There are several different roles that are critical to the implementation process.
It is important to remember that these are roles, not necessarily individual people. That is one individual can play more than one role, and you can have more than one individual playing the same role. Information on each can be accessed by clicking on the appropriate word or by scrolling down the page.
Sponsor
Many studies have confirmed
the importance of a high-level management sponsor to
the success of innovation and change projects. The
person fulfilling the senior-management sponsor role
frequently provides guidance and support to others
who fill critical operational roles in the implementation
process. This individual knows the political and power
operations within the firm and plays a key role in
legitimising the innovation. Sponsors with a senior
line management role in the innovator's department
enable consistency in priorities and resources available
to the innovation.
Champion
Many studies have confirmed the importance of a project champion
for the success of innovation and technical change projects.
People fulfilling the roles of champion must have technical competence, knowledge about the company and the market, drive and aggressiveness, and political astuteness as well. Besides having all of these attributes, champions frequently arise more out of existing imperfections in organisation and management than out of any inherent predispositions or learned knowledge and skills. In other words, in a perfect organisation, there would be no need for champions. They arise out of necessity when, for example, the project selection process is irrational, when R&D objectives are not well articulated, when projects cannot get from the lab to operating divisions, or when there is imperfect information about what management or the market actually wants. Although champions may act in ways that seem somewhat irrational to others at times, that is not how it seems to them.
Champions are not made, they are born out of necessity from existing corporate situations. An environment must exist that rewards their behaviour and reduces the risk of failure. Finally, it is important to remember that championing is not usually a formal role. Project manager is a formal role. Project managers and champions should work together and complement each other if they are not the same person.
Entrepreneurs are typically considered to fulfil these roles. They are characterised as being out for themselves and as being driven by self-confidence and faith in their ideas. They are aggressive, persistent, and will work outside "normal" channels in an organisation. They are willing to leave the firm. Their interests go beyond the technical work into marketing and business-related issues.
Intrapreneurs are pushed by a desire to accomplish something. They are motivated by the feeling of success and are quite willing to stay within the firm. They need to be rewarded for their behaviour in order for them to be innovative and independent continually. They must be allowed to try; to try and fail, and to try and succeed.
Gatekeepers are integrators of information serving as a bridge between the firm and the world "outside". People identified as gatekeepers frequently have the ability to absorb complex technical information and to translate it into forms useable by other members of the firm. It is ideal to have at least one gatekeeper in each of a firm's primary disciplines.
Two different types of gatekeepers have been identified: (1) information gatekeepers whose contacts are mainly the technical professionals and journals, and (2) technical marketers who are in contact with customers and suppliers.
Some people suggest that gatekeeping should not be an overly formal or heavily managed role. It should be relatively fluid and needs to be nurtured, not controlled.
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