Want to Build a Culture of Innovation? Then Seek Out Your Innovation Agents

‘No man is an island, entire of itself’ runs the saying and it should probably go on to say that no concept should be introduced in isolation either. In the VUCA world, we’re all challenged with constantly trying to do something new, to create lasting change, transformation and disruption. That challenge means it helps to have others on your side, adding their enthusiasm, energy, perspective and creativity to the mix. Why… because if there’s one truth about innovation, it’s that it’s definitely not a solo sport!

What are Circular Business Models (CBM)?

Shortly, the demands and needs of approximately nine billion people will be about three times the current resources. At this time challenges will accelerate for the deficiencies of resources and enormous production of waste. Circular Business Models (CBM) is the solution for not only improving resource management and decreasing waste production but also reducing costs and expanding firm performance.

How will Your Organization Prepare for Extreme Scenarios?

A BISS-project powered by the Service Science Factory

Rapid changes in technology, customer needs and society forces large organizations to constantly adapt to a changing context in order to remain relevant. Organizations therefore need to shift their strategy from a reactive to a pro-active approach, or in other words, they need to anticipate the future to prepare for it. Developing extreme scenarios paints a picture of the future and poses the opportunity for organizations to prepare for upcoming challenges and to make use of new opportunities.

Are Legacy Approaches to Talent Inhibiting Your Innovation Efforts?

The legacy approach to talent selection involves matching education, length of experience and functional skills to the role. All of this makes sense as a baseline, and for well-established professions. But, we argue, selecting talent for innovation requires a whole new approach. Companies must recognize specific innovation skills that drive business outcomes. Yet today, most lack the tools to do so.

Critical Steps to Validate Your Startup’s Business Model

A business plan is at the heart of every business. But instead of just writing down your business plan, your startup’s business model will require proper validation before you start doing business. If you don’t validate it, the investor simply won’t invest. You can validate your business model through three core assumptions: delivering, creating and capturing value.

Innovation Pays – More and More

Over recent years we have been tracking how companies identified as leading innovators subsequently perform in terms of growth in shareholder value. Linking innovation efficiency to out-performance against all major indices has proven the relationship that many across industry believe in and hope for: innovation pays. The latest round of analysis has just been completed and shows even greater performance than before.

Organizational Revolutions through Idea Hacking

Businesses face the dilemma dividing resources between protecting the current value chain and developing new value propositions that in time replace the old ones. Not every organization has the luxury to have its own dedicated innovation unit and still then the ideas might not always be too innovative. Hackathons are an affordable and energizing way to generate innovative ideas that can revolutionize your organization.

Systematic Idea Generation and Organizational Capabilities for Front-End Innovation Performance in SMEs

This study seeks to answer two key questions about the front-end innovation: when do idea generation activities involving internal and external partner’s payoff, and which organizational capabilities support idea generation activities for achieving high front-end performance?

Explaining the Origin of Innovations with the Opportunity Vacuum Framework

In our society, it is still quite common to attribute the creation of new ideas to either genius or serendipity - a lucky moment finding a valuable insight without actually looking for it. In recent years, however, human creativity was demystified. Empirical research shows that the development of novel ideas has less to do with the inexplicable genius of some individuals, than with the circumstances in which they occur. No genius of any sort could have invented an iPhone in 1850, since the technological trajectory was not anywhere near this point at that time. If there is a 'natural limit' to innovation, then how can we describe the field of possible innovations?

A Profile of Open Innovation Managers in Multinational Companies

Open innovation is widely used in large companies and we know increasingly more about how to manage this process. In contrast, we know virtually nothing about the managers and practitioners who are driving open innovation in large companies. Who are the managers operating in open innovation teams or units? What is their profile? How long do they stay in an open innovation job, and what is their tenure in the company? This report tries to answer these questions based on an investigation of open innovation managers on LinkedIn.

The Eight Attributes of Bottom-Up Innovation Leaders

Bottom-up innovation is fueled by many ideas initiated by employees, as opposed to top-down innovation, which is fueled by a strong vision - often by the company’s founder. Bottom-up innovation leaders are entrepreneurial, supported by management’s emphasis on creativity and a can-do culture, and often share these eight attributes.

Are Corporate Innovation Centers The Last Hope for Companies Too Big To Fail?

Companies once deemed “too big to fail” are increasingly exposed to failure. The threat of disruption is everywhere. Startups are taking on the Goliaths in every market. Scores of malls across the United States are in collapse. Many household brand names are losing ground or even shutting completely. Regardless of industry, businesses face digital Darwinism, the evolution of technology and markets. Disruption is just a matter of when, where and why. To compete, executives must make tough decisions but more so, they must look to new horizons for new insight and direction. Whether companies thrive or cower in the face of digital Darwinism is a choice.

The Digital Tsunami

These days, when migrants arrive at a refugee camp, one of the first things they ask for is access to WiFi and electricity to recharge their cell phones. Their smartphone is as basic a resource for survival as food and water. This is a vivid reminder of the fact that we are fully immersed in a digital world.

Digital or Dead – An Expert Study

Nearly all executives have acknowledged the relevance of digitization and related trends, such as the Internet of Things, connectivity, and industry 4.0. However, the full impact of digitization has usually not been understood in detail. Moreover, most firms struggle to implement digitization initiatives successfully.