Shape-Shifting Enterprises

A new set of on-demand, Web-based toolkits for business emerges out of the innovation movement. These kits focus on maximizing new options and possibilities for a fast-changing, uncertain global business environment, not boosting efficiencies for existing processes in a stable marketplace. They manage talent, production, and creativity on a global scale.

The Customer Is King

The end of competition for business occurs. Consumers replace competitors as the key reference point for corporate strategy. Reason? Disruptive innovation now often takes places outside the normal competitive environment. Think Google in advertising or Apple in mobile phones/music/retail. Consumers are more knowledgeable and more powerful than competitors.

Hang On to the Good Stuff

"Longevity" replaces "sustainability" as a core concept for the green thing. Just hanging on to that expensive, fancy car does more to help the planet than recycling stuff again and again. Or so the marketing argument will go.

t's All About Me

"Identity" replaces "experience" as the next big concept in design and media thinking. People create their own identities interacting with products and services. The notion of a consumer experience is a more passive way of thinking. It's so 20th century. Identity gets the buzz in '08.

Kindle Catches Fire

Amazon's (AMZN) Kindle e-book reader does much better than the tech blogs predicted. Shifting from paper made from trees to electronic paper reduces personal carbon footprints enormously, and this makes Kindle a darling of the Green Movement, propelling sales. Along the way, Kindle's remarkable direct-to-Web capabilities and cool, anti-iPod design finally get credit.

Mobile Explosion

The next big disruptive innovation is—Super Mobility. A flood of new applications for the iPhone (AAPL), the newly opened Verizon (VZ) network, and Google's (GOOG) Android platform generate an explosion of great cell-phone experiences. Especially watch the apps developed for Facebook on the iPhone.

Unfriend Me

Who you're friends with becomes more important than how many friends you have. Exclusivity and privacy replace open community in social media. People move to gated networks from Facebook and MySpace (NWS), fleeing the commercialization of their personal information and relationships.

Fly WiFi

WiFi on U.S. planes changes the travel experience. Forrester (FORR) estimates that 38% of frequent business travelers would use WiFi—even at a cost of $25 a trip. European airline Lufthansa already offers the service, and demand is big

Our Urban Planet

The 192021 project—a study of 19 cities with 20 million people in the 21st century—gains massive corporate support. For the first time, in 2007, more than half the planet's people live in cities. 192021 plans to generate uniform data on the rise of these supercities and the role their consumers and creators play in business and civic life.

One Laptop Boomerangs

The One Laptop Per Child "$100 laptop" becomes a Christmas best-seller in the U.S. but fails overseas. OLPC is criticized as "Western high-tech imperialism." Governments in Asia and Africa reject the beautifully designed children's computer because of high costs for installation, repair, and electricity as well as limited local educational content.

Presidential Policy

A national innovation policy emerges as a key part of the Presidential campaign. With the economy sinking into recession and competitors from China, India, and Europe embracing national innovation plans, Hillary Clinton is the first to propose a program—and rivals respond.

B-School Goes D-School

A top American B-school follows the lead of University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management and transforms its curriculum to a design model. Business administration focuses on making existing business processes and products better and more efficient. Business design focuses on creating new options for new forms of enterprise.

Innovation Consolidation

One of the big, established consulting firms such as McKinsey, Bain or BCG makes a pass at one of the small design-turned-innovation consultancies—Jump, Continuum, IDEO, Advank or ZIBA—to bolster its innovation practice. Demand from corporate clients for help in executing innovation is surging, and consolidation in the innovation field is on the rise.

Innovation Predictions for 2008

The only truly predictable thing about the coming year is that it's sure to be full of surprises. But some innovations will be ways of dealing with just that fact
By Bruce Nussbaum

2008 will be one hairy beast, what with a U.S. Presidential election playing in the background and huge economic and social forces making us lead our lives in constant beta. Predictions are foolhardy in these circumstances, but...fun. I tapped into the wisdom of my crowd for this enterprise, including Doblin's Larry Keeley, Richard Saul Wurman, Tim Brown of IDEO, David Armano from Critical Mass, Peer Insight's Jeneanne Rae, writers Jessie Scanlon and Jessi Hempel, Pop!Tech's Andrew Zolli, Ammunition's Robert Brunner, consultant John Kao, and a couple more. So—here goes some fun. Fourteen guesses of what may take place in the innovation and design space next year.

