Why Technology Scouting is Vitally Important 

Procter & Gamble’s former CEO, Alan G. Lafley, was often quoted as saying "half the company's ideas must come from the outside." Indeed, P&G became one of the foremost leaders in external technology and innovation scouting, a position which continues to pay off. In one respect Lafley was restating an important insight voiced by Thomas Edison about a century ago: “Your idea has to be original only in its adaptation to the problem you're working on.”

Why? Going outside can both speed up and improve technical development, free up scarce internal resources for other high-impact activities, and lead to greater innovation.

The key is being open (versus threatened) and knowing where to look, how to qualify, and how to apply new externally-developed technologies for rapid commercialization – at a profit to your firm.

Rather than relying on ad hoc and sometimes haphazard approaches to technology sourcing, many firms are adopting formal Technology Scouting programs to provide a structured, focused approach to identifying and acquiring new technology.

If your company is seeking to accelerate or improve its technical development, take advantage of this session in which Dr. Jay Paap –will draw on his 30 plus years of work experience to provide real world examples of both effective – and less effective – sourcing initiatives.

The Objective of this Workshop

The purpose of this interactive workshop is to give you proven tools and planning frameworks that you can immediately use to help accelerate your development efforts and promote a more innovative product portfolio. Our goal is to help you develop the skills that will allow you to effectively leverage your internal technical capabilities by selectively going outside to acquire or develop the technologies required to meet your strategic objectives.

FREE DOWNLOAD
Highlights from recent Management Roundtable conference on Technology Scouting
(requires brief registration on the FastTrack website)

Jay Paap, President of Paap Associates, is one of Management Roundtable's top instructors.  He also serves on the faculties of the Industrial Relations Center at Cal Tech and the Executive Program at The Sloan School (MIT), is a Fellow of The Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals, and a PDMA Certified New Product Development Professional. He received his Ph.D. from MIT's Sloan School of Management with concentrations in technology management and organization design.

Dr. Paap has been active in the management of technology for 45 years, and has consulted with industrial and governmental organizations for over 35 years. Prior to founding Paap Associates, Jay was Partner at Data and Strategies Group, Principal at Ampersand Ventures, Director of Corporate Consulting at Venture Economics, and Associate Director of the Technology Management Group at Pugh-Roberts Associates. Before entering consulting, Jay was an officer in the US Air Force, responsible for developing and deploying advanced electronics equipment.

 In 1992 he founded and ran the Commercialization Roundtable in which senior business development managers from major companies met every two or three months through 1995 to share experiences on corporate venturing and develop best practices concerning how major corporations can effectively commercialize new technology based concepts and businesses. Among the members of the Roundtable were AT&T, Digital, Dow, DuPont, GTE, IBM, MCC, Motorola, and Xerox.

 More information on Jay Paap.

What You Will Learn

• How to identify technologies required to address current or potential customer needs
• How to anticipate emerging technical trends while there is still time to react
• How to set up an effective scouting program; why it is necessary, what best-in-class companies are doing
• How to identify the most promising technologies and sources worldwide
• What tools and techniques you can use to anticipate disruptive technologies and collect technical intelligence
• How to develop a comprehensive Sourcing Strategy using the Technology Sourcing Matrix
• Where to find unexpected technology nuggets; including entrepreneurial, university and government sources
• How to choose and structure the most favorable arrangement (alliance, license, acquisition, joint development, and/or spin-out)

Key Deliverables

• Technology Sourcing Matrix
• Competitive intelligence gathering tools
• Suggested resources to tap for new technologies
• Comparative best practices from leading firms
• Recommendations and advice for your specific situation
• Comprehensive reference materials
• An implementation action plan

DAY ONE

8:00 – 8:30 Registration and Continental Breakfast

8:30 – 10:00 The Logic of External Sourcing

How it provides value:

• Overcoming challenges to pursuing innovation internally: the three Rs: Resources - Risk - Resistance
• Collecting the intelligence on emerging markets and technologies that fuel innovation
• Stimulating innovation and new ways of thinking within your firm
• Speeding time to market

10:00-10:15 Break

10:15-12:00 Technology Scouting

What it is and how it works:

