The cast of The Big Bang Theory

An evolving dream and nightmare by Loida Rosario

 www.intothecore.com @LRosari

“Big Data” is the catch phrase that has bubbled up from the high performance computing niche of the IT market.  “In its simplest terms, the phrase refers to the tools, processes and procedures allowing an organization to create, manipulate, and manage very large data sets and storage facilities”, said ZDNet in 2010.  For a marketer, big data is both a dream and a nightmare.  See eMarketer article.

A dream almost comes true

If done right, big data initiatives have the potential to unleash enormous amounts of information on existing and new clients from disparate internal databases and the gathering of Internet digital data.  For marketers, it could provide a wealth of data analysis that could better inform investment decisions for programs, new features/products and overall marketing strategies. A McKenzie study, “Big data: The next frontier for innovation, competition, and productivity”, shows that the economic value that big data can produce has not even started.  For example, it estimates that in the Healthcare industry, it could create $300B in new economic value of efficiencies and/or new services. And for retailers, it could generate 60% increase in profit margins.  These are big numbers, even if there were to be off by several degrees.

The rapid pace of digital data growth and huge sheer size only adds to existing data banks.  For example, the same study signals that there will be over 40% growth in digital data produced in the next five years.  Just think how much digital data a single person produces:

Search:  What a person searches, where, when, how often

1. Deeper Web Analytics:  Once at a site, what he/she does or does not do by click, by page, by link
2. Social Media:  What places/pages are visited, commented on, shared, liked, etc and the tone of each comment or post
3. Advertising/Promotion:  What ads are viewed, interacted or consumed in any way, etc.

Multiply that by the millions of current users and then try to break it down by demographics, region of the world, brand category and media channel. This does not even include the many sensors, GPS and other systems that are spitting out data at faster rates that can be properly captured.  Ideal for those marketers like me that love data if it can be turned into meaningful information.

A nightmare, potential for death by data

Studies show that to extract all this data, the right type of skilled technical professionals are needed.  There’s no secret that today, especially in the U.S., there’s a shortfall of highly skilled technology and math professionals.  Closing the gap is going to take some time. Likewise, for those who have ever asked the IT department for information not already provided in existing reports, we know that it is not as easy as it sounds since there are many technical and compatibility limitations.

Let’s assume that these problems are slowly improving.  With the emergence of more software-based decision-making and better cross-platform analytical tools by creative start-ups and the established IBMs of the world, these two main operational issues could somehow be alleviated.  There are, however, other strategic problems that may be harder to be addressed:

Right information: What type of information is really needed?

1. Right information: What type of information is really needed? Do the numbers point to the right interpretation? Do we have 1.5M marketing professionals who know the right questions to ask that McKinsey points out as needed?
2. Accurate comparison: How can data be segmented by target market so that it really sheds light on consumer behavior patterns that are not averaged but that detail the authenticity of both differences and similarities by segment?
3. Holistic evaluation: How is marketing decision-making going to be impacted if disparate bases for data analysis are used without a common denominator or base?
4. Global impact:  If each country continues to determine what data is available to marketers, can true comparisons on a global basis be made?
5. Organizational structure: Who is making the decision on what data should be captured, kept, analyzed and utilized?  IT or marketing? Together?
6. Measuring ROI:  How is ROI or ROMI defined, measured and tracked back to big data?
7. Rear mirror versus the future:  Predictive modeling based on big data is hot. Would it be enough to accurately capture what is next in the consumer’s mind?

Not simple answers

I am convinced big data will ultimately provide beneficial economic value, inspire innovation, and in the process determine the true winners of the digital revolution.  However, corporations should be taking the time now to plan how to understand, test and implement big data investment and the revolutionary impact in the way marketing is done today.

There are no simple solutions. I have developed the following suggestions on how to get started:

1. Assign time/resources to understand big data issues across functional area, e.g.:  Marketing, Strategic Planning and Information Technology
2. Agree on a common set of definitions
3. Start with the consumer/client in mind.  Establish a baseline of what information is available today by target segment of both existing and potential new customers (business or consumers)
4. Divide by the key processes of the buying behavior process and the minimum set of information that must be captured at each stage. (There are many models to be explored by industry or preference; the following only captures high level stages that are common to most decision-making models)
   1. Information gathering/Need awareness
   2. Set of feasible alternatives/evaluation
   3. Actual behavior/purchase and ensuing loyalty/engagement

5.   Take a breather.  See what you do not know and what would make sense to pursue as a first project under a ‘big data’ initiative.  Test, refine, learn, and expand as long as progress is made.  Make sure the information obtained is meaningful.

6.  Use information in real-decision making on a clearly defined project investment.  Evaluate ensuing measurements that should be a complement to the information that led to the baseline analysis and original recommendation.

7.   Start now.

Disciplined marketing thought and ‘gut’ feel with logical strategic alignment is the type of marketing wisdom needed to really take advantage of big data’s evolution and potential.  Are you ready?

Bazinga!

by Loida Rosario @LRosari

Quoted:

McKinsey.com Insights Research 20112

http://www.forbes.com/sites/siliconangle/2012/02/17/big-data-is-big-market-big-business/

www4.gsb.columbia.edu/…/2012-BRITE-NYAMA-Marketing-ROI-S…Marketing ROI in the Era of Big Data:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/12/sunday-review/big-datas-impact-in-the-world.html?pagewanted=all The Age of Big Data

Sloan Review 2012

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Entrepreneurship tells us how we can commercialize our product into some innovative idea. Entrepreneurs have the capability to introduce new products and services with the help of technology. Entrepreneurs act as a catalyst to speed up the growth of economy with the help of influence and motivation they have.

