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Innovation: The New Competitive Equation

How Organizations Can Leverage Innovation to Achieve Significant Business Value

The BPI Network is exploring how to make innovation more intrusive and actionable in 2015. Our research focuses on how enterprises can do a better job of formalizing innovation programs, providing innovation leadership and recognition, and directing ideation to achieve tangible business value. 

Enterprises around the globe see innovation as essential to fortifying the fabric and culture of their companies. A commitment to new thinking, smarter ideas and the use of transformative technology is making committed enterprise innovators more competitive and cost-efficient. Change agents at all levels of the organization can now have a more marked and measurable impact on business. 

Businesses badly need more innovative thinkers and change agents to drive new thinking, products and competitive performance in 2015.  Yet we’ve found that those risk takers and innovators are too often not recognized, rewarded, cultivated or encouraged at either the corporate or university level.

Infusing greater innovation into the culture and capabilities of organizations worldwide requires deep-seated changes in the corporate and educational mindset, along with supporting HR and business processes and greater C-level management support.  But too often would-be innovators are stymied by a fear of failure and rejection, political jealousies, turf wars and a lack of incentives for risk-taking and out-of-the-box thinking.    

At both universities and businesses around the world, innovation needs to be better integrated into strategic planning, organizational structures, compensation and curricula, executives believe. The Business Performance Innovation Network believes 2015 is a good time to start.

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Sponsor

Brightidea
Founded in 1999, Brightidea launched the first ever online innovation platform in 2005– designed to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of any organization’s innovation process. With Brightidea software, hundreds of companies and organizations globally are connecting to an invisible innovation grid. Open, mobile, instant, futuristic, adaptive, evolving, agile, and decidedly human, the innovation grid may hold the potential to solve our world’s greatest challenges because it’s the product of the most fundamental social human capital- ideas. Today, Brightidea’s product offerings include WebStorm, Switchboard, and Pipeline – a complete product suite that covers the entire idea lifecycle from initial collection through execution.
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Partners

DEMO
Produced by IDG the DEMO conferences in the United States, China, Brazil, Russia and Vietnam focus on emerging technologies and new product innovations. The DEMO conferences have earned their reputation for consistently identifying tomorrow’s cutting-edge technologies, and have served as launchpad events for companies such as Palm, E*Trade, Salesforce, Webex, Tivo, VMware, Fusion-io and thousands of others, helping them to secure venture funding, establish critical business relationships, and influence early adopters. The DEMO Scholarship Partner Program, subsidized by corporate sponsorships, offers multiple scholarship opportunities to ensure that deserving entrepreneurs have the chance to introduce cutting edge technology products at DEMO that might have otherwise gone undiscovered. 
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Fast Company
Fast Company is a leading progressive business media brand, with a unique editorial focus on innovation in technology, ethonomics (ethical economics), leadership, and design. Written for, by, and about the most progressive business leaders, Fast Company and FastCompany.com inspire readers and users to think beyond traditional boundaries, lead conversations, and create the future of business. Launched in November 1995 by Alan Webber and Bill Taylor, two former Harvard Business Review editors, Fast Company magazine was founded on a single premise: A global revolution was changing business, and business was changing the world. 
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Innovation Leadership Forum
The ILF is a forum designed for like-minded individuals in senior positions who have the responsibility for innovation, the desire to share and develop knowledge on improving innovation performance, and the will to bring this practical knowledge back into their organisations so they can make a real and significant difference.  Supported by influential directors of innovation in large and prestigious corporations, the ILF Networking Group is an invaluable resource that gives members a competitive advantage in the pressure cooker life of business today.
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ISPIM
ISPIM – International Society for Professional Innovation Management – is a network of researchers, industrialists, consultants and public bodies who share an interest in innovation management. Founded in 1983 by Professor Knut Holt in Norway, ISPIM is the oldest, largest and most active innovation association in Europe, rapidly expanding in the Americas and Asia. ISPIM produces scientific and educational material and events to help people understand and share thinking and experiences on how individuals, organisations and society can be better organised to create and distribute new products, services and processes to make the world a better place.
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IAOIP
A professional membership organization, The International Association of Innovation Professionals (IAOIP) will be the world’s only innovation certification body, providing members with the knowledge, skills and opportunities to deliver real change in their industry or field. IAOIP certified innovation professionals are equipped with the appropriate tools to make a strategic difference by becoming an active participant in innovation teams at all levels of their organization through knowledge exchange, research, conferences, training and publications. IAOIP is a leading international membership-based organization with individual, corporate, public and non-profit members around the world.
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APQC
APQC is a member-based nonprofit and one of the world’s leading proponents of business benchmarking, best practices, and knowledge management research. APQC’s mission statement is to help organizations around the world improve productivity and quality by discovering effective methods of improvement, broadly disseminating findings, and connecting individuals with one another and with the knowledge they need to improve. APQC’s research and expertise covers five core functional areas including Business Excellence, Financial Management, Human Capital Management, Knowledge Management, and Supply Chain Management. 
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Studies