Innovation Predictions 2008

Get ready for … anything. As companies, governments—indeed, entire countries—confront an array of dilemmas, the only constant will be change



Building the next-generation enterprise—and maybe even the next-generation nation—will preoccupy most of us in 2008. The demand for innovation is soaring in the business community and is just beginning to gain traction in the political sphere. Most of the leading Presidential candidates have thoughtful positions on innovation (BusinessWeek.com, 11/15/07). And nearly all CEOs and top managers who have learned the language of innovation are now seeking the means to make it happen. It took the Quality Movement a generation to change business culture. The Innovation Movement is still in its infancy, but it's growing fast.
You can see that in the vast changes taking place within the field. Companies are demanding new tools and methods to execute that change within their existing organizations, as well as for the kind of design thinking that transforms cultures. To take advantage of the opportunities, chief innovation officers in big corporations such as Procter & Gamble (PG) and Harley Davidson (HOG) are leaving to join consultancies or set up shop for themselves. Consolidation is quickening apace as small innovation consultancies try to combine big-picture thought leadership with specific, on-demand Web applications that manage networks, talent, customers, suppliers, and employees around the world. In 2007, consultancy Monitor bought into innovation strategy specialists Doblin, led by Larry Keeley, while another large consultancy, BSG Alliance acquired research firm New Paradigm, led by Wikinomics co-author Don Tapscott.
What's up for 2008? Keep an eye on the business schools. Companies are demanding that their managers be more creative and less obsessed with cost and efficiency. The last revolution within executive education was the introduction of Management Science in the 1950s. Will we see the spread of IM—Innovation Management—in "exec ed"?
Privacy, Mobility, and the Next Big Idea
And expect the whole realm of social networking to change in 2008. Just when you "got it" and thought it was all about open, personal, and casual online relationships, social media will morph into another ecosystem—one with lots of gates. Who your friends are is becoming far more important than how many friends you have. We can probably thank our advertising friends for this. The drive to monetize Facebook and MySpace (NWS) by using members' personal information is alienating many people, driving them to more private networks. Stay tuned, and watch Europe and Brazil for future trends. Social networks are beginning to feel a lot like hot nightclubs—with velvet rope barriers.
As for hot products in 2008, prepare for yet more surprises. The triumph of opening up the cell phone will create an array of new applications we can only dream of right now. GPS may seem old hat by next summer. The mobile Facebook is bound to be fascinating. And the e-book may be just an iteration away from taking off. Want to reduce your personal carbon footprint easily? Read books, magazines, and newspapers on an e-book.
And the Big Idea for 2008? Stop competing against your competitors. Your traditional rivals aren't your biggest worry. Disruptive innovation is hitting corporations from outside their business. Verizon (VZ) was forced to open its cell-phone service because Apple (AAPL) and Google (GOOG) smacked it hard. Verizon's new business model will probably generate 10 times the demand for service. You just never know. That's life, in beta.

Spiral: an organizing force in nature and innovation

by Veronika @ MaRS

The festive season is with us once again, and if you’ve never spent much time looking at pine cones, perhaps now is the time to take a close look at those marvels of nature. Or any other vine, tree branch or a sunflower. The article “Mathematical lives of plants: why plants grow in geometrically curious patterns” describes how these natural structures also show some surprising mathematical properties.

“As a plant puts out leaves or seeds around some central structure, each seed or leaf spaced from the last by about the golden angle, interlocking spiral arms form in clockwise and counterclockwise directions.”

The spiral is also an excellent project management methodology, especially for innovative products. Since most of us work in the highly uncertain market environments we need nimble product development approaches to match the business uncertainty. In other words, one can’t expect to turn out new products like a Six Sigma factory produces standard widgets. Classic product development methodologies, like Stage-Gate® have been excellent in optimizing new product development. However, they don’t work that well for creating brand new things for the simple reason that the Stage-Gate® methodology seeks to eliminate uncertainty… But without uncertainty, there is no innovation.

All projects can be managed better when segmented into a hierarchy of chunks or a waterfall of sequential steps. This is a well-established practice in project management, especially when applied to software development (see a simple and useful set of instructions here:

Principle Based Project Management)
The ultimate evolution from the waterfall is a spiral. This process is a lot more flexible, allowing changes to occur later in the process without too much disruption.

