December 14, 2009
   

This is a place to talk about business innovation: What is it? Where does it come from? How do you make use of it? Our inspiration is the new book by C.K. Prahalad and M.S. Krishnan, which examines both the need and opportunity for continuous business innovation resulting from the convergence of customer-focused strategies and global networks.


  N=1 Is Part of One Company's Jeans
Posted by M.S. Krishnan | October 9, 2008
The concept of N=1 is now undergoing a rebirth in the apparel industry. Some of you may recall that at the height of the dot-com era, some major companies started experimenting with using the Web to customize jeans for each individual customer. We haven't heard much from those companies lately, but one successful and growing firm, at makeyourownjeans.com, got my attention. (Read ackground on the company.)
   
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  New Age Roadshows Highlight Transparency
Posted by Bob Evans | October 7, 2008
Could greater visibility and transparency into risk exposure have prevented the current financial-services meltdown? And what lessons can other companies and industries learn from the free-fall that many financial-services companies are in, specifically in the areas of visibility and transparency? Our New Age of Innovation road-show events next week in New York City and Boston will dig into these possibilities, and we hope you can join us to be part of the discussions.
   
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Does the chief information officer in your organization contribute to the innovation, flexibility, and speed needed to create value in rapidly evolving markets?
Yes, the CIO is a great partner in helping to create and support new business initiatives and market approaches.
    29%
No, the CIO is too bogged down in issues related to legacy infrastructure and internal efficiency to move quickly and support new initiatives.
    44%
Not that easy. The CIO in our organization helps with new business initiatives when able to, but it isn't what's generally expected of the CIO.
    27%
 
     
  R=G and N=1 Ascend to the Cloud
Posted by Stephen F. Heffner | September 29, 2008
I have already blogged here about "meta-products" and "meta-vendors." By its nature, cloud computing is a classic example of R=G. Even "private clouds" are likely to be hosted on a heterogeneous collection of servers that are geographically dispersed, for security and redundancy if nothing else. And also by its nature, cloud computing is strongly "meta." But what are the "meta" implications of cloud computing for N=1?
   
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  Spotting R=G Amid The Ruins Of Hampi
Posted by Praveen Suthrum | September 11, 2008
History, by definition, is R=G. Last week, my Royal Enfield motorcycle took me down south to the ruins of Hampi, the capital of Vijayanagara that flourished 500 to 600 years ago in India and disappeared by the end of the 16th century. Walking amid the endless excavations, I noticed several marketplaces--empty and naked in stone. They were typically near a place of worship and aligned in a long, rectangular plot one next to the other. A hundred shops dotted these marketplaces.
   
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  The Role Of The CIO In Innovation
Posted by John Soat | August 27, 2008
The potential for IT to play a central role in business innovation is so great that, over the years, it's been suggested that the title chief information officer might be changed to chief innovation officer. The fact that, by and large, that hasn't happened, says a lot about expectations for the CIO role and points to the reason why many companies can�t seem to leverage their IT strategies into new business methods and models.
   
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  Uptake of N=1 Meta-products: Initially Slow But Relentless
Posted by Stephen F. Heffner | August 27, 2008
I've previously blogged about how meta-products and services (and the meta-vendors who sell them) are encouraged by N=1 and R=G. What's the business climate for such products and services? How fast will they be adopted by, and start penetrating, the business community? What are the impediments, and how will they be overcome?
   
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  The Customer Experience Does Not Happen at Your Touchpoints
Posted by Steve Douty | August 15, 2008
The most influential elements of the customer experience often occur at the non-touchpoints with your business. As a result, touchpoint mapping doesn't lead to anything more than incremental improvement that, for the customer, amounts to "better sameness."
   
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  HP Makes A Boo-Boo
Posted by William Glynn | August 5, 2008
The outsourcing deal that Hewlett-Packard just lost -- to take over IT operations for Deutsche Post -- warrants the diaper award (Huggies or Depends, you choose). Suffice to say, HP's entree into the Big Leagues of Outsourcing just ran down the proverbial side of its leg.
   
