Shortcomings of Entry Prize Project

The Entry Process

Ohio Bell passively selected ideas from what was presented rather than
focusing on developing and nurturing ideas. This placed the company in a
risky position as it only depended on existing ideas as the sole source of
input. As a result of this practice, the initial success of Entry-Prize rested
on the motivation level of a few ambitious employees. Thus, Ohio Bell
supported the evaluation of creative proposals yet failed to support the
cultivation of creative ideas in the stages that preceded the preparation of
a formal proposal.
The Nature of the Screening
Ohio Bell suffered from the following two problems with its screening
process
False Negatives the turning down of a really good idea when the
screening was very fine.
This occurred either because of jealousy on the part if innovative
consultants or by mistake.
False Positive the acceptance of poor ideas when the screen allowed
both good and bad proposals to pass through.
This resulted due to lack of time for the managers to serve as innovative
consultants which made accepting ideas easier than rejecting them.
The recourse to deal with false positives and negatives included:i.
Reducing innovation consultants workload
ii.
Providing comprehensive training to the innovation consultants
iii.
Developing a follow up Entry-Prize team for successfully integrating
completed newstream projects with the everyday mainstreams
ones.
Integration of Newstream/Mainstream Activities
Newstream and Mainstream activities at Ohio bell were highly intergrated
and this had its own advantages and disadvantages.
Advatages: Entry-Prize fit well with the old company culture
The employees caught on easily and felt that participation in the
new program would benefit them
There was visible support from the upper level executives
Disadvantages: It skewed the process towards projects that could be handled well
within the confines of the established Ohio Bell business operations
It aroused peer envy
Those in the mainstream had difficulties embracing newstream
projects because they threatened to disrupt the smooth functioning
of the mainstream
Infrastructure to support the Newstream

Ohio Bells Entry-Prize had a weak infrastructure and as a result of this it

was mired in some Ohio Bell bureaucracy. Although the applicants entered
with high expectations, the lengthy approval process frustrated many
prospective innovators.