The Innovator’s Dilemma: Lessons from Kodak
I guess everyone knows the tragic story of the EastmanKodak Company: founded in the 19th century, dominating the photographic film market during most of the 20th century and finally collapsing into bankruptcy in the early 21st century, shaken by a new technology they had once decisively initiated.
Where to Start with Innovation? Begin by removing the Barriers
Surveys show that the large majority of senior executives see innovation as critical for their businesses but what if you want to make your organization more agile and innovative where should you start? You could launch a big initiative with grand statements, training classes and an ideas scheme but you tried all those last year and they fizzled out. It is better to begin with a brutally honest assessment of what is preventing innovation from happening today.
A New Emerging Practice: Innovation Communications
Closed innovation is a thing of the past. Scalable, open innovation as a business practice has yielded the most dramatic and successful results - and communication and connection with your audience is essential to success. By engaging through at least four of eight channels (website, email, social, public relations, partners, events, offline, and beyond), a robust communications process and schedule can yield valuable insights to help you innovate better.
How Big Radical is Reclaiming Design
Nobody doubts that design can be powerful. But while words and phrases like ‘design thinking,’ ‘agile’ and ‘lean’ may be officially welcome in the boardrooms of Deloitte, Accenture, PWc, McKinsey and similar firms, I believe that the full potential of design has been neglected and these terms misappropriated.
Fintech Innovations to Follow in the Future
Fintech has been one of the most talked-about topics in technological innovation lately, paving the way for revolutions in the financial sphere. The Bank of England announced last year that they would be looking to boost fintech development, indicating keen interest from financial giants. In this article, we’ll look at a few of the many recent innovative developments in fintech.
4 Intrapreneurs on the Blues And Bliss of Big Company Innovation
Life as an innovator can be exciting and terrifying at the same time. The Intrapreneurship Conference is taking over Stockholm for the next three days. We are featuring 25+ intrapreneurs on stage- sharing their approaches and results, their challenges and failures, and their personal hopes and fears. We started the day with trending topics. We asked our four presenters about their lives as innovators in large companies – and how they keep their energy up also when times are though.
Considering International Expansion? Get Ready To Think Outside Your Comfort Zone
Globalization is great for business: it opens up new markets and allows businesses to bring in revenue and talent from all over the world. However, the first steps into international expansion can be fraught with growing pains, forcing companies to waste time and money on efforts that don’t gain any traction in foreign markets. To avoid this, company leaders have to get ready to embrace change and innovation outside their normal comfort zone. Here’s why it’s important to get comfortable with discomfort when you’re considering international expansion.
Why Big Data Will Revolutionize B2B Marketing Strategies
B2B, or business to business marketing, involves selling of a company's services or products to another company. Consumer marketing and B2B marketing are really not that different. Basically, B2B uses the same principles to market [...]
What Skills Are Rated Most Difficult When it Comes to Innovation? (The Answer Might Surprise You)
A common misconception is that innovation can’t be taught. Similar to how some people believe that artists are born, not made – innovation has often seemed to be the purview of the great thinkers, the elite, people whose creativity is given, not a matter of practice…
Struggling with Company Culture? Here are 3 Ways to Improve Your Work Environment
Company culture is an extremely important component of a healthy business. Culture serves as the personality of the organization and has a huge impact on the company's reputation with both internal employees and externally with customers and clients. In addition, workplace culture can influence an employee's productivity and results. Companies who focus on building a positive culture will reap the benefits of a motivated and high-achieving workforce as employees will feel much more contented and connected at work.
A Simple Process Leads to a Complex Outcome: Interview with Luke Mansfield, VP, Innovation, PepsiCo
At PepsiCo, beverages are developed in a new approach to breakthrough Innovation. Everybody wants Innovation to be simple, but whilst the result may be simple, getting there is anything but. At FEI Europe Luke Mansfield will share new thinking on process, tools and techniques and new ways to collaborate to launch multiple new global brands.
Innovation Pays – More and More
Over recent years we have been tracking how companies identified as leading innovators subsequently perform in terms of growth in shareholder value. Linking innovation efficiency to out-performance against all major indices has proven the relationship that many across industry believe in and hope for: innovation pays. The latest round of analysis has just been completed and shows even greater performance than before.
