Innovation @ Merage - UCI Paul Merage School of Business : Methodology

In Pursuit of Elegance: Why the Best Ideas Have Something Missing

Lynda Lawrence — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 22:28:00 GMT

By: Matthew E. May, Broadway Books, 2009

Refrigeration without electricity. Traffic flowing without traffic lights. A smart phone without a keyboard. Houses without living rooms. May makes a convincing argument that the human tendency is to add complexity, but subtracting is the key to real innovation.

Using a handful of stories, May explains the neuroscience behind why we leap to less-than-optimal solutions, why we feel good when we complete a Sudoko puzzle (or solve a business problem) and how to get people involved in solving problems by making the missing pieces exactly the right size to provoke our natural curiosity.

In this environment of cost-cutting and limited resources, it’s good to hear that the most elegant ideas emerge precisely when there are serious constraints. And that by looking at what we don’t need to do, we will always find better ways to do nearly everything.

He quotes Steve Jobs, “Focus means saying no to the hundred other good ideas…I’m as proud of the things we haven’t done as the things we have done.” And Jim Peters, of Good to Great fame, who starts each year deciding which things he’s going to stop doing.

For anyone in charge of streamlining processes, inventing new products, or just managing more with less, it’s an intriguing approach. I’d give it a 9.5 on the LL innovation meter, because it will make you think about everything a little differently.

Does Globalization Lead to Innovation?

admin — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 21:38:00 GMT

Abstract: Competition is supposed to spur innovation. But the authors of this study found that the opposite is true for domestic firms in emerging economies. They examined 27 “transition” economies across eastern Europe and central Asia to understand how globalization — foreign direct investment, trade, and increased competition with firms operating in their home countries — affects markets and the likelihood that incumbents will develop new products and technologies. The authors looked at data from the 2002 and 2005 Business Environment and Enterprise Performance Survey.

Published: January 2008

Authors: Yuriy Gorodnichenko, Jan Svejnar, and Katherine Terrell

Link: strategy+business

The Unique Advantage

admin — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 21:02:00 GMT

Abstract: Innovation is difficult for mature, slow-growth businesses and often results in long line extensions rather than high-profit, game-changing innovations. Companies, especially those focused on food and consumer products, need to rethink their innovation strategies to develop products that are unique and hard to copy.

Published: Autum 2008

Authors: Alexander Kandybin and Surbee Grover by Alexander Kandybin and Surbhee Grover

Link: strategy+business

Inspiration Can Be Found in Many Places, but You Need to Be Looking

admin — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 18:40:00 GMT

Abstract: How do successful inventors, entrepreneurs and writers come up with the big ideas? Constantly looking and keeping an open mind are important, but the critical ingredient is exposing yourself to things outside your usual purview.

Published: October 23, 2008

Author: Mickey Meece

Link: The New York Times

Capturing Culture

admin — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 23:13:00 GMT

Abstract: A corporate anthropologist helps Chronicle Books design its office around organizational relationships.

Published: June 18, 2008

Authors: Kristin Palm

Link: METROPOLISMAG.COM

Sleep on It: How Snoozing Makes You Smarter

admin — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 22:42:00 GMT

Abstract: During slumber, our brain engages in data analysis, from strengthening memories to solving problems.

Published: August 2008

Authors: Robert Stickgold and Jeffrey M. Ellenbogen

Link: Scientific American Mind

P&G Changes Its Game

admin — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 21:32:00 GMT

Abstract: P&G is using "design thinking" to tackle difficult business problems. While this may seem like the latest innovation buzzword, P&G is using the technique to generate effective ideas and, more importantly, change its culture.

Published: July 28, 2008

Author: Jenanne Rae

Link: BusinessWeek

Striking While the Iron's Hot

admin — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 21:43:00 GMT

Abstract: Callaway has long been the leading seller of women's golf equipment, but it wanted to expand its lead in this growing sector of the golf market. To do that the company figured it couldn't settle for an attitude of "OK, let's paint it pink, cut the shaft down by an inch and a half, put a woman's grip on it, and we have a woman's club." While the technical people at Callaway knew what could be done with the design of a golf club, they didn't know exactly what women needed and wanted in their clubs.