There are a lot of competition are challenges are organized with the passage of time by some prestigious institutions and renowned multinational companies to find out some silly idea that will later transform into some profitable product. Recently from Pakistan there are five teams out of total 20 successfully secured their position in the boat of semifinal for business plan competition organize by Global Innovation through Science & Technology.

I’ve been thinking about (also reading, talking, questioning and exploring) innovation in India a lot lately (don’t ask why). As a result of all this pondering and deliberating, I’ve come to the conclusion that, in both absolute and relative terms, innovation in India does not really exist in any meaningful way. Just so we are on the same page, innovation involves applying an invention and creating a business out of it.

We can debate the conclusion I’ve reached another time (it’s best done over a bottle of fine vino), but let me put forth the reasons why I think this is the case -

1. A lack of adequate funding sources.

2. The number of examples of innovation successes in India: (sadly) negligible.

3. Few incubators or similar support systems across the country.

4. A lack of encouragement for innovation, starting with primary education (rote learning and memorization for exams are still par for the course – where from will arise any creative thinking?)

5. Scarcity of risk-taking and a general lack of appetite for risk among individuals, communities and Indian society at large.

Indian Society and Risk

While all of these reasons contribute to why there’s a dearth of innovation in India, I believe it’s worth exploring further why Indians who live in India have such an aversion for risk.  I qualify the geography because I have personally seen many Indians who live in the US who don’t exhibit the same quality (even when they should… ).

Risk is (beyond a doubt) anathema to Indians.

Let’s imagine a well-off Indian middle-class family. What do they want for their children?  An excellent education followed by a secure job, preferably in a solid mid-to-large company. Let him become a doctor, an engineer or investment banker.  

Let him not pursue a vocation or follow his heart or creative talent. Let him not think of doing his own thing (that can be a hobby). All of this is drummed into them from when they are little, and there’s very little room for the children to maneuver around it or explore something different from the norm.

The problem with innovation and entrepreneurship is clear: there are no guarantees.

You have to take a risk.

You have to assume that there is a good possibility for failure.

And this is simply not tolerated in Indian society. So there you are – all by your lonesome as you try your hand at a risky venture, knowing that if you fail – you will be even more on your lonesome!  Perhaps even ostracized.

Where is the support system and what safe landing? So, why would one even bother?  It would not be too far from the truth to say that this is the thinking of 99.9% of Indians and who can really blame them?

A Few Famous (U.S.) Innovators

Consider these famous U.S. entrepreneurs and innovators – Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Michael Dell, Steve Jobs, Paul Allen and Larry Ellison.  

Guess what they had in common?  They are all school drop-outs – at some stage or the other, each of them dropped out to pursue their individual dreams. I am sure these decisions were not welcomed by their families, but I doubt that they were shunned because of them either.

Can you just imagine the guts it would take for an Indian to drop out of school here? Whoa! Trust me, it would take an exorbitant level of mettle and fortitude…it would take a rare individual, indeed.

Will Things Change?

Yet, for all the truth and hype about India’s status as one of the great, emerging economies of the world, the sad truth is that this country will really miss out if the current (non-)innovation quotient does not change. In fact, I would go so far as to say that the country will be dealing itself a debilitating blow. 

There is no disagreement among world economists and thought leaders that innovation is a critical factor for a nation’s progress. It can accomplish all of the following:

1. Create a more competitive and healthy national economy.

2. Create jobs.

3. Create a better quality of living for its citizens.

Bill Gates writes an annual letter on behalf of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. It so happened that his letter for 2012 arrived in my inbox this week. Here is just the first paragraph -

Throughout my careers in software and philanthropy—and in each of my annual letters—a recurring theme has been that innovation is the key to improving the world. When innovators work on urgent problems and deliver solutions to people in need, the results can be magical.

So, India

Here you are, packing such sheer numbers of people with boundless brainpower at their command – what an unfortunate wasted future if you don’t wake up and channel some of that human capital into INNOVATION.  Imagine what glorious innovation is possible if you unleash the potential of your sons and daughters!

:

:

http://fllinnovationaward.firstlegoleague.org/cooler-cooler

Thank you for your continued support of the RoboRangers.  We’d love your vote!

I shouldn’t have done this. But I did. I had 20 free minutes  before a meeting in downtown Chicago when I was attracted to a sale at one of my favorite stores.  So I went  in to ‘browse’, and I ended up buying one of those impossible-to-find pairs of jeans that actually fit me. Now, of course, I needed a new top to go with it.

After deciding on a clean and simple top, the toughest choice was the color.  I was immediately attracted to the bright red version of the top.  I love reds.  But I resisted for a few minutes while I evaluated other modern and more subdued colors.  The sales assistant suggested that I take a look at the top in their new chartreuse green color and told me that the red  color I was considering was named hot chilli peppers.   Meanwhile, it was getting late.

I quickly bought the top in hot chilli pepper color.  As a consumer, my decision was not based on the fact that I like red.  I really did not need another red top. But how could I not buy a top in a color named ’hot chilli peppers’?   At the mention of the name images of meals, parties and family immediately popped into my head. Cultural experiences influenced my decision.  The stealth Latino cultural influence in the America mainstream made me smile.

The store was smart. It did not force me choose from a color palette that would not resonate with me.  The store had an assortment that  allowed me to choose whether I wanted to feel more Latina with a modern twist, or just be a little bit more traditional and conservative.

