Innovation

Moore uses the core/context analysis framework to discuss how to overcome inertia in strategy and structure.

Moore uses McKinsey's 7S's model to attack the problem of inertia in companies.

Geoffrey Moore, best selling author and a Managing Director at TCG Advisors, talks about how inertia overrides innovation in established enterprises.

Moore believes inertia is the legacy of successful innovation and the two must be managed as a single system in a business enterprise.

Moore looks at the different classes of innovation that comprise the product leadership zone: disruptive, application, product and platform innovation. These innovation zones are driven by the technology adoption life cycle and are very R&D intensive and high-risk.

Moore advises that since innovation begets inertia, there is a need for companies to recycle their resources with respect to both innovation and inertia to differentiate themselves in a competitively driven market.

At the heart of scientific research is innovation, says Fodor, which is also one of the main driving forces behind entrepreneurship. He talks about making the transition from scientist to entrepreneur.

Will companies like Yahoo and Google become large companies who grow stagnant or will they continue to innovate and remain competitors of young start-ups? Randy answers this questions with examples of company culture.

While Sutton doesn't think there is a true method to differentiate a good idea from a bad one, there are ways to help improve the chances of success, the main one being consulting customers or potential customers.

Using Play-Doh and the Apple iPod as examples, Robert Sutton, Co-Director of the Center for Work, Technology, and Organization at Stanford University, explains that often creativity is simply making new things out of old ones.

When trying to foster innovation within an organization, Sutton feels that sometimes the best management is no management at all. He also stresses that creativity means selling, not just inventing something.

Sutton shares what he believes is the single most important diagnostic question to ask within a creative organization: What happens if there is failure? He also believes that there is no real way to determine which ideas are good and which will fail.

Some companies like Google allocate a certain amount of time to employees for creative projects outside of daily tasks. Sutton explains how this can work most effectively.

Bellas talks about where innovation is currently happening in biotech and medical device companies. The large pharmaceutical companies aren't covering the same innovative ground as the smaller companies, which is a trend seeing in every tech field.

Raikes talks about how Microsoft participates in a broad range of competitive and evolving businesses in the software industry. They are transforming into seven business: client (Windows), information worker business (Office), Business Solutions (small to medium businesses), server and tools, MSN, and Home and Entertainment (X-Box, PC gaming).

Raikes talks about how Microsoft's success at innovating business models equals its success in technology innovation. Before Microsoft, there was no market for a company that did operating systems. The business model to license operating systems was novel and helped to propel Microsoft to success.

Hennessy talks about how entrepreneurship holds great potential for social endeavors. Entrepreneurs think about solving problems in different ways and therefore can offer unique and innovative solutions. Not all the lessons from business can carry over, but many will apply, he adds.

Worthington explains that the market climate at the time of the formation of Fluidigm, around 1999, was not favorable towards anything without dotcom in the title, and their funding requests were met with hundreds of no's. However, as the technology continued to develop, it became clear that they were on to something big; a small, simple rubber valve that was like an integrated circuit for biology, he says.

Earl talks about how EA is good at figuring out early on if a game is not going to be successful and starting over before it is too late. EA brings a compliment of distribution, marketing, resources, larger teams, better technology, and high caliber designers, artists, and engineers to help increase the chances of creating a successful game, he says.

Earl and Kim respond to the question: How do you increase innovation when a lot of the game development relies on established brands and sequels? A lot of efforts are going onto create new intellectual property, says Earl. Though risky, the new products will ultimately be the core component of the company's future.

Earl and Kim respond to the question: How do you manage the business imperatives versus the creative imperatives when developing a game? The decision makers at EA are people who really understand the creative side and have generally worked on the production side as well, says Earl, and are therefore able to make more informed decisions.

Erin Turner, a producer at Electronic Arts specializing in action-hero titles, explains that the GameBoy has a pretty substantial market with 40 million sold worldwide. The mission with the GameBoy is to create some unique draw or additional fun factor, since it does not have nearly the graphical capabilities as a console, she says. The team's challenge is to provide the optimal gaming experience, while working within the constraints of the limited hardware.

Earl and Kim respond to the question: How has the competition from Grand Theft Auto influenced EA? Vice City is brilliant in its open world design, says Earl, you can go in any direction and interact with the environment. Grand Theft Auto was a little bit of a wake up call for EA suggesting that they should be doing something like it and watching out for the competition, he adds.

Reedy talks about how eBay continuously improves. She gives examples from within eBay to illustrate how they execute improvement.