Collecting information to generate ideas for innovation

Let’s say that a manager wants to better serve their organisation’s customers or clients, but they are not quite sure how to do it; they need ideas. They know that customers or clients, competitors, and other sources can provide valuable information that the manager could use to generate ideas. They face a problem, though, which is how to collect relevant information from these sources.
This blog post shows how information can be collected quite easily. There is a simple form at the end of the blog post to help collect information, summarising the post’s content. The content is applied to information collection by an up-market hotel in Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, to illustrate how it works in practice.
 
What type of information should be collected?
A manager wants ideas for their innovation, and one way of getting them is just to directly ask people what ideas they have. People can be very creative and their ideas can point to a large range of possible innovation. The ideas are immediately available after collection, and the manager doesn’t have to do any other work to get them.
There is another way of getting ideas, which is to collect information on products and services, and then use them to generate ideas for future innovations. Products and services are often well-known, particularly those that have been sold in a market, so it is easy to collect information about them, for example from sales websites with customer reviews. As the products and services have already been introduced, they show what innovations are possible, and suggest what may be possible for future innovations. They can also be used to identify trends in innovations, and areas where no innovations have been produced.
Table 1 in the form at the end of the blog post shows the two types of information with reasons for selecting them. If a manager thinks the reasons justify their use, they can tick the box below the information type. A manager may want to use both information types.
 
What collection method should be used?
A manager can collect information by interviewing people who have it. The interviewer can explain their questions to the people interviewed, so that they understand what they are answering, and can give a fuller answer to the intended questions. The interviewer can also adapt or extend the questions if the interviewed people give interesting answers.
A manager can also collect information in writing. The manager may send written questions to people, or collect previously written information. Collection of written information can be easier and less time consuming than interviews. Another advantage of collection of written information is that people’s responses are not affected by the presence of an interviewer. Their presence may make interviewed people more likely to give responses to please the interviewer.
Table 2 in the form at the end of the blog post shows the two methods of information collection, by interview and in writing. The reasons for choosing them are shown too. A manager may think that the reasons are relevant for their own work, and tick the box for the collection method. A manager may choose to use both collection methods.
 
Questions to ask
A manager can find ideas more quickly and easily if they chose well the questions they ask. The most suitable questions depend on the type of information collected, either innovation ideas or information about products and services.
If the manager wants to collect innovation ideas, the manager can ask people what products or services they would like to see sold or provided in the organisation’s industry, and then ask people what products or services they would like the organisation to sell or provide. The two answers together help to show what people want and what people think the organisation can provide.
If the manager instead wants to collect information about products and services, the manager can also ask (or find out) what products and services are available in the organisation’s industrial sector, and what their main features are. The aim is to get sufficient information so that the manager can see if a new innovation could be a valuable novelty. The manager can also ask people what they like and don’t like about the organisation’s current products and services, and then ask what they like about the current products and services of the organisation’s competitors. This information can show possible future innovations that add more liked things and that remove or correct disliked things from current products and services.
Table 3 in the form at the end of this blog post lists the questions for each type of information.
 
Where should the information come from?
Managers should use sources that have good information about the organisation’s industry. Even a well-informed source won’t know everything about the industry, so a variety of sources should be used who together are familiar with the different parts of the industry.
 
How much information should be collected?
It would be good not to miss any ideas for innovation. In practice, the manager hasn’t got enough time or money to find every good idea, so they have to decide when they have enough information. One way is to stop collecting information when most newly collected information is the same as previously collected information.
 
Example: An up-market hotel in Kinshasa
The following discussion gives an example of idea collection using the form at the end of this article. The ideas are for innovation by an up-market hotel in Kinshasa. The hotel is kept anonymous.
 
What type of information should be collected?
I want to collect the information easily, and I also want to know what innovations can be successful in the market. Table 1 says that I should collect information about products and services.
 
What collection method should be used?
As just noted, I want to collect responses easily. It would be nice to get more detail on interesting answers, but a wide range of information is more important. Table 2 says that I should collect information in writing.
 
Questions to ask
I’m collecting information about products and services, and table 3 suggests questions to ask: what products and services are available in the organisation’s industrial sector? What are their important features? What do people like about our products and services? What do people dislike about our products and services? What do people like about our competitor’s products and services?
 
Where should the information come from?
The sources should together have good information about the parts of the organisation’s industry, which is up-market hotels in Kinshasa. I’ll use from the website hotels.com, which publishes details of the hotels and includes many reviews by visitors. It has a good range of information, and lets me answer all the questions. I’ll use the details to answer “what products and services are available in the organisation’s industrial sector?” and “what are their important features?”. I’ll use the reviews to answer “what do people like about our products and services?”, “what do people dislike about our products and services?”, and “what do people like about our competitor’s products and services?”.
 
How much information should be collected?
The information should be collected until most newly collected information is the same as previously collected information. I’ll follow that recommendation.
 
Answers to the questions
  What products and services are available in the organisation’s industrial sector?
There are a number of up-market hotels (3, 4, and 5 stars) in Kinshasa that operate in the same industrial sector as the hotel. There are also furnished apartments close to the city centre, although they are less expensive and have some very different features.
 
  What are their important features?
The hotel and the other up-market hotels share certain features: daily housekeeping, breakfast, restaurants and bar, an outdoor pool, tennis courts, free cradles, childcare, bath and shower, business facilities, and premium TV channels.
There are certain features that the hotel does not have, but one or more of the other hotels do. These features are a fitness centre open 24 hours each day, a garden, and a free area shuttle (although the hotel offers limousines). Some additional childcare services are offered by other hotels: free childcare (rather than purchased separately, which is done at the hotel), free supervised activities, and a playground.
These features suggest ideas for innovation: the hotel could introduce some of these features. The hotel still has to evaluate the merits of the ideas.
 
  What do people like about our products and services?
People say that staff are friendly and helpful, and rooms are comfortable and clean. The hotel is relaxing and safe, with excellent covid safety measures. Room and bathroom facilities are good. Food is delicious and copious, there is good Internet by regional standards, and the gym is also good.
 
  What do people dislike about our products and services?
People say that staff response is slow: in general, at check-in, in the restaurant, by the concierge, and in response to a fault in the rooms. People also say that the staff lack skills, including in speaking English (although French and Lingala are always spoken). People find that some of the procedures do not work well: support for payment cards, recording of reservations, supply of towels, and room inspection prior to client arrival.
These dislikes suggest ideas for innovation: improvements to staff response and training, and improvements to the operation of the procedures.
 
  What do people like about our competitor’s products and services?
The following list summarises what people like about various other up-market hotels in Kinshasa. People like clean and safe hotels in a convenient location. People like friendly, polite, helpful, and efficient staff, and they like clean, comfortable, quiet, cool, and spacious rooms. People like rooms to have hot showers with good water pressure, air conditioning, comfortable beds, and a kettle to make coffee. They also like good room service. They like a 24-hour gym, and they like reservations that work well, and reception service that is good. They like good value when the rooms are discounted.
The things that people like about other hotels can be compared with the things that people like about the hotel. Anything that is liked about other hotels but not about the hotel suggests an idea for innovation. These ideas are: greater staff efficiency, reduced noise, a 24-hour gym, improved room service, improvement in the reservation service, improvement in the reception service, and better value discounts on rooms.

Form: Collecting information to generate ideas for innovation
Table 1: What type of information should be collected?

Table 2: What collection method should be used?

Table 3: Questions to ask

Where should the information come from?
Together, the sources should together have good information about the parts of the organisation’s industry.
 
How much information should be collected?
Information should be collected until most newly collected information is the same as previously collected information.

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