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The Innovation Imperative – Why Companies Must Innovate Or Perish

admin — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 14:21:57 +0000

Some time ago, Steve Jobs was quoted as saying, “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower;” and that statement has never been more meaningful than it is today. At a time when the even the most fundamental elements of business success are being reevaluated and redefined, one thing becomes increasingly clear: innovation is no longer a “nice to have;” it’s a “must have.” If innovation distinguished between leaders and followers in the recent past, today it increasingly distinguishes between survivors and the barely breathing. Innovation is the new Darwinism in business; the choice facing companies today is simple: innovate, or perish.

The companies that will survive today’s economic environment and succeed in tomorrow’s are those willing to continually reinvent themselves, their products, their brands, their processes-in short, the way they do business. Many organizations are even looking for innovative ways to innovate, replacing traditional brainstorming techniques with new, more inventive processes. Introduce the world to the new new thing, the bleeding edge technology, the better mousetrap, the reinvented paradigm and there’s a good bet you’ll remain ahead of the curve and be around to reap the rewards in the future.

The Innovators

The topic of innovation certainly isn’t new; it’s been the business buzz word for several years now. We’ve all read about it in business magazines and heard the reports on financial news stations. Harvard Business School professors lecture on it at conferences and scores of books address it. And the same companies are consistently held up as the elite innovators-Apple, Google, Nintendo, JetBlue, Toyota, Target (and today again, WalMart). And there are hundreds and even thousands more you’ve never heard of, visionary companies that are seizing the opportunities (yes, opportunities) presented by the current economic phase, breaking the rules, establishing new standards, delivering incredible value, and then starting that process all over again…and again, and again. These companies come in all shapes and sizes, and exist in every industry-technology, biotech, pharma, automotive, consumer packaged goods, retail, you name it, they’re out there, outthinking and outdoing everyone else in their fields. Whatever they’re playing field, they all have one thing in common: they innovate.

Three Not-So-Easy Choices

Today, businesses face three choices. In many cases, none may be easy to make.

1. Actively innovate. Stay at the forefront of their industry and their competitive set, doing whatever it takes to meet constantly evolving market conditions and consumer demand.

2. React. Wait for others to set the standard and play catch-up, forever scrambling to match the latest development introduced by market leaders.

3. Do nothing. Stay right where they are, do their best to survive, and almost certainly stagnate, eventually drifting into irrelevance, and finally, extinction. Innovate or perish.

Innovation of the Individual

By the way, the innovation imperative doesn’t only apply to businesses; it’s a challenge facing individuals, as well, again, even more so today. Each and every one of us who collects (or hopes to collect) a paycheck has at least one consumer, the person responsible for our professional future. Individual employees must also continually reassess their approach and establish their value, or face the same dismal fate as their corporate counterparts. In fact, while we are currently facing increasing jobless numbers, still more than 90% of the workforce remains employed. While in many cases circumstances beyond the control of the individual are responsible, what might that 10% do, innovatively, that could help them make it back into the 90%?

Work Your Innovation Chops

The time to develop an innovation orientation is not tomorrow or next week or in the third quarter. It’s now.

Begin actively searching for new, better, more productive ways of doing things. Utilize proven innovation tools-advanced ideation techniques, new technologies, breakthrough processes. Adopt an “innovation mindset,” asking yourself every day, “How could I do this better?” Turn yourself and your organization into an Innovation Machine. You will not only survive this evolutionary upheaval, you will thrive.

By: Keith Harmeyer

Innoventures – How Innovation Can Invent Joint Venture Opportunities

admin — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 09:49:58 +0000

Innovations have multiple sources of inspirations and motivations aside from pure genius. Funds are the regular ones. Prized competitions by Bill and Melinda Foundation and Google drew scientists and university students to develop cheap but curative vaccines and faster lunar information transmission technology, respectively. Policy supports are big factors too. Government of Barcelona bike-friendly policies gave way to biking practices in the city. Education-coupled with striking poverty-also drives innovation. Bangalore, India became the second Silicon Valley because of it. Social responsibility is catching up to be one of the current forces of innovation like Texas Instrument or Intel’s digital villages in Amazon, Brazil. Mere personal interest is not negligible and so as joint ventures.

We have read, seen and heard of many joint ventures nowadays that produced breakthrough products and services. Microsoft and university students created Vista, Xbox and tablet PCs. Google and Samsung invented T-Mobile or the Google phone. CNN and ESPN did not only deliver global sports news but entertainment sports. Time and diverse politicians, celebrities, writers and famous people came up with gripping testimonies about the 100 influential people. Bill Clinton and George Bush exponentially raised funds for Katrina. Apple and Nike came up with a ware that monitors heart rate while jogging and listening to iPod. Intel and Amazon universities provided accessible healthcare services in distant Amazon villages.

Google and General Electric now move to develop a smarter electricity transmission grid. General Electric and Mubadala gradually build Masdar, an eco-city that is carbon-free and energy efficient. American International Group and Philippine American Life and General Insurance Co. offer a one-stop shop that has complete insurance and investment portfolios. Victoria Secret and ForestEthics published eco-friendly catalogues. Marriot Hotel and Conservation International protect Amazon rainforest. TiVo and Amazon.com introduce “product purchase” straight from TV programs like Oprah Winfrey talk show using television remote control.

