Web Biz

    I believe that having a process to identify customer needs is a key component to a firm’s ability to create innovative product concepts and eventually successful products that often disrupt the customer expectations or a disruptive technology. According to Wikipedia, a disruptive technology is defined as a "technological innovation, product, or service that eventually overturns the existing dominant technology or product in the market" (Disruptive technology, 2007). Having a structured process for identifying customer needs should be an integral component in the knowledge management of a firm in the pursuit of innovative products and services.

    A structured process can provide insight into the expectations, needs, and wants of the customer, however, it is just as important to share the knowledge throughout the firm. A structured process should include the integration of the data retrieved through customer satisfaction and needs evaluation into a knowledge management solution that can in turn provide the firm with the ability to analyze customer needs alongside existing knowledge about the product generating and expanding organizational knowledge. According the author of "Collective intelligence: a keystone in knowledge management" in the Journal of Knowledge Management, knowledge management can provide an organization with the ability to integrate the collective intelligence of the customers into the process of cultivating an innovative culture and creating innovative product concepts. The author explains that "while information technology provides the organization with methods to manage workflows of information taking place in the course of a business activity, knowledge management shall provide the organization with methods to articulate the existing knowledge (internal and external) and promote innovation - that is generation of new knowledge, as a respond to a specific customer problem" (Boder, André 2006).

    A structured process for the identification of customer needs leads an organization towards a problem-oriented paradigm, where the goal is create solutions to solve the problem that exists between the customer current state and desired state. But product innovation is not just about creating another product or expanding the features, uses, or usability of current product offerings. In today’s highly competitive environment this will assist a firm in sustaining and growing an already existing competitive advantage, but will not allow a firm to create new uncontested markets. According the the BusinessWeek article entitled "The world’s most innovative companies" the author states that innovation is more than just reinventing product concepts, its about "reinventing business processes and building entirely new markets that meet untapped customer needs" (McGregor, Jenna 2006). A process for identifying customer needs can lend insight into expanding upon pre-existing product concepts and markets, which can lead to a foundation for establishing a truly innovative product concept such as the ‘Post-It note’ or a disruptive technology such as Google’s AdSense.

Works Cited

• Disruptive technology. (2007, January 25). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 16:02, January 30, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Disruptive_technology&oldid=103191224
• Jena McGregor, with Michael Arndt and Robert Berner in Chicago, Ian Rowley and Kenji Hall in To (2006, April). THE WORLD’S MOST INNOVATIVE COMPANIES. Business Week,(3981), 62. Retrieved January 30, 2007, from ABI/INFORM Global database. (Document ID: 1023976861).