Companies in technologically dynamic industries — industries in which competitive advantage is built on innovation and R&D breakthroughs — seek out different types of partner firms than companies in technologically stable industries. This difference in collaborative behaviour results in different types of industry-wide networks: technologically dynamic industries have ‘clan’ networks that feature separate groups of […]
Subject: Technology
Uncovering the Elements of Knowledge at the Heart of Innovation
The idea of a new invention may seem to suddenly appear in the imagination of the inventor. In truth, the inventor has carefully constructed the idea by combining different ‘elements of knowledge’. These elements include natural phenomena and knowledge from previous scientists and inventors (not to mention the contributions of practitioners of the liberal arts […]
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Crowdfunding Still Attracts Local Investors to Local Ventures
Entrepreneurs need money to fund their ideas. Many legendary start-ups received their early funding from venture capitalists. However, VC’s are now more interested in contributing to later stage companies rather than take a chance with early stage start-ups that have a much greater chance of failing. Into the breach steps the Internet-based crowdfunding platforms, in […]
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How Successful Megaprojects Are Games of Innovation
Megaprojects are large, technically complex, multi-year, billion-dollar (or more) engineering and financial ventures that somehow overcome challenges, turbulence, risk and resistance to eventually meet the needs for which they are built. To better understand the success factors of megaprojects, it is more useful to think of them as games of innovation, rather than the linear, […]
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CIOs: Coach and Communicate with C-suite for Digital Innovation
The digital age creates a wide range of new opportunities for innovation. Examples include new marketing outlets through social media; ‘big data’ information on customers and the market; mobile devices that connect companies to customers 24/7; and apps that redefine business models. However, not all C-suite executives have a digital mindset. As a result, innovation […]
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Broad Knowledge or Narrow Expertise: What Works Best for Innovation?
Two schools of thought exist on the best source of innovation. The foundational school argues that a deep, expert knowledge of the domain is required to unlock new pathways. Only someone with a complete immersion in the topic is going to discover the breakthrough innovation in that topic. The tension school argues that a diversity […]
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Six Skills for the Social Media-Literate Leader
With the dominant, almost overwhelming impact that social media has on just about any function of a business, it’s easy to forget that social media is barely a decade old. The vast majority of today’s leaders built most of their careers before anyone had even conceived of Facebook or Twitter. As a result, leaders must […]
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Harness Big Data Using Visualisation Software Tools
The amount of data we generate today boggles the mind. As much as 90% of all data in the world today was created in the past 2 years, writes Keith Carter, adjunct associate professor in the Department of Decision Sciences at National University Singapore Business School and author of the book "Actionable Intelligence: A Guide to […]
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Six Imperatives for Companies to Embrace Cloud Computing
Since 2005, the business units of California-based health care company Allergan has used cloud computing for a wide range of functions, from field sales effectiveness and travel and expense processing to HR performance planning and identity management. In 2010, the company adopted a ‘Cloud First’ policy, looking for cloud computing options before buying or building […]
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Should Technology Innovators Participate in the Commercialization Process?
Entrepreneurs innovating in the technology space often lack the know-how or “specialized complementary assets” within their companies to successfully commercialize their innovations. Consequently, to date, the academic literature on this subject has advised them to contract with or license the commercialization to incumbent companies that already have an established market presence. In the short term […]
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