Certificate in Innovation Management
Learn the Keys to Sustained Growth and Success

Customer-Centric Innovation

Faculty: Dr. Yogesh V. Joshi, Assistant Professor, Department of Marketing, Robert H. Smith School of Business
Location: Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, Washington, D.C.

For an innovation to be successful in the market, it has to be customer centric. The key objective of this module is to understand how to overcome the challenge of designing and bringing to market elegant and efficient solutions to strong customer needs. This is a fundamental business challenge, faced when developing a new product or a new service, working in a startup or an established company, or serving customers who are individuals or large corporations. To address this challenge, we will study the various steps involved in the process of innovation, and identify the critical problems that are commonly faced by decision makers driving innovation. To understand how to tackle these decisions, we will study state of the art approaches, frameworks, tools and models that have been recently validated by innovative companies. This will be achieved via a mix of mini-case discussions, in-class exercises, and presentations.

In this module, you will learn:

• How to proactively listen to, and incorporate, the voice of the customer throughout the entire process of developing your innovation;

• How to understand what customers really value, and effectively position your innovation for targeting the right set of customers; and

• How to design an effective marketing campaign – including setting the right price - for taking your innovation to market successfully.