The value of an innovative opportunity – “the egg” – must be assessed, taking into account how and how much it fits with the portfolio of innovative and non-innovative projects currently pursued by an organization – “the baskets”.
How an innovation opportunity will affect the consistency of the corporate portfolio should be assessed, in terms of both the potential critical resources bottlenecks – in particular management’s and customers’ attention – and the potential technological and organizational synergies.
How much an innovation opportunity will affect the balance and alignment of the corporate portfolio should be assessed, both in terms of strategic scope – exploitation vs. exploration – and with respect to the time horizon – short-, mid- and long-term.
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Keywords: portfolio management, synergies
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(c) Prof. Benoit Gailly, Louvain School of Management