...profitdestroying complexity, companies need to identify their innovation fulcrum, the point at which the level of product innovation maximizes both revenues and profits. Innovation Versus Complexity What Is Too Much of a Good Thing? by Mark Gottfredson and Keith Aspinall Reprint R0511C To get at the roots of profit-destroying complexity, companies need to identify their innovation fulcrum, the point at which the level of product innovation maximizes both revenues and profits. Innovation Versus Complexity What Is Too Much of a Good Thing? COPYRIGHT © 2005 HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL PUBLISHING CORPORATION. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. by Mark Gottfredson and Keith Aspinall Walk into the In-N-Out Burger restaurant on Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco, and one of the first things that may strike you is the number four. Four colors: red, white, yellow, and gray; four cash registers with four friendly faces behind them; and just four items on the menu. You can buy burgers, fries, shakes, and sodas. All the ingredients are delivered fresh to the store, where they’re prepared in the open kitchen behind the cashiers. You’ll see a few folks eating at the restaurant’s tables or tucking into their food outdoors on patio benches, but most customers come in with a handful of cash—no credit or debit cards, thank you—and head back out with their meals. Four is In-N-Out Burger’s innovation fulcrum—the point at which the number of products strikes the right...
Words: 5992 - Pages: 24
...Back in time, the Apple Inc. was not always big success. Couple years later Apple Inc. has design the pricey and unique product with the high price such as, Apple Lisa in 1983 or Macintosh TV in 1993. Both has ended up been the worse product due as a computer specs; it is lackluster and too expensive for Macintosh TV. Another flop is back in 1996 as network computer that can play game. The failures of Apple have been due to following; 1. Pricey Products 2. Poor marketing efforts 3. Too ambitious products The following products could be considered success for Apple; 1. IPod is one of the Apple’s biggest successes, it has completely changed the music industry and we can even say it has done a revolution in the technology innovation. 2. IPhone is the biggest success in my opinion since it is affordable, very popular and useful for everyone compare to other products Apple released. Created January 2007. 3. The Apple II 4. IPod 5. ITunes Apple Reinvented success by following these 4 principles such " Don't Follow your customer; Lead them " some Said that Apple doesn't Ask People what they needs but give them the products that they want by making market instead Addressing the Market. "Temper engineering with Art", engineering focus on design and making product that they would want to use, which explain why a...
Words: 1096 - Pages: 5
...as the expected. Questions like how does useful innovation happen in an organization or how do you encourage innovation are the questions faced by many organizations in today’s economy. Rather than survive as organization, there is a new strategy to survive which innovation; innovating knowledge sharing and creating within the organisation. Introduction I’m going to discuss how innovation can be used to support knowledge sharing/creation and learning in an organization. Businesses emphasize knowledge management for a number of reasons, one is to encourage innovation. Bessant and Tidd (2007;29) summarise innovation as ‘ the process of translating ideas into useful - and used - new products, processes and services’. Innovation can take many forms but these can largely be reduced to four dimensions of production innovation, process innovation, position innovation and paradigm innovation. They view innovation as a process involving the generation of innovation possibilities, Andriopoulos and Dawson (2009;28). Processes of Business Businesses are continually changing to achieve competitive advantage through innovation and productivity improvements; as a result ways to design and change processes are becoming increasingly important, such process change almost takes place continuously and is called process innovation.. Process innovation has a goal to create processes that encourage innovation throughout the business throughout the business. Processes...
Words: 536 - Pages: 3
...Definition of innovation. The term "innovation" comes from the Latin «novatio» -"renewal" or "change", and «in» - "in line, into". If translated literally, «Innovatio» means «in the direction of change". The concept of innovation has a lot of classical definitions. One of them is – innovation is a process of intentional change made to create value by meeting opportunity and seeking advantage (Dr. Bruton A. (2012). Creativity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Retrieved October 7, 2012 from http://resources.talcie.org/topics-and-activities/creativity-innovation-and-entrepreneurship). Thus, the innovation means the use of novations in the form of new technologies, products and services, new organization form of production and labor, maintenance and management. That is why, we can say that innovation is possible in all areas of human activity. 7 Interwoven areas of Innovation (Source: http://www.innovarsity.com/products/bec_mc_innovation_systemic.html) Two components of innovation. According to the American Heritage Dictionary (1994), "Innovation is the act of introducing something new". J. Byrd and P.L.Brown, the authors of “The Innovation Equation”, consider that "the act of introducing" is akin to taking a risk and "new" is about creativity. This leads on to what they call the innovation equation: Innovation = Creativity x Risk Taking Creativity is the ability to generate and develop new unconventional ideas, to successfully solve the challenges...
