Customer-Focused Innovation

Dates: October 26 31, 2014

Application Deadline: September 26, 2014 Tuition: $14,500
Price subject to change. Tuition includes accommodations, meals, and materials. Discounts available for applicants from 501(c)(3) organizations.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND

This program is designed for senior executives from a wide range of industries including medical, pharmaceutical, technology, consumer electronics, financial services, packaged goods, and entertainment. Executives responsible for research and development, product design and development, new business development, marketing, brand management, and planning and implementing innovation programs will all find this program valuable.

The processes that many organizations use to pursue innovation can actually erode their capability to innovate. By limiting responsibility for innovation to a specific department, organizations underutilize the creative capabilities of other employees. And multiple stages and reviews only serve to bureaucratize the process and deflect attention from the user experience. This program will provide senior executives with the strategies and insights to build a culture of innovation that harnesses the creativity of their customers, users, and employees to develop breakthrough ideas that exceed expectations in pioneering ways.

CONTENT OVERVIEW
Customer-Focused Innovation takes a hands-on approach to eliminating the red tape that impedes innovation. Participants learn strategic frameworks to better understand customer experiences, develop deeper customer insights, and diffuse customer learning throughout the organization. The program provides cutting-edge insights into the sources of customer satisfaction and brand personality, as participants explore strategies for building a customercentric culture. Leveraging resources from Stanford Graduate School of Business and the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford, the program presents the latest research on customer-focused innovation, and features real-world field exercises in developing innovations to enhance user experiences in both B2C and B2B contexts.

SAMPLE DAILY SCHEDULE

Breakfast
Full breakfast at Schwab Residential Center

Morning Session I
Scaling Idea Generation

Morning Session II
Logic of Innovation

KEY TAKEAWAYS
Strategies to reduce bureaucratic processes and create an ambidextrous culture to support innovation Knowledge and skills to observe and understand the needs of users and customers, develop fast experiments and prototypes with users, and develop prediction markets Frameworks and tools for designing social brands

Morning Session III

The Ambidextrous Organization

Lunch
Buffet lunch with optional patio dining

Afternoon Session
How to Observe Users and Customers

2014 FIELD RESEARCH PROJECT

INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS BY DESIGN

Late Afternoon
Site visit to observe customers

Dinner
Cocktail reception followed by dinner

As part of this years program project, Stanford Graduate School of Business and the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design will collaborate with a leading corporation in an exercise to develop new, innovative solutions for a specific business challenge. Working in interdisciplinary teams, participants will: Conduct interviews of key management personnel Conduct interviews of customers and other stakeholders Develop ideation, design, prototyping, and iteration of new procedures and experiences Present proposed models to management

Evening
Networking with participants

Participants will find the practical skills gained in the program, as well as the foundations of design thinking to be applicable across all industries.

gsb.stanford.edu/exed/cfi

EXECUTIVE EDUCATION / INNOVATION

The approach from the moment we arrived of show, dont tell, and clean models/dirty hands was such a vivid way to demonstrate how the value of investing in academics is putting the lessons learned to work right away. I have so much energy toward practicing the processes I learned in the CFI course. I have become a lunatic evangelist in our organization (in a good way!).
Sara Kearney | Senior Vice President, Brand Experience | Hyatt Hotel Corporation | CFI 2011

TYPICAL PARTICIPANT MIX

Management Function
9% 3% 33% 2% 2% 3% 5% 17% 20% 6% 3% 3% 3% 8% 2% 16% 11% 11% 6% 7% 6% 2% 3% 3% 9% Corporate Development Finance/Accounting General Management Human Resources Information Technology Logistics Operations/Production Research/Development Sales/Marketing Other Advertising/Marketing Services Aerospace/Defense Biotechnology Consulting Education Electronics/Software Financial Services/Insurance Food Service/Lodging Government Health Care Services/ Pharmaceuticals/Medical Devices Manufacturing Petroleum/Oil/Gas Printing/Publishing Retail/Wholesale Telecommunications/ Information Services Transportation Other Asia Australia/New Zealand Europe Middle East North America

HIGHLIGHTED SESSIONS
DESIGNING FOR THE HUMAN BRAIN

Although the human brain is the most developed of all species, especially in cognitive functionality, a substantial proportion of our decisions and experiences are shaped by basic instinctual systems and processes that are not only automatic but non-conscious. These sessions will sort out these basic neural systems, especially the liking system and the wanting system, and leverage our understanding of them to craft three key steps involved in any customer journey.

FACULTY DIRECTORS
Hayagreeva Rao, the Atholl McBean Professor of Organizational Behavior and Human Resources at Stanford Graduate School of Business, is an expert in social and cultural causes of organizational change. His recent work investigates the role of social movements as motors of organizational change in professional and organizational fields. Rao is also Professor of Sociology (by courtesy), School of Humanities and Sciences and Academic Director of the Stanford Innovation and Entrepreneurship Certificate. Robert I. Sutton, Professor of Management Science and Engineering at Stanford School of Engineering, is cofounder of the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design. He is also Professor of Organizational Behavior (by courtesy) at Stanford Graduate School of Business. Sutton studies the links between managerial knowledge and organizational action, innovation, and organizational performance, and has most recently authored Good Boss, Bad Boss (Business Plus, 2012) and The No Asshole Rule (Business Plus, 2007).

Industry

3% 4% 15% 6% 14% 6% 59%

OTHER STANFORD GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS FACULTY

Jennifer L. Aaker General Atlantic Professor of Marketing Robert A. Burgelman Edmund W. Littlefield Professor of Management Charles A. OReilly III Frank E. Buck Professor of Management Jeffrey Pfeffer Thomas D. Dee II Professor of Organizational Behavior Baba Shiv Sanwa Bank, Limited, Professor of Marketing

Region

TAKE THE NEXT STEP

For more information, or to apply to Customer-Focused Innovation, please contact Sara Fernandez, Associate Director, Programs and Marketing. Phone: 650.724.4882 Email: fernandez_sara@gsb.stanford.edu

Hands down, one of the best learning environments I have been part of for years. Right mix of theory and practice with an occasional surprise thrown in just to keep you on your toes.
Peter Newell | Director | U.S. Army Rapid Equipping Force | CFI 2012

EXPERIENCE THE STANFORD DIFFERENCE

Stanford Graduate School of Business Executive Education programs offer executives from around the globe an extraordinary opportunity to immerse themselves in an intensive, collaborative learning environment where the focus is continually on the future. Taught by Stanfords world-renowned faculty and supplemented by guest speakers, participants acquire the knowledge, vision, and skill to bring innovative leadership to their organizations while advancing their personal and professional growth.

gsb.stanford.edu/exed/cfi