The emergence of total quality management (TQM) has been one of the major developments in management practice. The recognition of TQM as a competitive advantage is wide spread around the world and today, very few (especially manufacturing) companies can afford to ignore the term TQM (Dean and Bowen, 1994). There are some arguments that support […]
Tag Archives | innovation
The “Secret Sauce” of Creativity and Innovation
A few years ago, Kaggle, an online community of data scientists, posted a problem that was sponsored by NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the UK’s Royal Astronomical Society. These agencies needed a new mathematical algorithm capable of parsing the distortions caused by dark matter in the photographic images of galaxies. Just ten days […]
How to Drive Innovation by Creating a Lion’s Den
If you are looking for an engaging and fun way to spark innovation among employees you will like this idea that I call “Lion’s Den.” This interesting employee event is loosely built on the concept of the television shows, “Shark’s Tank” and “Dragon’s Den,” in which, hopeful entrepreneurs are given an opportunity to pitch their […]
A New Approach to Business-Model Innovation
Of course you know business model innovation. It’s common practice among innovators. A lot of markets have been disrupted by new business models, often initiated by start-ups and new entrants: Airbnb disrupts the market for accommodation as you can rent online unique places to stay from local hosts in 190+ countries. In 2014, Airbnb had 25 million guests’ bookings. […]
Tips to Achieve an Innovative and Differentiated Startup Project
Editor’s Note: This is the era of rapid changes and disruptive innovations, and no startup, irrespective of size or industry, should be launched without a high degree of innovation and differentiation. This article is about the why, what, and the how— the systematic way to achieve this, based on the long international experience of the […]
How to Beat Your Competition by Innovating in Ways They Can’t Copy
The national retailer Urban Outfitters has increased its revenues by 500% in the last 10 years, expanding to nearly $3 billion today from less than $500 million a decade ago. Not only does the company grow faster than its peers, it is also more profitable, averaging 21% profit margins for the past five years, versus […]
Flevy Author Spotlight: Our Interview with Breakthrough Strategy Expert Dr. Stephen Sweid
Dr. Stephen Sweid is a senior business and management consultant, researcher, and trainer with over 20 years consulting and research experience across a wide spectrum of industries. He brings a unique, global perspective, having worked with many organizations from all over the world, including Europe, the U.S., Middle East, and Far East. He has also published a series of training guides […]
The Biggest Obstacle to Innovation in One Word
It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change. This wonderful quote of Leon C. Megginson is still so relevant in this fast changing world. Trying to do things differently or to do different things within an organization is hard. Being […]
Workplace Politics Kills Innovation
As a manager in big companies I hated workplace politics. Among colleagues you compete for scarce budgets, scarce people and scarce promotion opportunities. This does not bring out the best in people, creating a lot of wrangling and maneuvering. Sometimes it even seems that internal competitors are more vicious than competitors in the market. Individual agendas […]
When Innovation Fails and 10 Ways to Innovation Success
No one is able to stand still in this fast paced business environment. As business leader you’re looking for ways to innovate, but most of the time innovation fails. Innovation process-expert Robert Cooper shows that of every seven new product/service projects, about four enter development, 1.5 are launched, and only one succeeds. Innovation is so difficult […]
Be Innovative and Act Conservative
I saw a lot of innovative people present business ideas in a very original way: playing a movie, doing a dance, making a painting, writing one huge post-it, making a newspaper, and even by doing a flash mob. Of course it’s a great idea to be original, but when you present your innovative business idea […]
Delivery Innovations for e-Commerce in 2015
Changes and improvements in parcel delivery options will give a boost to e-commerce sites in 2015, according to a new report by Fastlane International. The internet retail delivery and international parcel market is poised for some “significant developments” next year, including increased delivery options, the growth of Sunday and same-day delivers, better ‘signature’ proof systems […]
