Seven Signs That Your Innovation Program is at Risk of Failure
There are plenty of examples of innovation program failure at large organizations. In this article, I examine the key markers that I have observed, that indicate a program may be in trouble and at risk of failure.
The New Normal: From Product to Platforms and Processes
Platforms and processes, rather than products, will become the focus of new business creation as we move forward. The main characteristic of a handful of new trends in business – Collaborative consumption, Sharing, the Maker movement and the Circular economy – is that the value creation is less about adding some new feature to a product. Instead, the appeal of these models is that they can deliver more value for less by involving a number of stakeholders, including the users, in co-creating solutions.
Innovation in and of the Board Room
Innovation and more of it has become the mantra of top management. The ability to innovate and thereby sustainably create value for the business is becoming the defining competitive advantage for companies which want to thrive in a globalized economy. So obviously, driving innovation is a key job for top management, the CEO and the C-Suite. But what about the Board? What role should it play in the innovation game – if any?
The Growth Accelerator – Managing Innovation Based Growth
Growth is on the top of the management agenda as shareholders simply demand return on invested capital and current business is not delivering it. So what is the best route companies can take to achieve it? How can companies create and accelerate growth? To succeed companies must possess the capabilities and take a systematic approach to go beyond their core business.
Fostering Collaboration for Innovative Excellence
Innovation can take on many forms. From ideas sourced from a single individual or event to massive projects that require the effort of an entire team, multiple departments and various thought leaders, excellence often stems from collaboration. As a business leader or manager, are you taking the steps today to foster this collaboration for best results?
Sitting on Untapped Potential – The Power of Your Organisation’s Collective Intelligence
In the autumn of 1906, 85-year-old Sir Francis Galton made a fascinating discovery on the judgment power of crowds: The accuracy of groups is far greater than of individuals. It’s a well-known story yet worth recapping. Surprisingly, the central character is a fat ox.
What Is An Employee Innovation Network, And Why Should You Care?
As Innovation Program leaders look to expand their scope and influence across complex, global organizations, they are turning to the development of Employee Innovation Networks. This article examines what these networks can look like, and provides some high level overview of the value that they can generate.
New Report: Does HR Matter in Innovation? Is there Innovation in HR?
Many of the challenges faced by an organisation wanting to innovate boils down to talent management, areas often directly under the influence of HR. In this study, we explore whether HR has become a partner yet in innovation. We make the case that it is imperative for HR to be a driver, while also being innovative in its own domain.
The Innovation Steering Committee as a Guiding Coalition to Change Culture
Today, meetings consume close to 40-50% of executive time. That’s 100 days per year! By some measures 80% of meeting time could be better invested in closing business, developing talent, recruiting new customers, conceiving new products or improving operations – just about anything other than gathering for another conversation without productive outcomes.
The 7 Principles of Highly Effective Innovation Culture Change Programs (Part 2)
Nothing is more constant than change. Furthermore, the speed of change is accelerating. So for instance, the global knowledge is growing exponentially, disruptive megatrends (e.g. Internet Of Things, urbanization, demographic shifts) are shaping the innovation agendas and new approaches for capturing value by innovation (e.g. Business Model Innovation, Design Thinking) are becoming mainstream. Thus, new realities for innovation management are emerging and firms are forced to change their innovation management ever faster.
Pushing the boundaries – part 3: Making open innovation relevant to more economic players
This is the last article in a series of three, illustrating how we can push the boundaries within open innovation research. After reading a recently published strategy book by Rita McGrath, “The end of competitive advantage”, the writer is convinced that it offers several handles to understand open innovation in a broader, strategic context.
Top 10 Masters in Innovation Management Worldwide
We checked out the Top 10 of best master programs that are entirely dedicated to innovation management. The ranking shows that France is strongly represented with 4 programs. English taught programs can be found in The Netherlands, China, Denmark and Spain.
Should you Engage with Your Company Beyond your Job Description?
