2010 Archives

• Huawei Technologies – one of 8 recipients of The Economist’s Annual Innovation Awards

  Huawei Technologies, China, is the recipient of this award for its ‘corporate use of innovation’. While noting that R&D is the most significant contributor to Huawei’s overwhelming success, it is difficult to believe company statements that over 50% of its staff are engaged in R&D as stated by the company and by a recent report by the Battelle Institute. Perhaps the definition of R&D is different in China than elsewhere. This interpretation might also be the reason why China’s investment in R&D has risen so rapidly in the last few years. While not much information is available on this dynamic company, we identify at least some of the management practices which have made it successful.  Huawei Report Economist Award. Click on the link for our free, brief (4-page) report.

  Posted on Thursday, December 16th, 2010 at 9:23 pm in Best Management Practices, Economic development, The role and place of R&D in innovation..

  No Comments »

  Tags: China, research and development

• BP’s Newest Culture – what do we know?

  Tony Hayward’s initiatives were on the way to changing BP in a positive manner. Progress was disrupted by the Macondo drilling well disaster. Bob Dudley is again remaking BP; yet again changing priorities amongst safety, cost reduction and profit improvement. We comment on Hayward’s changes and his legacy, Dudley’s initiatives so far, and the potential impact on BP’s risk profile. Read more; Download BP’s Newest New Culture.

  Posted on Monday, November 1st, 2010 at 9:21 pm in Cultural Aspects of Innovation, Discussion, Leadership, News, Rewards for Innovators.

  No Comments »

  Tags: culture, innovation, innovative, performance, risk

• The ultimate tinkerer – Dyson of vacum cleaner fame

  Evidently, Dyson, the inventor of the high-end vacum cleaner which has ‘cleaned up’ the market with the application of new cyclonic technology, built 5,271 prototypes, before he was fully satisfied. This is an example of professional tinkering which, in this case, has made a significant difference. Read the article in The New Yorker, September 20th, 2010, Annals of Invention. Fascinating article!

  Posted on Sunday, October 24th, 2010 at 7:27 pm in Cultural Aspects of Innovation, Economic development, Rewards for Innovators, The role and place of R&D in innovation..

  No Comments »

  Tags: development, research, tinkering

• Tinkering and economic development? Compare the U.S. with 3 countries.

  U.S. innovative economic success is based largely on four notions; ‘tinkering’, materialism, a flexible financial infrastructure and a high tolerance for failure at both the corporate and individual level. Tinkering puts ideas into action. Consumer-driven materialism ensures a ready market for new ideas. A flexible financial infrastructure facilitates the relatively easy establishment and destruction of enterprises. An open attitude to failure encourages individuals and corporations to try new ideas, gadgets, and business models. All four are most prevalent in the United States economy while only one, two or three may be present in other economies.Compare the presence of these four notions in the U.S., Canada, Russia and Japan. Download ‘Tinkering etc.’

  Posted on Thursday, July 15th, 2010 at 1:33 pm in Cultural Aspects of Innovation, Economic development.

  No Comments »

  Tags: failure, infrastructure, materialism, research, tinkering, tolerance

• Toyota, hobbled, but retains its culture for innovation – post recall.

  The massive recall by Toyota of 8.4 million vehicles (8 million for unintended acceleration (which as of this date has not been adequately diagnosed) and 400,000 for brake problems is, according to the company, attributed to over expansion and insufficient attention to quality. Toyota’s organization was unable to cope with the building of upwards of 17 new production facilities since 2,000 on top of the need to supply and manage the current total of 75 production plants world-wide. The outcome is that Toyota became the largest auto maker in the world and was simultaneously hobbled with the largest recall in its history. Will the recall affect Toyota’s traditional innovative culture?

  We don’t think the mechanical problem itself is other than a very serious blemish on Toyota’s reputation but the manner in which Toyota has handled the issue is much more serious and needs to be addressed by Toyota. It is a management issue. It is Toyota’s first major glitch in its 20-year roll to become #1 in the automotive world. Over expansion is a part of the problem but not the root cause.

   

  It’s fashionable to criticize Toyota. The evidence of design, manufacturing, quality, and operational flaws is awesome and disturbing to management, regulators and, most significantly, for Toyota, to the consumer. Serious for sure, but is it the beginning of a downslide for Toyota; a company which has built a stellar reputation over its 53-year history? Not likely!

   Our conclusion is that Toyota remains in a strong position and will continue to being highly innovative in the auto industry while suffering some short term but significant adjustments to its innovative practices.

   

  For the full White Paper, visit http://www.corporateinnovationonline.com.

  Posted on Wednesday, May 26th, 2010 at 4:30 pm in Best Management Practices, News.

  No Comments »