Proposing Key Actions to Enhance the Innovation Capability of the Service Expertise Unit
Vieruaho, Juho (2018)
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Lataukset:
Metropolia Ammattikorkeakoulu
2018
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 1.0 Suomi
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-201805219190
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-201805219190
Tiivistelmä
The objective of the thesis is to propose key actions to enhance the innovation capability of the case company’s Service Expertise Unit (SEU). The case company is one of the leading networking and telecommunications companies with over hundred years heritage of industry shaping innovations. It’s centralized global Service Expertise Unit supports internal product development organization and operative market areas in services delivery for the external customers.
Aside from daily work, the added value creation by broad scale of incremental and even radical innovation lies at the very heart of SEU’s existence with annual innovation program result of over 14 million Euros. However, the company’s continuing extended cost cutting programs and a series of organizational changes have disturbed SEU’s innovation capability, which leads to fewer valuable ideas and longer lead times to realize the ideas. At the same time the new Business Area Network’s Serviceability initiative calls for enhanced innovation capability in its aim to cut costs and enhance customer experience with smart products and services.
By conducting series of interviews and workshops, and using barriers to innovation method, the study revealed 14 barriers, of which three had a severe impact. Together with the interview data and best practice found from the literature, the proposal of key actions was built and validated together with the key stakeholders. It proposes nine actions for improving the existing SEU’s Innovation Framework and how to integrate it to the new Serviceability initiative focusing on 5G solutions. As a result, the organization decided to seize the last remaining activities within its current innovation framework and changing the focus towards the new Serviceability program.
The impacts of the thesis findings, if fully implemented, point to potentially significant increase in SEU’s innovation capability. Also, it contributes to the company’s core business area’s capability to utilize its global service delivery expertise and insights for focused 5G innovation. For general application, outside the ICT scope, this study uses methods to reveal and overcome barriers to innovation which can be useful in enhancing innovation capability in any context.
Aside from daily work, the added value creation by broad scale of incremental and even radical innovation lies at the very heart of SEU’s existence with annual innovation program result of over 14 million Euros. However, the company’s continuing extended cost cutting programs and a series of organizational changes have disturbed SEU’s innovation capability, which leads to fewer valuable ideas and longer lead times to realize the ideas. At the same time the new Business Area Network’s Serviceability initiative calls for enhanced innovation capability in its aim to cut costs and enhance customer experience with smart products and services.
By conducting series of interviews and workshops, and using barriers to innovation method, the study revealed 14 barriers, of which three had a severe impact. Together with the interview data and best practice found from the literature, the proposal of key actions was built and validated together with the key stakeholders. It proposes nine actions for improving the existing SEU’s Innovation Framework and how to integrate it to the new Serviceability initiative focusing on 5G solutions. As a result, the organization decided to seize the last remaining activities within its current innovation framework and changing the focus towards the new Serviceability program.
The impacts of the thesis findings, if fully implemented, point to potentially significant increase in SEU’s innovation capability. Also, it contributes to the company’s core business area’s capability to utilize its global service delivery expertise and insights for focused 5G innovation. For general application, outside the ICT scope, this study uses methods to reveal and overcome barriers to innovation which can be useful in enhancing innovation capability in any context.