The analogy in this shopping vignette relates to a core business decision that marketing executives face today:  Should we invest in  communicating with Hispanics as Latinos or as Americans?  Should we be spending monies in Spanish advertising and promotion or just use general or total market approaches?  If today the majority of Hispanics speak English and are born in the U.S. why bother with anything that is ethnic specific? By the same token and with language as a non-issue, should we invest in marketing programs that better resonate with diverse segment’s needs and cultural nuances?  What about LGBT, African-Americans, Asians and other segments whose cultural experiences, a little different from the traditional mainstream, may influence their decision-making process?

The above reasoning frames the issue as a ‘either or’ quandary. It is not.  It is a matter of investment allocation. Keep it simple, let consumers choose.  And then measure ROI holistically.

But first, as any good marketer will do, understand and acknowledge your consumer…all consumers in your target.

Loida

For more in-depth business discussion and background, refer to articles:

Multicultural Marketing:  A Misunderstood Concept and Untapped Business Strategy

Seamlessly Hispanic – Seamlessly American

Women buy clothes if models look like them

Jim was looking forward to getting home tonight, so he could share some time with the family after having been on a frantic trip to four different cities, on three continents, in seven days, to meet with his different team members. This was quickly put together to coordinate the project they were all working upon, comparing notes, setting some goals for the coming weeks.

Pre-Christmas travel

He was tired but also troubled, apart from all those delays at airports, different hotels and long days and growing jet lag this was not the main reason for his headache. He had been working on finding a solution for a molecule that would make a significant contribution to his company’s product pipeline, and they certainly needed this ‘breakthrough’ as 2012 will be a ‘watershed’ year in his industry.

Jim, like many others in research and across his company were worried, really worried. According to what he reads billions of dollars and many of the larger blockbuster were falling over the “patent cliff” as it has been dubbed and he was wonders what they means for him. He has heard rumours, swirling around, a little like the snow outside, that yet another re-organization is in the works. More uncertainly to face and it will do his case no good if he can’t crack this particular problem, the reason he went ‘racing’ around the world to visit the other research centres in Rio, Brazil, Shanghai in China, Jurong in Singapore and Basel in Switzerland.

Stars in the Universe always twinkle.

Jin loves his work, he tells many of his friends willing to listen to his same old story: “molecules are so small that there are more molecules in your body than there are stars in the universe!” His kids love that one as he then grabs them and tickles them so they ‘squeal’ with delight. Also he never tires to tell anyone who cares to listen or ask what he does. Those that knows Jim always expect him to make this comment or a similar one when the extended family gathers around the Christmas table, to keep everyone aware of his contribution on this world. He often gets ‘ribbed’ on the number of molecules he seems to be adding himself and Jim shakes his head, dismissing them all as “ignorant peasants” or something more specific and then laughs out loud along with everyone else.

What’s so special in Jim’s mind about molecules is always their unique shape that allows it to interact with other molecules. The interactions between molecules made up of black carbon atoms, white hydrogen, red oxygen and nitrogen atoms are always buzzing around in his head when he peers into that microscope. Jim enjoys his work, even he would happily stand up and state he is proud of his contribution but at this moment of time he certainly needs to find this solution to his current vexing problem, as the deadline set to solve this has been ‘laid down’ from on high and that always has some darker sides to any ‘edict’ like that. Hence this was partly why he went on this last minute dash around the team, to find a solution to their problem.

The darker side of acceleration taps on his shoulder

The bigger problem is, it is simply getting tougher, is the constant message he is getting down from the top within his company, not only to come up with new drugs, as he well knows, but also to convince insurers and the government to pay for them — unless they make meaningful improvements in health, at a reasonable cost. Everyone has to lift up their game, accelerate the work and offset some of those worrying times ahead if possible, well at least try to make a contribution that is acknowledged and hopefully appreciated by others.

Santa comes early

Suddenly he hears that familiar sound of an incoming email, he turns around to take a look as it gives him a chance for some distraction. Normally he would not be feeling this about any last minute emails before he heads off home for the Christmas break.

The email was from Lo Ping, in the research centre in Shanghai. Quickly reading it he suddenly brightens up. Lo has found a possible breakthrough to the problem. It seems after Jim’s visit and explanation, Lo Ping decided to reach out to their collaborators around the Asian region and pose the question to them. One of the research institutes in Thailand they work with, thinks they might have an answer, something they were working on for another company but in another unrelated industry, so they can find a way to explore this in some form of open innovation collaboration. Jim knew Lo Ping would not bother him unless she was fairly sure this would likely be the answer he and his team have been working hard to solve. Open innovation has been a great help for him to bring other ‘like minded’ people into the discovery process.

A world that never sleeps, even at Christmas

Lo Ping with her usual humour writes “here’s the deal Jim, knowing you will be sitting with your feet up over the next few days while some of the rest of us work, I will fly to Thailand, investigate, work on the testing to see if this does make the breakthroughs and then do some more work in my labs before you get back in three days- how about that?” Jim smiled, knowing Lo Ping and her team they will deliver as promised. The Shanghai lab is a twenty four times seven one, meaning it is working 24 hours a day, every day. Comparing that with the one here that Jim works in, in the US it only works, at a pinch, 9 to 10 hours, five days a week and that often causes at head office many comments on productivity, cost efficiencies etc, etc. These constant global comparisons just add more pressure.

