In a classic episode from the old American TV show The Odd Couple, the main character Felix replaces all of the traditional furniture in his apartment with new furniture featuring radical designs (e.g. the chairs are in the shape of huge hands). While his roommate Oscar figures out how to use the ‘hands’, he’s astonished […]
Read More… from Great Innovation! But What’s it for? Marketers Beware
Crowdsourcing is an expression that describes the act of taking a task once performed by an internal employee or team, and outsourcing it to a large, undefined group of people external to the company. With the need for innovation being a top priority for businesses today, many have turned to crowdsourcing in an attempt to […]
It is often assumed that customers are the best judges of whether or not they have a problem, but that is not always the case, especially when it comes to innovative complex products. As with almost any novel high-tech product, consumers are uncertain of their requirements, so producers engage in guesswork to try and identify […]
Read More… from Eureka! How to Get that Great Idea to Market
When we choose products, it is easy to assume we are doing so because of the benefits – or perceived benefits – they offer us. Whether it is the newest generation smartphone, our safe and reliable family car, or our favourite wine, do we not base our choices on the value a particular product holds […]
A review of consumer research (based mainly in North America) and of literature from marketing and related social science disciplines confirms that marketing affects food consumption in ways beyond advertising. Pricing is one of the strongest influences. One econometric study, for example, found that a 10 per cent increase in prices at fast-food and full-service […]
Read More… from Healthy Bottom Lines – Food Marketing and Obesity Prevention
Business environments evolve quickly and constantly, and changes in technologies, demand or regulation often lead to the development of new products and services. But what determines the quality of these products and services — and the degree of innovation of companies? A study of data from 84 firms supplying the German car industry shows that […]
Read More… from Innovation and the Power of Positive Thinking
Does bad weather reduce productivity within factories and other workplaces? This is the question that the latest research from Marcelo Olivares of the Columbia Business School and Gérard Cachon and Santiago Gallino of Wharton addresses. The researchers used inventories and productivity statistics covering 10 years for 64 US automobile assembly plants, and matched them to […]
Read More… from Severe Weather: Moderating Its Impact on Productivity
Innovation in the West has become too rigid, insular and bloated to remain effective, according to Judge Business School’s Navi Radjou, Jaideep Prabhu and Simone Ahuja. During the recent economic downturn, in particular, once favoured structured approaches to innovation have failed where agility and differentiation were required. These approaches do not seem to address the […]
Robots are taking over our jobs! Ok, maybe that’s not quite the case just yet, but as technology continues to develop swiftly, there is no doubt that machines are getting smarter, cheaper, and – in some cases- more effective than humans. In several fields, analytical models are already heavily relied on for forecasting; take the […]
Read More… from Human Judgement Vs Computer Aided Forecasting
How do you sell an automobile in an emerging nation where salaries are a tiny fraction of salaries in developed countries? The traditional answer: make a cheaper model of the car you sell in developed countries. Companies traditionally take the products they are selling in developed markets and then make small changes to those products […]
Read More… from Reverse Innovation: Ideas from Emerging Countries