Published: Wall Street Journal, June 23, 2008
Authors: Timothy J. Carroll

Link: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121372702050581575.html?mod=2_1585_topbox

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

UC Irvine’s Merage School of Business Is First to Embed ‘War Games’ into Course Curriculum

admin — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 21:07:00 GMT

Facebook, MySpace, YouTube and SecondLife are four leading companies in the online world of social networking. What would happen if Apple suddenly jumped into the fray?

That was the challenge posed to 41 students at UC Irvine’s Paul Merage School of Business during their day long final examination known as “war games” in Professor Leonard Lane’s strategy and competitive intelligence classes. Rather than huddle over test papers for their final exam, students were assigned either to Facebook, My Space, YouTube or SecondLife teams and spent the day trying to obtain the highest score from four judges. The students’ challenge was to prepare and present long range business plans and then develop, in 45 quick minutes, strategies for Apple’s mock announcement that it was creating “iTown,” a social networking website.

In the real business world, companies use war games to prepare their staff for such situations. The Merage School, according to Lane, is the first educational institution to insert war games into its regular curriculum. Fuld & Company, a competitive intelligence consulting firm, conducted Merage’s war game on June 1.

The Facebook team collected the highest score of the judges—Orange County business executives Chuck Martin, Linda Zimmer, Joel Calvo and Kathryn Campbell. But the final tallies were close. Facebook earned 62.4 points; YouTube, 61; SecondLife, 60.5, and MySpace, 57. The primary reason was that all four teams came to the same conclusion: their company didn’t have to make major strategy shifts when faced with Apple’s entry into the social network space. “iTown, schmi Town,” quipped one of the teams at the start of its presentation.

After the day long exercise, Lane said: “Using war games as the capstone experience of the school’s class in competitive intelligence helps students grapple with realistic learning experiences.”

Published: Summer 2007

Author: John Gregory

Business Strategy: Shall We Play Games?

admin — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 20:31:00 GMT

Abstract: War games are commonly used by the military to evaluate strategies, explore scenarios and reveal unexpected weaknesses. This Economist article explores how war games could provide valuable insight into how your competitors might react to your plans.

Published: May 31, 2008

Author: The Economist

Link: Economist.com (subscription required)

For information about how the Merage School uses war games in the classroom to prepare future leaders click here (link).

Meeting the Challenge of Disruptive Change

admin — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 13:50:00 GMT

Abstract: “The authors suggest ways large companies can capitalize on opportunities that normally would not fit in with their processes or values. They explore a model for determining which organizational resources, structures, processes, and values are needed to produce successful innovations.”

Published: Harvard Business Publishing, March 1, 2000, 10 pages (fee for download or hardcopies)
Authors: Clayton M. Christensen, Michael Overdorf

Link: http://harvardbusinessonline.hbsp.harvard.edu/b01/en/common/item_detail.jhtml;jsessionid=W0UAZDFFUOAS2CTEQENSELQ?id=R00202

Publication Description: “Why didn't a single minicomputer company succeed in the personal computer business? Why did only one department store--Dayton Hudson--become a leader in discount retailing? Why can't large companies capitalize on the opportunities brought about by major, disruptive changes in their markets? It's because organizations, independent of the people in them, have capabilities. And those capabilities also define disabilities. As a company grows, what it can and cannot do becomes more sharply defined in certain predictable ways. The authors have analyzed those patterns to create a framework managers can use to assess the abilities and disabilities of their organization as a whole. When a company is young, its resources--its people, equipment, technologies, cash, brands, suppliers, and the like--define what it can and cannot do. As it becomes more mature, its abilities stem more from its processes--product development, manufacturing, budgeting, for example. In the largest companies, values--particularly those that determine what are its acceptable gross margins and how big an opportunity has to be before it becomes interesting--define what the company can and cannot do. Because resources are more adaptable to change than processes or values, smaller companies tend to respond to major market shifts better than larger ones. The authors suggest ways large companies can capitalize on opportunities that normally would not fit in with their processes or values; it all starts with understanding what the organizations are capable of.”

Six Keys to Building New Markets by Unleashing Disruptive Innovation

admin — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 13:33:00 GMT

Abstract: "Managers know they need growth to survive—but innovation isn't easy. In this Harvard Management Update article, HBS professor Clayton Christensen and co-authors detail the six keys to creating new-growth businesses."