The

Spiral Development Model takes advantage of the fact that development projects work best when they are both incremental and iterative, where the team is able to start small and benefit from enlightened trial and error along the way.

If you get that first product development right, it just might propel your product concept onto the next step of the innovation spiral, where successful innovations beget others.

http://blog.marsdd.com/2007/12/18/spiral-an-organizing-force-in-nature-and-innovation/#more-593

Predictions for Innovation Next Year

By Bruce Nussbaum

As for hot products in 2008, prepare for surprises. The triumph of opening up the cell phone will create an array of new applications we can only dream of right now. GPS may seem old hat by next summer. The mobile Facebook is bound to be fascinating. And the e-book may be just an iteration away from taking off

Building the next-generation enterprise -- and maybe even the next-generation nation -- will preoccupy most of us in 2008. The demand for innovation is soaring in the business community and is just beginning to gain traction in the political sphere.

Most of the leading Presidential candidates have thoughtful positions on innovation. And nearly all CEOs and top managers who have learned the language of innovation are now seeking the means to make it happen. It took the Quality Movement a generation to change business culture. The Innovation Movement is still in its infancy, but it's growing fast.

You can see that in the vast changes taking place within the field. Companies are demanding new tools and methods to execute that change within their existing organizations, as well as for the kind of design thinking that transforms cultures.

To take advantage of the opportunities, chief innovation officers in big corporations such as Procter & Gamble and Harley Davidson are leaving to join consultancies or set up shop for themselves. Consolidation is quickening apace as small innovation consultancies try to combine big-picture thought leadership with specific, on-demand Web applications that manage networks, talent, customers, suppliers, and employees around the world.

In 2007, consultancy Monitor bought into innovation strategy specialists Doblin, led by Larry Keeley, while another large consultancy, BSG Alliance acquired research firm New Paradigm, led by Wikinomics co-author Dan Tapscott.

What's up for 2008? Keep an eye on the business schools. Companies are demanding that their managers be more creative and less obsessed with cost and efficiency . The last revolution within executive education was the introduction of Management Science in the 1950s. Will we see the spread of IM -- Innovation Management -- in "exec ed"?

Privacy, Mobility, and the Next Big Idea
And expect the whole realm of social networking to change in 2008. Just when you "got it" and thought it was all about open, personal, and casual online relationships, social media will morph into another ecosystem -- one with lots of gates. Who your friends are is becoming far more important than how many friends you have. We can probably thank our advertising friends for this.

The drive to monetize Facebook and MySpace by using members' personal information is alienating many people, driving them to more private networks. Stay tuned, and watch Europe and Brazil for future trends. Social networks are beginning to feel a lot like hot nightclubs -- with velvet rope barriers.

As for hot products in 2008, prepare for yet more surprises. The triumph of opening up the cell phone will create an array of new applications we can only dream of right now. GPS may seem old hat by next summer. The mobile Facebook is bound to be fascinating. And the e-book may be just an iteration away from taking off. Want to reduce your personal carbon footprint easily? Read books, magazines, and newspapers on an e-book.
And the Big Idea for 2008? Stop competing against your competitors. Your traditional rivals aren't your biggest worry. Disruptive innovation is hitting corporations from outside their business. Verizon was forced to open its cell-phone service because Apple and Google smacked it hard. Verizon's new business model will probably generate 10 times the demand for service. You just never know. That's life, in beta

http://www.bpm-today.com/story.xhtml?story_id=57260

A sofisticação do mundo

Uma das várias vantagens da «Monocle» é a de chamar as coisas pelos nomes.

Por nomes a revista entende tudo o que de bom vale a pena neste mundo plano de mediania à medida que vai mostrando as coisas e as pessoas que fazem a vida tal como ela deve ser tida. Evidencia em cada página a criatividade humana por esse mundo fora e, por mundo, a revista entende as partes ainda não reveladas especialmente quando constituem oportunidades de negócio, de bem-estar e usufruto. Ao detectar as tendências, sugere um sem-número de iniciativas que podem encher o seu bolso e melhorar a sua vida, e a dos outros. A sua atenção às pequenas coisas que vão aparecendo nas cidades coloca-a sempre à frente no relato das modernidades e dos confortos. O seu ponto forte é a soma dos pontos fortes de cada sítio - centenas em cada edição. E a de Dezembro/Janeiro tem ainda o aliciante de incluir uma separata onde se fixa o estado da elegância no mundo.Com sugestões do que faz falta em cada segmento.