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  A Practitioner's View Of N=1, R=G
Posted by P.V. Kannan | August 5, 2008
While I was thinking about how we at 24/7 Customer are helping our customers to serve their end consumers using the N=1, R=G model, I started looking at how we are using it for our own business. Being a global company gives us a lot of opportunity to leverage both those formulae internally, and there are several areas where they have been applied. A couple that stood out for me are in the areas of product innovation and process improvement.
   
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  Shut Up And PayPal Me
Posted by William Glynn | August 1, 2008
Did you ever see the beginning of the movie GoodFellas? I can't relate here what went on (too graphic) but the point was -- PAY ME! So here comes Amazon Cotton Tail hopping down the commerce trail expecting somehow to deal itself into the online payments game. Unfortunately, that trail was blazed by PayPal a long time ago. PayPal is simply ingrained into consumers' hands -- and retailers' heads -- across the world. Not to say Amazon won't get -- and doesn't get -- its fair share, but among Google, Amazon, and PayPal there isn't much room at the trough because PayPal already has gobbled up the gravy.
   
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  The Lust Factor
Posted by Steve Goodman | August 1, 2008
I recently had lunch with a friend who said that the mantra of his company is to "build products that people lust for." While at first it sounds a bit corny, when you apply the ramification of that statement to your product analysis, design, and development process, it starts to make a lot of sense. Innovation is not only the invention and development of technology -- sometimes innovation is honing your current processes.
   
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  Tailoring Product Complexity For N=1
Posted by Stephen F. Heffner | August 1, 2008
In previous blogs, I've discussed what a meta-product is and how it works well with the concept of N=1. Now I'd like to talk about the implications of selling a meta-product -- a product used to create other products. As a meta-vendor, you truly co-create products with your customers. So, how do you gauge the correct level of complexity of the user interface of such a product? And who determines that -- you, your customer, or both?
   
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  How Innovative Can You Be For $10B?
Posted by Chris Keene | July 29, 2008
When we think of innovation we usually focus on narrow technology or business topics. Yet there are many non-business topics that could use a dose of innovative thinking as well (not to mention a good IT infrastructure!)
   
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  Use Of Analytics Is Limited, But Poised For Growth
Posted by John Soat | July 28, 2008
At least, according to our very unscientific, quick-and-dirty online poll, that is. Analytics is important, not just for the sake of data analysis but for the cultural significance it imparts.
   
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  Welcome to the Piezoelectric Club (But You Gotta Jump)
Posted by Praveen Suthrum | July 15, 2008
Not just the hip girl and geek boy, even N=1 and R=G can now lip-lock on the dance floor. Welcome to Surya, the world's first ecological nightclub. Not that it looks earthy, but the dance floor has "magic" crystals that generate electricity when you dance. What's more, take the tube to King's Cross in London where the club is housed and you'll even get in free!
   
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  The Book »  
 
Partner with your customer. Optimize your supply chain. Innovate by connecting the two. This book tells why this is the new model for business, and how to succeed at it.
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  E-CHOUPAL: A RURAL E-MARKETPLACE
ITC, a $3.5 billion Indian conglomerate, created an electronic marketplace for rural Indian farmers, giving them access to real-time market-demand information and customized farming knowledge. Read Case Study »

This is a detailed explanation of the case history referenced in chapter four of The New Age Of Innovation. For more information, go here.

Case Study Contest: Submit a business innovation case study and win a lunch date with the authors of The New Age Of Innovation, C.K. Prahalad and M.S. Krishnan. Contact John Soat

 
  Look For The New Age Road Show!  
     
  Join authors Krishnan and Prahalad, and moderator Bob Evans, in a discussion of the concepts and examples presented in of The New Age Of Innovation, at select cities across the country.

Upcoming Dates:
June 25th - Chicago, IL
August 14th - San Francisco, CA
September 25th - Irving, TX
To Be Announced - New York, NY
To Be Announced - Boston, MA



New Age Of Innovation Webcast
Executive Editor John Soat leads a discussion with authors Prahalad and Krishnan on the specifics of their new paradigm, their formulas for innovation, the meaning for old-line companies as well as entrepreneurial startups, and how these developments will affect the use of information technology in the future. Register for the Webcast here.

 
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Second in a series: The authors discuss the dynamic between efficiency and flexibility, and how they work together in The New Age of Innovation.

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