• The three basic elements of scouting
• Organizational approaches – examples of some leading practitioner
• Understanding your ‘External Sourcing Posture’
• Keys to effective scouting
• Measuring success – how you know you are providing value

12:00-1:00 Lunch

1:00-5:00 Identifying Technology Requirements

• Developing a Sourcing Strategy to guide the search – the Technology Sourcing Matrix
• Project driven requirements – using creative problem solving to accelerate developments
• Technology forecasting – positioning the firm for the future
• Scenarios and other strategic planning exercises
• Disruptive technologies – what they are and how to protect yourself from being ‘disrupted.’
• Using Technology Scouting to stimulate the ‘fuzzy front end’ of your development process

5:00-6:00 Networking Reception

DAY TWO

7:30 - 8:00 Continental Breakfast

8:00 – 12:00 Identifying Technology Sources

• Sources of information – selected Competitive Technical Intelligence tools geared to the open innovation model
• Mistakes firms make when seeking technical solutions externally
• Unexpected sources of technology – the importance of looking outside one’s industry
• The art of thinking generically about your needs
• Assessing the fit – when is a fit a ‘good fit’

12:00-1:00 Lunch

1:00 –3:00 Managing the Transfer
Key steps in collaborative relationships

• Structural options for leveraging external technology: licenses, alliances, acquisitions, spin-offs, and contracting
• Managing Intellectual property – assigning value, attributing credit, and protecting your interests
• Overcoming internal barriers to collaboration – the importance of managing the culture

3:00 – 4:00 Action Planning and Wrap-Up
4:00 Adjourn
 

This session is recommended for anyone responsible for planning and executing a firm’s technology and product development efforts: senior and middle level managers of Open Innovation, Research, Engineering, Alliance Management, Sourcing, Business Development, and related areas.

“..if someone wants to learn about Technology Scouting, Open Innovation, and how all of this comes to commercial reality, this is the session to attend. Jay is passionate and enthusiastic about the topic, making the session enjoyable from beginning to end."

John Homoelle, Director of New Technology, Michelman, Inc.

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“Useful and down‐to‐earth information on the role of Technology Scouting relative to other functional roles in open innovation."

Christina Ruiz, Hollingsworth & Vose

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"Best [workshop] I've been to in years."

Rich Marando
Director Technology and Innovation
Dana Corporation Structural Solutions Group

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"This is a valuable tool for corporate planning and an essential competition tool. In two days, an exceptional amount of valuable material was presented and explained."

Len Jenkins,
VP Technology Development
Crown Technology

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"Excellent job of [providing] insights on how a technology scout can contribute. "

Tom Mildenhall
Technology Scout
Kimberly-Clark

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"Session provided key elements of tech scouting and outsourcing needed in our R&D program."

Mike Goettel
Engineering Manager
Blount Inc.
 

Registration and Logistics Information

Schedule: On day one, registration/continental breakfast begins at 8:00am and the day ends with a reception from 5:00 to 6:00 pm; on day two, breakfast is available at 7:30am, session begins at 8:00am and concludes at 4:00pm. See the course agenda for specifics.

Fee:
$1995/person. Fee includes program materials, luncheons, continental breakfasts, networking reception and refreshment breaks.

Team Discounts:
Groups of 3 or more may deduct $100 per person. Groups of 6 or more, please call 800-338-2223 for special pricing.

Location/Venue:

Hyatt Regency Long Beach
200 South Pine Avenue
Long Beach, CA 90802

A limited block of rooms is reserved for Management Roundtable at the group rate of $169 per night. For reservations, please call 800-233-1234 or reserve online and mention that you will be attending Management Roundtable's Tech Scout Meeting Code G-MROU. 

Cancellations/Substitutions:
You may send a substitute attendee in your place at any time with no penalty (please inform us in advance, if possible). Cancellations made within 5 business days are subject to a $500 administration fee or the full fee can be credited towards a future purchase. No-shows are liable for the full fee.

Workshop Attire:
We recommend "business casual" and suggest that you also dress in layers when possible to remain comfortable—event facilities are notorious for temperature fluctuations.