To counteract new product failure, one needs to develop different and special organizational arrangements for innovation. There are six areas to focus on; 1. Vision and Objectives.Top management should provide a vision for innovation that is placed alongside the goals for the company. The vision should have top priority as any new product is the future growth for any company.The firm should compare its own innovation record to its competitors and other leading businesses and identify the obstacles to innovation. A course of action should be recommended with objectives set and quantified before pursuing a number of new product alternatives with urgency and vigour. 2. People SkillsInnovation is based on knowledge. Firms that stand out in their field are those that know;* more about their competitors* what their customers want* available technological solutions* making companies information easily available to all personnel* staff incentives to innovate 3. Customer Focus InnovationThe objective of any innovation is to delight the customer. Customer involvement and feedback should be a top priority throughout the project. Often they create markets that did not exist previously. 4. Autonomous Teams, Parallel ProcessingInnovation should take place outside the firm. The objectives and tasks of the operation are very different from those of running the organization itself. Ongoing operations are simply too slow and unfocused.This occurs because the organization works in series and not in parallel. Traditionally, products start in R&D or marketing departments. They are eventually handed over to the engineering for design. Manufacturing takes over to make the product...

Innovation is different from an invention in that inventions fail to build markets and an invention is a completely new product. Customers do not want new products, they want solutions that offer new and superior benefits. For example, Total Quality Management (TQM) and corporate re-engineering have saved time, money and defects to be taken out of a firm's operational processes. The result is a boost in company profits and earnings potential through offering superior customer service and making competitors products obsolete. A successful innovation must meet four criteria: Important - it must offer benefits that will be perceived as important by customers. Unique - it must be perceived as unique since one that is not differentiated will inevitably fail. Sustainable - these attributes of uniqueness and importance can be quickly copied by competitors and must, therefore, be sustainable. Marketable - the company must have the capability to market a reliable and effective version of innovation, at a price the customer can afford and distribute it that it's easily available. Over 90% of all new products are simply improvements on the older version. They are seen as new marketing concepts. New old products - involve finding new uses for existing products New markets - new types of customers for an existing group of products or services. New ways of doing business - innovative approaches to delivering current products and services to customers and are one of the most successful sources of innovation today. The benefits of innovation would be to survive since...