By: Rivers Corbett

Smart Touchphones Review (iPhone, T-Mobile G1 and Blackberry Storm)

admin — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 04:11:15 +0000

I was really looking forward to see all these phones making waves in different aspects of the mobile industry, which i think were successful in one way or the other. But at the end of the day there had to be only one winner that would stand out from all the other “SMARTtouch” phones available in the market. Read on for more insight.

Well to give you a brief on each one of them, I would first start off with iPhone – It’s till now one of the sleekest and branded as the most sought after and possessive phone with a massive “sex appeal” and multitouch screen phone available in the market. It has got all the looks you can dream of with good user interaction and response. On the other hand there is the latest T-Mobile G1 (with Google Android Operating system) which you won’t even dream of owning it just for the looks but as far as the interface (software side) is concerned, I would say its one of the best in the market with rich Web-friendly Internet Apps. And last but not the least Blackberry Storm which did not bring in a “STORM” in the smartphone industry as expected but manged to get in some positive reception from the users. My personal experience with the phones are discussed below in detail.

iPHONE – A perfect combination of a Phone, iPod and Internet device. My first glance of iPhone was itself very positive, whether you go for the looks, interaction, multitouch screen or the size of the phone. The phone is indeed very lightweight and has got only one home key that brings up the Home screen with options of selecting iPod, Instant messaging, texting, settings, YouTube, Calendar, Maps, Apps stores. The best thing that I came across was when I used the onscreen keyboard. It was very efficient even when i used my thumb to enter any letter or number, it was spot on ( I didn’t even imagine in my dreams the interaction with the onscreen keyboard would be so easy) and the overall touch and feel of the phone is brilliant.

Pro’s – No need for a stylus as it has got a very responsive multitouch screen, In-built Memory options of 8GB and 16GB, it also has Wifi and Bluetooth, easy access to all the features of the phone through a single home (circular) button, very nice iPod as well.

Con’s – No video recorder software (available as a separate download), Very expensive when taken on Pay as you go plans (both in US & UK) , Need a converter to convert MP3’s to iTunes, No separate battery slot (have to send it to Apple to get the battery replaced), Low profile camera – only 2 MegaPixel (as compared to other phones with 3.2 MegaPixels).

T-Mobile G1 – Best Internet ready device with Google Maps. The interface of the phone was one of the best in the market as it comes from a reputed company “Google” which has one of the best and the simplest online interactive interfaces on the internet (the good old Google search box). The phone has two home screens which can be accessed by just sliding it sideways. It has one of the best phone locking features by drawing a pattern on the dots which appear on the screen whatever way you want as compared to iPhone wherein you can unlock the phone by just sliding finger from right to left on the screen.

Pro’s – Keypad included for quick access to the keys, good support for 3rd party applications as it has got an open source software called Android which can be modified as required by the users (more Apps. will appear in the future). Has got good quality camera of 3.2 MegaPixels and has got a separate battery slot.

Con’s – No video recording facility ,Not a good option if you want looks. The phone when slided horizontally gives a very old fashioned look (not a good start from Google in the mobile industry). Not at a good phone to carry in your pocket as it is very big as compared to iPhone.

Suggestion - It would be nice to see in future if Google launches Android on some respected phone brand companies like Sony ericsson, Nokia, Samsung, LG. And if they do I am sure that it will become one of the best touch screen phones in the market.

Blackberry Storm – It is nice phone with good looks and nice interface. The best thing about this phone is the resolution of the screen. It is the first phone in the market which has a touch screen with an impression of the keys. You can feel that the onscreen keys or buttons being pressed. The marketing was done to a much extent depending on this feature of the phone but i don’t think that it was as successful as they thought it to be. The reason being that is the whole screen gets depressed when a key is pressed which makes it difficult for the user to use touch sensitive applications like photos wherein if you want zoom the pictures, you have to first press the whole screen and then tap the screen to zoom the pictures which I consider is not soo good.

Pro’s – Great screen resolution as compared with the other two phones, best suited for frequent e-mail users as traditionally Blackberry’s are made for messaging on the go, the size of the phone is not so big and doesn’t feel odd to carry. Good quality camera of 3.2 MegaPixels and separate Battery slot.

Con’s – No video recording facility, Not soo good multitouch screen when compared with iPhone as the whole screen gets depressed.

Conclusion – So as far as I have seen all the three handsets I would say that if you want to go for the looks with good interface and feature rich phone, you should definitely go for iPhone. If you want the best interface and best internet feature rich phone, go for T-Mobile G1 and if you are looking for the best screen resolution with e-mail on the fly (best suited for business users), I would strongly suggest you to go for Blackberry Storm.

The article above is based on my personal experience and views and does not reflect or represent any authoritative agency or authority. So whatever choice you go for, it is totally up to you and I am not responsible for any negatives. You are free to leave your comments on this article.

By: Farooq Ahmed