Behold! Another definition!

This definition of innovation by Damanpour (1991) has got to be a contender for this year's Broken Bulbs Innovation Definition Award, which will be called "The Schumpeter."

"The adoption of an internally generated or purchased device, system, policy, program, process, product, or service that is new to the adopting organization."

This definition is interesting because it takes an adoption/diffusion perspective; it considers the numerous types of innovation; and it views an innovation as not only being bought from outside, but coming from within the firm. In other words, ideas for innovations can come from anybody in the firm. Obvious, right? But that doesn't stop most firms' managers from being "too busy" to listen to many of their staff's "ridiculous" ideas.

The previous post on the grandmother of all policy headaches, ageing populations, should have provided a link to this guy's Web site.


innovation, innovation management, China, Taiwan

Robot

I like to look at the microwave oven in our kitchen as a robot. Microwaves "prepare" meals for people (even though it's only just heating/defrosting). As the technology improves, however, these ovens will play a bigger role in people's lives, especially old people living on their own. One country with a lot of old people is Japan.

According to this report, the population of Japan stood at 127 million in 2004. By 2050, Japan's population will drop to 100 million.

An ageing population, according to Joseph Schumpeter, is a symptom of capitalism's success. As a counterblast to this graying population, countries encourage immigration, such as Germany and Scotland; others are not so keen on the idea of opening up their borders to "foreigners," like Japan. Robots are seen as an alternative.

I think we'll be hearing a lot more about Joseph Schumpeter in future as more and more economists accept his main thesis, that the entrepreneur, and economic innovation along with him, is a dying breed.

innovation, innovation management, China, Taiwan

Taiwan brands II

Taiwanese OEM/OMD firms are eager to get out of the dog-eat-dog manufacturing game and are now attempting to build their own brands. Ad agencies have been reaping the rewards as you can imagine. This is a photo taken from a very large billboard on a busy intersection in Taipei. Benq mobile, which has just taken over Seimens' loss-making mobile phone unit, seems to be very proud of its new German "heritage." This is a Taiwan brand, though, so I don't really get it. Is the intention to imply that this is a German brand? This type of ambiguous stuff reminds me of those dodgy perfumes and shampoos with "Paris" and "Milan" written on the label.

I'm looking forward to the day when one of these firms has the guts to slap the "Taiwan" tag next to their brand. If Benq won't do it, maybe ASUS will?

SAMPO, another Taiwan brand, is also trying to get access to the European channels/market. SAMPO missed out on a great opportunity to buy the Grundig brand a few years ago and is now partnering up with G-Hanz, also a German brand.











innovation, innovation management, China, Taiwan

What drives the entrepreneur?

There was an interesting piece in the Economist this week on Israeli firms and how they are forced to become multinational from the outset as a result of a small home-country market. Many of these firms actively seek country-markets in which the competition is fierce, which further pushes them to innovate. In essence, these firms are creating an environment that brings out that sense of urgency that innovation needs.

The following quote from the piece echoes much of what Joseph Schumpeter said about the factors that drive the entrepreneur to do what he does, irrespective of his wealth:

" . . . the real kick is the success, not the fruits of success."

Another important driver is the desire to create, as Schumpeter put it, a "transgenerational dynasty." Without the kids, the desire to innovate is reduced.

PS. I saw an ad on a billboard the other day from Benq, a Taiwanese firm, that had me wondering what the hell is going on with that firm. The billboard read: "Benq" then "Munich, Germany." Is this them trying to communicate that they are a German brand? I'll take a photo of the billboard and post it later. It's very interesting comparing how Taiwanese and South Korean firms approach their branding.

innovation, innovation management, China, Taiwan

Another definition

Came across yet another definition of innovation in the book Fast Innovation: Achieving Superior Differentiation, Speed to Market, and Increased Profitability , a 2005 publication:

" . . . creating new ways and better ways of doing the things that your customers value and that create value for your shareholders."

The authors of this book describe three types of innovation (basically: product/service, process, and market definition), and suggest that firms try to innovate in at least two of these areas. They also suggest that firms cut the number of projects going on at any one time in the firm, a view that is also held by Rebecca Hendersen, professor at MIT. (Watch a video of her lecture!)

A day after I posted about the future of podcasts, I discovered this article from the BBC.







innovation, innovation management, China, Taiwan

Podcasts -- another dotcom crash?

One of the recurring themes in Clayton Christensen's Innovator's Solution is the notion of understanding what encumbent firms will and will not do when a new product or business model appears on their radar screens. Christensen asserts that there are predictable forces that influence managers' responses (especially middle managers) to threats/opportunities. It's a good bet, in other words -- if you understand the theory of disruptive innovation.

So what will happen to the many popular podcasts and podcast portals, like Odeo.com and PodcastAlley?

Will the bet be on existing broadcasters, like the BBC, who view podcasts as just another distribution channel; or the new podcasters, who may view a podcast as a business in itself?

And the podcast portals? Will the money be on iTunes, Yahoo, or the new arrivals, such as Odeo.com and PodcastAlley?








innovation, innovation management, China, Taiwan

Design: important but insufficient

Just walk around any store here in Taiwan and you'll see a plethora of new, and increasingly unconventional-looking MP3 players. It's obvious that many of the firms making these products are trying to emulate the success of Apple by concentrating on the design element of the product offering. With a daring design, the hope is that people will start talking about their products (somebody's been reading Purple Cow). The problem is, they may be doing this at the expense of other, more critical elements of their product offering.

There is an excellent article by Dev Patnaik in the innovation section of Businessweek on this issue.






innovation, innovation management, China, Taiwan

Taiwanese brands

Somebody asked me the other day what I thought the best-known Taiwanese brands were.

That's quite a difficult question: Although many consumers in Europe and America have heard of such brands as Acer, Benq, Trend Micro, Giant, Asus etc., they may not know their country of origin. The companies that own these brands often prefer not to communicate the country of origin for fear of undermining the brand's image. In other words, they are being a bit cautious about shouting about their Taiwanese origins.

Trend Micro is one such company. I heard a report on CNN recently where the presenter commented that they were a Japanese company. I'm sure that Trend Micro isn't complaining about this slip!

One Taiwanese-owned brand that I think has great potential is ASUS, a so-called 3C brand. The name sounds good; the products are manufactured by the same company that makes/designs products for other world-class companies (Dell, Microsoft, Sony); but most of all, just look at the products' design.

You can see some photos here.

The only thing about this brand is that they seem to be a bit schizophrenic about the color in their logos and other marketing material: sometimes blue, sometimes black/grey. I think the black/grey is the way to go!


PS. Think that country-of-origin effects don't matter? Try this test: You see these two products on the shelf, which one do you grab?

1. Sparkling mineral water (from Ukraine)

2. Sparkling mineral water (from Switzerland)







innovation, innovation management, China, Taiwan

Transnational innovation

You read a lot these days about how transnational firms learn from the numerous country-markets in which they operate. Toyota in the United States learns cutting-edge manufacturing skills from Toyota in Japan. While another Japanese company, Pioneer, a producer of professional CD players for DJs, learns from the highly demanding British market. On it goes: firms are learning specific capabilities from different parts of the world. Why? Because no country is the best at everything.

In terms of managing innovation, you can imagine how problems can arise when you start having discussions with people in different parts of the world. Some questions that can cause major debate and headaches are these:


What, exactly, is a disruptive innovation and how does it differ from a breakthrough innovation?

What constitutes a "new" product?

At what point does product innovation become process innovation?

Can process innovations be considered separately from product innovations in a world increasingly dominated by services?


innovation, innovation management, China, Taiwan