Innovation: The New Competitive Equation
In today’s innovation economy, institutions of all types and sizes are challenged to rethink and redesign the future. To do so, they must embrace innovation-driven business cultures, processes and platforms, break down barriers to change, and empower innovation leaders and thinkers across and beyond corporate boundaries.
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Events

Jun 1922, 2016 | Porto, Portugal

Organised by ISPIM, and supported by ANI – Agência Nacional de Inovação (the National Innovation Office of Portugal), this event is for innovation researchers, industry executives, thought leaders and policy makers. Attendees will learn from the latest innovation management thinking in 50+ workshops, keynotes, tours and discussions, be able to broadcast insights to 500 innovation experts from 50 countries, and deep dive into the Portuguese innovation scene. Register for this comprehensive conference and networking event with a BPI membership discount by choosing BPI affiliate upon registration.

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Media Coverage

May 12, 2023 – Fear of Failure Hampers Innovation
Training Magazine
Organizations worldwide have increased their focus on innovation. Yet, too often, they’re stymied by ingrained fear of failure and internal politics, as well as a lack of clear strategies and repeatable processes to make innovation measurable and accountable across the enterprise, according to a study released by the Business Performance Innovation Network. Read more »

May 7, 2023 – Innovation: What it Means for the CIO, the IT Staff, and the Organization
David Weldon, FierceCIO
Certain obvious technology trends are driving much of the increased IT hiring in 2015, but above all else is the desire to find technology leaders and professionals that can drive innovation. This isn’t an abstract topic either. Innovation and creativity are near the top of the candidate’s must-have list for an increasing number of IT recruiters and hiring managers FierceCIO has spoken with in recent months. Within this article, BPI has addressed these topics with a few solutions. Read more »

May 6, 2023 – How to Stand Out as an Innovator
Dennis McCafferty, Baseline Magazine
Organizations are increasingly committing to innovation and are seeking employees who are willing to challenge the status quo and traditional thinking, according to a recent survey from the Business Performance Innovation (BPI) Network.  Read more »

April 30, 2023 – Innovation: The New Competitive Equation
Andrea Stroud, APQC
This month, the Busines Performance Innovation (BPI) Network published a report,Innovation: The New Competitive Equation. The report examines innovation strategies and roadblocks in today’s enterprise. According to the report, 79% of survey respondents currently rate their companies’ commitment to innovation as very high or growing. While the intention is there, companies are still experiencing significant roadblocks.   Read more »

April 29, 2023 – New Report Takes a Snapshot of the Innovation Race
Business Management Daily, Business Management Daily
In an age where start-up innovation is disrupting industries across the globe, legacy corporations must reinvent their business strategy in order to remain competitive. That means there is no longer any stone left unturned in generating the best possible products and services out there. Top companies are stripping away the barriers to harness the best ideas from customers, partners, R&D teams, external technologies and literally every member of staff. Read more »

April 14, 2023 – Universities Breed Risk Aversion, Not Innovation
USDR, US Daily Review
Organizations worldwide have increased their focus on innovation. Yet, too often, they’re stymied by ingrained fear of failure and internal politics, as well as a lack of clear strategies and repeatable processes to make innovation measurable and accountable across the enterprise, according to a study released today by the Business Performance Innovation (BPI) Network.  Read more »

April 14, 2023 – Innovation- The New Competitive Equation
Innovation Enterprise, Innovation Enterprise
As executives across industries respond to profound global competition and business realignment, commitment to innovation is at the forefront of the minds of top companies around the world. The infographic explores why, and how, many companies are investing in innovation. Read more »

April 11, 2023 – To Become More Innovative: A Mindset Shift is Required
ILF Website Admin, Innovation Leadership Forum
Bettina has been asked to contribute to the perspective piece on:”Innovation: The New Competitive Equation” of ‘Brainwaves‘, BPI’s Networks Journal. She decided to focus her article on: what it takes to become more innovative. We are delighted to share with you today her thoughts on the subject. Read more »

