Leadership

• Survey results for SMEs show priority concerns

  SME’s  – what is working and what it not when it come to an environment for innovation!

  We have broken out our survey results by size of organization and compiled the results for all respondents reporting to have 100 or fewer employess; thus more related to the size of SMEs than the  overall survey results.

  What we have found

  1.  The biggest concerns lie with two factors which come under the heading of ‘idea management’; reward mechanisms for innovators  (F14), and the general availability of resources  (F19).

  2. Of least concern are  risk tolerance in the planning process (F9), use of independent work groups (F11), the formality of the decision process (F13), tolerance for mavericks (F3), R&D budgets (F23), attitudes to mergers etc. (F16), and the role of employee organizations (F25).

  3. For the balance of Factors, SMEs noted a significant difference between their ‘Ideal’ for each Factor and their own ‘Reality’, In terms of Factors , 3 of 4  Factors come under leadership,  4 of 8 Factors are under day-to-day management, and 4 of 6 Factors come under idea management practices.  Thus gaps in innovative performance surface in all 3 major topics covered by the survey. 

  Most of the gaps are addressable by management by  carefully choosing the appropriate – not just one - enabling mechanisms.

  If you would like further background information on the survey results for SMEs just follow the link above (survey results) and download the 4 pages. 

  Posted on Tuesday, January 3rd, 2012 at 9:26 pm in Best Management Practices, Cultural Aspects of Innovation, Idea management, Leadership, Rewards for Innovators.

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  Tags: innovative, management practices, SMEs

• John Deere’s ability to sustain innovation over decades. How come?

  John Deere’s founders had a tremendous impact on the culture of this global manufacturer of agricultural equipment. What is even more amazing is the ability of following generations of management to sustain innovation. How does this happen? What are the management practices which contribute to continued success? Our most recent corporate profile (21 pages, dated October 3, 2011 and found under Profiles/Papers)  delves into the reasons why. We also look at Deere’s spectrum of innovation; a distinguishing characteristic of highly-innovative companies.

  Posted on Tuesday, November 1st, 2011 at 2:48 pm in Best Management Practices, Cultural Aspects of Innovation, Leadership, The role and place of R&D in innovation..

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  Tags: global business, innovation, innovative, research and development

• RIM’s (Research in Motion) Innovative Capacity in Reponse to a Crisis

  Co-Authors Paul White, P.Eng., FCMC, and Peter Farwell, F.C.A., CFA, examine RIM’s strategy and management practices in light of recent product development and management issues impacting RIM. Our conclusion, set out in a 36-page report, highlights the changes in strategy and the changes in management structure and performance that we believe will be essential to RIM’s future success. Download an Overview of Full Report. The full report is available, for fee, at: http/www.corporateinnovationonline.com under Profiles and Papers/Corporate Profiles – Innovation.

  Overall, we are not optimistic that RIM can survive in the current environment unless the real issues are addressed and quickly. So far there is little information from the company that the issues we have identified are being addressed and almost no information that the issues are understood let alone acted upon at this critical time. Stakeholders, particularly shareholders, deserve more than a ‘have-faith’ platitude.

  Posted on Friday, August 19th, 2011 at 2:44 pm in Best Management Practices, Cultural Aspects of Innovation, Idea management, Leadership, News, Rewards for Innovators, The role and place of R&D in innovation..

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  Tags: innovation, management practices, research in motion, strategy, tolerance, turnaround

• Starbucks, the role of innovation

  Howard Schultz’s book, Onward, provides rare insight into the role innovation in the corporate world and the thinking of a founder. A short, 17-page, profile on this site, under Profiles and Papers/Profiles-Innovation, parses innovation at this inventive company. Starbucks Download. Comments are welcome.

  A brief – 2-page – document  Download Starbucks Innovation Profile Only provides an outline of the range of innovation at Starbucks. Use this example to profile your own ‘spectrum of innovation’.

  Posted on Thursday, May 12th, 2011 at 9:04 pm in Best Management Practices, Book Reviews, Cultural Aspects of Innovation, Idea management, Leadership, The role and place of R&D in innovation..

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  Tags: global business, research and development, Retail industry, Starbucks

• Linking academic research to commercial success.

  Glasgow’s University of Strathclyde seems to have gotten the right formula in this energy/wind turbine initiative. Download – The Linkage Between University Research and Commercial Success.

  Posted on Thursday, March 31st, 2011 at 3:29 pm in Best Management Practices, Economic development, Leadership, The role and place of R&D in innovation..

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  Tags: Economic development, innovation, research and development

• Massey-Ferguson Ltd., lack of innovation contributed to its demise.

  Our latest White Paper provides insight into the demise of Massey-Ferguson Ltd. (MF), once Canada’s largest industrial enterprise employing 68,000 people world-wide. Passing out of business in the 1990s, MF’ lacked innovativeness. Three ex-employees offer their insights into innovation during the critical period, 1960 to 1980, and conclude that the lack of innovativeness was a major contributor to MF’s demise. The then current management practices simply did not encourage innovation. Download the Massey Ferguson White Paper.

  Posted on Monday, January 31st, 2011 at 7:46 pm in Best Management Practices, Leadership, News, The role and place of R&D in innovation..

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  Tags: failure, innovation, Sick companies. Canada

• 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.

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  Tags: culture, innovation, innovative, performance, risk

• The view from the top. COO/CEO thinking.

  What do senior executives (Chief Operating Officers and Chief Executive Officers) consider to be the most important Factors which encourage a culture for innovativeness? Our analysis of the latest survey results found some answers.

  Those respondents to the survey who identified themselves as COO/CEO identified 10 Factors as most important to creating a positive culture for innova tion. Five of these Factors were seen as being most important. To find out what to do, in practical terms, visit the web site; http://www.corporateinnovationonline.com  and go to Thought Starters where you will find helpful ideas for each of the 5 Factors.

  Factor #6; Emphasis on management of people and their interactions. Not surprisingly, senior executives emphasized this important aspect of their management responsibility as contributing significantly to creating a climate for innovation. 

  Factor #8; Tolerance of variance from the corporate norm. At the senior executive level it is seen as very important to encourage employees to give voice to their opinions even if such statements or ideas depart in some way from the traditions of the organization. New ideas and new methods of doing things are to be encouraged.

  Factor #12; Degree to which management decisions are made with input from the rest of the organization. Senior executives like to believe that their management style creates openings for employees to contribute to the decision-making process.

  Factor #19; Availability of resources (budget, time, etc.,) for new ventures. Having funds available for new ventures is seen as being a very important contributor to a positive culture for innovation. Respondents, as measured by the difference between the ideal situation and the reality faced by senior executives on this issue, were clear that this was an area where they were least satisfied with the status quo. In other words, generally, there are insufficient funds (relative to desire) available for new ventures.

  Factor #22; Extent to which management has an innovative tradition. Senior executives believe that having an innovative tradition is, in itself, important to creating a positive climate for innovation. Obviously the first step is to create the climate, but the second step is taking actions which sustain innovation.

  What do you think of this short list of 5 Factors? Does your senior executive have the same opinion?

  More on the other 5 Factors seen as important will be presented in a subsequent blog entry.

  Posted on Wednesday, July 16th, 2008 at 6:18 pm in Leadership.

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