If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
The speculation Microsoft is receiving poor feedback from the purchasers of its latest operating system, Windows 8, has allowed many to wonder if this is a moment similar to the disastrous launch by Coac-Cola of a new "Coke" some 30 years ago which was hated by customers.
With a new series of Dragons' Den and The Apprentice lined up, the concept of the business reality show is still going strong but are these shows having a positive effect on business management and leadership within the workplace?
Whilst an increase in sales of some 2.4 million on last year's total of 35 million for its iPhone is hardly 'small beer', there is a sense of disappointment and some suggest that Apple's phone is no longer the 'must have' product it was once seen to be.
There are a plethora of lists citing the most innovative companies in the world published by some notable names in media. It does not matter that all differ in their membership; the debate of who is in and shouldn't be and who is missing but should be in is not important. What is important is that there are common principles of innovation to learn from and that can be drawn from the companies that are expertly surfing ahead on the wave of creativity.
Innovation is fermented at the margins with the angry, the ambivalent, the rejecters, and the 'do it yourselfers'. To some extent, provocation comes from getting inside the heads of the very people who have rejected you--or at least those who have an extreme or downright strange relationship with your brand or category.
Sometimes your biggest opportunity can come come from where you least expect it.
Simply banning home-working is a blunt instrument that risks missing the point altogether. I've seen some terrific working practices that promote innovation, efficiency and engagement amongst co-workers - whether you work from home or not.
*Alexandra Kamins [2009] studied for a PhD in Veterinary Science with the support of a Gates Cambridge Scholarship. Picture credit: Danilo Rizzuti a...
In response to a request from the UK's Department of Business, and funded by private companies, universities, the four higher education funding councils, and the Technology Strategy Board, we are launching an independent National Centre for Universities and Business.
Yesterday, someone drew my attention to Fast Company Magazine's Most Innovative Companies of 2012. It groans with exactly the sort of US companies one might expect it to: Apple, Google, Facebook, Square, Twitter, Amazon... groan, indeed.
Energy efficiency is a major focus, too. Mahindra has a target of cutting energy for street lighting by 50% on 2009 levels by 2014. Already, three-fifths of the streets are lit with LEDs.