April 6, 2023 – Fear of Failure, Politics Hamper Innovation in the Enterprise, Says New Study
Culture, Strategy and Structured Process, PR Newswire
Organizations worldwide have increased their focus on innovation. Yet, too often, they’re stymied by ingrained fear of failure and internal politics, as well as a lack of clear strategies and repeatable processes to make innovation measurable and accountable across the enterprise, according to a study released today by the Business Performance Innovation (BPI) Network.  Read more »

April 1, 2023 – Innovation. The New Competitive Equation.
Brightidea, Brightidea
Brightidea sponsored with BPI Network to create a highly informative innovation research study that examines innovation strategies and roadblocks in the enterprise today. Learn how to shape your innovation strategy based on key insights revealed by over 200 top executives across the globe. Download report here. Read more »

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Facts & Stats

According to the National Foundation for American Policy show that immigrants found 51% of U.S. billion-dollar startups. (Source)

Mobile apps built by contractors/consultants for global businesses & governments will reach $17.5 billion in 2016. (Source)

 In 2015, mobile shopping accounted for $115 billion in sales. (Source)

6.4 billion connected things will be in use worldwide in 2016, up 30% from 2015, reaching 20.8 billion by 2020. (Source)

13% of U.S. tech leaders predict data & analytics will be the most disruptive enterprise tech in three years. (Source)

1 GB of storage in 1993 cost over $9,000, now it is a mere 4 cents. (Source)

49% of organizations have initiatives via reducing costs, but only 29% of organizations have new products and service initiatives to provide organizational growth. (Source)

By 2020, we will have over 6.1 billion smartphone users globally (overtaking basic fixed phone subscriptions). (Source)

Within 5 years there will be over 50 billion smart connected devices in the world, all developed to collect, analyze and share data. (Source)

College grads age 22 to 27 are stuck in low-paying jobs that don’t even require a college degree. The percentage of young people languishing in low-skill, low-paying jobs is 44%, a 20-year high. (Source)

Only 36% of college grads have jobs that pay at least $45,000, a sharp decline from the 1990s, after adjusting for inflation.  (Source)

Diversity breeds creativity and innovation. Of 321 large global enterprises—companies with at least $500 million in annual revenue—surveyed in a Forbes study in 2011, 85 percent agreed or strongly agreed that diversity is crucial to fostering innovation in the workplace. (Source)

