Open Innovation

Michael S. Slocum

Dow Pairs Six Sigma with Innovation

When innovation is the lifeblood of a company, it cannot rely solely on the fickleness of inspiration. "Dow not only has to run better than competitors, but also has to respond to changes in the marketplace by having new products to fill the demand space."Read More

An Overview of the General Theory of Innovation

The company that creates a greater value for its respective market will prosper. Repeating this difference, success will be associated with that initially leading organization. It seems so simple, but is it?Read More

A Vote for Process Innovation

Cass PursellThink of the most innovative companies in the world. Better yet, pick one. Focus on it. Get it firmly in mind.

How much of that company’s annual revenue is represented by new products? If it’s a young company you’re … Read More

Innovation in Small Businesses

Praveen Gupta

How can a small business benefit from innovation? Can small business afford innovation? How can innovation help small business grow revenue, and how quickly? These are some of the most frequently asked questions about innovation.

I believe most of … Read More

Evaluating Product Innovation – Silicone Technology

This paper relates the use of TRIZ to translate and manage silicone-based gasketing technology into new fields of application such as human necessities: baking and butchering, kitchen equipments and healthcare.Read More

Innovation Lessons From Italian Furniture Design

James Todhunter

I stumbled upon an interesting article courtesy of the developerlife blog.  The article, “Radical Design, Radical Results”, is found on the Harvard Business School Working Knowledge site and presents some fascinating insights from HBS visiting scholar Roberto Verganti.

Verganti … Read More

Training For The Innovation Ultra-marathon

James Todhunter

In “Forget about an idea marathon,” Katie Konrath uses the metaphor of racing and marathons to discuss how to work on creating a lot of ideas when the need arises.  The analogy is interesting because in business, the race … Read More

The IBM Study on Innovation

Jack Hipple

The IBM Innovation Study–What Does It Say?

The recent pioneering global study and interview of corporate CEOs regarding innovation and its importance provides many insights into not only the world of innvoation, but the competitive nature of it. If … Read More

Where’s My Return on Innovation?!

Cass Pursell

(Or, Is That a Canary in Your Coal Mine?)

The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), in partnership with BusinessWeek, conducted (from October 2006 through March 2007) its fourth annual survey of senior executives on innovation and the innovation-to-cash process.

Its … Read More

Innovation Supersymmetry

Michael S. Slocum

A look into string theory from the field of physics will give us an interesting analogy to leverage. String theory is a method of reconciling the fact that general relativity as a theory only works if we ignore … Read More

Broken Windows of Innovation

James Todhunter

Social policy has long been influenced by the Broken Window Theory.  Strangely, I see a similar phenomenon at work in our innovation neighborhood.  I see the evidence in the language of the discussion that is used.

Usually, I don’t … Read More

Global Innovation – Part II

Praveen Gupta

While going to India for participating in the convocation events at IIT, Chicago’s Bangalore campus, I was supposed to travel from Chicago to Newark, and then catch the international flight to Delhi. Due to the size and cost associated … Read More

Your New Years Innovation Resolutions

Jack Hipple

It’s the New Year. What’s new? Innovation is still the “buzzword”, but I go to many presentations at meetings where the talks are not about innovation, but about astute business choices (plant locations, etc.). I’m afraid that innovation is … Read More

Global Innovation – Part I

Praveen Gupta

Last month I had an opportunity to speak on innovation at the IIT Chicago’s Bangalore campus. It is amazing to see talk and walk going on in this area there. Then I visited Prakash Kappoth, Senior Manager – Knowledge … Read More

The Long Nose of Innovation

James Todhunter

A very insightful article appears in BusinessWeek online titled “The Long Nose of Innovation.”  Written by Bill Buxton of Microsoft, the article discuss the fact that great innovations don’t just happen, but rather they are the consequence of many … Read More

It’s The End of the Year – Do You Know Where Your Innovation Process Is?

Cass PursellDo a Google search on Innovation in 2007 and see what you return. Lists of cool inventions, next-generation product ideas. A conference or two. No mention, however, of ideas on improving innovation processes. To my mind, this is an … Read More

Balanced Innovation

Bob Carter

In order to understand the relationship between Innovation and growth, it is necessary to first understand why some new product development (NPD) projects are successful while others fail. Funding the right NPD projects is a key leadership challenge that … Read More

VOC and Innovation, Friend or Foe?

Bob Carter

At the recent PDMA Voice of the Customer Conference in Scottsdale, I moderated a panel that discussed whether the Voice of the Customer and Innovation are friends or foes.  Certain industry and thought leaders believe that Innovation gets derailed … Read More

Tens of Innovation

Praveen Gupta

Learning innovation is critical for me in order to teach innovation. I read about other people’s work, and try to expand my understanding of innovation. Recent trend in offering recipes of innovations sound confounding to me. For example, some … Read More