Working with the IfM

Strategic roadmapping

What is strategic roadmapping?

Roadmapping uses a graphical approach to visualise an entire strategy on a page. It provides a framework to help organisations tackle fundamental questions applicable in any strategic context and is used extensively at company, sector and national levels to align investment and research with strategic goals. Significant features of roadmapping are its breadth and versatility: roadmaps can encompass a very broad scope of issues and long time frames, whilst at the same time focusing down on critical details.

"A practical, intuitive and easy to implement process that has helped clarify our R&D investment strategy." Vice President Technology Development, global packaging company.

"Thank you for developing the roadmap.  It really is giving us a more focused approach and that can only help our industry to prosper." Manufacturing Manager, British Marine Federation.

Roadmapping at the IfM

The Institute for Manufacturing (IfM) is an international centre of expertise in roadmapping. The techniques have been developed over many years and have been applied in more than 250 projects around the world.

Roadmapping is used to address a wide range of issues, from national research and development strategies to the identification of company-level opportunities and threats. Projects are undertaken by a team of experienced industrial practitioners in the IfM's knowledge transfer company, IfM Education and Consultancy Services (IfM ECS). The practitioners have worked with governments, multi-national companies and public sector organisations including: ABB, Airbus, BAE Systems, Caterpillar, Crown, Kazakhstan Government, Mars, Microsoft, Royal Mail, Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, and the UK Knowledge Transfer Networks, Ministry of Defence and Department of Transport.

Project examples

Click here for some selected project examples.
More case studies are available from the Roadmapping research resources page.

The IfM approach

Working closely with an organisation's key stakeholders, facilitators design the roadmapping architecture, customise the workshop approach and deliver the roadmap findings. IfM's highly regarded 'Fast-start' roadmapping tools ensure that an initial roadmap can be developed in a single one-day workshop. The highly scalable approach can accommodate all the necessary participants, whether six people or sixty. Rapid results are possible, with a completed roadmap delivered in a matter of weeks. By involving all the stakeholders the approach helps build consensus across the organisation and wider community.

Resources

Research

• Centre for Technology Management - Technology Roadmapping (includes links to case studies and further resources)

Roadmapping newsletter

• Autumn 2011
• Spring 2011
• October 2010

Workbooks

• Roadmapping for Strategy and Innovation - Aligning technology and markets in a dynamic world
• T-plan: the fast-start approach to roadmapping

Briefings

• Technology roadmapping: facilitating collaborative strategy development [676k pdf]
• Creating an environment for open innovation [588k pdf]
• Making the business case for new technologies [648k pdf]
• Technology Intelligence systems: how companies keep track of the latest technological developments [532k pdf]

Courses and conferences

• Strategic roadmapping
• Technology Management courses
• Technology Intelligence
• Make vs Buy

Podcasts

• Roadmapping for agile strategy- linking technology to business objectives
  
• The Emergence of New Industries
  

Executive education

• Executive Education