He quickly emails back to Lo Ping- “sure, go for it and thanks, I owe you one”. Within seconds a further email comes back from Lo Ping suggesting: “well just remember Chinese New Year is on 23^rd & 24^th January this year and if you could shift that review meeting to a little later as a return favour, it will allow me to release some of my team to have time with their families- agreed?” Jim laughs, he knows Lo Ping and her way of conveying the needs of her team, also means her. He emails back “sure, providing you have those results on my desk in three days”. Only a ‘smiley’ is the reply.

Let the collaborative process work- “let it flow, let it flow, let it flow”

Wow, that is a great relief thinks Jim, if we can find the breakthrough, make a collaborative deal with the Thai lab to share in the benefits we might quickly get back on track. Some quick emails off to the team, then to legal in Singapore to be on the alert to join in the negotiations, a copy to the central open innovation legal person in New York so that it will get the legal wheels grinding along as well. He thinks he needs to pull in that favour following his buying of the meal in Singapore last week for the team, including the lawyer. Sometimes those face to face, social meetings pay incredible dividends and he knows Satvinder Sirajay is very dependable and wants to help especially after they found out over dinner they had daughters playing football for their schools. Knowing each other in this connected world does help.

Reminders and recognition

He recalls listening to Don Tapscott a few weeks ago, talking of the Age of Network Intelligence where the five principles now apply. These are ‘collaboration, transparency, sharing, interdependency and integrity’ and Jim just felt he had ‘touched’ each of these within this set of events. So these guru’s do know what they are talking about after all, he thinks.

That suddenly prompts him to remember to pick up those two books he had ordered from Amazon to read over this Christmas break. One he needed to read to prepare for his innovation session to his research colleagues straight after Christmas- “Best Practices Are Stupid- 40 ways to out-innovate the competition” by Steve Shapiro and the other to help him find ways around one or two rather stubborn middle managers that seem to be blocking his initiatives from ‘seeing the light of day’ at the senior level. Yes he even liked the title on that one “Relentless Innovation- what works, what doesn’t” by Jeffrey Phillips.

He certainly was thinking to himself where he works, it is “relentless innovation” with the worldwide research centres working 365 days of the year. As he closed up on his working day he came up with his title for his next (fantasy) book “restless innovators.”

Back to earth and chores for the evening

Suddenly the blackberry beeped, a SMS from his wife gently reminding him to “not forget to pass by the local butcher for the turkey and pick up the Christmas tree next door, the one she had already ‘marked out’ and paid for and don’t forget you promised to decorate it with the kids.”

His smile suddenly changes though as he hits that cold blast of air, quickly pulling up his coat collar to stop the snow from trickling down his neck but it didn’t matter he was happy. Happy to share Christmas with his family, happy his problem seemingly was about to be solved somewhere else in the world while he took some time off and happy about that decision to go around the different research centres to lay out the problems. He felt this gave them all a personal identification and shared understanding of what was needed from them as a global research team, working on innovating the next breakthrough for their company.

A little cold shudder but that was for another day

The only shudder he felt was the need to face up to the merger issues that were announced. Still that was for after Christmas when he arrives back to hopefully find the team working away in Asia has found the solution and that positive message he could then gives the ‘powers that be’ the good news. Hopefully it will remind them of the many reasons why they were such a powerful collaborative team, essential to the future of sustaining their position in the market.

Crazy, connected but collaborative

“Yep”, thought Jim- this is certainly a crazy, connected world but today it was simply a great collaborative feeling one gets on working on solving a problem. One, that in his mind, would lead to a potential innovating product that will save lives. Not bad as a great feeling as Jim heads home to the family and celebrating Christmas and all of what it means in our lives.

Enjoy your Christmas and happy innovating in 2012! Stay optimistic.

When we talk about business it’s no more a concept local or native to one’s county or city, we are the generation that belongs to the era of communication and global innovation. People do not succumb to the boundaries; we grow and reach out to masses across the world. In such a scenario, when all the competitors around you apply the same approach for themselves you as a company cannot afford to lag behind. Being proactive and benefitting from such favorable conditions is a must.

There are many business consultancies that provide you a lot of help in terms of financial advice, consultancy and outsourcing in terms of global innovation. One of the many such companies is Amritt, Inc. Amritt group is located in India which is currently the most progressive economy of the world. What they specialize in is their ease of operations by which they help you get all the revenue benefits from the emerging economies. They help you outsource your business services and products to India and other such developing countries and in turn helping you curtail your business development expenses and at the same time getting you the best of all employees.

Other than this, if you need assistance for any major business decisions like recruitment of top management officials or cross border mergers or any new branch that the company is planning to set up then Amritt Inc is the best possible solution for all your problems. The head of this institution, Mr. Gunjan Bagla is a experience holder in business outsourcing and global innovation for the past 25 years. He and his team are competent and active enough to make you get the best and decide the best for your company. With their assistance, major business decisions that would otherwise require a lot of toiling and brain storming would be an easy to make deal! Their name by itself is so popular in the market for all the global innovation solutions. You might not find such world class services with any other consultancy.

i am quoting him,

original post link  and for ease of use: in its entirety here:

“December 30, 2005

Thanks Guy: this is what we all need, practical advice for ‘changing the world’
in the imortal and previously quoted words of Bruce Lee

“learn the rules, master the rules, then break the rules”
Read more: http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2005/12/the_102030_rule.html#ixzz1NUXVmLdL

http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2005/12/the_102030_rule.html#axzz1NUX8pnMz

