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In January, I talked about RPV analyis in competitive intelligence model. While the technique is great in evaluating your competitor, it can also be used to help you plan for your new product development. This model is taken from Christensen and Overdorf.

Definitions

Values: The key drivers of your company tactics and strategies. Processes: What processes does your company excel at in its current business. Lightweight Team: A cross-functional team of employees. Heavyweight Team: A cross-functional team of high profile employees/leaders of the organization.

Fit Strategies

When evaluating new product development projects always compare the values and processes demanded by the project to those of your company. The fit will tell you how to structure the project. Here are the rules of thumb: Value and Process Fit: Lightweight Team/Internal Project Value Fit Only: Heavyweight Team/Internal Development, External Commercialization Process Fit Only: Heavyweight Team/Internal Project Absence of Fit: Heavyweight Team/External Project You may be able to see some themes. First, as soon as a project doesn't perfectly fit within your company's values and processes, high profile employees must champion the project to enable the project to cut through the inevitable bureaucracy that establishes itself in a company. Second, the key determination of whether a project will need to be spun outside of the companies is the process fit. A heavyweight team can help to address a poor value fit, but changing internal processes for a single project is generally not practical. That is why it requires a spin out.