Strategies+for+managing+a+product+innovation+portfolio+and+timing+market+entry

**Managing A Product Innovation Portfolio and Timing Market Entry**
Tuesday, April 5, 2011 <>

**Topic overview:**
In today's class we will look at two important aspects of developing and executing an effective product innovation strategy. The first of these, timing market entry, deals with strategies for maximizing the likelihood that a single new product will be successful. The second, managing a product innovation portfolio, introduces some techniques for evaluating your company's product mix as a portfolio of product initiatives and understanding both how well that portfolio supports your company's strategy, and also to insure that the portfolio of new product initiatives has a risk/reward ratio that is in alignment with your company's goals and risk management preferences.

By the end of class today, you should:
 * Understand common constraints and drivers that inform decisions on when to enter a new market (timing market entry)
 * Be able to explain the concept of a 'product innovation portfolio' and why thinking of an organization's innovation efforts as a portfolio can be an effective way to coordinate multiple initiatives and to manage the firm's overall risk exposure

**Preparation for class:**
Many of the topics covered in today's class are presented in greater detail in [Sch10] Melissa A. Schilling, Strategic Management of Technological Innovation, 3rd Edition, McGraw Hill, 2010, ISBN: 978-0-07-3381565.

Specifically:
 * Timing market entry:
 * [Sch10] - Chapter 5 - Timing of Entry (pages 89-104)
 * Product innovation portfolios
 * [Sch10] - Chapter 3 - Types and Patterns of Innovation (pages 43-65)

**Reference materials:**
Slides:

Wall Street Journal s-curve technology adoption graphic: