Scenario

You work as a middle manager for one of the top U.S. producers of luxury and mass-market automobiles and trucks.

The Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of the company has been monitoring new technology developments that the company could integrate into its vehicles to enhance the usefulness of and access to the data collected by the many digital sensors integrated into vehicle subsystems over the past 20–30 years. The technology trend of particular interest is the Internet of Things (IoT)—the interconnection of embedded devices such as sensors and computers over the internet. By leveraging this trend, the CTO believes the company can seize an opportunity to provide better service and predictive maintenance to its customers, thereby improving customer satisfaction and adding additional revenue streams.

Based on briefings by the CTO, senior management has decided to implement IoT in its product line. Your CTO has asked you to lead a cross-functional team to move this initiative forward. Your first task is to make a recommendation for how the company should approach this business problem. Should you recommend using incremental or discontinuous (i.e., slow or fast) innovation? Specifically:

Should the company:

• Design a completely new product line based on the new technology (discontinuous innovation)
• Or add new technology features into one model and then incrementally integrate them into the broader product line (incremental innovation)

The recommendation you and your team make is an important first step in pursuing this new technology.

In Milestone One, you and your team defined what that innovation looked like: would it be disruptive (new product line) or incremental (new features in one existing product)?

In Milestone Two, you developed a strategic plan and a high-level business model. These have been shared with various stakeholders, and they are in agreement with your assessment of how best to bring this IoT innovation to market, ensuring that the company stays competitive.

Now, the CTO has asked you to come up with a proposed organizational structure to support the innovation implementation. This will ensure that the innovation is sustainable for the company. Companies that are innovative must structure their organization in a way that supports innovation. A key component of this innovation is keeping track of customer demands in terms of products and services.

Strategic Plan Report

Submit a Word document of 5–8 pages, dedicating 1 page to each critical element described above, along with an introduction and a short executive summary.

Strategic Plan

In this section, share your revised paper from Milestone Two, which provides an overview of your competitors’ position in the marketplace, the available and future marketplace, and a plan for how to address a change in business conditions. Ensure this section includes the following information:

1. Analyze the Competitors’ Relative Strengths in the Marketplace

   • What is the growth rate of each competitor?
   • How much of the market does each competitor now own? Do you see a trend of gaining or losing market share?
   • Determine each competitor’s market strength by analyzing their financials.
   • Explain how your company’s market share compares to your competitors’.
   • Is your company gaining or losing market share?
   • What is your company’s growth potential in the industry?
   • How do your company’s financials look compared to your competitors’?

2. Identify Future Potential Total Available Market (TAM) and Growth for Chosen Product/Service and Technology

   • What is the TAM for cars and light trucks?
   • What is the TAM for IoT-connected cars and light trucks?
   • What is the projected compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for cars and light trucks?
   • What is the CAGR for IoT-connected cars and light trucks?

3. Identify Ways to Adjust if Business Conditions Change

   • What can you do if your customers are slow to respond (buy) the innovation?
   • What can you do if one competitor is overtaking all others, including you?

4. Describe the Steps Your Company Needs to Take from Concept Outline to Launch

   • What is the size of development required?
   • Will you require additional capital and personnel?
   • How would you approach determining the timeline from the beginning of development until the initial product launch?