Author: Alex Chung

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Creating a culture of innovation

Innovation in the “new normal” will be the driver of organic growth. To build a culture that fosters it, an organization must hire for innovation talent, build teams that are diverse in talent, and fit individuals to the right role to drive success.

http://gmj.gallup.com/content/143282/Creating-Culture-Innovation.aspx?utm_source=email&utm_medium=10OCT-B&utm_content=morelink&utm_campaign=newsletter

What’s creativity and how is it different from innovation?  While some believe that innovation can be spawned from mixing the right elements together, the IVC (module1) has taught us that the processes (protocols) of putting pieces together are just as important.

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Beyond the electric car, a Better Place

Ipod has dominated the MP3 market because Apple went beyond the hardware and created an ecosystem where people could conveniently buy music legally online.  Then Apple topped itself with the iPhone and the App Store.  Similarly, Better Place promotes the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) by building and operating the infrastructure and network systems to optimize energy access and use.  Instead of asking consumers to pay a premium for the EVs with the battery, a consumer can buy a EV and lease the battery separately.  Battery switching stations are provided for customers to swap out the low charge battery with a fully charged one.  Thus battery technology upgrade will be no cost to the EVs’ owners and the travel range is no longer an issue.  Israel and Denmark have already signed up.

Hopefully, this innovation will dispel the fears of consumers against the adoption of EVs.

http://www.betterplace.com/

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Zappos Insights: both divergence and disruptive technology

Zappos sells consulting business on good customer service and healthy corporate culture through Zappos Insights.  For as low as $47, anyone can pay a visit to the Zappos headquarter to get a sense of what makes the company so special.  Zappos is disrupting the consulting business by diverging from selling shoes to selling advices to small businesses whose cannot afford the expensive consulting fees.

http://www.zapposinsights.com/main/

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Microsoft Xbox

The article “The Innovation Value Chain” discussed about a safe haven for emerging businesses allowing them to be unfettered by the rest of the organization but enough ties to keep them from complete isolation.  When Microsoft ventured into the gaming software industry with the Xbox project, the VPs realized early that “while Microsoft was the right place to get the next Xbox built financially, it was totally wrong for it culturally.”  Unhindered by the formulaic approach of the established businesses, the Xbox team was nimble and unconventional.  Within 10 years, Microsoft has gone from zero to 30 percent in gaming console market where U.S. retail sales of videogames generated revenues of approximately $20 billion in 2009.

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1061497-2,00.html#ixzz0zlLFVMQE