Words: 1708 - Pages: 7
...The term innovation can be defined as something original and more effective and, as a consequence, new, that "breaks into" the market or society. Any review particularly on new product development and innovation management will uncover numerous references to 3M. 3M is quite possibly the most innovative company of our times that even CEOs of other visionary companies admire. 3M is best known for its household brands such as Post-it Note, Scotchgard, Scotch tape, and many more. 3M initially failed in its mining business, and eventually stumbled onto most of the successful innovations that we know 3M for, including Post-It, Masking and Scotch tape. There are some key activities and principles that contribute to 3M’s performance which reflected in its approach to innovation namely the variety of management techniques, such as good communications and the setting of clear objectives with a company culture built on more than 90 years of nurturing idea and fostering creativity. Being an “innovating machine”, 3M institutionalized the mechanisms to drive innovation as the "15 percent rule" - technical people spend up to 15 percent of their time on projects of their own choosing or initiative, "25 percent rule" - each division should produce 25 percent of annual sales from new products and services introduced in the previous four years (which later increased to 30 percent). More growth mechanisms were created to stimulate internal entrepreneurship, test new ideas, create unplanned...
Words: 332 - Pages: 2
...------------------------------------------------- READING NOTES: The Discipline of Innovation In this article, Peter F. Drucker provides us a complete framework of the “Innovation”. Systematic innovation is both work and inspiration: it is at the heart of entrepreneurship. According to him, there are three requirements that must be met in order to succeed in innovation: KNOWLEDGE (study potential customers’ needs and expectations), INGENUITY (think about something simple and useful. “Faster, Better, Cheaper” summarize it well) and FOCUS (start with a small idea and make it growth to arrive to an effective innovation). Innovation is also a change in the behavior of people in general or a change in process (how people work or act). The main question is how to innovate. Peter F. Drucker writes that companies have to look for OPPORTUNITIES. He identifies seven ways to innovate, called “the seven sources of innovation”. He divides theses sources in 2 groups: the first four sources lie within the company and the last three depends on the environment of the company (external factors). Unexpected occurrences Successes or failures Incongruities Differences between what it is and what people wants Process needs New product/service is an answer to a need Industry/market changes Offer possibilities to launch a new product/service Demographic changes Statistics about population move quickly Changes in perception Meaning and mood change from a generation...
Words: 464 - Pages: 2
...Sustainable Innovation as a Corporate Strategy M. Rashid Khan and Mohammed Al-Ansari Intellectual Assets Management, Saudi Aramco, Dhahran 31311, Saudi Arabia. 1. Introduction Something amazing happened in the corporate world. The idea to innovate has captured our imagination. As an example, in 1996, Lucent Technologies’ award winning “Creativity Center” was industries state-of-the art that provided leadership, passion, outstanding marketing, training and communication. Similarly, Enron was the industry “darling” for its innovation program; Enron’s major intranet program “eThink” was recognized with awards for excellence in communication. Yet four years later Enron went bankrupt, the programs of many companies were in ruins joining the ranks of Polaroid, DuPont, Reynolds, Ford and many others. What happened? We watched many companies failed while other organizations remained successful. What made the difference in the innovation process? While many companies failed, others were successful adding value fostering innovation and creativity. Many companies such as 3M, IBM, Disney, Microsoft, and Sony continued to innovate. This paper attempts to explain the reasons behind the failures and successes. 2. What is Innovation? Innovation is discovering new ways of creating value. Innovation serves as the lifeblood of many organizations whose survival and growth depend on developing new technology, products and services. A successful organization is a creative organization because creativity...
Words: 2180 - Pages: 9
...optimization, operation and control of technological products, processes and services, a better definition would be the management of the use of technology for human advantage. The Association of Technology, Management, and Applied Engineering defines Technology Management as the field concerned with the supervision of personnel across the technical spectrum and a wide variety of complex technological systems. Technology Management programs typically include instruction in production and operations management, project management, computer applications, quality control, safety and health issues, statistics, and general management principles.[1] Perhaps the most authoritative input to our understanding of technology is the diffusion of innovations theory developed in the first half of the twentieth century. It...
