Innovation Management Report: An Action Plan for Telstra Corp.

This report provides an analysis of Telstra's innovation management plan, focusing on three key areas: technology, open innovation, and new product development. It outlines a design thinking framework for innovation, emphasizing user involvement, fast integration, and prototyping/testing capabilities. The report highlights the importance of cross-functional management in driving innovation and identifies essential resources such as time, cost, and skilled labor. Telstra's innovation processes, including the utilization of Telstra Labs and 5G technology testing, are examined. The report concludes by underscoring the significance of a well-structured innovation management plan for maintaining Telstra's competitive edge in the telecommunications industry.

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Managing Innovation in organization

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Executive Summary
The report analyzes the three hot topics about innovation related to an organization named
"Telstra." An action plan has been made for managing innovation in the company. The topics are
technology, open innovation, and new product which would be innovated by making an
innovation plan. A framework for design thinking has been used so that the company would
decide the way of innovating the products or services. Important resources are considered which
are required for innovation such as time, costs, and labor. The cross-functional team would be
developed by the company for managing the innovation as it is a cross-functional process.

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Table of Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................3
Design thinking about innovation................................................................................................................3
User involvement........................................................................................................................................5
Fast integration...........................................................................................................................................6
Prototyping and testing capabilities............................................................................................................6
Cross-functional management....................................................................................................................7
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................................9
References.................................................................................................................................................10
Appendix...................................................................................................................................................12

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Introduction
The report aims to evaluate the innovation management plan in an organization. Telstra
Corporation is chosen for evaluating innovation topics as well as innovation management action
plan. Telstra is one of the leading telecommunication firms that has a wide network throughout
the globe. The paper will design thinking about innovation with the help of a diagram. There are
three topics about innovation related to the organization, Telstra. The first topic is a technology
which will be transformed into new and advanced technologies for satisfying the needs of the
customers. Telstra access to the latest technology because the new technologies transformed the
way people survive as well as do business.
The second topic is a new product, and the company will offer an amazing new product that
informs the loyal customers. The offering of new product help in shaping the company in doing
business. The third topic is open innovation, which helps in driving the success of the business.
An idea for the innovation of new product or services is to consider the design as well as benefits
of the new product or services and train the employees so that they can think like innovators. The
firm may access the competition as well as set a strategic vision along with identifying the
opportunities for innovation. An idea could be innovated by observing the customers as well as
asking the staff members. Innovation will streamline the current capabilities of Telstra by
supporting new ways of working as well as expanding a network of product and technology.
Design thinking about innovation
Design thinking refers to the human-focused approach that includes close engagement with
consumers (Aime et al., 2014). Design thinking will be used by Telstra for providing creative
solutions to business customers. The firm will visit the customers for observing the use of
technology by the consumers at home and business. The company will use design thinking for
optimizing the experience of the customers. A method used in the development or innovation of
product and seeks to overcome restrictions is called design thinking (Ben Mahmoud‐Jouini,
Midler and Silberzahn, 2016). It allows the firm to integrate ideas and to create new solutions.
Design thinking helps in generating real value for the customers of Telstra. Using this means to
bring your own ideas for addressing the problem at the time of innovation of the new product.
A framework is provided below for design thinking about the innovation of new product:

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1. Discovery – In this stage, the company will choose a strategic topic and then collect
information or data to meet the needs of the business (Bernardo, 2014). A strategy 2022
is being chosen by Telstra so that it could lead in the market of Australia.
2. Reframe opportunity – It is required to identify the valuable insights, make assumptions,
and define scope so that the company could frame opportunities in the market.
3. Incubate – The Company will meditate as well as feed their mind with various stimuli for
identifying the complex problems (Conforto et al., 2014).
4. Illuminate – In this, the company needs to do an experiment which it could do by using
Telstra labs. It will also create a collaboration of team for making their ideas visible to
the company.
5. Evaluate ideas – The cross-functional team, as well as the users, will evaluate ideas and
constraints regarding the innovation of new product or service.
6. Prototype or test – ZTE prototype and legacy, as well as speed testing, will be used by
Telstra for making the innovation of technology as well as new product 5G network.
7. Deliver – Telstra will approve the product after making the final testing of the product.
8. Iterate or scale- The firm will create a strategy and innovate the product for the benefit of
the customers as well as business (Ellram and Cooper, 2014).

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Figure: Design Thinking
(Source: Halme and Korpela, 2014)
User involvement
An involvement, as well as feedback of the users, are significant for innovation of a product or
service in an organization. User involvement in the process of innovation mainly refers to the
innovation developed by users. The involvement of the user help in providing benefits over the
traditional innovation system (Baldassarre et al., 2017). Open innovation is the term which
means innovations could come from both inside and outside of the company, for example,
customers, suppliers, or partners. The user plays a great role in the development of a new product
or service in the company as it helps to avoid uncertainty regarding the product in the market.
Many new products or services are innovated by the users, so they innovate exactly what they
want, which help the company in gaining profit. Lead users play a vital role in providing

