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Featured Strategy, Innovation Article, next step in open innovation
The next step in open innovation

June 2008

The creation of knowledge, products, and services by online communities of companies and consumers is still in its earliest stages. Who knows where it will lead?

Featured Strategy, Innovation Article, interview Pixar Brad Bird
Innovation lessons from Pixar: An interview with Oscar-winning director Brad Bird

April 2008

What does stimulating the creativity of animators have in common with developing new product ideas or technology breakthroughs? A lot.

Featured Strategy, Innovation Article, leadership and innovation
Premium Content
Leadership and innovation

January 2008

McKinsey research reveals a wide gap between the aspirations of executives to innovate and their ability to execute. Organizational structures and processes are not the solution.

The Archive

2008
Succeeding at open-source innovation: An interview with Mozilla's Mitchell Baker

January 2008

The company’s chairman and former CEO explains the power of the participatory, open-source model of collaboration.

2007
Innovative management: A conversation with Gary Hamel and Lowell Bryan

November 2007

Forward-looking executives must respond to the growing need for a new managerial model.

Strategy's strategist: An interview with Richard Rumelt

November 2007

A giant in the field of strategy ruminates on strategic planning, diversification and focus, and the role of the CEO.

How companies approach innovation: A McKinsey Global Survey Premium Content

October 2007

Executives say innovation is very important, but their companies’ approach to it is often informal, and leaders lack confidence in their innovation decisions. Top managers and other professionals agree that the biggest challenge is talent but disagree on why. Nonetheless, executives agree on some steps to improve innovation.

Coaching innovation: An interview with Intuit's Bill Campbell Premium Content

February 2007

A veteran Silicon Valley CEO and mentor of CEOs talks about his years in high tech.

2006
Reinventing innovation at consumer goods companies

November 2006

A range of orthodoxies is making it harder to develop breakthrough products in the consumer goods industry. It urgently needs a reformation.

Creation nets: Getting the most from open innovation Premium Content

May 2006

A typical large company can no longer rely solely on its own resources. Creation networks are a promising way to move beyond them.

The adaptable corporation Premium Content

May 2006

To survive, organizations must execute in the present and adapt to the future. Few of them manage to do both well.

2005
Protecting intellectual property in China Premium Content

August 2005

Litigation is no substitute for strategy.

What global executives think about growth and risk Premium Content

May 2005

As the quickening pace of globalization creates both new markets and new competitors, hopes contend with fears.

Innovation blowback: Disruptive management practices from Asia Premium Content

February 2005

Western companies think too narrowly about the emerging world. If they aren’t careful, they may end up as defenders, not attackers.

Innovation from Asia

February 2005

The capabilities that companies gain serving cost-conscious consumers in emerging markets can become competitive advantages in developed ones.

2004
New strategies for consumer goods Premium Content

December 2004

The industry has already extracted much of the benefit to be had from improving productivity and concentrating on core brands. Meanwhile, its dynamics are changing. What comes next?

Getting more from intellectual property Premium Content

November 2004

Companies that license IP from other organizations not only develop better products but also gain a better understanding of IP markets.

When your competitor delivers more for less Premium Content

February 2004

Value players will probably challenge your company. How will you respond?

2003
Flexible IT, better strategy Premium Content

November 2003

IT’s critics say that it lacks strategic importance. So why does technology keep getting in the way of good strategy?

2002
Intellectual property: Partnering for profit Premium Content

December 2002

Companies could earn up to 10 percent of their operating income from the sale of patents and proprietary processes. But how?

2001
Creative destruction Premium Content

August 2001

How can corporations make themselves more like the market? An excerpt from the best-selling book.

The innovative organization: Why new ventures need more than a room of their own Premium Content

May 2001

Companies can grow quickly without sacrificing performance discipline. The trick is to balance partitioning and integration.

2000
What is the market telling you about your strategy? Premium Content

June 2000

Market expectations are hard for managers to understand and even harder for them to change. But there are ways of doing both that are much more science than black magic.

The German road to innovation Premium Content

June 2000

Germany has an entrepreneurship gap. A new culture is emerging to close it.

Best practice does not equal best strategy Premium Content

May 2000

Benchmarking is an important way to improve operational efficiency, but it is not a tool for strategic decision making. When competitors all try to play exactly the same game, declining margins are bound to follow.

1999
Unlocking the value of intellectual assets Premium Content

November 1999

Lucasfilm collects billions from apparel, books, recordings, comarketing deals, and videocassettes based on its Star Wars movies. The top ten pharmaceutical companies got 34 percent of their 1997 revenues by selling products licensed from other companies. For sellers and buyers alike, intellectual assets are very big business.

1996
Can Germany still innovate? Premium Content

May 1996

A survey of electronics companies shows a once-great industrial innovator has fallen behind. However, its problems can be solved by management actions. Five strategies for change.

1995
Going slow to go fast Premium Content

November 1995

Want to get new products to the market fast? Don’t troubleshoot. A common mistake: setting aggressive commercialization targets. Development is not a process. It’s a system with subtle feedback loops. The lure and danger of “best practice.”

Innovation’s uncertain terrain Premium Content

August 1995

Why Marconi needed Sarnoff. Our remarkable inability to see the future. Even pioneers lack vision. Railroads were developed to feed canals. Understanding uncertainty may help us place better bets on new technologies.

Developing technologies: The Eastman Kodak story Premium Content

February 1995

The evolution of photography provides clear examples of how understanding the dynamics of innovation is essential to a company’s survival and success.

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