Vision and Radical Innovation: A Typology

Abstract

In this chapter, we investigate the nature of vision and its potential evolution pathways, in the case of radical innovation. To set the stage, radical innovation and its importance are discussed. Given the importance of vision for firm success in the radical innovation context, vision is deconstructed in order to better understand its three core components—the goal, the passion underlying it and the clarity of the vision. The composition of vision tends to change and become more elaborated over time, depending on its nature, how it begins and who is involved. Given this, a typology is created which is made up of four characteristic combinations of ‘who’ and ‘where’ a radically innovative vision may exist in time and place. As such, four types of vision are characterized which play an essential role in the front-end of radical innovation: value-driven vision, technology vision, bottom-up market vision and top-down market vision.

Appendices

Exhibit 1: The Elements of Technology Vision

Reid and Roberts (2011) have defined Technology Vision as ‘a mental image held by individual organizational members regarding technical goals related to developing a new technology.’ They further empirically tested the elements of Technology Vision and found there to be five dimensions involved: a Benefits Goal, An Efficiency Goal, Magnetism, Specificity and Infrastructure Clarity. The specific items used to measure these and their loadings are found in Exhibit 3.

• 1. Technology Vision Benefits Goal is related to how to improve benefits for customers and employees. The benefits goals related to developing a specific technology have three main foci in terms of helping potential customers or employees: making things easier, making things more convenient and making things more user-friendly.

• 2. Technology Vision Efficiency Goal is related to a desire to solving design economics issues in the following three ways: how to most cheaply incorporate the technology into potential products, how to apply the technology more cheaply than the competition and how to solve the economics behind the science.

• 3. Technology Vision Magnetism is related to the desirability of the goal to the inventor. It requires the same underlying components as will be seen for market vision magnetism. The vision needs to be desirable, attractive and important enough to the vision holder(s) to motivate them to move towards the vision and break the inertia around that movement (i.e. it needs to be something the vision holders are truly passionate about).

• 4. Technology Vision Specificity is related to the tangibility of the technology vision in that it needs to be tangible, clear, specific and provide direction to others. According to Reid and Roberts (2011), the ability to build clarity into the technical solutions in terms of the goals set and directions for people to follow is essential. Building a picture of ‘what might be’, making the vision tangible through simple descriptions, diagrams and the use of concepts helps to build clarity and convince people of the technology’s potential in lieu of other supporting evidence at this early stage.

• 5. Technology Vision Infrastructure Clarity is related to the clarity of the processes and infrastructure required. Specifically, it is related to the facilities required to enact it, the human resources required to enact it and the cost to develop it. This may require the adoption of new and novel routines and competences from ones which support ongoing research.

Exhibit 2: The Elements of Market Vision

Reid and de Brentani (2010) have empirically tested the elements of Market Vision and found there were five dimensions involved: Market Vision Form, Market Vision Scope, Market Vision Magnetism, Market Vision Clarity and Market Vision Specificity. The specific items used to measure these and their loadings are found in Exhibit 4.

• 1. Market Vision Form: The image of how the product system will actually be applied or used in the marketplace. For example, the types of questions which need to be considered include the following:

  • “Product Concept” is the relationship between anticipated product features (form or technology) and consumer benefits.

  • “Product-in-Use” involves what the system of interaction will look like and what the overall system of use will look like:

    • What is the overall system of use? i.e. what else needs to happen or be present for it to work? What complementary products and/or services need to be in place for it to work?

    • What is the use environment? i.e. where does it need to happen?

    • What is the timing of the use or application? i.e. by when does it need to happen or do you want it to happen?

  • “Product Design” involves the design and potential for standardizing or leveraging the idea or vision (ripple effect).

    

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• 2. Market Vision Scope: The size and market target impact of the product system. Market Vision Scope has two main components which need to be considered: Target Magnitude and the Target Market itself:

  • Target Magnitude involves the scope of the envisioned market; markets of good potential size offer better outcomes:

    • How much does it have the potential to enhance the future for society?

    • How many people will it apply to?

    • What is the potential to profit or create value from the vision?

  • The Target Market provides the direction for the development path:

    • Who does the vision apply to in the marketplace (i.e. who is the target market?)

