Why Business Model Innovation Matters
Managers frequently rely on innovation to drive profitable growth. In many industries new products and services are fundamental. However, although product and service innovations are and have been important to firms for decades, competitive pressures and the search for increased profit have pushed business model innovation higher on the priority list.
Creativity, overalls, and hard work
People who are successful inventors do have lots of ideas. But also they realize that ideas are a dime a dozen, and that in addition to the inspiration, a lot of good, plain hard work is required to bring an idea from start to finish, explains Susan Besemer.
Take two steps out of the comfort zone to enable innovation
A common difficulty with implementing an innovation is the human factor. An analogy is drawn with changing behavior through training.
100.000 Heads are Better than One
InnovationManagement.se got an exclusive interview with Ben du Pont, co-founder and president of Yet2.com, one of the world’s first open innovation platforms. Read more about Ben´s thoughts about open innovation and how companies can benefit from it.
Time to Challenge the Patent Portfolio
Many companies pay substantial yearly fees in order to protect their patents. But what business benefit do these patents really generate?
Henry Chesbrough About the Future of Open Innovation
Henry Chesbrough is known as the father of Open innovation. InnovationManagement.se asked him about the concept and how companies can benefit from working with Open innovation.
Open Innovation: Why Mindset Matters Most
I have long argued that companies should look more at the people side of innovation rather than concentrating all their efforts on processes and concepts. The necessity of building trust as a basis for successful open innovation makes this even more relevant, and it also brings more power to the people who really drive innovation within a company.
How to Think What No One Else Thinks
How can you think of things that no-one else thinks of? The answer is by deliberately taking a different approach to the issue from everyone else. There are dominant ideas in every field. The innovative thinker purposefully challenges those dominant ideas in order to conceive new possibilities, explains Paul Sloane.
3 key issues that can kill your innovation initiatives
Culture, Communication and Collaboration are the 3 C's that form the "soft-side" foundation of successful innovation. Without understanding your personnel "raw material" for innovation, the process may be difficult if not impossible to execute successfully.
Tapping unfamiliar trade shows for new ideas
Trade shows outside your immediate industry can be an excellent source of ideas. Not only do you find new products but your attitude toward information gathering will be completely different. And that makes you more open to ideas you can adapt to your industry.
Are you solving the real problem?
When an organization sets about solving what is perceived as a problem, is it addressing the real issue or is it addressing the symptoms that cause the most heartburn?
Innovation: Back to the Basics
With everyone and her aunt now involved in innovation and a never ending stream of articles, blog posts and books being published on the topic, we need to be sure we are clear on the basics of innovation, particularly corporate or organizational innovation.
Don’t be a prisoner of your patents
A short case history that demonstrates the catastrophe that can result when technically and commercially superior innovations are ignored because of the desire to remain within the boundaries of a company patent.
The people focus in innovation
Blogger Stefan Lindegaard recently threw down a challenge to innovation practitioners: Where are people in your innovation processes? Here are some of the many ways you can focus on the people part of your innovation initiatives.
Necessity is the mother of sustainable innovation
To build a capability of sustainable innovation, the key is to work smarter, not harder, according to this GE engineer.
Three forms of open innovation: Cases from GE Capital, Coca-Cola, Hyundai and LG
When you apply such a broad definition of open innovation, which can be summed up as the opposite of doing everything yourself, you also get the sense that open innovation is actually much more about mindset than processes. You also understand that almost every company already applies some kind of open innovation today. To prove this point, let's take a look at these quite different examples from GE Capital/Hyundai, Coca-Cola and LG.
How to define your strategy
The key element in developing business strategy is to define your intent. A company's intent could be to lead in some markets, and be a follower in another. A company can be a niche player, or a low cost leader, or the high value leader. Whatever the selection, it should be based on the desire to win and to determine what can be versus what is.
Connecting the dots between innovation and marketing
By understanding from the beginning that your marketing message to prospective customers must be just as innovative from their perspective as your products, services and business processes, you will be on the road to connecting innovation and marketing effectively.
‘100 Whats’ e-book is potent source of creative fuel
Don Snyder, better known as "Don the Idea Guy," has written a fascinating little e-book entitled, 100 Whats of Creativity.
Innovation strategy: Five steps to make change happen
Here are five steps to help you develop your change strategy based on my work with innovation leaders and intrapreneurs.
What’s driving you to reinvent?
While large organizations innovate, smaller ones often reinvent because they have different drivers for change.
Innovation strategy: How to Ask Effective Questions
As someone with an interest in innovation, you know the importance of asking questions and listening to answers. However, when it comes to innovation, some kinds of questions are better than others. Jeffrey Baumgartner looks at various types of questions and why they are good - or why they stink.
Moving from the innovation ‘life’ cycle to the innovation ‘loop’ cycle
Once you've launched your new product or idea, it's time to think about the downstream effects!
Innovating on Slender Means
When you are cutting costs and squeezing resources in all areas how can you find the people, time and money for innovation? Paul Sloane offers 5 practical strategies for innovating on slender means.