You’ve heard it a thousand times: companies need to innovate in order to survive. The Googles and the Apples of the world are doing it- Google famously used to require employees to dedicate 20% of their time to innovation. But what exactly does it take to create a sustainable innovation program, especially if you are in an industry that is traditionally risk averse?
Experienced leadership, a concept designed for scalability and timing, is the most important factor influencing fast-growing startups, also known as scale-ups. Only 1 out of 200 startups become a scale-up valued over $10 million within 5 years. THNK and Deloitte conducted quantitative research to analyze the dynamics and characteristics of 400.000 startups.
The power and freedom that entrepreneurs and their startups embody is reinforced through a constant stream of media highlighting success, purpose and (mostly bullsh*t) bucolic work environments. As the global economy improves, business leaders of established corporate organizations need to consider how they can introduce an entrepreneurial spirit. Intrapreneurs are the answer, and this article provides a high level overview.
The state of the global innovation economy is alive and well, according to a recent survey report featuring organisations actively developing and implementing new technologies and solutions across a range of industries.
In the current business environment, defined by some as the ‘Knowledge Age’, leadership interest is increasingly focused on Innovation and Knowledge Management development efforts. To date, these functions often operate along parallel, yet discrete, paths. As organizations seek new areas of growth, while further cutting costs there is an increasing need to build more effective partnerships in order to ensure ongoing success and drive additional business value.
While innovation is crucial for driving customer engagement and increasing share of wallet, companies continue to struggle with the “what” and “how” of it. For each best-practice organization that has streamlined its innovation processes, there are many that are still paralyzed by their haphazard approach toward identifying and evaluating ideas. Evalueserve interacted with many of its Fortune 100 clients and identified six strategies that enhance the likelihood of developing successful innovation programs.
Imagine if you could listen to the daily conversations of world-class innovation program leaders. How would you use that information to deepen your thinking about innovation and what it takes to really implement it, organization-wide?
As business leaders seek additional impact from Innovation Programs, new ways to leverage and scale existing resources are being explored. One approach is to link externally sourced ideas with networks of innovation-minded employees, to generate additional business impact.
Which companies lead the world in turning creative ideas into protected, commercialized inventions? The IP & Science business of Thomson Reuters, the world's premier provider of intelligent information for businesses and professionals, answered that question today with the announcement of its fourth annual 2014 Top 100 Global Innovators list. The program honors the 100 most innovative organizations globally, as measured by a series of patent-related metrics.
Which companies are ensuring their place in the future? Definitely not those sticking to conventional models in work organisation or in structuring and running their businesses. As evolution teaches, the ability to adapt to environmental changes, such as the ones we experience in the corporate world, determines who has a better chance of thriving. So, is your company’s DNA set to evolve?
To understand the conditions around innovation in Latin America in detail, INSITUM conducted a qualitative and quantitative study with more than 300 of the biggest Latin American organizations. The study has brought to light many of the contexts, barriers, needs and outcomes around innovation in Latin American organizations. This article explores some of the results and offers a free download of the full report.
Jos Tissen of Unilever, based in the Netherlands, and Shawn Heipp of Elmer’s Products, based in Ohio, USA, have something in common. Each manages his company’s corporate innovation portal, the website used to encourage technology solution submissions from external customers, suppliers, inventors, and businesses. Tissen and Heipp describe their unique portal implementation choices and their results to date.
More than ever, companies need to engage their employees to assure long-term viability. Yet, overwhelmed with information, people’s attention spans have become shorter and shorter. Their willingness to contribute to lateral activities has shrunk, particularly if these are boring or create anxiety. And innovation is often no fun…or can it be?
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.
As innovation practitioners, few of us would refute that decision-making is one of the biggest progress-halting problems in corporations pursuing innovation as a continuous process. This article introduces a hands-on tool to help innovators, management members and corporate boards to follow a visual, utterly practical method to “consider” (as opposed to evaluate) new projects and their possible implications in their companies’ future. The tool in turn, fosters lean communication and inclusive understanding among diverse participants, claiming that, by following its structure, innovation is not only possible, but repeatable.