1) People

2) People

3) People

4) Huge Market Potential

5) Great Idea, Product, or Patent

This is lead into a great post about choosing the best team we could find, leadership, or the like. But What about the other direction? What about your investor? When you take investment for your innovation company, you aren’t just taking money, and you shouldn’t expect to. Venture Capitalist are not ‘all created equal’. Just like everyone else we work with, our investors are ‘on the team’. In most cases they are on our board of directors. This means you will spend years interacting with these people. So who they are is as important as anything else. Here is a great list and blog post on VC reputations. Its not perfect, as it misses a couple of great VCs like Josh K. at First Run Ventures and doesn’t really address any European Venture Capitalists(Granted, a younger industry) … but none the less.. Remember you are not just ‘pitching’ the VC.. it is a courtship, and so you need to ask the right questions also. A good VC will appreciate this.

http://www.cloudave.com/9793/the-top-30-most-respected-venture-capitalists-infographic/

interesting to watch as our world socialmediaifies…

As our world evolves, and it will evolve more, I notice it is increasingly difficult to separate out our lives into discrete ‘chunks’.. In the past, you may have a social club here, and activity there, work, school.. whatever. You could be incongruent.. you could almost have different lives.

But with the invention of facebook and linkedin and social media, the world is changing.

More than ever we need to be mindful and congruent. Who are we? Think about it, if i ask you ‘who are you’ ? where does your identity rest? who are your friends? what distinguishes a friend, from an aquantence, from a colleague?

How will the sector that you know about evolve?

Swedish king Gustav III was the first head of state in the world to recognize the newly formed USA in 1777.. Would the USA exist without resolve and fortitude? Ask Benjamin Franklin

“Resolve to perform what you ought;   perform without fail what you resolve”

Benjamin Franklin

One of my favorite and most honored roll models was Benjamin Franklin. Not only was he one of the founding fathers of the USA, but an innovator, Writer, Revolutionary, Committee of 5 and signitory of the Declaration of Independence,  Scientist,  Self/explorer and ambassador.  Not a perfect person by any stretch, and he had his challenges in life with family, community, and conflict, but all in all, he is easily one of the most influential personas in American History. In Issacsson’s boot ‘Benjamin Franklin’ he articulates the victory after victory in Franklin’s life.

An Inspiration. Franklin had resolve. He set out to accomplish things, and often he was successful. America would not have won independance from Great Britian without the support of France, and France would never have supported the US without Franklin.

In the book ‘The first American’….it cronicles Franklin’s dedication to liberty and resolve to have victory.

For a man of seventy, suffering from gout and assorted lesser afflictions, to leave his home in the middle of a war, to cross a wintry sea patrolled by enemy warships where commanders could be counted on to know him even if they knew nary another American face, was no small undertaking. John Adams declined nomination in Franklin’s commission; Thomas Jefferson rebuffed election. Yet Franklin had made his decision that America must be free, and he was determined to pay whatever cost his country required. “I have only a few years to live,” he told Benjamin Rush, “and I am resolved to devote them to the work that my fellow citizens deem proper for me; or speaking as old-clothes dealers do of a remnant of goods, ‘You shall have me for what you please.’”

for us to have resolve, it takes mindfullness, dreams and fortitute. Have it.

with such discipline comes liberty. Not just in our hearts and minds.. but potentially in nations. It did for Franklin’s experiment in democracy.

What can you have the resolve to commit to and begin a journey of private victory? Is there something that you have always wanted, that you know you could achieve, if you could just make the time? Small, or big.. commit to pursuing now. Are you on a path of this dream already? if so, know that your resolve can only bring you liberty and happiness. Pursue it. Do not give up.

to quote “

Starting with the CEO, there are some objective characteristics that you can look for and which would raise a flag if they were absent:

• Strong company vision
• Passion for the product and opportunity
• Hard working
• Deep understanding of the market/customer problem
• Ability to hire well
• Good communicator
• Ability to delegate and manage
• Strategic thinker
• Good judgement

with a very specific focus on what I call Innovation Capital.

There is a tremendous amount of research going on through out the world on Innovation, Innovation systems, management of innovation, leadership in innovation, etc. But many, if not most, fail to spend much time on a key element in innovation. The capital required to actually carry it out. This is a major bottleneck in most countries outside of the united states. Even in state funded programs and large established innovation companies.

So my research touches on the following:

Venture Capital availability and behaviors with innovative companies

State policies and funding with Venture capital and growth capital (note: not late stage buy out private equity)

State tax policies and incentives for investors who support innovation

Leadership within externally financed innovation companies

Capital allocation and management inside of large innovation focused firms

The entire Capital and Innovation eco system, in high innovation – small home market countries. (Isreal, Ireland, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Germany)

International competitiveness from non US Innovation Regions and the Capital availability in these regions.

American students met with French students from ESCP Paris, one of the top Business Schools in Europe, to network and exchange ideas on innovation and globalization, led by ESCP Professor Daniel Rouach, the author of many publications including the latest “Incubators of the World” and an expert on Competitive Intelligence. In addition to sightseeing in the beautiful city of Paris and learning about its rich history and architecture, we had the unique opportunity to visit top companies and were greeted by their executives.

