strategy

Oct 10, 2011

The Innovation Challenge: Using Process Innovation to Help Fund Product Innovation

The recent round of negative economic news has many business leaders wondering if another recession is just around the corner. That could explain why a recent Gallup poll found that 30% of American workers are worried about their jobs – matching the paranoia level of mid-2009.

Wouldn’t it be easier if we could find a way to make budget without costly cutbacks and layoffs?

There is a way. Process innovation can enhance your company’s output, productivity and cash flow. But it’s important to understand the difference between cost-cutting and process innovation.

Cost-cutting is a simple accounting exercise – cut budgets, trim fat, do less – or do it less well. In tough times, cost-cutting can be ruthless and arbitrary; often, it’s done to appease stakeholders and the markets. Too often, companies “cut” their way into bigger problems as they lose marketing traction or reduce customer service and delivery satisfaction.

By Ken Tencer Blog, Entrepreneur, Entrepreneurial Thinking, entrepreneurship, Innovation, Spyder Works, strategy, The 90% Rule No comments Tags: Entrepreneur, Innovation, Ken Tencer, process, product, strategy, The 90% Rule

Oct 4, 2011

The Right Climate for Innovation

By: Jeffrey Weiss,
Special to CNBC.com

Originally published on www.cnbc.com on Monday, September 19, 2011.

What a terrible time to try to sell an innovation. Oh, for the boom years of a decade ago, when investment capital was as plentiful as the dew.

Or maybe not. Yes, there are advantages to boom years. Historians of innovation say, however, there’s a lot to be said—maybe more to be said—about individuals and companies that come up with new ideas in hard times.

After all, there’s no guarantee that a boom-time company will succeed. Remember Pets.com? And CueCat? Hundreds of millions of dollars were burned through during the last technology boom by companies that are scarcely a footnote to business history.

And hard times? Reach back to 1938, the depths of the Great Depression. Hewlett-Packard started in a garage. In late 1982, the U.S. was just emerging from a recession . And two entrepreneurs left Xerox to found Adobe. In 2008, as markets crumbled and world economies teetered, Groupon sold its first bargain. Even questions now cropping up about Groupon don’t challenge the point that this rocket lit its fuse in the midst of the current downturn.

By Ken Tencer Blog, Entrepreneur, Entrepreneurial Thinking, entrepreneurship, Innovation, optimzing innovation, Spyder Works, strategy, The 90% Rule No comments Tags: Entrepreneur, strategy, the future of innovation

Jul 12, 2011

Driving Innovation in Your Organization – The Four Ps of Innovation

Michael Mitchell is president of a Chicago-based Mitchell Innovation + Research. As a consultant in innovation and market research for top corporations, he has had a lot of experience determining what prevents companies from becoming more effective innovators.

In a recent white paper written for the American Management Association, Mitchell identifies four key conditions a company must put in place to achieve results from their innovation efforts. He calls them “The 4 Ps of Innovation”: Priority, Plan, People and Process.

By Ken Tencer Blog, business, business strategy, Entrepreneur, Entrepreneurial Thinking, entrepreneurship, Innovation, planning, strategy No comments Tags: entrepreneurship, Innovation, strategy, The 90 percent rule, The 90% Rule