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Articles

September 12, 2023 – IoT and 3D Printing: The New Manufacturing Revolution
ITProPortal
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September 6, 2023 – Hong Kong Unveils a Digital Hub to Boost Fintech Startups and Innovation
TechCrunch
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April 28, 2023 – Turning Your Town into an Innovation Hotspot Modeled After Silicon Valley
Inc.
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April 22, 2023 – How the Insurance Industry Can Disrupt the Disrupters
BenefitsPRO
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April 12, 2023 – This is How Companies Like Facebook Hack Innovation
Inc.
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April 8, 2023 – Why Platform Disruption Is So Much Bigger than Product Disruption
Harvard Business Review
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April 6, 2023 – Deutsche Bank Opens Innovation Lab In Silicon Valley
Forbes
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April 4, 2023 – There Are No Limits To Innovation In The Steel City
Forbes
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April 2, 2023 – Innovating with Primary Research
Innovation Excellence
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March 27, 2023 – How to Get Buy-in and Resources for Enterprise Innovation
Innovation Excellence
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March 10, 2023 – Primers On The Business Innovation And Disruption Enabled By Driverless Cars
Forbes
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February 28, 2023 – Innovation – The Best (And Last Job) In A Machine World?
Innovation Excellence
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February 26, 2023 – Investment in mHealth Drives Medical Big Data Apps
Digital Lifescapes
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February 20, 2023 – Wireless: The Next Generation
The Economist
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February 5, 2023 – Millennials Lead in Cloud Market Adoption
Media Post
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February 5, 2023 – Mindsets For Thinking About Innovation In — And Competition From — China
Forbes
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February 1, 2023 – The Power of U.S. Inspired Innovation with Chinese Execution
Forbes
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January 29, 2023 – Why 10 Million Developers Are Lining Up For The Internet of Things
TechRepublic
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January 29, 2023 – Managing Reputation In A Disruptive World
Biz Community
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January 29, 2023 – The 6 Ways Big Companies are Innovating against Silicon Valley
Innovation Excellence
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January 26, 2023 – 7 Disruptive Forces For 2016 And Beyond
Innovation Excellence
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January 13, 2023 – How to Prevent Team Politics from Sidelining Innovation
FastCompany
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January 11, 2023 – How Innovation Became A Whim
Forbes
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January 8, 2023 – What Makes Innovation Managers Successful?
London School of Economics and Political Science
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January 7, 2023 – Change Management and Leadership Development Have to Mesh
Harvard Business Review
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December 31, 2022 – How Cloud Computing Is Changing Healthcare
Business Wolf
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December 30, 2022 – Eight Innovators to Watch in 2016
Smithsonian
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December 28, 2022 – The Best Way to Foster Innovation
Media Avataar
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December 22, 2022 – Solving The Innovator’s Dilemma One Touch At A Time
Forbes
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December 18, 2022 – Driving Innovation: Part 1
Huff Post Tech
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December 8, 2022 – CNN names Zimbabwe’s Gwatidzo Top Innovator
The Zimbabwean
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December 7, 2022 – Back to The Future- 50 Most Innovative Companies of the World in 2015
LinkedIn Pulse
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December 3, 2022 – Practical Steps to Incentivise and Fuel Innovation in Your Business
Growth Business
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December 1, 2022 – Co-founder of Stonyfield Farm Named 2015 Social Innovator of the Year
The New Hampshire
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November 6, 2022 – Tapping Into Nature: Bioinspired Innovation as Economic Engine
GreenBiz
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October 19, 2022 – How to Benefit From Our Disruptive World
Huffington Post
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October 14, 2022 – Innovate or Die… Or Just Ask Your Workforce
Business 2 Community
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October 7, 2022 – The 4 Personality Traits of Engaging Leaders
Fast Company
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October 6, 2022 – Innovation Disrupts But Also Presents Risk Management Opportunities
Business Insurance
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October 6, 2022 – Innovation is a Game Everyone Should Play
StartupSmart
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October 6, 2022 – 5 Fundamental Elements of Digital Disruption
Information Age
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October 5, 2022 – Why Business Innovation Will Help Build A New Climate Economy
Forbes
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October 5, 2022 – Why Businesses Back Innovation Centers
Tech Crunch
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October 2, 2022 – Calling CMOs: The Best Way to Foster Innovation
Huffington Post
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October 1, 2022 – How to Prevail in the World of Disruptive Innovations?
Gulf News
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September 7, 2023 – Six Levels of Leadership
Innovation Excellence
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August 26, 2023 – How To Turn Innovation From Theory Into Reality
Forbes
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August 25, 2023 – China is Showing a Flair for World Leadership in Innovation
South China Morning Post
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August 19, 2023 – Change Management Is Key to Boise State’s ERP Cloud Migration
Forbes
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March 19, 2023 – A Metric for Measuring Innovation
Inc.
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March 16, 2023 – Roadblocks to Global Innovation: 3 Ideas to Consider
Innovation Excellence
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January 4, 2023 – Business Innovation: How to Succeed and Stay Ahead of the Curve
Huffington Post Business
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December 31, 2022 – Choose the Right Innovation Method at the Right Time
Harvard Business Review
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January 7, 2023 – Roadblocks to Innovation From An Executive’s Perspective
Caliber Vantage
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September 5, 2023 – Cultural Roadblocks to Innovation and Internal Collaboration
InnoCentive
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December 23, 2022 – 6 Innovation Roadblocks Worth Breaking Through
Innovation Excellence
Read more »

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Blogs

The Complete Innovator Boris is the SVP of Customer Success and Innovation Strategy at Mindjet, and is an acknowledged leader of corporate Innovation Management, Knowledge Management, Social Media/Technology and Collaboration. He has spent the last 18 years working with senior level executives at predominately large companies to teach them how to take that potential to create a sustainable repeatable value-creating engine process that drives the creation of new products and business models, novel cost reductions, and step-change process improvements. Visit blog »

PODCAST: The Big Bang Jorge Barba is an “Innovation Insurgent” and is the Creative Strategist at Blu Maya, a San Diego based Digital Marketing Firm that helps organizations build their online business with strategy development for new products and services. His new blog “The Big Bang” is an engaging podcast about innovation, new ideas and how the world is changing. Put simply, we ask ourselves: What’s possible? Visit blog »

Leapfrogging Soren Kaplan is a leading keynote speaker, the author of the bestselling and award winning book, Leapfrogging, a writer for FastCompany, faculty member in the executive education program at the Copenhagen Business School, and the Founder of InnovationPoint. As a leading expert in innovation, culture, and disruptive change, he works with organizations including Disney, NBCUniversal, Kimberly-Clark, Colgate-Palmolive, Medtronic, Philips, Red Bull, and numerous other global firms. He has lectured at the Harvard Business School, Copenhagen Business School, and with other MBA and executive education programs. He also sits on the advisory boards of several Silicon Valley start-ups. Visit blog »