From the Future to the Present: Visualization and Innovation
Recent discoveries of exoplanets that are relatively close to our solar system are used to illustrate the importance of “visualization”—of future consumer lifestyles, work and recreation, and product and service preferences—for the process of innovation. Different aspects of the visualization concept are discussed, including distinctions between consumers and companies, the importance of widely shared images and competition, and a possible role for Zen philosophy. Particular attention is devoted to visualizations associated with digital innovations, such as smartphones, voice assistants and the internet of things. A key conclusion of the discussion below is that the concept of disruptive innovation should be expanded to include the idea of disruptive visualization. The latter phenomenon will probably become more prevalent in the future.
Leaders Should Listen More and Talk Less
Want to improve your leadership skills? Well, you can start by talking less and listening more. While your oratory skills may impress some, your ability to listen will impress even more. Great leaders understand the importance of surrendering the floor. Unfortunately, most leaders choose to dominate the conversation with rhetoric and fail to engage in proper communication, which requires listening.
Florence: Lessons from a Global Innovation Hub
While discussing innovative cities, one can’t help but think about those that were major catalysts for change in the past: Athens, Istanbul, Hong Kong, and Florence, for example. But how do they compare to more modern innovation hubs such as Silicon Valley, London, or Singapore? In this article, we’ll look at Florence - and 10 recognizable and applicable elements that contributed to its success throughout the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries. We’ll also look at how Florence spurs innovation today.
Are Introverts More Innovative than Extroverts?
The assumption that an introvert is insecure or antisocial can do a major disservice to that person - and to your company. To truly innovate and grow your business, it's important to utilize all of the skills that your employees can contribute in their own way.
Five Ways Sustainable Innovation is Different from Normal Innovation
Today's innovation rules were forged in a world that paid little attention to sustainability, where profit was separate from this higher purpose. Yet the disruptive nature of sustainability must surely change the way we innovate too. We must continue to reinvent our innovation processes to ensure it is fit for a changing world, in the five ways highlighted here.
Implementation is Your New Competitive Advantage
When it comes to implementation there are three things that companies ought to be thinking about in order to maintain a competitive advantage: process, feedback, and the importance of having multiple stakeholders from the beginning. Learn more in this Open Innovation Guide from IdeaScale.
Organizational Revolutions through Idea Hacking
Businesses face the dilemma dividing resources between protecting the current value chain and developing new value propositions that in time replace the old ones. Not every organization has the luxury to have its own dedicated innovation unit and still then the ideas might not always be too innovative. Hackathons are an affordable and energizing way to generate innovative ideas that can revolutionize your organization.
7 Ways to Appeal to Your Customers through IoT
To understand the impact of IoT on customer service you first need to know what it is. Briefly defined, IoT is a system of interrelated devices, digital machines, and objects that have unique identifiers. All these entities also have data transfer capabilities over networks without the need for human/human or human/computer interaction. In this article, we'll explore how you can redefine and improve customer relationships through IoT.
How Neuroscience is Supporting Innovative Corporations
Progressive business leaders are building innovative actions, climates and ultimately cultures that align with “brain-friendly” science. In this article we outline some steps that you can take to support this kind of innovative organization.
AI is Best Delivered as Service because there is Always Something that Needs Special Adjustment
In this Innoboard interview with Dr. Joseph Reger, Fujitsu Fellow and Chief Technology Officer at Fujitsu EMEIA, he discusses his take on the nature of innovation, the best opportunities for using AI at Fujitsu, why AI is best delivered as a service rather than a product, and much more.
Innovation Lessons from Rome’s Greatest Enemy
What innovation lessons can we learn from Hannibal, one of history’s most illustrious generals? In this piece based on a chapter from Paul Sloane’s ‘Think like an Innovator’, we’ll look at how Hannibal’s battle strategies and tactics can apply to innovation today - from using new and unexpected resources, to outflanking your competition, to understanding the importance of networking.
Innovation Ecosystem Podcast: Lessons from Season 3 and the Difficulties Innovators Face
In this episode, Mark briefly shares his key takeaways from season 3 followed by a special sneak peak at his interview for Idea to Value’s Innovation and Creativity Summit coming up next week. Listen in as Nick Skillicorn interviews Mark about his intrapreneurial and entrepreneurial experiences and his key advice for corporate innovators at all levels.