Study of the innovation management process in the development of a discontinuous product case: Motorola RAZR V3

This study will collaborate by bringing some detailed analysis and findings on a special case study of a discontinuous product development process, trying to answer how the discontinuous product development process takes place and the main factors that influence this process. Additionally, it tried to explore some explanations for the difficulties generally faced by the companies to sustain innovation. The case is about the Motorola cell phone RAZR V3, launched in 2004. RAZR V3 was noted by industry experts as game-changing feat of design and engineering, selling more than 110 million units by end of 2008 and recognized as one of the fastest selling products in the industry. The study uses a single case methodology, which is appropriate given the access to a phenomenon that happened inside corporate dominium and it is not easily accessed for academic studies, besides being a rare case of success in the cellular phone industry. In order to magnify the understanding of the phenomenon, the exploration was extended to contrast the RAZR development process and the standard product development process in Motorola. Additionally, it was integrated a longitudinal reflection of the company product development evolution until the next breakthrough product hitting the cellular phone industry. The result of the analysis shows that discontinuous products do not fit well traditional product development process (in this case, stage-gate). This result reinforces the results obtained on previous studies of discontinuous product development conducted by other authors. Therefore, it is clear that the dynamics of discontinuous product development are different from the continuous product development, requiring different treatment to succeed. Moreover, this study highlighted the importance of the management influence in all the phases of the process as one of the most important factors, suggesting a key component to be carefully observed in future researches. Some other findings of the study that were considered very important for a discontinuous product development process: have champions (who believe and protect the project) and not only one champion; create a right atmosphere to make flow the creative process; question paradigms to create discontinuous products; simple guiding light to focus the team; company culture that accepts and knows how to deal with risks; and undoubtedly, have a company strategy that understands the different dynamics of continuous and discontinuous product development processes and treat them accordingly.

Osteoarthritis Index delivered by mobile phone (m-WOMAC) is valid, reliable, and responsive

Objectives: To evaluate the validity, reliability and responsiveness of EDC using the WOMAC® NRS 3.1 Index on Motorola V3 mobile phones. ---------- Methods: Patients with osteoarthritis (OA) undergoing primary unilateral hip or knee joint replacement surgery were assessed pre-operatively and 3-4 months post-operatively. Patients completed the WOMAC® Index in paper (p-WOMAC®) and electronic (m-WOMAC®) format in random order. ---------- Results: 24 men and 38 women with hip and knee OA participated and successfully completed the m-WOMAC® questionnaire. Pearson correlations between the summated total index scores for the p-WOMAC® and m-WOMAC® pre- and post-surgery were 0.98 and 0.99 (p<0.0001). There was no clinically important or statistically significant between-method difference in the adjusted total summated scores, pre- and post-surgery (adjusted mean difference = 4.44, p = 0.474 and 1.73, p = 0.781). Internal consistency estimates of m-WOMAC® reliability were 0.87 – 0.98. The m-WOMAC® detected clinically important, statistically significant (p<0.0001) improvements in pain, stiffness, function and total index score. ---------- Conclusions: Sixty-two patients with hip and knee OA successfully completed EDC by Motorola V3 mobile phone using the m-WOMAC® NRS3.1 Index; completion times averaging only 1-1.5 minutes longer than the p-WOMAC® Index. Data were successfully and securely transmitted from patients in Australia to a server in the USA. There was close agreement and no significant differences between m-WOMAC® and p-WOMAC® scores. This study confirms the validity, reliability and responsiveness of the Exco InTouch engineered, Java-based m-WOMAC® Index application. EDC with the m-WOMAC® Index provides unique opportunities for using quantitative measurement in clinical research and practice.

A survey on six sigma implementation in Singapore service industries

The concept of Six Sigma was initiated in the 1980s by Motorola. Since then it has been implemented in several manufacturing and service organizations. In case of services, health care and finance were major beneficiaries till now. The application of Six Sigma is gradually picking up in other services like; call centers, utilities and public services. This paper provides empirical evidence on Six Sigma implementation in service industries in Singapore. By using a sample size of 50 service organizations (10 responses are from organizations which have implemented Six Sigma), the paper helps in understanding the status of Six Sigma in service organizations in Singapore. The findings confirm the inclusion of critical success factors, critical to quality characteristics, tools and key performance indicators as observed from the literature. The revelation of “not relevant” as a reason for not implementing Six Sigma shows the need for understanding specific requirements of service organizations before its application.

Qualitative and quantitative analysis of six sigma in service organizations

The concept of Six Sigma was initiated in the 1980s by Motorola. Since then it has been implemented in several manufacturing and service organizations. Till now Six Sigma implementation is mostly limited to healthcare and financial services in private sector. Its implementation is now gradually picking up in services such as call center, education, construction and related engineering etc. in private as well as public sector. Through a literature review, a questionnaire survey, and multiple case study approach the paper develops a conceptual framework to facilitate widening the scope of Six Sigma implementation in service organizations. Using grounded theory methodology, this study develops theory for Six Sigma implementation in service organizations. The study involves a questionnaire survey and case studies to understand and build a conceptual framework. The survey was conducted in service organizations in Singapore and exploratory in nature. The case studies involved three service organizations which implemented Six Sigma. The objective is to explore and understand the issues highlighted by the survey and the literature. The findings confirm the inclusion of critical success factors, critical-to-quality characteristics, and set of tools and techniques as observed from the literature. In case of key performance indicator, there are different interpretations about it in literature and also by industry practitioners. Some literature explain key performance indicator as performance metrics whereas some feel it as key process input or output variables, which is similar to interpretations by practitioners of Six Sigma. The response of not relevant and unknown to us as reasons for not implementing Six Sigma shows the need for understanding specific requirements of service organizations. Though much theoretical description is available about Six Sigma, but there has been limited rigorous academic research on it. This gap is far more pronounced about Six Sigma implementation in service organizations, where the theory is not mature enough. Identifying this need, the study contributes by going through theory building exercise and developing a conceptual framework to understand the issues involving its implementation in service organizations.