Benefits abound when organizations fully engage their employees. Deeply involved employees are more efficient—working longer hours and going beyond what is asked— and, organization-wide, engaged personnel directly impact financial results. A Towers Perrin study found a 6% higher profit margin in companies with engaged staff, while Gallup reported higher employee engagement scores positively correlate with increased earnings per share.
The 7 Principles of Highly Effective Innovation Culture Change Programs (Part 1)
Nothing is more constant than change. Furthermore, the speed of change is accelerating. So for instance, the global knowledge is growing exponentially, disruptive megatrends (e.g. Internet Of Things, urbanization, demographic shifts) are shaping the innovation agendas and new approaches for capturing value by innovation (e.g. Business Model Innovation, Design Thinking) are becoming mainstream. Thus, new realities for innovation management are emerging and firms are forced to change their innovation management ever faster.
Leadership’s Influence Company’s Culture
A company will always follow its leaders, but what influence do they play on the company culture?
The Dirty Maple Flooring Company Enters the Digital Age: Part 20
Chief strategist Charlie Bangbang has experienced the first evolution of his practice of collaborative innovation at Dirty Maple by applying the blueprint. What lessons does he take about innovation management? About crowdsourcing? About leadership?
The Human Side of Innovation: Seven Lessons For Sustained Success
Enterprise innovation success seems illusive for large organizations. In the United States, executive leaders frustrated with the slow pace of innovation success are seeking elixirs to step up progress. This article reveals seven highly effective lessons for corporate leaders seeking to declare an innovation victory in the coming years. The answer lies on the “human” side of the equation.
The R&D department: From Innovation Engine to Part of the OI Machine?
The success of Open Innovation hinges on many organizational aspects as we have discussed extensively on the MOOI forum in the past months and will continue to do so as of September 2014 onwards. To summarize, we have discussed corporate strategy, top management, organizational structures, HR, culture, and IP in light of Open Innovation.
4 Things to Think About When Launching Your Innovation Program
Launching an innovation program is challenging for a number of reasons. Most of the time, champions of innovation face two main problems: 1) the general challenge of coordinating the various aspects of the innovation department, but also 2) educating the rest of the community about the value of innovation and how it will impact them. Addressing some of the main questions or challenges right off the bat paves the way for innovation success later.
For Philips, Open Innovation is Vital to Stay Ahead of Competition
“Open Innovation and technology scouting are vital for us to stay ahead of competition and identify cutting edge technologies that will allow us to propose the best products to our consumers”. In this interview, Steven Vaassen, Open Innovation Leader at Philips Consumer Lifestyle, shares his view on OI and how Philips is organized to decide when and how to use Open Innovation.
The Hidden Innovation Barriers: Company Culture and your Brain
When you ask Executives what they want beyond short profit and revenue growth they’ll likely say ‘more innovation’. Why? Because they face unprecedented business challenges. Let’s look back. The current modern corporation was invented about 100 years ago – at the start of the 20th century. That’s when the big companies were born like the US railroad companies, US Steel, the big banks, IG Farben. Some exist still today (GE).
It’s Midnight. Do You Know Where Your Projects Are?
Product innovation shouldn’t be scary. But if you don’t know where projects are throughout the development process, those projects could be as good as gone. This article considers how the level of visibility organizations have into a product as it progresses through the full commercialization process directly relates to its success. What steps can organizations take to expand their field of vision into product lifecycles and how can having a single source of truth be the light in the darkness?
Company Culture: A Driving Force For Innovation
Real innovation will starts with your company culture. Your shared values will help your business grow while stale company culture can sink you entirely. Your company culture can change in subtle ways over time but there are many ways to keep your infrastructure on task and in line with your overall mission. Simply stated, a good company culture drives innovation.
Pushing the Boundaries – Part 2: Making Open Innovation Relevant to More Economic Players
The MOOI-forum is in its 5th month now, focusing on Open Innovation and corporate culture as theme. Every month, great discussions emerge on the forum. This article takes a look at how open innovation can be applied in many different strategic settings compared to the showcases described in different publications during the last decade.