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Company leaders talk about corporate venturing and intrapreneurship, where em-
ployees are encouraged to develop entrepreneurial activities within the organization.
Companies may try to set up structures in such a way that they do not stifle new ideas.
They may put groups of talented people together in skunk works to work on innovations -
development of the PC at I BM is the most famous example. Skunk works are outside the
usual company structures and are less likely to be hampered by bureaucracy, in-fighting
and so on.
When innovators go to large companies with
new designs for their products, they
face similar problems. The inventor of the small-wheeled Moulton bicycle could not per-
suade Raleigh to produce it, so he set up his own company. But a single innovative
breakthrough is not enough. There has to be continuous improvement and market re-
sponse. The current winners in bicycle innovation are producers of mountain bikes, who
have taken the original bicycle design and eliminated its irritations, revolutionizing an old
concept
by providing relative comfort, easy gear changes, a 'fun' ride and so on.
In reality, it’s a long way from an idea to a product. The initial idea for a car will be
turned into a series of prototypes and tested. In software development, the final 'proto-
type' is the beta-version, which is beta-tested. Pharmaceuticals go through a series of tri-
als. Even the most brilliant entrepreneurs will not have the resources to do it alone in in-
dustries like these, as the investment and experience required are enormous.
Cars, software and pharmaceuticals are examples of industries dominated by giants.
The 'rules of the game' are well established, and newcomers are rare,
unless they can find
a small niche unexploited by the giants. There may be more opportunity for innovation
where the rules of the game are not yet established. This may involve selling and deliver-
ing existing products in new ways: think, for example, of selling books and airline tickets
on the Internet.
One thing is certain: business will continue to benefit from the creativity of indi-
viduals and organizations who can develop great ideas and bring them to market. That
being said, successful innovation should be an in-built part
of your business strategy,
where you create a culture of innovation and lead the way in innovative thinking and
creative problem solving.
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