Words: 474 - Pages: 2
...Entrepreneurship and Innovation Session 3: Entrepreneurial Strategy Baden U’Ren buren@bond.edu.au Level 4, Room 9 5595 2212 Overview Review of the readings Innovation and Entrepreneurship Entrepreneurship in a Corporate Context Entrepreneurial Strategy What is Innovation? Something NEW that creates VALUE What is Innovation? “Innovation is the specific tool of entrepreneurs, the means by which they exploit change as an opportunity for a different business or service. It is capable of being presented as a discipline, capable of being learned, capable of being practiced” - Peter Drucker Source: Schaper & Volery (2007) Entrepreneurship and Small Business 2nd Edition. Wiley. p.69 Creativity ideas, concepts & inventions Innovation the process of development and commercialisation Entrepreneurship couples opportunities and resources Innovation Exploit Incremental Explore Radical Kirzner The producer-entrepreneur •Alert and responsive to opportunities that exist •Exploits disorder (gaps) to move the market back to equilibrium Schumpeter The innovator-entrepreneur: •Creates products and processes to disturb market equilibrium •Creates opportunities Innovation & Performance Some ‘stylised facts’ about the relationships between innovation and performance: Relationships between R&D, patents, new products and performance are strongest at the industry level, weakest at the firm level Returns from process innovation are typically...
Words: 733 - Pages: 3
...organization that was chosen for this project was Proctor and Gamble. This paper will touch on the global outlooks and strategies in which the CEO A.G. Lafley used. Lafley used these processes in conjunction with the five skills of discovery to promote growth within the company and to increase sales. This paper will discuss the different models that could be used to encourage innovation within Proctor and Gamble that will help innovative leaders in their roles and responsibilities. Lastly, this paper will also discuss how the information discussed correlates with the five skills of discovery. The leader’s actions will then be assessed and scored on how well they implemented change and shaped a culture that is more innovative in their organization. Supportive Leadership Model There is one model in particular that could be chosen to help increase the progression in the Proctor and Gamble organization. The Transformational leadership model could have been a great assesst in the development of new ideas in Proctor and Gamble. Proctor and Gamble first used the “closed innovation” model and then switched to the “open innovation” model to create growth within their organization. According to Venkatesh & Devi (2006), In 2003 Alan Lafley developed the “Connect and Development” model to generate ideas from scientist, engineers, and enterpauners and individuals outside the company. P&G already had some strong models in place to help with the change within their organization. The global context...
Words: 1356 - Pages: 6
...TL 038 INNOVATION PROJECT MANAGEMENT: A RESEARCH AGENDA SERGEY FILIPPOV; HERMAN MOOI DELFT UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, DEPARTMENT OF INNOVATION SYSTEMS RESEARCHER AT DELFT CENTRE FOR PROJECT MANAGEMENT (THE NETHERLANDS) Abstract th Originally developed in the mid-20 century, project management has become a distinctive way to manage business activities nowadays. Another important development is virtually universal recognition of the role of innovation and technology in the corporate change, growth and profitability. It is unsurprising that development of innovation is often run as a project. Yet, theoretically both project management and innovation studies have evolved over time as distinctively separate disciplines. In this paper we make an attempt to conceptualise the innovation project management and to specify the idiosyncratic nature of innovation projects as opposed to conventional projects. By doing so, we contribute to the nascent academic debate on the interplay between innovation and project management. Key words: project management, innovation, technology 1. Introduction This paper is concerned with three topics and the interplay between them, namely “Innovation”, “Research and Development (R&D)” and “Project Management”. The interest in these topics has exploded recently as they emerged both on the policy agenda and in the corporate strategies. The contribution of technological innovation to national economic growth has been well established in...