Board of Innovation De Mey and De Ridder are at the forefront of free innovation resources on their blog. In addition to their frequent blog articles, the Board of Innovation website has a treasure trove of other tools, templates and slideshows which anyone can access to start sparking ideas at their own company. One of our favorites is their list of 52 tools to help any company innovate like a startup. Visit blog »

Board of Innovation Group The Board of Innovation Group aims to make corporates innovate like startups to challenge the status quo. This active discussion group gathers 15,000+ corporate innovators and entrepreneurs, sharing their experience and insights to make that happen! Visit blog »

Design Thinking Tim Brown is CEO and president of IDEO. He frequently speaks about the value of design thinking and innovation to business people and designers around the world. He participates in the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and his talks Serious Play and Change by Design appear on TED.com. Visit blog »

InFocus The Global Services Blog EMC Global Services offers comprehensive, end-to-end services capabilities for customers as they accelerate their IT Transformation journeys. With more than 16,000 information-focused service professionals worldwide, EMC Global Services delivers the support our customers require – when and where they need it – with a commitment to service excellence. Visit blog »

Silicon Angle SiliconANGLE.com was founded by Silicon Valley entrepreneur John Furrier to provide news, analysis on the technology industry with a focus innovation, technology, emerging companies, enterprise, cloud, mobile, social, startups, and venture capital. Visit blog »

INSEAD Knowledge INSEAD Knowledge is a monthly online publication showcasing – in video and in written articles –  the latest research, global business trends and thought leadership from INSEAD, the business school for the world. Our aim is to present fresh viewpoints and ideas, and suggest innovative solutions to some of the challenges facing the world of business today. Topics closely follow the school’s areas of excellence, such as finance, organizational behavior, and marketing, but also draw on the more unconventional ideas generated by INSEAD’s Social Innovation Center: entrepreneurship, sustainability, and corporate social responsibility, for example. Visit blog »

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Books

The Four Lenses of Innovation: A Power Tool for Creative Thinking

Ever wonder where big, breakthrough ideas come from? How do innovators manage to spot the opportunities for industry revolution that everyone else seems to miss? Contrary to popular belief, innovation is not some mystical art that’s forbidden to mere mortals. The Four Lenses of Innovation thoroughly debunks this pervasive myth by delivering what we’ve long been hoping for: the news that innovation is systematic, it’s methodical, and we can all achieve it.


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The Ways to New: 15 Paths to Disruptive Innovation

The Ways to New gives you a blueprint for innovation, helping you dig your organization out of the quicksand and get on the fast track to growth. Author Jean-Marie Dru is the originator the Disruption methodology, which he shares here; he is also an international authority on breaking the mold and leading the market, and this book is his guide to making it happen.


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Innovation As Usual

In “Innovation as Usual”, the authors argue that the art is not to treat innovation as some sort of fashionable accessory but to build it into a company’s culture. Using examples from a wide range of companies such as Pfizer, Index Ventures, Lonza, Go Travel, Prehype, DSM, and others, “Innovation as Usual” lights the way toward embedding creativity in the DNA of the workplace.


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Innovation Abyss: An Innovator’s Solutions to Corporate Innovation Failure
This book is an essential reference for anyone interested in how Innovation really happens. It explains the balanced role of free- and out-of-the-box thinkers, creative mavericks and visionary leaders who lead their people instead of managing them. You will find loads of great examples, thought provoking ideas and the book is full of helpful insights.
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Management of the Fuzzy Front End of Innovation
This book shows the patterns of the fuzzy front end of innovation and how it can be managed successfully. Topics in this book cover traditional instruments and processes such as technology monitoring, market-oriented research management, lead-user developments, but also modern approaches such as frontloading, user community-driven innovation, crowdsourcing, anthropological expeditions, technological listening posts in global R&D settings, cross-industry innovation processes, open innovation, and IP cycle management. The authors investigate this phenomenon, linking the practice of the early innovation phase to the established body of innovation research. Lessons learned with success factors and checklists complement each chapter.​
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PRESS RELEASES

GLOBAL STUDY TO EXPLORE BUSINESS VALUE OF THE INDUSTRIAL INTERNET OF THINGS

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NEW RESEARCH FROM PENTON’S IOT INSTITUTE FINDS PRIVACY & ORGANIZATIONAL READINESS ARE THE PRIMARY CHALLENGES OF IMPLEMENTING IOT

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