    • Has important implications involving product design and type, technologies incorporated, end user groups and activities

    

    Image Source: author: S. Balaban, an American Male, wearing Google Glass on July 16, 2013, downloaded February 28, 2014. Source: Wikimedia Commons, public domain, CC BY SA 3.0. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stephen_Balaban_wearing_Google_Glass_on_July_16th,_2013.png?uselang=en-ca

• 3. Market Vision Magnetism: the vision needs to be desirable, attractive and important enough to the vision holder(s) to motivate them to move towards the vision and break the inertia around that movement (i.e. it needs to be something the vision holders are truly passionate about).

  • How desirable is the vision?

  • How attractive is the vision?

  • How important is the vision?

  • 

    Image Source: Licensed from Shutterstock and downloaded on May 5, 2013. http://thumb1.shutterstock.com/thumb_large/348181/105928628/stock-photo-social-engineering-concepthorseshoe-magnet-capturing-crowd-of-color-human-figures-isolated-on-105928628.jpg

• 4. Market Vision Clarity: Understanding clearly the who, what, why and by when underlying the vision. The specifics of the ‘how’ or ‘action plan’ can be built in after the vision itself is clearly understood. In other words, what are the specific building blocks that are required to build the vision? The more clear the vision, the more easily we can see how to build a path towards it.

  

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• 5. Market Vision Specificity: in order for a vision to be clear it needs to be tangible and this requires something known as specificity. Specificity can occur when a vision is operationally meaningful or contextualized and has a tangible form.

  

  Image Source: Yazoo City, MS, April 29, 2010—At the Mississippi Emergency Management Operations Center FEMA Federal Coordinating Officer Micheal Bolch conducts a planning session regarding FEMA’s response to the deadly tornado of April 24. George Armstrong/FEMA. Source: By George Armstrong (This image is from the FEMA Photo Library.) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons, CC AS. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AFEMA_-_44036_-_FEMA_FCO_Meeting_at_MEMA_Emergency_Operations_Center_Yazoo_City.jpg

Exhibit 3: Scale Items to Measure Technology Vision (Reid and Roberts 2011)

Benefits goal (α = 0.95)	The early functional goal of our technology development was about… …how to make things more convenient for customers and employees …how to make things easier for our customers and employees …how to make things more user friendly for customers and/or employees
Efficiency goal (α = 0.73)	The early efficiency goal of our technology development was about… …how to most cheaply incorporate the technology into potential products …how to apply the technology more cheaply than the competition …how to solve the economics behind the science
Magnetism (α = 0.80)	The goal of the technology was attractive The goal of the technology was desirable The goal of the technology was compelling
Specificity (α = 0.89)	In the very early stages of this technology’s development… …the technology vision was tangible (e.g., easy to visualize) …the technology vision was clear …the technology vision was specific …the technology vision was able to provide direction to others in the organization
Infrastructure (α = 0.82)	In the very early stages of this technology’s development, it was clear… …what facilities would be needed …what human resources would be needed …how much it would cost to develop

Exhibit 4: Scale Items to Measure Market Vision Items (Reid and de Brentani 2010)

Factor name	Items preamble: “In the very early stages of this technology’s development (in our firm)…”
Market vision form (α = 0.74)	…we spent most of our time thinking and talking about how end-users would ultimately interact with and use the product
	…we spent most of our time thinking and talking about how the product would fit into an overall system of use for potential customers
	…we spent most of our time thinking and talking about the product’s relationship to the customer use environment
	…we spent most of our time thinking and talking about the potential for standardizing the design
Market vision scope (α = 0.86)	…we spent most of our time thinking and talking about what the most profitable target market would be
	…we spent most of our time thinking and talking about what the largest target market would be
	…we spent most of our time thinking and talking about what the most important target market would be
Market vision magnetism (α = 0.78)	…the market vision was desirable
	…the market vision was attractive
	…the market vision was important
Market vision clarity (α = 0.88)	…it was clear how the product would be used
	…it was clear who the target market (user) would be
	…it was clear what target market customers’ needs would be
Market vision specificity (α = 0.89)	…the market vision was clear
	…the market vision was tangible
	…the market vision was very specific
	…the market vision was able to provide direction to others in the organization