Published: Harvard Business Working Knowledge, March 10, 2003
Authors: Clayton M. Christensen, Michael E. Raynor, and Scott D. Anthony

Link: http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/3374.html

Opening Up The Innovation Process

admin — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 23:22:00 GMT

The author provides some examples of firms that have capatilized on the open innovation process. He further discusses some of the potential pitsfalls in open innovation.

By Luke Collins
IEE Engineering Management Journal

Link: http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/Xplore/login.jsp?url=/iel5/2221/33722/01604975.pdf?isnumber=33722&prod=&arnumber=1604975&arSt=14&ared=17&arAuthor=Collins%2C+L. (requires purchase or subscription to view complete document)

Learning on the Edge

admin — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 23:55:00 GMT

Futuristic Course Alerts Students: World Is Changing While You're Studying

By John Gregory

FUTURISTIC COURSE ALERTS STUDENTS:
WORLD IS CHANGING
WHILE YOU’RE STUDYING
By John Gregory

Welcome to edge, the course launched this past Spring to prepare soon-to-graduate, full-time Merage School students to initiate innovation amid emerging new forms of entrepreneurship, international competition, social networking, marketing and organization.

Merage School’s David Obstfeld, assistant professor for strategy, in partnership with technology guru and disruptive innovation expert John Seely Brown, have set out to create a new course that explores how technology and globalization are transforming business by opening markets, transforming industries and erasing boundaries.

“The impetus for edge,” says Obstfeld, “came from (Dean) Andy Policano’s insight that we needed a capstone course to assist students and faculty in exploring important new trends reshaping business.”

A Curriculum Innovation Committee, chaired by Vijay Gurbaxani, the Merage School’s senior associate dean, developed
the preliminary concept of the course, which in its early form was to provide students with the tools to understand how trends in technology, globalization, demographics, and macroeconomics are redefining the business landscape.

“JSB (as Brown is widely known) and I, with Vijay continuing to collaborate with us, designed the course to reflect our belief that we stand on the verge of a dynamic transformation of business and society, and that business schools need to do more to anticipate where such change is taking us,” Obstfeld said.

Obstfeld told his 65 students at the outset, “While you are studying, the world is changing.”

In the opening session, Brown told the students, “The billion-dollar question is, ‘What is the new, emerging common-sense model?’ It’s different from anything we or any civilization has ever experienced. Continual change underlies its infrastructure. Billions in investments are being ripped up and new bets are being made.”

Also in the kick-off session, Professor Gurbaxani explored new ways that information technology continued to reshape value creation and strategic advantage. Obstfeld and Brown pulled together a diverse crop of experts to capture the dramatic changes that edge explores.

For the second session, “Marketing 2.0,” public relations executive Gary Goldhammer, vice president of interactive solutions for Edelman public relations, described how his advertising work is now focused solely on helping major corporations redirect promotions through websites, digital media, viral video and virtual worlds. Goldhammer described how the Web is morphing, indicating that the first stage of the Internet featured the transmission of information. “Now with Web 2.0, social networks connect people peer-to-peer. The media don’t own news anymore; citizens are becoming journalists.”

In the third session, Padhraic Smyth, a professor at UC Irvine’s Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences, described the major new strategic opportunities afforded by analyzing the massive data generated by commercial websites.

The following week, John Hagel, a business strategy consultant formerly with McKinsey & Company, traced new business trends in China and India and emphasized that globalization is being reshaped more by new forms of collaboration across organizational and national boundaries than by technology, breakthrough products or access to capital.

To further capture the fluidity of how business communication is being reshaped, edge unveiled a new website, http://edge.merage.uci.edu, a venue for faculty and students to share information, hold dynamic exchanges on class topics and post articles and video links. Several students have set up shop as bloggers, commenting regularly on course proceedings and other issues. (The website also has a forum where the public can engage these issues.)

Students were asked to select one of four options as their final project: identify business opportunities for a Web 2.0 startup; conduct a marketing campaign using video and other rich media; provide strategic analysis for a web-based social network start-up that has already secured venture capital; or consult an Orange County apparel firm, in conjunction with a major Hong Kong global trading company, to determine when and how the local firm could best outsource its manufacturing operations.

Sessions to be held after press deadline included: Social networks, “growing up digital,” and navigating virtual worlds; Virtual commerce and the phenomenon known as “Second Life;” New forms of marketing communication; New forms of leadership and teamwork; and Alternative paths for organizing and competing.