development process. Consider how to test the viability of your product or process with your customers and suppliers in your analysis.

Involving customers in the development process helps the company to match customer expectations with the new product design attributes. As a result, the company attracts more customers as the products meet their needs. Also, it helps the company to reduce cost as the company only test product design that fit customer designs. Also, involving suppliers helps to tap new knowledge and information resources that can be used to improve the process and product efficiency (Schilling, 2020). They can provide better alternatives that lower costs and improve functionality. One way to test for the product’s viability is better testing, as it can help uncover bugs and issues before releasing the product into the real market.

Conclude whether you will continue developing the innovative product or process you selected based on the evaluation you performed.

Tesla Inc. can continue with the innovation in electric vehicles as the evaluation shows it is a viable project. Diversification and investment in thorough research and development can mitigate the company’s risks. Also, the company can use the parallel development process coupled with stage-gate processes evaluation to ensure it improves the company’s performance.

References

Jing, X. U. (2020). Analysis of the Operation Strategy of Tesla Inc. in China. Frontiers in Economics and Management Research, 1(1), 21-25.

Kahn, K. B. (2018). Understanding innovation. Business Horizons, 61(3), 453-460.

Schillng, M. (2020). Strategic management of technological innovations. (4^th ed). McGraw-Hill. Thakhathi, A. (2018). Champions of change and organizational development: A return to Schön and typology for future research and practice. In Research in Organizational Change and Development. Emerald Publishing Limited.

ORDER A PLAGIARISM-FREE PAPER HERE

We’ll write everything from scratch

---

Part of gaining and keeping a competitive advantage is determining the opportunities to improve and innovate upon existing organizational operations. An operations manager uses their skill in innovation to bring a new product to market. They must be nimble to quickly evaluate the advantages of a product, scan the external environment, and design a development process with the right resources at the right time for a viable innovation.

This week, you must prepare an evaluation report of your innovation for the executive team and the project management office to determine whether to continue working on the innovation you previously selected or if you should focus your efforts elsewhere. Refer to your review from Week 3 as you evaluate your innovation and make your recommendation.

Assessment Deliverable

Write a 700- to 1,050-word evaluation of the product or process you selected. In your evaluation:

• Identify the obstacles your organization might face in attempting to adopt an innovative product or process.
• Explain how to mitigate the risks and leverage the advantages you identify.
• Identify people who will make good project champions. Explain how project champions help ensure that you’ll achieve the benefits of championing and minimize the risks.
• Consider whether to use mostly sequential or parallel processes.
• Address the influence using stage-gate processes would have on development cycle time and development costs.
• Analyze the benefits and costs of involving customers and suppliers in the development process. Consider how to test the viability of your product or process with your customers and suppliers in your analysis.
• Conclude whether you should continue with the development of your innovation based on the evaluation you performed.

Cite any references to support your assessment.

Format your report according to APA guidelines.