Raytheon Innovation Paper

For Raytheon, as one of the leading companies in defense industry, innovation is an essential element in providing technologically advanced and cost effective solutions that solve customers’ most important problems and compete in a very competitive market environment. Raytheon embeds innovation in nearly everything it does and creates the environment in which great ideas and creativity can be recognized, nurtured, and rewarded. From the company’s vision and mission statements to individual’s performance development, from employees’ cubicles to technology labs, innovation can come from anywhere and anyone in the company.

According to Steve Blank (2014), there are four types of innovation in corporation: individual innovation, process improvement,

Raytheon has established various avenues for employees to create individual innovation. For example, a social network platform (similar to Facebook) allows employees across the company to ask questions, collaborate, and share ideas. Raytheon’s Innovation Champions Network initiative allows employees with imagination and determination from various functions and businesses in the company to act as “Innovation Champions” to guide and inspire others (Raytheon, 2014).

• Process Improvement: The last CEO, Bill Swanson, was a strong advocate of process improvement discipline. Under his leadership, process improvement has become an integral part of everything the company does (Marx, 2004). The Raytheon Six Sigma (R6s), which is a six-step, enterprise-wide process improvement concepts, is used for both internal and customers’ process and performance improvements (“Raytheon’s 1-K”, 2015).

• Continuous Innovation: This type of innovation occurs when a company integrates a new element and builds on a strengths of the current business model, products, services, or processes. For example, Raytheon created the fifth business segment called Forcepoint, which is new cyber security joint venture, in order to establish a cybersecurity-focused business and diverse its business portfolio (“Raytheon’s 1-K”,

Particularly, large companies don’t normally create innovative products or services that disrupt their industries. Startup companies usually have more success with this type of innovation (Blank, 2014). As a contractor to the U.S. government and military, Raytheon has to stand ready with cutting edge technologies and innovative talents in order to respond to the customer’s strategic direction. According to Raytheon UK Chief Executive, Bob Delorge, “As an engineering company, we naturally see innovation as being vital to our success.” In certain areas of technologies, the company closely collaborates with the customer to develop the next “world changing” products such as in the area of artificial intelligence in order to improve human and machine interaction (“Securing Tomorrow”, 2016; Chang & Taylor,