At France Telecom, the class visited its “Jardins de L’Innovation”, where they experienced the latest technological innovations and attended a presentation by Roseline Kalifa, Managing Director for Innovation. Next, we were welcomed at NYSE Euronext by its COO, Lisa Dallmer, and by the head of Market Operations Fabrice Peresse, where they had the privilege to discuss the achievements and challenges faced by the company during the Financial crisis and on what its doing today on innovation. As one of the goals of the course was to explore the similarities and differences in innovation between companies in the US and France, students visited the Pepiniere d’Entreprises PARIS SOLEILLET, an Incubator for the Paris Chamber of Commerce and for ESCP Europe who hosts more than 40 dynamic startup companies. Here students got to hear first hand from Ronan Pelloux, the CEO of CREADS and also a former ESCP student, whose company uses crowdsourcing to help companies with logo, slogan, and web design; with the support of the Pepiniere the company has reached 1 million euros in revenue after only 3 years. In addition to attending ESCP Europe students’ presentations on Airbus and Yoplait, students got to visit the L’OREAL plant at Aulnay, prior to catching the next flight to Prague.

In the Czech Republic, we had a guided tour of Prague by night and visited its architectural landmarks Old Town Square, Charles Bridge, and Wencesla Square and learned about the Czech history and culture. Next day, we attended a presentation on the future of energy by CEZ, one of the leading companies in this field, by Jiri Feist the Director of Strategy and Development and obtained insight on their renewable energy strategy.

After a hearty Czech lunch, we met with Stuart Schaag, Senior Commercial Officer at the U.S. Commercial Service, a component of the Department of Commerce, and learned about some of the challenges faced by U.S. companies that are interested in doing business in the Czech Republic. The following day was spent at Vodafone understanding and discussing the integration of new media into marketing strategies with their Marketing Departments and then touring the GE Aviation-Walter plant and learning about the new Turboprop engine from the President and Managing Executive, Mr. Paul Theofan.

At the end of the trip, sentiment was very positive as the group felt enriched by the cultural and intellectual knowledge gained from the company visits, appreciative of the support of Program Coordinators Kari Lininger and Shannon Wilde and of the warmth of the ESCP students, but also by the camaraderie that had been developed by the students and their professor who said that “this was one of the best travel courses that I have had in the past few years.” As Vodafone Marketing Director David Duron shared with us: “innovation is about trying new things and the differentiation must be our DNA,” and this is one of the critical lessons we have taken away from this course.

Vitoriana Morais, MA in Public Communication Graduate Student ’11

Braden is the author of “Stoking Your Innovation Bonfire” from John Wiley & Sons and is also the editor of Blogging Innovation (http://bit.ly/d2c9aW ).

Braden picked up on an article lamenting the seemingly poor state of Canada’s innovation efforts (http://bit.ly/fdLeI5 ) with the view that “Innovation is literally hitting a wall”. Braden has also commented about the recent US approach to resolving their innovation approach and believes it is limited in its understanding and appreciation of innovation.

Here in Europe we are certainly going through the same crisis of confidence with innovation, it is not producing the wealth and growth expected and needed to fuel our economies. The EU commissioner for innovation, Máire Geoghegan- Quinn, the EU’s first innovation commissioner, has started to created a lot of positive energy around some exciting new initiatives but are they enough? My answer is simply no.

For a very thoughtful article on the EU and innovation (http://bit.ly/hCZWdO ) published in www.innovationmanagement.se by Ann Mettler, Executive Director of think tank The Lisbon Council and here she gives her take on policy and innovation.

Ann Mettler comments “One needs to distinguish between policy levers and policy drivers such as competition. It is about levers versus drivers. One key here is to look at the money and how the EU chooses to spend. Current spending priorities are the antithesis of innovation. If we continue to spend the largest proportion of the budget on the common agricultural policy we cannot with a straight face claim to prioritise innovation”.

Braden states the same within the article he was picking up upon, written  by University of British Columbia economics professor James Brander. (http://bit.ly/fdLeI5) that explores this sobering possibility of “hitting a brick wall” in a new study published in the Canadian Journal of Economics. Brander concludes that the pace of innovation is slowing dramatically in four key areas: agriculture, energy, transportation and health care. The consequences could have a profound impact on our lives if these are slowing down. Others will pick up any slack.

For me reading about Europe and its innovation policies it does seem Europe faces an “innovation emergency” because its businesses are falling behind its US and Japanese and now China as rivals in terms of investment and new patents, graduates and investment start ups. We are facing many challenges that seemingly the Commission cannot get the necessary momentum behind to reverse some frightening trends and quess what, the developing world is rapidly catching up.

A good understanding of the policies emerging from the approaches to be taken  for EU innovation can be read here (http://bit.ly/gFZ6EF ) in a series of interviews written by Haydn Shaughnessy.

So I do agree, we are actually in crisis. I also agree we really do need a new era of innovation as the old one has clearly not worked. It has to be bolder, more radical and more reflective of what innovation is providing for us. The realization is innovation cannot be contained within borders, it needs to be encouraged wherever it goes, and the Governments need to work on ensuring they keep a stake of it. Presently this is not as good a stake as we need for the level of growth, jobs and economic prosperity.

Innovation policy makers need a better understanding of innovations parts.

• Any innovation policy is a formidable task, innovation by its nature and understanding is very broad. How can policy guide and stimulate innovation differently?
• Braden is right in his article, the heavy emphasis on applied science and investments in research and technology as the keys to innovation is not the complete answer but it is part of it, of course.
• Increasingly within the EU there is a growing realisation that all this research effort that is being heavily supported through grants and funding is falling very short in the commercialisation of inventions. There is a shift to measuring impact on society, in the delivery of benefits and that is important.
• There is an increased realization on bringing new services and products to market and this comes through the SME. This is where it becomes harder to administer and develop levers for the SME to thrive. Often the argument for Governments is to simply get out of the way and let the market manage this. In the EU, dispersion of grants or funds will still have bureaucratic strings attached to it, so this is unlikely to happen.

