Extending the Stage-Gate Model to Radical Innovation - the Accelerated Radical Innovation Model

Abstract

For new product development in established organizations, the Stage-Gate model is a widely accepted method for managing the three key factors of time, resources and risk. But for radical innovation, which is further out on the time-resource-risk curve and which may occur in either start-up or established firms, the innovator must simultaneously navigate a more complex space comprised of four environments: market-societal, technological-scientific, business and organizational, and the innovation ecosystem; and craft within this space a new business model, business systems and processes, a corporate strategy, an organization, and a value network. To address this more complex environment, the authors propose to extend Stage-Gate with a new approach, Accelerated Radical Innovation (ARI), which guides the innovator through the Stage-Gate stages across these four environments. The model also builds in additional stages needed to accommodate the extended time frame of radical innovation, such as strategy development, organizational design, and several periods of pre-inception and post-launch development. But to conserve the innovator's limited time/attention resources in this more complex environment, the ARI modal preserves the fundamental premise of Stage-Gate - partitioning the innovation process into stages so that downstream/second-order activities are deferred until first-order issues have been resolved. The theory and logic of ARI model is explained, and the model is now being tested through application to three ongoing radical innovations in the fields of medicine, environmental engineering, and electronics, and in the design and development of a university engineering management curriculum.