Developing and benchmarking native Linux applications on Android

Smartphones get increasingly popular where more and more smartphone platforms emerge. Special attention was gained by the open source platform Android which was presented by the Open Handset Alliance (OHA) hosting members like Google, Motorola, and HTC. Android uses a Linux kernel and a stripped-down userland with a custom Java VM set on top. The resulting system joins the advantages of both environments, while third-parties are intended to develop only Java applications at the moment. In this work, we present the benefit of using native applications in Android. Android includes a fully functional Linux, and using it for heavy computational tasks when developing applications can bring in substantional performance increase. We present how to develop native applications and software components, as well as how to let Linux applications and components communicate with Java programs. Additionally, we present performance measurements of native and Java applications executing identical tasks. The results show that native C applications can be up to 30 times as fast as an identical algorithm running in Dalvik VM. Java applications can become a speed-up of up to 10 times if utilizing JNI.

Viewing the future

As many industrial organizations have learned to apply roadmapping successfully, they have also learned that it is "roadmapping" rather than "the roadmap" that generates value. This two-part special report has focused primarily on product and technology roadmapping in industry. The first part (RTM, March-April 2003, pp. 26-59) examined the workings of the process at Lucent Technologies, Rockwell Automation, the pharmaceutical/biotechnology industry, and United Kingdom-based Domino Printing Sciences. This second part examines roadmapping in the UK, Motorola, General Motors, the services sector, and in cases that demand major investment decisions under conditions of volatility.

Influence of In0.2Ga0.8As strain-reducing layer on the active region of quantum dot superluminescent diodes

We have investigated the optical properties of asymmetric multiple layer stacked self-assembled InAs quantum dot with different interlayer. We found that asymmetric multiple stacked QD samples with In0.2Ga0.8As + GaAs interlayer can afford a 180nm flat spectral width with strong PL intensity compared to other samples at room temperature. We think this result is due to the introduction of In0.2Ga0.8As strain-reducing layer. Additionally, for the broad spectral width and the strong PL intensity, this structure can be a promising candidate for quantum-dot superluminescent diodes.

Polymorphous silicon nanowires synthesized by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition

Polymorphous Si nanowires (SiNWS) have been successfully synthesized on Si wafer by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) at 440degreesC,using silane as the Si source and Au as the catalyst. To grow the polymorphous SiNWS preannealing the Si substrate with Au film at 1100 degreesC is needed. The diameters of Si nanowires range from 15 to 100 urn. The structure morphology and chemical composition of the SiNWS have been characterized by high resolution x-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, as well as energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy. A few interesting nanowires with Au nanoclusters uniformly distributed in the body of the wire were also produced by this technique.

Microstructure of the silicon film prepared near the phase transition regime from amorphous to nanocrystalline

A kind of hydrogenated diphasic silicon films has been prepared by a new regime of plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) near the phase transition regime from amorphous to nanocrystalline. The microstructural properties of the films have been investigated by the micro-Raman and Fourier transformed Infrared (FT-IR) spectra and atom force microscopy (AFM). The obtained Raman spectra show not only the existence of nanoscaled crystallites, but also a notable improvement in the medium-range order of the diphasic films. For the FT-IR spectra of this kind of films, it notes that there is a blueshift in the Si-H stretching mode and a redshift in the Si-H wagging mode in respect to that of typical amorphous silicon film. We discussed the reasons responsible for these phenomena by means of the phase transition, which lead to the formation of a diatomic hydrogen complex, H-2* and their congeries.

Electronic and vibrational Raman scattering in resonance with yellow luminescence transitions in GaN on sapphire substrate

We analyze low-temperature Raman and photoluminescence spectra of MBE-grown GaN layers on sapphire. Strong and sharp Raman peaks are observed in the low frequency region. These peaks, which are enhanced by excitation in resonance with yellow luminescence transitions, are attributed to electronic transitions related to shallow donor levels in hexagonal GaN. It is proposed that a low frequency Raman peak at 11.7 meV is caused by a pseudo-local vibration mode related to defects involved in yellow luminescence transitions. The dependence of the photoluminescence spectra on temperature gives additional information about the residual impurities in these GaN layers.

The Behavior Language; User's Guide

The Behavior Language is a rule-based real-time parallel robot programming language originally based on ideas from [Brooks 86], [Connell 89], and [Maes 89]. It compiles into a modified and extended version of the subsumption architecture [Brooks 86] and thus has backends for a number of processors including the Motorola 68000 and 68HCll, the Hitachi 6301, and Common Lisp. Behaviors are groups of rules which are activatable by a number of different schemes. There are no shared data structures across behaviors, but instead all communication is by explicit message passing. All rules are assumed to run in parallel and asynchronously. It includes the earlier notions of inhibition and suppression, along with a number of mechanisms for spreading of activation.