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valuable insights into the new product or services (Hienerth, Von Hippel and Jensen, 2014). It
has been recognized that the user involvement in the process of innovation of the new product is
costly as well as time-consuming. But their involvement brings higher value to the company as
the decisions of the users are socio-technical instead of purely technical. User involvement is
crucial to the firm for assessing the data to consider the requirements of the user.
Fast integration
The company will require to set time for making innovation in the business. Time is the main
factor in which the whole process depends. To encourage innovation of the product or services is
to set time for it. The firm needs to set aside a year or two for innovation because it could not be
done within a day or month. As Telstra is a tech company, it is required to select people who will
spend more time on the project of innovation. The cost is growing in today's business
environment, which makes the cost of innovating new product or services high (Nagano,
Stefanovitz and Vick, 2014). Product innovation, technology innovation, or service innovation
will costs up to $20 million to the company because of the rise in cost in the market ( Rusanen,
Halinen and Jaakkola, 2014). Innovation requires long-term resources which may consist of
money, labor, equipment, or time. Time is a critical resource that supports innovation. But the
equipment is also the resource without which innovation could not be done. Equipment could be
hardware or software that is used for innovation purpose. Besides this, the main resources
required for innovation are technical resources, human resources, administrative resources,
financial resources, and operational resources (Liedtka, 2015). Resources needed for open
innovation are a community, policy group, renovate, forum, and resource center.
Prototyping and testing capabilities
Telstra lab is one of the innovation or testing capability where the firm learn and experiment as
well as explore. It is the prototype where technology like Internet of Things tested and trialed.
Telstra Lab is a space for collaboration between team, customers, and partners along with the
next generation of innovative thinkers. The company will reveal a latest 5G device, and the
prototype handset will be built by ZTE. A prototype mobile hotspot will be built by Inseego that
display 5G briefing in today's globe. The ZTE prototype looks like a rectangular smartphone
device that can make 5G calls and 5G hotspot with the Inseego Company of the United States
(Kotlarsky, van den Hooff and Houtman, 2015). The firm demonstrated that the first commercial

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5G device would be available for the customers of Telstra in 2019. The next prototype
Nighthawk M2 Mobile Router is capable of reaching speeds up to 2Gbps by providing the users
a mobile hotspot that capable of supplying high speed than 4G. Telstra will use 5G radio test bed
of Ericsson for testing the 5G technology. It will also use latency as well as speed testing for
demonstrating the technology. The organization will launch a center for testing 5G on the Gold
Coast for running a trial of the 5G network. The firm will use the testing center for discovering
the way of traveling new frequencies in the global environment (Miller, Cafazzo and Seto,
2016). A live speed test will be done that reveal the 2Gbps peak speed capability of the device on
the network of Telstra. Qualcomm technology will execute the testing of a device for
communications of data on Cat M1 for the applications of the Internet of Things. The Ericsson
Network Software contains powerful features for lowering the consumption of power and
delivering extended coverage. These capabilities facilitate productivity as well as creativity in
connecting with the range of Internet-connected things.
Cross-functional management
Cross-functional management refers to a team which consists of people having different
functional expertise for working towards the same goal (Frankel and Mollenkopf, 2015). It may
involve people from various departments such as human resource, marketing, operation, and
finance. Innovation is a cross-functional goal, so cross-functional management is required for
developing a better system. The company will set up a cross-functional team for executing the
project of innovation. It creates a technical consulting role within the team that aims to enhance
the engagement of the customer. The role is known as customer chief technologist that works
with the senior accountant for driving strategy as well as delivering engagement of valuable
customers. The cross-functional team of an organization consists of members who are highly
motivated, open-minded, having accountability, can communicate effectively, having no conflict,
and manage the team by providing support (Opute, 2014). By developing a cross-functional
team, the company could focus on its innovation of new product or service like the 5G network.
The team collaboration help in delivering the success of the project by forming a strong
relationship between the members. Telstra will build a new cross-functional team to become a
more agile firm in delivering T22 strategy. The cross-functional management focuses on the
outcomes of the consumers through better collaboration as well as capabilities. The cross-
functional management of Telstra helps in giving support to the senior leaders for driving

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innovation as well as strategic projects (Parmentier and Mangematin, 2014). Management is
crucial for the success of the cross-functional team as it enables the leader in accomplishing
goals. For managing the cross-functional team, Telstra required all its members to have some of
the characteristics such as clarity, excellent communication, proper attention, conflict resolution,
mutual understanding, and flexibility. The responsibility of this team is to develop new plans and
ideas for the innovation of the new product.

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Conclusion
The report researched three hot topics about innovation, such as open innovation, technology,
and new product. A design thinking has been done for innovation by using a framework so that
the firm will not face any difficulty while doing innovation. Time is the major factor or resource
that contribute to change. For innovation, it will take one to two years. Financial, human,
operational, and technical resources have been required for innovation. The cost of innovation
was $20 million as it is significant innovation. Cross-functional management is crucial for
innovation as it helps in developing a better system for the cross-functional team. Prototype and
testing capabilities are must for Telstra as it is a telecommunication company. The firm used
speed testing and ZTE prototype for innovation and labs for the experiment.
The innovation of latest technology named "Blockchain" might affect the innovative idea of the
business. Blockchain is an innovative technology that changes the way Telstra doing business. It
streamlines the process of the transaction as well as reduce conflicts to save both money and
time. Brain mapping is another future innovation that also affects the innovation project as it
aims to create a map for showing the details up to 20 micrometers.

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