Question: Practice Being a Manager

Supporting Creativity Successfully managing innovation is challenging. Companies must fi nd ways to support creativity and invention, while at the same time screening their investments in support of innovation. This exercise will give you an opportunity to experience a bit of the organizational dynamic regarding innovation and investment.

Step 1: Assign roles. Your professor will assign you to a pair or small group and give your team a role as either "Inventors" or "Investors." Regardless of role, assume that you work for a large clothing and accessories company that targets college students. Your company makes some traditional clothing and gear (such as backpacks and folios) but also prides itself on developing new and innovative products. And recently there has been some interest in considering new services that the company might offer to the college market, things like event or trip planning.

Step 2: Work with your partner(s) on the following tasks depending on your assigned role. Inventors: Brainstorm and work to develop a new product or service concept. Be prepared to explain your concept to those inside the company who screen ideas and recommend investments. Investors: Discuss and agree upon some criteria that your company should use to screen new-product and service concepts and to identify which ones to recommend to senior management. Be prepared to listen to one or more concept presentations, ask questions, and then use your criteria to evaluate the concept(s).

Step 3: Pair up. As instructed by your professor, Inventor and Investor groups should pair up. Inventors will now present their new concept, and investors will ask questions and then use their criteria to rate the concept.

Step 4: Change roles. As time allows, your professor will rotate Inventor and Investor pairings through a few rounds of concept presentation and investor evaluation.

Step 5: Debrief. Return to your original Inventor or Investor pair/group, and discuss your experiences in this role play. What are some of the challenges of playing this role? What was it like to interact with the "other side" of the presentation/evaluation process?

Step 6: Discuss challenges. As a class, discuss the challenges likely faced by companies as they try to successfully manage innovation. Some items for discussion might include:

1. What is the impact of an "evaluation/rating" on the creative process?

2. Do you think that "inventor units" (such as product development and R&D) and "investor units" (finance) often clash over new-product investment decisions? Why or why not?

3. What role might organizational culture (and subculture) play in the innovation and investment processes?

4. How might managers support healthy innovation and wise investment?