Fonte: Expresso, 15 de Dezembro de 07

Biocombustíveis: Biodiversity key to sustainable biofuel

http://www.innovations-report.com/html/reports/environment_sciences/report-60547.html

Biodiversity key to sustainable biofuel according to University of Minn. researcher’s findings
next article
01.06.2006


Ecosystems containing many different plant species are not only more productive, they are also better able to withstand and recover from climate extremes, pests and disease over long periods of time.

These findings, published in the June 1 issue of Nature, are the culmination of 12 years of experiments conducted by David Tilman, Regents Professor of Ecology at the University of Minnesota, to explore the value of biodiversity. The research was carried out at Cedar Creek Natural History Area, near Cambridge, a field station operated by the university’s College of Biological Sciences.

"This is exciting because it shows that biodiversity can be used to produce a sustainable supply of biomass for biofuels," Tilman says.

For more than 50 years, scientists have debated the hypothesis that biodiversity stabilizes ecosystems. The University of Minnesota study is the first to provide enough data -- gathered over a sufficient time period in an experiment that controlled biodiversity – to confirm the theory. The time period of the study allowed researchers to evaluate the average net effects of diversity on resistance to and recovery from drought, pests, disease and other disturbances. Tilman and his collaborators began the work in the early 1990s and began publishing a series of landmark papers in 1994.

Biodiversity of global ecosystems has decreased as global population has increased because diverse ecosystems such as forests and prairies have been cleared to make way for agricultural fields planted with monocultures, buildings and roads.

Tilman’s research has shown that ecosystems containing many different plant species are more productive than those containing only one of those species. A return to biodiversity may prove to be the key to meeting energy needs for the growing number of people on the planet and for restoring global ecosystems.

"Diverse prairie grasslands are 240 percent more productive than grasslands with a single prairie species," Tilman says. "That’s a huge advantage. Biomass from diverse prairies can be used to make biofuels without the need for annual tilling, fertilizers and pesticides, which require energy and pollute the environment. High diversity allows us to produce biofuels with low inputs, and this means that we can get more energy from an acre of land, year after year, with high certainty. Because they are perennials, you can plant prairie grass once and mow it for biomass every fall essentially forever.

" The research was carried out in 168 plots, each of which was randomly planted with 1-16 perennial grasses and other prairie plants. Over 12 years, rainfall during the growing season varied more than twofold and average daily high temperatures ranged from 21.5 C to 24.4 C. Stability was dependent on diversity and root mass. Roots store nutrients and buffer against climate variations. Prairie plants, which are perennials, have far more root mass than crops such as corn, which must be replanted annually.
Mark Cassutt Source: EurekAlert! Further information: www.umn.edu

Nuno Oliveira
Director, Coordenador Estratégia ‘Business and Biodiversity’ e ‘Countdown 2010’
(+351) 96 294 02 09
E-mail: ambiodiv@ambiodiv.com
Site: http://www.ambiodiv.com

Innovation is key for shoe sellers in tough market

by Zac Bissonnette

Back in August, I wrote about all the beaten-down shoe stocks currently on the market: companies like Rocky Brands (NASDAQ: RCKY), Finish Line (NASDAQ: FINL), Phoenix Footwear Group (AMEX: PXG), and Shoe Pavilion (NASDAQ: SHOE).Basically, selling shoes without a strong brand name is a tough business. Companies like Phoenix and Rocky are seeing their margins crushed by competitive forces, and retailers like Finish Line, Shoe Pavilion, and Genesco (NYSE: GCO), owner of stores like Journeys, are having a hard time making any money.Innovation is they key to success in the industry, and there have been a few stories recently about companies looking to do just that. Nike (NYSE: NKE) and Foot Locker (NYSE: FL) have teamed up to launch House of Hoops, which aims to be a "destination" for basketball consumers. At its Nike stores as well, the leading basketball footwear company is realizing that, to differentiate itself and expand margins, it will have to provide customers with more than just a nice shoe: they need a unique shopping experience.To that end, Nike and other companies including Steve Madden (NASDAQ: SHOO) are allowing people to custom-design their own shoes online. Of course, that's more expensive than buying them off the rack, but that really offers shoppers something unique: a one-of-a-kind shoe.And of course, Adidas, Puma, and Nike are all trying to capitalize on the excitement surrounding this week's European Championship.There are a lot of cheap shoe stocks out there. But the companies that are selling commodities and providing customers with a commodity-like experience are unlikely to see a turnaround. Before investing in shares of a shoe retailer like Finish Line, Foot Locker, or Genesco, ask yourself whether that company provides an experience that is unique. If all they're selling are shoes, they'll be extremely vulnerable to price competition.Right now, it looks like Foot Locker is the only company that's innovating. Of course, that could change, and Finish Line already has plans to launch promotions similar to Foot Locker's House of Hoops with Nike.

