In the modern world of business, innovation is both an equalizer and a differentiator. It can give tiny startups an edge over global conglomerates and enable industry leaders to develop competitive advantages. But what exactly is innovation? In short, innovation is the introduction of something new and different to an established product, process, or way of thinking. And in a…
Orchestrator, dominator, complementor, and protector: these are four ecosystem strategies toward digitalization. In this case study, we look at an equipment supplier wanting to participate in digitalization initiatives of its industrial customers, so it must configure an ecosystem strategy to align with multiple partners. Equipment suppliers are increasingly taking more responsibility for improving their industrial customers’ operations using digital technologies…
Today, putting customers at the heart of innovation is a no-brainer for most business managers. However, should the innovation process involve all customers or only specific segments? In this article we explore the hurdles of these initiatives and propose a method to select the most relevant customers with whom to innovate. Customer-Centricity is Not an Obvious First Choice Few people…
As two intermediaries from Hamburg that foster open and cross innovation processes, Science Scout (an initiative of Hamburg Innovation) and Cross Innovation Hub (Hamburg Kreativ Gesellschaft) joined forces to start a discussion around the stimulation and measurement of open and cross innovation processes. We argue that new measurement frameworks are needed in order to demonstrate the value of non-technical innovation…
A growing trend over the past several years has been to host internal innovation challenges. Companies do this because they find it’s an excellent way to find solutions to long-standing problems, positively create culture (particularly in a remote workplace), and also to nurture the budding intrapreneurs who want to find career growth and new opportunities. Xaxis is the world’s largest…
By: Paul Sloane Most new products and services are developments or combinations of […] Most new products and services are developments or combinations of existing offerings. But just adding features can lead to a product overloaded with ‘feature bloat’. Instead try giving with one hand and taking away with the other. Add something different and take away something of little…
By: Paul Van Zandt Innovating doesn’t just happen when inspiration strikes. In order to ensure forward progress, a business has to create a structure that stimulates innovation regularly. This structure will determine the rate and efficacy of overall innovation and is commonly known as an innovation strategy. This article will define innovation strategy, discuss how to create one, and outline…
By: Kayla Matthews Integrity is regularly considered one of the top characteristics that a business leader can have — whether you’re asking employees or CFOs. Sometimes, however, business integrity is considered a cost or burden — a commitment that is almost guaranteed to make a business harder to run over time. Efficiency and integrity don’t have to be enemies —…
By: Anthony Ferrier In this series I’ve been critically examining the significant changes impacting the corporate innovation competency, which leads to how organisations drive future growth and impact. In the first article I critically examined how innovative impact remains a top priority for business leadership, but innovation professionals are (ironically) being disrupted. Other leaders from across the organisation (think digital,…
By: Rico Oyola Crowdsourcing and open innovation initiatives are vital by bringing vast stakeholders together to share ideas on complex problems and opportunities. Much of the focus is set on engaging the crowd yet deciding which ideas to take a risk on requires data on the likely impacts and costs. One of the top innovation management topics I run into…