Words: 9508 - Pages: 39
...Innovation is the driving force for the advancement of technology, and always has been. But where does innovation come from? It comes from within, as it is highly dependent on one of the most basic facets of human nature, being unsatisfied with current situations. We, as human beings, are never truly satisfied, and this has led us to better ourselves and to innovate, and will continue to lead us to innovate in the future. The quote “Everything that can be invented, has been invented” (attributed to Charles Duell) couldn’t be more wrong. Dr. Kumar, a professor at London Business School makes a few interesting points on the topic of innovation, but more specifically, outsourcing innovation. While India has made a splash in the information technology aspect of business, it is becoming increasingly clear that India is starting to innovate in the management side of things. Therefore, India is destined to also become a global leader in both management and management innovation. Manufacturing isn’t the only thing that foreign countries have to offer US companies anymore. Kumar talks about four different kinds of “invisible” innovation (innovation not usually seen by consumers) coming from India. The first kind is known as Business to Business innovation, also known as B2B. These products are inventions made by businesses in their research & development departments. R&D projects in India have been shown to be as competent as American R&D projects, therefore debunking...
Words: 963 - Pages: 4
...Applied Economics Letters, 2011, 18, 1121–1124 Management innovation, corporation core competence and corporate culture: the impact of relatedness Chich-Jen Shieh Department of International Business, Chang Jung Christian University, Kway Jen, Sector 1, 396 Chang Jung Road, Tainan, 71101 Taiwan E-mail: charles@mail.cjcu.edu.tw This study reports the results of a study of Management Innovation of Taiwanese businesses in China. Over 800 questionnaires were sent out to the Taiwanese owners/managers in Kun-Shan City, China, with 260 valid responses included in the study. Four relationships were examined in the study: the correlation between management innovation and corporation core competence, between management innovation and the corporate culture, between corporation core competence and the corporate culture and finally the effect of the corporate culture on the relationship between management innovation and corporation core competence. Findings and conclusions are discussed. I. Introduction Management innovations are processes such as new distribution methods or novel applications of technology in the management process, which enable organizations to reach their goals, and include object management, environmental research and judgment, coordination, integration and schedule control (Van de Ven, 2003; Van Ark et al., 2003b). Van Ark et al. (2003a) defined management innovation as a management product or management process that is based on some technology...
Words: 2216 - Pages: 9
...The role of innovation in business Introduction Innovation is defined in Schumpeter's Theory of Economic Development (1912) in the field of economics. In Schumpeter’s view, innovation is the process that introduces new combinations of production factors into the production system to get potential profits (Shelton, 2009). Schumpeter argued that innovation is composed of five aspects: the introduction of new products, generation of new technologies, exploration of new markets, acquirement of new materials, implementation new organizational forms (Shelton, 2009). As the famous statement of Ralph Waldo Emerson goes, “If a man can write a better book, preach a better sermon, or make a better mousetrap than his neighbor, though he build his house in the woods, the world will make a beaten path to his door”. The innovation in business has become more and more important nowadays. Continuous innovation is a significant factor for the success of a company. However, is it true that as long as the company can achieve sustainable innovation, it can become successful? This might not be totally right. This essay analyses the role of innovation in business and critically analyzes how innovative strategies can provide businesses with a competitive advantage in their market sectors through the case of Apple Inc and Coca-cola. Discussion Firstly, it comes to prove the correctness of the statement supported by a situation of real case in business. Schumpeter believed that new...
Words: 2932 - Pages: 12
...The Innovation Process Learning Team A OI/361 July 2, 2012 The Innovation Process Nokia’s cellular phone battery problem requires a creative innovative approach to problem-solving. Innovation is a process organizations engage to gain a competitive advantage. The following discussion focuses on the innovative process. Discussion begins by indentifying each of the four steps of the innovation process. Steps include generating new ideas, researching new ideas, development of a product or service, and distribution, or delivery of products or services. Additionally, this portion of the discussion will focus on the application of the innovation process as it pertains to Nokia’s cellular phone battery problem. The discussion concludes with identification of appropriate tools for use regarding the four-step process and an explanation for their selection. Also, the discussion concludes with a focus on measuring results, monitoring, and controlling to ensure continual improvement. Innovations Process The four basic phases of the innovative process are generating, conceptualizing, optimizing and implementing. Innovation begins with generating. This phase is where brainstorming leads to viable solutions for customers. Generating can also entail some designing and modeling. Conceptualizing is the phase in which ideas accepted from the generating phase are passed along to research and development. Ideas are designed and tested in this phase along with planning the product development...
Words: 940 - Pages: 4