The new recent US & EU initiatives on innovation

With the announcement of new initiatives on both sides of the pond I still get the distinct impression the policy makers are simply re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic- to do something that will soon be overtaken by events, or that contributes nothing better to the existing solutions to our current problems and that is a worry. We do need something more radical. Policy needs to be bolder. We simply don’t need just another sputnik moment, a realization others are beating us, we need to put that man on the moon to  make sure we mobilize society around innovation.

The real challenges needed to be faced.

• The first big challenge to innovation is really a management challenge, not a research challenge, and it is not clear how the latest policies will succeed on this front. We do need to recognize managing innovation is rapidly changing the way we need to work. Is this being fully accounted for within new policies or pushed more? Remaking management to innovate is essential to deliver through.
• Innovation has fragmented; today’s ‘innovation’ means what? We do need to understand the different ‘types’ of innovation needed to perform the specific task. I am not sure the policy makers understand the really important differences between open innovation, needs based innovation, service dominant innovation or where Business model innovation fits for support or development to name a few. This needs to change by rethinking innovation. Break it down more. It is not an internal event; it is an external collaborative event beyond a few PhD scientists to deliver innovation. Innovation needs to engage society more, not at the end but throughout the whole innovation development process.
• There is a greater emphasis on innovation partnerships as innovation comes about at the intersection of different disciplines and relationships, so this is very positive. Bringing a diversity of people and what they can contribute together is positive. I’m not sure yet if this will be understood enough this includes the final consumer with this.
• 70% or more of GDP comes from services. Many service areas don’t depend on research; they rely on ‘gut feeling’ instinct and quickly spotting ‘breaking’ opportunities, they utilise and combine knowledge more than product alone. Speed to market or first mover advantage can be much more important and how do you account for this in policy? We need to find better ways; we need to push more of the levers that help in this. We need to develop more knowledge platforms that combine knowledge to make better intelligent products.
• I do share this opinion expressed by Ann that there is still just too close a relationship and political patronage of certain sectors that are leading to a kind of inbred relationship between government and companies, leading to lagging performance in terms of international competitiveness and protective positions that are not actually creating new jobs,  they are simply sending jobs away.
• US economist Tyler Cowen argues, there are huge economic implications if innovation stagnates. This is what lies behind what he calls The Great Stagnation: How America Ate All the Low-Hanging Fruit of Modern History, Got Sick, and Will (Eventually) Feel Better. What underpinned the great postwar boom was the industrialisation of inventions made between 1910 and 1940. The goods that poured out of the west’s factories between 1950 and 1975 provided employment and rising real wages for the mass of the US’s and Europe’s citizens. But the “low-hanging fruit” that delivered such benefits is disappearing, he argues.
• So are we actually stagnating? So perhaps the era of current innovation activity is over. We are clear of the importance of innovation as a driver of growth and the imperative to exploit it. Perhaps if Innovation was left to look after itself a little more, it could really flourish and provide real breakthroughs that did altered our lives as in 20^th century very radically, that seemed unfettered far more.

I very much liked Ann Metters final comment in her article. “The biggest problem, however is that we don’t appear to respect the process of innovation itself in the EU. Innovation is not unidirectional. It does not lead to success nine times out of ten. It is by nature experimental, disruptive and unpredictable. We have no formula for it. We can’t control it top down. And that’s hard to accept, particularly if a lot of money and institutional reputations are at stake. So we create our formulas around R&D, shy away from risk and expect success. But it really doesn’t work that way”

So for me the battle of ecosystems becomes the necessary innovation platform.

Great advances do exist and many are still out there hanging on the tree. We do need to get past the low hanging fruit but to do this we do need our institutions to step back and provide a new ‘enabling’ infrastructure, we need to build the scaffolding to pick this new economic fruit. Government need to stick more to their basic knitting, focusing upon developing the conditions for building the ecosystem in which innovation, experimentation and investment can really flourish. We need supportive innovative management or investment ecology not micro management through administrating funds.

If we want to step up the pace of invention, there has to be a huge shift in the way we think and who does what. We are all presently trying to do each other jobs, often we are falling over each other, we duplicate effort, dilute innovation competition by accepting incremental innovation as the end result. We can’t continue that way, we all need to be bolder, to realize we are in crisis and where bolder innovation (and invention) can provide solutions.  Government needs to design markets and build institutions that promote innovate and let the markets build their individual ecosystem on which innovation, experimentation and investment come together on platforms that provide broad benefit to all that participate. Let the market fund these, let Government encourage the enabling platforms, the brokerage to bring these together and ensure it anchors part of that for its society.

Are ecosystems and platforms the global answer to innovation acceleration? I think the more the Governments promote innovation platforms, provide the levers, infrastructures and technical backbone to allow this to happen, the better. I think we can see rapid acceleration of ecosystems and then innovation by encouraging these platforms and new business models that can dramatically transform many industries. Scale and scope will be seen differently, these are global not country specific. Individual Governments need to help to build the global cake and ensure they get a slice of it. It will often be messy, unclear and not as well defined as policy makers would like but that is the nature of innovation.

Focusing more on building different ecosystem becomes main stream for innovation delivery and we usher in the new era of global innovation. We need to move beyond today’s innovation thinking so the new era of global innovation can emerge.

