Innovation Crisis

If you aren’t innovating, stagnation isn’t far away. Ministry leaders carry the burden of keeping their organizations lean, focused, and relevant. The stakes are especially high for churches and other organizations that fulfill the Great Commission. When souls are on the line, there’s no room for bureaucratic bloat or sustaining a cumbersome infrastructure. It’s up to the leadership—that’s you—to realize where the organization is in maintenance mode and find ways to innovate even when the growth curve has slowed and the team has started to grow complacent. Using missions disruptor William Carey as an example, Ted Esler shows how you, too, can innovate in ways that change the ministry landscape. Esler will help you keep an eye on your “eccliosystem”—the ecclesial ecosystem in which you exist. You’ll learn about the four stages of organizational culture—disrupting, innovating, sustaining, and stagnating—and gain strategies for staying in that sweet spot where innovations keep coming and stagnation can’t take hold. The gospel of Jesus Christ never grows stale. Don’t let your ministry ever forget it!

The recent financial and economic crisis has spurred a lot of interest among scholars and public audience. Strangely enough, the impact of the crisis on innovation has been largely underestimated. This books can be regarded as a complementary reading for those interested in the effect of the crisis with a particular focus on Europe.

'This book talks about a genuine greening of the economy: from the most theoretical aspects, e.g. the genealogy of ecological economics, to the most practical. The two most prominent conclusions are, for me: this greening cannot be achieved by companies alone, but can only be the result of different kinds of innovation: technological, organizational, institutional and lifestyle changes. The changes must be implemented at all levels, from the firm to international governance.' Dominique Bourg, University of Lausanne, Switzerland 'Crisis, Innovation and Sustainable Development is a fascinating exploration at the frontiers of economics and ecology. It combines topical surveys of current work with deep reflection on the repressed role of nature in the history of economics. A work of great range and value, especially for all concerned with the strategy of economic policy going forward.' James K. Galbraith, The University of Texas at Austin, US This unique and informative book highlights the relationship between crisis, innovation, and sustainable development, and discusses the necessary conditions required to seize the ecological opportunity. The authors study the strength of change for building a new society, and the theoretical origins and political aspects of environmental concerns. They also sketch the outlines of a global governance system seeking to promote sustainable development. Written from a multidisciplinary perspective, this volume will appeal to postgraduate students and researchers in the economics of innovation, environmental economics and political economy, as well as policy makers and practitioners.

What has gone wrong in Japan that has led to innovation crisis? Prof. Eiichi Yamaguchi has been committed to answer this question, and his quest has spanned several years and academic disciplines. Initially it appeared as if it had no context, but when he put the pieces together, he realized that it was actually one story. This book is a summary of his research over the last 20 years, especially after he moved out of the field of physics, to which he had devoted 21 years. He felt that it was essential for him to do his bit to save this sinking ship, or it would be disrespectful to the future generation. The book integrates his research on innovation policy, innovation theory, and trans-science. It begins with a detailed story of the innovation of blue LEDs, for which three Japanese scientists received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2014. It describes the current innovation and science crises in Japan and presents evidence that the strong international competitiveness of science-based industries in the United States is a result of the invention of the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) system. It discusses a new theory of innovation structures, showing the error in Clayton M. Christensen’s argument of “disruptive innovation.” It also proposes a new concept for “paradigm disruptive innovation,” emphasizing that abduction and transilience are essential factors for accomplishing it and that their decline has led to the innovation crisis in Japan. Finally, it analyzes the future vision of the innovation ecosystem, which promotes abduction and transilience, for scientists to develop new science-based industries.

“If you’ve been looking for something different to level up your health, fitness, and personal growth, this is it.”—Melissa Urban, Whole30 CEO and New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Boundaries “Michael Easter’s genius is that he puts data around the edges of what we intuitively believe. His work has inspired many to change their lives for the better.”—Dr. Peter Attia, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Outlive Discover the evolutionary mind and body benefits of living at the edges of your comfort zone and reconnecting with the wild—from the author of Scarcity Brain, coming in September! In many ways, we’re more comfortable than ever before. But could our sheltered, temperature-controlled, overfed, underchallenged lives actually be the leading cause of many our most urgent physical and mental health issues? In this gripping investigation, award-winning journalist Michael Easter seeks out off-the-grid visionaries, disruptive genius researchers, and mind-body conditioning trailblazers who are unlocking the life-enhancing secrets of a counterintuitive solution: discomfort. Easter’s journey to understand our evolutionary need to be challenged takes him to meet the NBA’s top exercise scientist, who uses an ancient Japanese practice to build championship athletes; to the mystical country of Bhutan, where an Oxford economist and Buddhist leader are showing the world what death can teach us about happiness; to the outdoor lab of a young neuroscientist who’s found that nature tests our physical and mental endurance in ways that expand creativity while taming burnout and anxiety; to the remote Alaskan backcountry on a demanding thirty-three-day hunting expedition to experience the rewilding secrets of one of the last rugged places on Earth; and more. Along the way, Easter uncovers a blueprint for leveraging the power of discomfort that will dramatically improve our health and happiness, and perhaps even help us understand what it means to be human. The Comfort Crisis is a bold call to break out of your comfort zone and explore the wild within yourself.

Resilience has emerged as a recurrent notion to explain how territorial socio-economic systems adapt successfully (or not) to negative events. In this book, the authors use resilience as a bridging notion to connect different types of theoretical and empirical approaches to help understand the impacts of economic turbulence at the system and actor levels. The book provides a unique overview of the financial crisis and the important dimension of innovation dynamics for regional resilience. It also offers an engaging debate as to how regional resilience can be improved and explores the social aspects of vulnerability, resilience and innovation.

The increasing use of innovative technologies by global businesses has sparked debate about their application in crisis resolution. Resolution tools can be used by global businesses to manage various types of crisis situations, such as natural disasters, information security issues, economic downturns, health crisis situations, and sustainability issues in education, among others. Further study and consideration of the uses of technology in the areas of crisis and change management and intra-company communication practice in the context of global business must be done to ensure successful and sustainable businesses. Future Role of Sustainable Innovative Technologies in Crisis Management raises awareness of the multifaceted field of new technology in crisis management that has resulted in a paradigm shift in the way contemporary industries and global businesses communicate and conduct their daily business operations. This book defines the scope of innovative technologies as the application of new technologies to support the resolution of various types of crisis situations to achieve regulatory compliance and improved risk management in an effective and automated manner. Covering topics such as sustainable business and disaster scenarios, this reference work is ideal for managers, entrepreneurs, researchers, academicians, scholars, practitioners, instructors, and students.

"This volume addresses cultural and literary transformation in the late Ming (1550–1644) and late Qing (1851–1911) eras. Although conventionally associated with a devastating sociopolitical crisis, each of these periods was also a time when Chinese culture was rejuvenated. Focusing on the twin themes of crisis and innovation, the seventeen chapters in this book aim to illuminate the late Ming and late Qing as eras of literary-cultural innovation during periods of imperial disintegration; to analyze linkages between the two periods and the radical heritage they bequeathed to the modern imagination; and to rethink the “premodernity” of the late Ming and late Qing in the context of the end of the age of modernism. The chapters touch on a remarkably wide spectrum of works, some never before discussed in English, such as poetry, drama, full-length novels, short stories, tanci narratives, newspaper articles, miscellanies, sketches, familiar essays, and public and private historical accounts. More important, they intersect on issues ranging from testimony about dynastic decline to the negotiation of authorial subjectivity, from the introduction of cultural technology to the renewal of literary convention."