http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2007/12/03/innovation-is-key-for-shoe-sellers-in-tough-market/

SMEs Redefining Innovation: Insights on the New Ventures India

by Derek Newberry

At first glance, the lineup of products and services on display at this year's New Ventures India Investor Forum seemed to reflect traditional Indian knowledges and practices. Banana-leaf materials, light posts, and packaged Indian foods were some of the offerings on display by entrepreneur finalists. Only the banana leaves were fashioned into modern kitchen ware, the light posts were solar powered and the traditional Indian foods were harvested under an organic, fair trade system designed to exceed the most stringent international standards.
World Resources Institute Vice President Manish Bapna summed up this phenomenon nicely in his keynote speech: "Innovation is not invention; it is the application of existing ideas in a new context." I normally tell people that these enterprises are chosen for their innovation in building profitable businesses that benefit society and the environment, but in this case the word innovation deserves some clarification. As much attention as India gets from investors for its rapid growth and technological advancements, the November 3rd Forum demonstrated that India's entrepreneurs are spurring this growth on their own terms. Theirs is a uniquely Indian brand of innovation that readapts traditional knowledges for new environmental markets.
Witness the example of Span Pump (pictured), a company that adds a carousel or see-saw component to the technology of the many water pumps that dot India's rural areas. These "Funflow" pumps build upon conventional technology to create a device that harnesses the energy of children at play to pump water for sanitation and agricultural purposes. Span Pump is just one example of the modern-traditional innovations on display at the Forum. Others included bikes by Kabirdass which mimick the two-wheelers that are ubiquitous in cities like Bombay, but with electric, zero-emissions motors. Ankur Scientific presented power plants that utilize the jatropha weed, common in rural India, as a fuel source. Each SME taps into Indian traditions and practices of water management, agriculture, and other knowledges.
These companies are far from just feel-good projects - they are increasingly being backed by mainstream investors. The Forum itself was partially geared toward the launch of a Green Investor Network, a New Ventures India initiative that brings together investors such as ICICI bank and the Global Environment Fund to invest in SMEs like the ones on display at the event. In addition, Yes! Bank's Somak Ghosh announced that his firm would be raising a $50 million fund for small sustainable businesses.
The challenge for India now is to support enterprises like these New Ventures finalists that are applying their business skills to connect traditional Indian knowledge and technologies with high-growth markets for sustainable goods. Investors are showing interest, and the ideas are everywhere amid India's thriving entrepreneurialism. What these entrepreneurs require now is the mentoring and showcasing that will prepare their business models for investment and connect them with the capital they need to grow.

http://www.nextbillion.net/blogs/2007/12/04/smes-redefining-innovation-insights-on-the-new-ventures-india-investor-forum

Prémios Inovação-Popular Science

A revista norte-americana Popular Science divulgou recentemente os vencedores dos prémios inovação em diversas categorias.

O produto vencedor da categoria "tecnologias verdes" venceu também como a inovação do ano: Nanosolar Powersheet.

A Nanosolar é uma empresa de Silicon Valley que produz células solares através do processo tradicional de impressão em prensas.Uma fina camada de um nano-pigmento capaz de absorver energia solar é impressa em folhas de metal. Desta forma, os painéis podem ser produzidos custando cerca de um décimo do custo de um painel tradicional e pode ser produzido a uma velocidade de centenas de folhas por minuto.

http://advank.blogspot.com/2007/12/prmio-inovao-popular-science.html