GOJO – Client Interview

Innovation Management Director

GOJO systematically evolves its Stage-Gate Model to continuously improve.  It has incorporated lean, business modeling, and social media to build insight and brand equity.  It has also introduced a comprehensive portfolio management system.  The Innovation Management Director shares dynamic portfolio management practices that have contributed to GOJO’s success.

Delivering Stronger Business Results Through Portfolio Management
April Bertram, Innovation Management Director from GOJO Industries interviewed by Stage-Gate International

As an Innovation Management Director at GOJO Industries, April Bertram has twenty years of experience in leading strategy and innovation, marketing, and product development efforts. In her current role, April manages all aspects of the GOJO Innovation System, where she has been able to redesign the Stage-Gate and Market Intimacy and Development process to incorporate lean, business modeling and social media to build insights and brand equity, as well as create new structures to support the process.

SGI: Let’s start by telling our readers a little about yourself and your company.

AB: I started my journey in product development almost 20 years ago and have been with GOJO for a total of 6 years, currently as the organization’s Innovation Management Director. Our Stage-Gate process was implemented 10 years ago, and since that time we have been systematically evolving it including developing a comprehensive portfolio management system. Now, we are looking more holistically at the entire innovation system. This includes the culture component and all the processes within the system. GOJO Industries is the inventor of PURELL® Advanced Instant Hand Sanitizer and the leading global producer and marketer of skin health and hygiene solutions for away-from-home settings. The broad GOJO product portfolio includes hand cleaning, handwashing, hand sanitizing and skin care formulas under the GOJO®, PURELL® and PROVON® brand names. GOJO is a privately held corporation headquartered in Akron, with offices in the United Kingdom, France, Australia, Japan and Brazil.

SGI: What is your favorite new product out right now and why?

AB: My favorite new product is the Tesla electronic car. I love its exquisite design and how Tesla designers have incorporated a variety of new and interesting technologies. Many companies when entering a new market encounter regulatory challenges that tend to slow them down, but this has not been the case for Tesla. Their business model has been successful thus far and I appreciate both their innovative design and the competitive advantage they have developed. It will be interesting to see if they can keep this going in the long term.

SGI: In your opinion, what is the single biggest portfolio management challenge that organizations face today?

AB: I think factors such as those related to rapid technological advancement, like the Tesla, globalization and/or ever-changing business models are creating new challenges for companies to overcome. Such things as these are really keeping companies on their toes and making it very difficult to maintain portfolio balance while allowing flexibility in order to react quickly to either new market opportunities or challenges. What I foresee could happen is that firms are going to essentially become reactionary in style and will not discipline themselves to maintain portfolio balance. This will lead to portfolio, investment decisions and innovations that are mainly incremental in nature.

SGI: What advice would you give to others on how to tackle this challenge?

AB: I think one of the most important actions necessary is to create and maintain balance. Developing a portfolio includes both short-term and long-term projects and, in addition, the will to make changes when something new and interesting presents itself. You may need to put other projects on hold in order to bring new opportunities into the limelight, but that is okay. A key to your success in dynamically managing your portfolio will be having access to real-time data and regular touch points with your portfolio team.

SGI: What do you think Summit attendees were most interested to know/learn about in your presentation?

AB: It is a combination of a couple of things. We have embedded what we call a strategy translation process into our annual portfolio review. The tools and activities used are probably unique to GOJO. We conduct traditional data analysis, but we also have a team of innovation black belts that help us do market research (by this I mean such things as data mining, insights analysis, technological advancement reviews, market change impact studies, and future mining, to give us a richer picture of the external situation), so that when we are going through the process of looking at our portfolio, we really feel confident that we have a comprehensive view of what is happening and how it might impact the industries that we service today. We also utilize a special process for translating strategies, into defined innovation platforms and ensuring that we have selected the right projects to advance these key innovation platforms. We have some creative tools and methods for prioritizing projects within the portfolio…

SGI: Looking into your crystal ball what do you think will be the greatest challenge facing product portfolio managers 10 years down the road?

AB: This is a fantastic question; I actually think the word “product” could be the greatest challenge facing portfolio managers. If ten years from now, people are looking just at product portfolios they run the risk of becoming obsolete. Portfolio Managers should be prepared to look at the overall business and explore such topics as business model innovation if the want to be successful. Focusing solely on a series of physical products and not how the whole business can bring value to their customers is a recipe, I believe, for disaster.