Innovation Management - Creating value with innovation management.

I happened to learn about a new book by the legendary Charles Handy when I visited him a couple of months back at his home in Norfolk England ‘ the new philanthropists’. True to the title of the Book of probably Britain’s most prolific management thinker (together written with his wife Elizabeth who is a portrait photographer), Charles talks about a new trend of successful young businessmen who don’t only believe in giving money for just causes but by working on the spot with the needy so as to create a sustainable impact. He offers examples from entrepreneurs from South Africa, Ireland and Australia among others.

We hear often that smaller companies innovate better as they are more flexible, faster and creative as compared to larger organisations. This is all but half true. Its not the size of an organisation that decelerates the innovative pace-rather complexity. Hence organisations seeking sustainable growth need to find the balance between innovation and complexity.

Collaboration is the new hot thing. The idea is not new and one can trace its origins from the Silk route, to the old Italian Shipping cluster, to the Medicis, to the evolution of different industries, to the new age of globalisation to the new age we see today. However, we live in a business age with hype cycles and buzzwords serving as adrenalins. Everybody is talking collaboration. The new impetus has come because of three main reasons.

Innovation in today’s business environment is a must. Opportunities for innovation can be a problem to solve, a demand to satisfy, needs to meet. However, increasingly inspiration for innovation does not come only from underserved or emerging markets, but also from the social sector. Learn more about social innovation in this article by Gunjan Bhardwaj, head of Ernst & Young´s Global Business Performance Think-tank.

According to disruptive innovation theory, companies have the best chance of creating new growth through the introduction of disruptive innovations in the market. But what is it and how can firms be disruptive? And why do they fail to be disruptive? Learn more about disruptive innovation in this article by Gunjan Bhardwaj, head of Ernst & Young´s Global Business Performance Think-tank.

Markets can be quite hostile to new products launched, and in fact they refuse most new products. This hostility to new products can even be stronger in network markets, where all players are interconnected. Read more about the challenges to be addressed when you enter into network markets in this third article in a series of five by Gunjan Bhardwaj, head of Ernst & Young´s Global Business Performance Think-tank.

Not only internal, but also external factors are strong drivers of innovation. Why have, for instance, some places emerged as “hot spots” for innovation? The impact of the location on innovation is the second in a series of five articles by Gunjan Bhardwaj, head of Ernst & Young´s Global Business Performance Think-tank. The topics of the other articles are: Disruptive Innovation; Innovation in Networks; Social Innovation; and Business Model Innovation.

There are many different types of innovation, but business model innovation shows the strongest correlation with increased operating margin. Focus on Business Model Innovation is the first in a series of five articles by Gunjan Bhardwaj, head of Ernst & Young´s Global Business Performance Think-tank. The topics of the other articles are: Disruptive Innovation; Innovation in Networks; Social Innovation; and the Impact of Location on Innovation.