Sketch a Process Flowchart of Bba’s Traditional Flavor Development Process

Case: Bush Boake Allen (HBS Case)

1. Sketch a process flowchart of BBA’s traditional flavor development process.

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• What roles do customers, R&D, marketing and manufacturing play?

• In the traditional flavor development process customers played a key role in providing inspiration for flavors as well as approval of the final product as it moved through the R&D process. Although R&D at companies such as BBA carried the risks with all of the financial burdens in the development process, the industry and customers were heavily involved in what the final product would taste/smell like. We would argue that R&D in these companies did not spawn innovation but instead just followed the customer preferences.  Marketing activities was dependent on customer base and geographic location both of which created different roles for the marketing of the product. Manufacturing appears to play a small role in creating the needed product as most of the input for product requirements were developed upstream with the customer and R&D.
• Customers and/or R&D: initiate flavor idea (create demand)
• R&D: collect requirements, research flavor composition, cost of supply and demand Manufacturing creates product > Customer

• How do the process steps and roles change when the spider toolkit technology is used?

• Depending on where the toolkit is deployed and who has control over it will drive change in the process steps. In a full blown deployment to the customers it could change the entire landscape by effectively decreasing BBA’s added value in the process of product creation. Removing the need for iterations that require approval from customers, the customers can self-iterate thus saving time and money and improving speed to market. If BBA keeps the technology in house, process change will still occur as this technology removes some of the non-quantifiable aspects of developing “secondary characteristics”.
• The process becomes streamlined with less iterations before the flavor is available on the market, responsibilities shifted from created the products to understanding innovation and demand, reduced head count and there was increased productivity, more competition due to product agility, increased share in larger markets due being more competitive, and customers felt more like a collaborative partner in creating the new flavor requests.

1. How will BBA’s business model be affected?  

• BBA’s business model will change because this technology if used correctly can alter the entire development process and improve the way the customers interact with BBA in the development process. This will have a significant impact on the business model by creating additional opportunities in product development lead s thus potentially creating a broader product portfolio. With the company doing business in multiple markets throughout the world, each with its own set of requirements, the opportunity to develop and bring unique products to each market will create a much different business model.
• BBA’s business model realizes Increased innovation, increased product diversification, expansion into high growth markets due to increased competitive edge, and increased profitability as a result of the new technology.

1. Which strategy do you endorse? Why?  Spider in-house vs. Spider for large customers only vs. Spider for anyone, anywhere? Or some other strategy?

• I would advocate for a strategy that “tested” different deployments based on the uniqueness of each market. BBA’s Global strategy supports this new technology by giving BBA the opportunity to take the key benefit and leverage in specific markets where it makes sense from a business model perspective. Knowing that some parts of the world are less sensitive to taste but have a great deal of opportunity in supply chain and lead times it might make sense to test in such a market where reduced product development lead time can translate to quicker to market thus beating the competition.
• I endorse a strategy that implements Spider technology for all end users whether internal or external.  The strategy would be to be more versatile and flexible in the product modeling process while standardizing the requirements collection process and manufacturing processes.

1. How would you propose to execute the strategy you endorse?

• Match the market to the technology. Make sure the technology enables the business to grow in    hat specific market. The end game would be to have a technology roadmap with the product fully deployed at some future point. Start in a specific region and test, modify then retest. The tests can include different deployment levels of either in house or selling the technology. Tests will deliver quantifiable results that then can be used for other regional deployments.
• I propose to execute the strategy by showing the business need, quantify the business value, the methodology and technology to produce the various flavors for markets and end users, and lastly identify/quantify the potential risk of failure and/or success.