Design Mind has a very compelling visual identity and a particular voice, so it’s definitely worth going to the site and getting a firm lay of the land, if you’re unfamiliar. They publish articles on design, politics, lifestyle, and trends.

Once you’ve got your idea to pitch, you can email sam.martin@frogdesign.com with some previous work and your current proposal.

We’ll tell you all about the time we played Danny Zuko in a high school production of Grease if you like us on Facebook!

Biocon is a leading biopharma company in India, and, in fact, one of the leading biotech companies globally.  Ms. Shaw delivered a clear and insightful analysis of the overall pharma industry’s challenges, as well as presenting key elements of Biocon’s strategy and current work.

While the entire talk was both informative and inspirational, what emerged over the course of her talk is that Biocon is an example, in a single company, of the three advantages that working across developed and emerging economies can offer:

1. Lower production costs.  The main source of lower costs is the lower cost of labor, but lower costs of physical resources and more cost-sensitive and frugal attitude, also contribute.
2. Large, new markets. What more needs to be said here? China and India are the largest consumer markets by demographics today, and both are only likely to grow in both numbers and buying power.
3. New opportunities for innovation.

How, exactly, does working across the US and India enable increased innovation in the biopharma industry?

First, by working with companies in India, researchers can reduce the cost of failure, and thus enable evaluation of more drug candidates. Both the lower costs and increased potential market size, change the financial model so that companies, both big pharma and start-ups, can consider developing new products that might not be worth it if the development and markets were in the US and EU only.

Second, since costs and funding requirements are lower, it is often possible to increase the speed of research and development, which can also reduce risks and increase the potential opportunity.

Third, a more subtle point, is that Ms. Shaw has been willing to sponsor research in other developing countries (she cited an antibody developed in Cuba) that other companies have not.  While this is partly because Biocon can apply a different financial model, I think it is also partly because her perspective is different, that she tends to view these as opportunities first, rather than first seeing the risks of working in a developing country.

Fourth, Ms. Shaw has  sought to increase innovation in the science itself.  She has done this by working in partnerships with companies in the US and EU that include both risk-sharing and IP-sharing. She has also done this by actively seeking to bring Indian expat scientists back to work in India, thus creating opportunities for cross-pollination in Biocon’s teams that might not exist in company staffed mostly within one region.

Lastly, when Ms. Shaw discussed the company’s diabetes research, it seemed clear that simply by being in India, the company sees the need for new treatment approaches with greater urgency.  In the world’s “diabetes capital,” with a huge number of uninsured patients with limited healthcare resources, the need for an affordable, oral insulin is stark. Biocon has taken its candidate in this area all the way from research to clinical trials, and is currently waiting on approval in India, where it has the potential to transform diabetes care.  If the product is eventually approved in the US, too, it will provide an enormous benefit for the growing US population of diabetics, at a much lower price point than if it was originally developed in and for the developed world.

Korea struggles to launch fresh global ideas.

Korea’s widely lauded success as an electronics manufacturer is thanks in no small part to Samsung, which was hungrier and more determined than Sony to be better at a game whose rules have long been established – hardly a fresh global idea. Most Korean software startups are actually localizations of existing Western services, rather than local innovations. The number and quality of really, really great localized web services that deliver Western-conceived web applications locally is astounding. Big props go out to me2day.net, storyq.net, linknow.co.kr and others, for their local but not global success. (Me2Day has done awesome things to make what I think of as Korea’s Twitter a solution that is beautifully tailored to the local market!) Cyworld was a successful social network long before MySpace, clearly an innovator – but Cyworld failed to take its ideas global.

Such is the case, I’ve tentatively concluded, because of extreme protectionist behaviors on the one hand, and the automatic pursuit of harmony on the other. At times, it feels like I’m getting an overdose of Sun Tzu and Confucius here in Far East. I strongly advocate that my Korean peers involved in the craft of innovation break away from the path well worn to boldly and disruptively pursue innovation. Korean entrepreneurs have been and continue to be – albeit to a slightly lesser degree – hamstrung and knocked down by Korea’s walled gardens. The big guys in Korea take this Sun Tzu business is war thing way too far. In doing so, they lose sight of the stakeholders that make their ongoing existence possible – the customers. Customers’ data deserves to be portable from one service to another. SKT, KTF and LGT’s war-faring instincts should not get in the way of Cho-user’s ability to access information from a competitors network on a mobile device. Telcos’ and handset manufacturers’ desire to protect their dominant domestic market position should not have precluded Korean users from accessing the only smart phones available – BlackBerry, iPhone, Android. The sad impact of this has been a very late entry for Korea in the smart phone business, because Korean users didn’t have a chance to demonstrate their desire for what they didn’t even know existed. (Sorry, the Samsung i700 was far from smart… I was happy when mine was stolen in 2004.) Furthermore, Korean developers were underexposed to mobile smart phone environments, meaning it was generally very difficult for them to understanding how to develop great mobile applications.

The second part of the innovation hurdle that I hope Korea will overcome is operational harmony. Harmony is an important Confucian principle that persists throughout Korean society. It makes its uncomfortable presence felt in the craft of innovation, where disruptive thinking and behavior – whether accidental or intentional – often drives successful innovation. A future blog post will discuss the adverse effect of the pursuit of operational harmony within the context of innovation in Korea. In the meantime, I hope that readers of this entry will consider my thoughts in a positive light. My thoughts are sincerely grounded in a desire to grow Korea’s innovation capacity.

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