MANAGING INNOVATION CAPABILITY: A CASE STUDY OF INVINCIBLE COMPANY LIMITED , THAILAND

1. MANAGING INNOVATION CAPABILITY:A CASE STUDY OF INVINCIBLE COMPANY LIMITED, THAILAND Dr. Suthida Jamsai: Faculty of Management Science, Ubon Ratchathani University, Thailand. Email: suthida.jamsai@bus.ubu.ac.th suthida.jamsai@yahoo.co.th Susu Nousala, (PhD Candidate) Research Fellow, Centre for Global Innovation Management (EACC) The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

2. Background : Integrative Innovation Capability Model (IICM) New Product Development Innovation Capability Sustainable Development e-Business Source: Metz, I., Terziovski, M. & Samson, D. 2005 Future research agenda based on an integrated innovation capability model (IICM)

3. Research question • How can innovation capability be developed from the integration of (i) new product development (ii) e-business and (iii) sustainable development ?

4. Case study: Invincible Company, Thailand The management of innovation capability involves • an understanding of the emergence of innovative ideas, • the evolution of practices in managing innovation capability, and • the replacement of traditional operating systems an environment where “copy-cat” industries exist. The case study set out to investigatehow the development of the above activities being carried out within individual company in Thailand. The company’s innovation processes were analyzed from product conceptualization to production using the Integrative Innovation Capability Model (IICM).

5. Company background: Invincible Co. Ltd. • 5 Engineers involved in product design • 12 Technicians involved in the product prototyping • 4 administrators involved in procurement and administrative tasks

6. Company’s products: Building a yacht

7. Company’s products: building a warship, designing marine logistic systems

8. Company’s products:

9. Company’s products:

10. Company’s products: The latest high-tech fire-fighting truck for the new Bangkok International Airport.

11. The company was enthusiastic about involving itself in the manufacture of innovative products. “It is the challenge to grab a chance in developing new products or trying new processes, if we are sure that there will be customers out there waiting for better products.” “I and my team easily get bored if we have to work on the same thing for years.” “I didn’t jump into totally strange products, but I know that I could encourage my staff to draw on existing knowledge and our practical experiences.”

12. Company Strategy: “we can do better” “What we do better is; we build it here and we could do it the way they like, to suit them perfectly for the country’s conditions. We are closer to them and we could deliver the products as they required.” The above comments reflect the company’s understanding of the importance of working closely with its customers to collaboratively develop new products. A variety of activities were formulated to create an environment in which the customers could get involved with the design team.

13. Invincible’s customers: Invincible is recognised by its current clients for its creative customization approach in meeting specific requirements and challenges. The staff at Invincible designed a new model to satisfy both the main customers’ expectations and the country’s conditions. The modifications included: • enlarged water tank size and loading capacity • increased speed • increased movement and flexibility • more specific accessories and functions • lower energy consumption

14. Product innovation: • Organizational Structure • Flexible but sometimes formal, applied different styles of control according to the various requirements of different types of projects, products, development phases and/or production stages. • Arranged a platform for group thinking, group discussion, and team-problem solving Team members were not representative of any particular unit but acted in co-coordinator roles to provide diverse input for the new product designs.

15. Product innovation: • Rewards for Success in product innovation The reward were not fixed or formal, but were determined by the manager, depending on the impacts of the ideas on the project. These impacts varied, as did the rewards

16. Product innovation process: To accelerate the production of a new fire-fighting truck onto the market, staff at Invincible participated in the various following phases: • Phase 1:Information gathering This phase ensured that the team knew all the competitors’ existing product details, specifications and advantages and disadvantages of fire-fighting trucks already on the market. Information was obtained from two main sources: - Internet search - Study visits to competitors’ companies

17. Product innovation process: Phase 2: Innovative knowledge sharing - The transition to phase 2 began when several conceptual designs had been completed and agreed to by the potential buyer. Three teams, design, production and procurement, were established to discuss the approach to each design and the various possibilities to produce a fire-fighting truck. - The meetings were recorded and copies were sent to all the participants to confirm their agreement on the design, production (prototype) process and procurement. The regular and detailed staff discussions on specific parts were important in the saving of time during the innovation process.

18. Product innovation process: Phase 3: Transformation of customers’ requirements into product improvement - The customers’ latest requirements and recommendations were then incorporated into the design.However, they had to be done within the limitations raised by the production and procurement teams.

19. Product innovation process: Phase 4: Sustainability of the product development Phase 4 started when the truck prototype was approaching the completion date and the production process was about to be launched. -The aim of this phase was to give the team an opportunity to reconsider their previous practices and to overcome any issues they faced during each production process. “lessons learnt”

20. Conclusion: Key successes to innovation included approaches such as • “we do better” strategy • extensive communication processes; face-to-face meeting both formal and informal, and the utilization of ICT • flexible (informal) and formal management styles

21. Conclusion: • The case study shows how NPD and EB contribute to the potential success of an innovative small or medium enterprise (SME) in an intensely competitive and “copy-cat” market. However, the sustainable development (SD) component (such as environmental awareness) was not evident at the product conceptualization phase nor did it emerge as a prime focus of the product innovation process. • The Thai practices appeared to be a direct determinant of the NPD instead of being an attempt to develop innovation capability. • Development of more systemic practices that bring in various elements of all three components (NPD, EB and SD) are required for organizational long term sustainability and innovation capability.

22. Thank you. Dr. Suthida Jamsai: Faculty of Management Science, Ubon Ratchathani University, Thailand. Email: suthida.jamsai@bus.ubu.ac.th suthida.jamsai@yahoo.co.th