Corning – Client Interview

Director of Corporate Innovation Effectiveness

Corning uses a Next Generation Stage-Gate Model to accelerate time-to-market without compromising key Stage-Gate practices.  Key to Corning’s success has been its ability to use the model effectively to guide diverse/cross-function teams and to continuously invest in fundamental research.

Optimizing Corning’s Process Design with Next Generation Stage-Gate
Bruce Kirk, Director of Corporate Innovation Effectiveness, Corning Inc. interviewed by Stage-Gate International

Founded in 1851, Corning Incorporated is the world leader in specialty glass and ceramics. Drawing on more than 160 years of materials science and process engineering knowledge, Corning creates keystone components that enable high-technology systems for consumer electronics, mobile emissions control, telecommunications, and life sciences. Through sustained investment in research and development and their unique collaborative culture, Corning has developed a deep knowledge of materials science and process engineering that they continue to leverage as they innovate for the future. The following is an interview with Corning Inc.’s Director of Corporate Innovation Effectiveness, Bruce Kirk:

As the Director of Innovation Effectiveness, Bruce’s responsibilities include innovation process development and deployment, employee education and training, global benchmarking, and next generation process development. Bruce led their “Revitalize Innovation Globally” initiative in 2004 and is currently leading an effort to identify the Next Generation Innovation Framework for Corning. Bruce will be delivering a case presentation at Stage-Gate Innovation Summit 2013 highlighting how Corning uses its Next Generation Stage-Gate® to accelerate time to market without compromising key Stage-Gate practices.

SGI: Tell us a little about your R&D organization.

BK: Corning makes use of a centralized R&D facility located in Corning, NY. We have found this centralized approach allows us to increase the number of creative interactions among scientists as well as assures the resources to work on our most important innovation programs.

SGI: Where is your group located?

BK: We are a small team at the corporate level that is physically located in our R&D facility.  Our role is an enabling one: we help our Innovation Programs either get their ideas to market or stop them in the most efficient manner.

SGI: Why is innovation important to Corning Inc.?

BK: Corning has existed for over 160 years by continuously reinventing itself. From railroad signal lenses, to glass envelopes for Edison’s light bulbs, to televisions and now displays, to substrates for catalytic converters to optical fiber & cabling, Corning has had a rich history of innovation.

SGI: What is your most important strength when it comes to innovation?

BK: I have to cheat and state two: 1) our effective use of diverse/cross-functional teams, and 2) our willingness to invest in fundamental research through good times and slower times.

SGI: What is your biggest innovation challenge?

BK: My sense is it would be choosing which innovation programs to pursue. Generally, we do not have any difficulty identifying opportunities. More often, it is difficult to choose between those potential opportunities.

SGI: What is your favorite new product?

BK: Gorilla Glass™ . This is a product where the fundamental understanding was gained many years ago and, through persistence, an ideal application was identified that has grown rapidly over a very short period of time.  Editor’s note: Gorilla Glass as described on Corning’s website is a “Visually stunning, lightweight, and highly damage-resistant. It helps protect the world’s coolest smartphones, tablets, PCs, and TVs from everyday wear and tear”.

SGI: Looking into your crystal ball, what do you think will be the greatest challenges to innovators 10 years down the road?

BK: The increasing need for global collaboration will certainly be one.  With Corning’s business increasing outside North America so rapidly, global collaboration is growing in importance.

SGI: What question regarding your presentation do you think most Stage-Gate Summit 2013 delegates would like to see answered?

BK: How and why Corning’s innovation process has changed since the initial launch of our Stage-Gate process in 1987.