Article at a glance:

Innovation blowback: Disruptive management practices from Asia

Emerging markets such as China and India have become breeding grounds for new management processes and practices that help companies to maintain or even improve the quality of their products and services while simultaneously slashing prices. The disruptive impact is now confined to developing countries, but "blowback" from this surge of innovation could quickly be unleashed on the rest of the world. To meet the challenge, established businesses must learn new skills—not least important, an ability to orchestrate complex networks of specialized enterprises.

The take-away

In Asia, managers need a "clean-sheet" mentality to exploit mass markets and compete with best-in-class companies. Merely stripping costs from existing products will prove inadequate. Capturing the full offshore experience could be critical to survival back home.