Innovation @ Merage - UCI Paul Merage School of Business : Manufacturing & Process

The Productivity Imperative

admin — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 00:18:00 GMT

Abstract: The article describes how the wealthy nations of the world with low birthrates and graying workforces are finding it difficult to compete with emerging markets with much larger and younger working populations. This had made it imperative and compelling for the wealthy nations to take up the productivity challenge to produce more and more with fewer workers.

The article conclusion is that developed economies would have to deploy innovative business models to get more from their higher quality knowledge employees. This article suggests that some of the aspects of such a transformative business model can be changing the boundaries around the work–life balance or better adopting approaches such videoconferencing to collaborate and exchange knowledge with far-flung employees.

Published: McKinsey Quarterly, June 2010

Authors: Peter Bisson, Elizabeth Stephenson, and S. Patrick Viguerie

Link: Improving Productivity

Hotbeds of Innovation

admin — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 23:55:00 GMT

Abstract: Many U.S multinational companies have been forced to revise their R&D budgets because of weak sales and the pressure to stay ahead from their global low-cost competitive rivals in Asia and Latin America. The article concludes that some of these companies have adopted a new approach of “ecosystem investing” in which large companies such as Johnson & Johnson, General Electric, General Motors, and Google are creating strategic partnerships with startups and small companies whose technologies and skills can help them expand their own capabilities. This approach has helped large companies to tap into new sectors such as genomics and biotechnology, advanced robotics, lithium ion batteries, semiconductor manufacturing, and nanotechnology.

Published: Strategy+Business, January 24, 2011

Authors: William J.Holstein

Link: Strategy+Business

Innovation Trickles in a New Direction

admin — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 20:55:00 GMT

Abstract: General Electric, Nokia and other companies are creating entry-level products for emerging nations and then repackaging them for more affluent countries in a process known as trickle-up innovation.

Published: March 9, 2009

Authors: Reena Jana

Link: BusinessWeek

A Joy(stick) to Behold

admin — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 20:43:00 GMT

Abstract: Faced with a shortage of skilled machine operators, Caterpillar needed a grader that was easy to use -- without alienating old-timers. While older models of the motor-grader construction vehicle had as many as 15 levers, a steering wheel and foot pedals, Caterpillar's latest version has two of the controls normally found on videogame consoles.

Published: Wall Street Journal, June 23, 2008
Authors: Ilan Brat

Link: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121372801482581657.html?mod=2_1585_leftbox

Take Your Biggest Problem...and Skip It.

admin — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 18:35:00 GMT

Abstract: Think you have to solve those big problems to move ahead? Think again. Sometimes the best way to a solution is to skip over it.

Published: June 2008

Author: Daniel Burrus

Link: Reliable Plant

Surviving Change: Kodak's Instant Marketing Transformation

admin — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 23:36:00 GMT

Abstract: How did Kodak survive the digital transformation of the photography business that used to represent 70% of their business? By focusing on growth and including accountability as part of its innovation framework.

Published: May 14, 2008

Author: Peter Paul Roosen and Tatsuya Nakagawa

Link: IndustryWeek

The Customer is the Company

admin — Fri, 23 May 2008 17:04:00 GMT

Abstract: Threadless churns out dozens of new items a month - with no advertising, no professional designers, no sales force and no retail distribution. And it's never produced a flop. A look inside the most innovative small company in America.

Published: Inc. Magazine, June, 2008
Authors: Max Chafkin

Link: http://www.inc.com/magazine/20080601/the-customer-is-the-company.html

Finding the Right Job for Your Product

admin — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 14:38:00 GMT

Abstract: “The way a company views its markets determines what it decides to produce, how it will take those products to market, who it believes its competitors to be, and how large it believes its market opportunities to be. Most companies segment along lines defined by the characteristics of their products (category or price) or customers (age, gender, marital status and income level) because that is the most easily accessible type of data, but product and customer characteristics are poor indicators of customer behavior because that is not how markets are structured from the customer’s perspective…”

Published: MIT Sloan Management Review, Spring 2007, Vol. 48, No. 3, pp. 38-47; Reprint 48301; (free for subscribers or, fee for download / reprints)
Authors: Clayton M. Christensen, Scott D. Anthony, Gerald Berstell and Denise Nitterhouse

Link: http://sloanreview.mit.edu/smr/issue/2007/spring/01/