Read Bang & Olufsen: Design Driven Innovation (Austin and Beyersdorfer) and use only the information found therein to answer the questions.

1. Describe Bang & Olufsen’s (B&O’s) competitive environment in 2006. What were their strengths; what should they have been worried about? Provide a few examples for each.
2. Briefly describe B&O’s design process. How was it effective? Do you see any risks with employing a design strategy like B&O’s?
3. What is your assessment of the IdeaLab approach to changing the B&O design process? Will it work?
4. Refer to B&O’s Five Year Summary and focus on the following lines: Operating profit, Cash flow and Number of employees at year-end. Do you believe those lines are related to B&O’s innovation approach? If so, how? If no, why not?

Sample Solution