Innovators Role at Hard Times

One Research Scientist at the Hewlett-Packard (HP) Imaging Systems laboratory said Carly Fiorina was a marketing person put in change of engineers who cared nothing about the art and beauty of technology. She just wanted saleable stock to bring to market. He exhorts that when she walked into the HP Labs for the first time, she said that their new company slogan was "Invent." Then, she told them that the technology industry would never again be as exciting and profitable as it was in the '90s. That they'd all need to grow up now and face that fact.

This was not the first time; a CEO had preferred cash to innovation. Carly's pitfall was taken care of, anyway. She has a point, though, while saying innovators need to have business sense. Especially when time is not that right for long-term R&D projects. Here is a list of five things innovators need to be sure that they are in place in order to make innovation worthwhile.

1. Innovation needs to reflect the company's macro and micro visions. Every company has one macro vision. Microsoft wants every computer's operating system to be running their software. Cisco says every network needs to be based on Internet Protocol and running over their products. It is not difficult to grasp that one sentence that defines why that company exists. Micro vision is a lot more difficult to get as it is a sophisticated message delivered to the market. Depending on innovator's access to the product marketing team, it may lead you to the right answer or to a dead end. No matter how organic and difficult the micro vision is; important move would be to look at the core values micro vision stands for. The question innovators need to answer is what are the trends that are unlikely to change over 5 years and build their dream over it.

2. Innovation is needed for competitive advantage, not for fun purposes. This is hard to get most times but innovation has a meaning for the company. Definitely that meaning is not fun or to show how geek of an R&D team the company has. The real meaning is; innovation puts company ahead of its competition. Innovator may not be excited with what s/he has at the end of the day because of the level of his/ her involvement with the project. However, as long as strategic value is delivered for the company, the job will be considered fully done. Innovation is to forge you ahead, not to excite its innovator where it will only be appealing to his/ her equivalents.

3. Innovation has two ends. Number 1 is innovating for the next-generation needs with an edge. Number 2 is making existing technology cheaper and/ or simpler. It is not so clever to follow sophistication over simplicity, because the winner is always the latter. Delivering sophisticated technology in a simple way is the greatest thing, an R&D team can deliver; if strategy is set as number 2. The truth is, Number 1 is enticing to an innovator but needs more time to deliver, while number 2 is boring but more effective for strategic purposes. Companies with R&D labs need to have a nice mixture of both to keep the excitement level at acceptable rates.

4. Every innovation has a time. The important thing is to flesh it out at the right time. If it is delivered early, it is called pupa. Company needs to hold onto the technology until it is the right time. 18 months early release is good enough for a pupa technology to be announced. If innovation delivered to the market is too late, it will be called a tardy so integration to the solutions without any big announcements is necessary. Innovators are supposed to read the time well.

5. Innovation's core source is evolving. For a long time, North America has been considered as the HQ of innovation. However, both Europe and Asia are striving to be more involved in the process. Understanding where the idea bulbs are is extremely important to an innovator.

Today's corporate world is asking innovators to make the connection between innovation and business on their mind. No matter how hard it is; they need to assume this new role to move their company to the next stage.

Burak Fenercioglu is a freelance writer. He is working for a computer network security company for over 4 years. His articles are about ideas, innovation, strategy and can be found at http://burakfenerci.blogspot.com

---

Could You Be Setting Your Business Plan Up For Failure?

David E. Gumpert, author of Burn Your Business Plan, often... Read More

Idaho Market for Automotive Businesses; Doing it Right

Anyone who has been watching the Idaho Market Carefully for... Read More

Who is Responsible?

While writing an article recently on effective ways to bridge... Read More

Communication Strategy During A Time Of Strategic Planning

"Rubbish!" shouted the large, aggressive man in the red-striped shirt... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains in Advertising & Publishing ? implementation highlights

Microsoft Great Plains, former Great Plains Dynamics is excellent fit... Read More

Titanic Precautions

Many movies have been made about the tragic story of... Read More

During the election we heard about Ohio?s Economy

Much of what we heard in the mass media about... Read More

Writing a Business Plan for Success in Business and for Funding

Writing a business plan to help you direct and manage... Read More

Why Do a Business Plan?

To Grow (Catapult) Your Business That's Why.When it's in your... Read More

Home Improvement Construction Project Planning

The first task before hiring a contractor for home remodeling... Read More

Mobile Franchise Business Expansion Strategy

If you own a mobile franchise business and wish to... Read More

Creating a Vision That Achieves Results

How important is a vision statement to your company or... Read More

How Copying the HBO Schedule Can Boost Your Business

I'm not talking about posting the HBO schedule on your... Read More

Laying It Out On Paper

You might be thinking to yourself, "Why should I waste... Read More

Your Business: Will It Have A Happy Ending?

"Begin with the end in mind," says Stephen Covey in... Read More

What Every Service Provider Ought To Know About Writing A Business Plan

It's easy to lose sight of what needs to be... Read More

Pave the Way to a Successful Strategic Plan

Many very successful business owners may never have had a... Read More

Action Planning

ACTION PLANNING: Action Planning is a process to develop strategies... Read More

5 Strategies That Will Boost Your Business Productivity Today! - Part 1

Building a dynamic small business is a constantly evolving, increasingly... Read More

8 Ways to Earn More Without Working Harder

Conventional wisdom has it that there are only three ways... Read More

Mining Market Data

With a heightened awareness of opportunity, ideas can often be... Read More

Describing Intellectual Property in Your Business Plan

Most companies that are worthy of raising venture capital have... Read More

In Business Planning, Competition is Good

When developing the competition section of your business plan, companies... Read More

6 Steps To Laying Out Your Competitive Strategy

Why do so many companies languish and watch as their... Read More

How To Kick Start Your Business And Double Your Profits

This will make some people angry as hell, but it's... Read More

Business Ideas: 3 Smart Ways To Generate Profitable Business Ideas Anytime

Creativity is one of the greatest tools for success in... Read More

Mastermind Your Way to Success

What do Mark Victor Hansen, Robert Allen, Anthony Robbins, Andrew... Read More

Ten Steps To A Great Strategic Plan

Ask a small business owner about their strategic plan and... Read More

Menu Driven Business Planning

A menu is the foundation of any restaurant; Guests will... Read More

Top Reasons To Form A Strategic Business Alliance

A strategic alliance is when two or more businesses join... Read More

Top Ten Reasons To Create A One Page Business Plan

There is a story, about a business owner who wasn't... Read More

Business Plan Financial Projections: Stop Worrying About Being Right...

Business plan financial projections seem daunting because they are so... Read More

How To Prepare A Business Plan That Guarantees Big Profits

It is always said "If you Fail to Plan, you... Read More