Summary
Innovation in business
Large companies tend to develop bureaucratic layers of management that often stunt the spirit of innovation needed to remain competitive in rapidly changing markets. As a result, many mature, established companies suffer a steady decline of market share as smaller, more innovative rivals reap the rewards of quickly reacting to new market trends. A key lesson that can be learnt from the decline of such once mighty US industries as consumer electronics and steel is that large corporations must be managed on two levels. On one hand, the companies must be operated efficiently to maximize their strengths, while on the other hand, the companies must be prepared for future market changes through a systematic process that fosters innovation from within.See the full content of this document
Extract
The duality principle.
Last summer, John Akers, CEO of IBM (the world's largest computer company), was unexpectedly covered in The Wall Street Journal giving a private "kick-butt" speech to some of his managers. He was mad and showed it. Big blue keeps losing market share in all kinds of computers (and software) to a host of companies, and the company has been struggling for some years.
Unfortunately IBM is not an isolated circumstance--reported on a little more dramatically perhaps, but not unusual. Consider that Ed Brennan of Sears is now under heavy board pressure to do something after being passed up by a more profitable WalMart as the world's largest retailer. Sears' core business, retailing, is also a struggle. Before IB...See the full content of this document
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