Insourcing Innovation

Innovation is central to business success, yet no other aspect of business is as frustrating and out of control. Instead of occurring in fits and starts and strokes of genius, innovation needs to become an all-the-time event that‘s measurable, reliable, predictable, streamlined, and effective. Asserting that every innovation objective has a finite

"TRIZ is a methodology like Six Sigma. It has grown and developed in response to a very difficult and critical business requirements: the need for constant reinvention and continual innovation... I see in TRIZ a method much like Six Sigma was before it became institutionalized: an extremely powerful approach to meeting a critical business need that's cloaked in a little mystery and a modicum of fear. I see in TRIZ a methodology like DMAIC that is greatly worthy of debate... I want every business leader to read this book, because it contains a message they need to hear: What at first seems technical, scientific and esoteric has the power to transform a corporation. Also, I want every scientist and engineer to read this book, because it will challenge them to make the act of innovation more commonplace and effortless." - Foreword.

Businesses spend billions on innovation with very little to show for their investment or effort. This book challenges some of the ‘ingrained truths’ of innovation and suggests a different approach. Innovation is not the creation of a novel idea. It is the successful commercialisation of that novel idea. Rather than starting with a costly, time-consuming problem assessment that seeks to push potential solutions through an innovation funnel, an ‘impeller approach’ starts with possible solutions and gets the market to pull the best ones forward so they can fail fast or flourish fast. This approach is made possible by the addition of a ‘bee’ – a new type of integrative thinker who can harvest the existing knowledge from the ‘meadow of experts’. Completely reversing the innovation process means organisations are much better placed to win in the market rather than focusing on finding theoretical solutions or clearing innovation stage gates. In addition, this approach also recognises that the people who shepherd the solution through the ideation and testing stage are not the same people who must then take that solution to market for successful commercialisation. Given the current innovation failure rate, coupled with the fact that society is beset with multiple wicked problems, it’s time to think differently and innovate innovation itself. This book is essential reading for Heads of Innovation and Commercialisation, Directors of Marketing, Heads of New Product Development and New Service Development, Strategy Directors, Chief Technology Officers, Government advisers and policy makers.

Academic literature used to lack a taxonomy regarding the types of repeatable structures and approaches that incumbent companies can use in order to deal with frequently business model threatening open innovation developments – threats that are often facilitated by start-up companies. The course of investigation provides a clustering taxonomy for these structures, so-called: corporate open innovation initiatives. Subsequently, the validity is tested by an in-depth analysis of Germany's 500 biggest companies along with 50 biggest banks and 30 biggest insurances. Furthermore, multiple case studies with industry experts show applicable management's best practices. Finally, a management framework is developed, which aims to be a summarizing tool for practitioners and researchers in order to define a suitable corporate strategy for creating an own corporate open innovation initiative.

This book highlights the economic relevance of the so-called low-tech industries and firms. Non R&D intensive firms continue to be the economic backbone of several developed industrial countries. They form the core of National Innovation Systems and contribute significantly to growth and employment. However, due to their lack of R&D activity, they are easily overlooked in the general innovation debate. This book provides latest empirical findings on the current economic relevance and specific innovation strategies and management of non-R&D intensive firms in Germany. It discusses their future role in a knowledge driven economy as well as possible implications for innovation and technology policy. An outcome of several years of dedicated research conducted at the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research (ISI), this book will prove of immense value to researchers and policy makers dealing with innovation and knowledge strategy.

Innovative ruptures of traditional boundaries in value chains are requiring companies to rethink how they go to market, what they need to own, what they need to retain and innovate as core competencies, and how they innovatively deal with suppliers and customers. The key message of the book is that the new knowledge-networked innovation economy requires a totally different strategic management mindset, approach and toolbox, and its major value-added is a new strategic management approach and toolbox for the innovation economy - a poised strategy approach. Designed for both managers and advanced business students, the book provides a unique combination of new management theory, selected managerial articles by prominent scholars such as Clayton Christensen, Henry Chesbrough, Sumantra Ghoshal, Quinn Mills, and Peter Senge, and a wide array of real-world case examples including GE, Shell, IBM, HP, BRL Hardy, P&G, Southwest Airlines and McGraw-Hill, within the dynamics of industries such as airlines, energy, telecommunications, wine & beverages, and computing. The authors illustrate powerful new strategic innovation concepts and tools, such as poised strategy for managing multiple business models, poised strategy scorecards (moving beyond the well-known balanced scorecard), the wheel of business model reinvention, and organizational rejuvenation methods. The book includes the concepts of: Poised Strategic Management, Organizational Rejuvenation, Business Models as Platform for Strategy, Poised Scorecards, Identifying Sources of Innovation in Business Ecosystems.

When companies innovate, all our lives get better. ​The Innovation Biome is among the most authoritative books about how companies can consistently create high-value products and offerings that enhance societal value and, in doing so, generate vast profits and shareholder value. Written in an engaging, easy-to-read style, this book helps managers: • understand the foundational elements that drive innovation • implement a framework so innovation becomes institutionalized for their organization and is not solely the domain of specific individuals Let The Innovation Biome revolutionize your company and gain the rewards that go along with releasing one innovation after another.

Process innovations - an improved way of doing things – help firms achieve higher-level performance by reducing the time and cost to produce a product or perform a service, and increasing productivity and growth. This book provides a comprehensive examination of process innovations occurring in the global fashion industry, with a focus on fashion brands from USA, Italy, and Japan. It offers practical insights for enhancing efficiency in the supply chain as well as management process such as work routines, information flow, and organization structures. Using case analyses, this book will help readers to grasp how successful fashion companies optimize their operations and advance their competitive position by integrating process innovations into their supply chain and management systems.