Research Technology Management

The Chinese call them sea turtles -- scientists and engineers who obtain doctorates, postgraduate experience, and even jobs in the West and then return to their homeland to take up key roles in the technology economy. A recent report by the Partnership for a New American Economy and the Partnership for New York City, Not Coming to America: Why the US is Falling Behind in the Global Race for Talent, spells out the problem. In recent years, it states, the US immigration laws have failed to keep...

Apple Scores a Win in the Smartphone Wars

After several failed attempts, Apple's latest salvo in the smartphone patent wars seems to have hit home. On August 24, after less than 24 hours of deliberation, a California jury decided that Samsung had, in fact, infringed on six Apple patents, to the tune of just over $1 billion in damages -- one of the largest patent infringement awards ever. Post-decision statements from the two companies were predictably extreme: Apple applauded the verdict as a validation of values, characterizing it a...

Driving Disruptive Innovation: Problem Finding and Strategy Setting in an Uncertain World

Driving innovation-particularly disruptive innovation-demands that companies possess a deep understanding of the nonobvious problems that will need to be solved in the future. Gaining this understanding requires that companies scan their external environment, identify trends, and then envision future problem states from the perspective of end users or customers. Such an outside-in view is difficult for successful incumbent firms that already possess a dominant logic about their markets and co...

Floating On Air

Innovation Adventures Beyond the Core

This paper discusses lessons that Avery Dennison has learned in its efforts to grow and innovate beyond its core businesses. The paper looks at innovation through five lenses: target selection, organization, people, systems, and culture. The sum of the insights from these areas does not add up to a magic formula for innovation, but it is hoped that the lessons will prove of value to others seeking to move beyond the core.

Meeting Tomorrow's Energy Demand Through Innovation and Collaboration

Energy in all its forms is required on a massive scale to drive economic progress and improve standards of living. However, the discovery, development, and deployment of energy technologies requires significant investment of time and money, and investment decisions must be made in a rapidly evolving, challenging market. Meeting the energy demands of the future will require disciplined and efficient research and development processes. ExxonMobil has developed a flexible but disciplined approac...

Motivating Innovation

Over the past decade or so, a thriving trade has sprung up in innovation studies. Consultants and academics have invested hours in collecting case data and poring over performance indicators to dissect the practices and process behind outstanding innovators. All the studies and reports do, however, illuminate two central elements: culture and talent. Whatever else you do, whether your innovation process is centralized or dispersed, rigorously structured or freewheeling, you have to find the r...

News Briefs

Reflections On Building a Global Technology Platform

Being able to leverage hard-earned intellectual capital and equipment across more than one product or product generation is often critical in sustaining competitive business propositions. It's easy to look back on any career and recall the decisions that went right, the plans that worked out, and the hard work that led to professional success. But then there is the startling and humbling reality: The most crucial forks in the road, the decision points that dramatically changed the course of t...

Research-On-Research Reports

"Research on research" is just what it sounds like: an examination of the current research on a given topic with an eye toward identifying best practices for the effective management of research and development. The Research-on-Research (ROR) Committee is IRI's "laboratory for innovation management." The ROR committee supports a slate of working groups, each focused on a particular area of concern identified by members. Each working group brings together industry leaders in research, technolo...

Reverse Innovation: An Interview with Vijay Govindarajan

In an interview, Vijay Govindarajan, currently the Earl C. Daum 1924 Professor of International Business and the founding director of the Center for Global Leadership at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College, talked about the power of reverse innovation and the challenges of getting it right. Govindarajan said that reverse innovation is not about hitting low price points; it is about creating fundamentally different products to meet the needs of people in these markets. People at t...

Science Still Not a 'Girl Thing' in Europe

Maaire Geoghegan-Quinn, European Research, Innovation and Science Commissioner says that the low number of women pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) continues to raise concerns in Europe, where more researchers than ever are needed to fill the innovation pipeline and keep the economy purring. The under representation of women in a sector so vital to their economy does not make sense at a time when Europe is fighting for more growth and jobs, This is not to sa...

Serial Innovators: How Individuals Create and Deliver Breakthrough Innovations in Mature Firms

For over 25 years, research on innovation has taken the perspective that new product development can be managed like any other (complex) process. In sharp contrast to this process view, we reframe the problem by exploring a people perspective on innovation, focusing on the cutting-edge serial innovators who repeatedly create and deliver breakthrough innovations in large, mature organizations. These employees are powerhouses who solve customer problems and contribute substantially to their fir...

Taking the Broad View: John Mcdonald

John McDonald, VP and CTO, Chevron, began to work in the oil industry, in geophysics, back in 1975. The thing that appealed to him most about the energy business was that it was a global business and he would get to see the world. His first assignment was on a seismic research vessel off the east coast of Newfoundland in the Labrador Sea. He started with a science background, and then he learned how you run businesses. He learned how you make a profit and how technology can benefit the busine...

The 2012 Iri Achievement Award

The 2012 Achievement Award was presented to John J. Curro in recognition of his demonstrated capability in developing transformative technologies for successful business propositions and for inspiring future technologists around the world. John Curro joined Procter & Gamble as a staff scientist in the engineering development division in 1982, the same year he earned his doctoral degree in materials science from the University of Cincinnati. Over the years, he led a series of breakthrough ...

The 2012 Iri Medal

The 2012 IRI Medal was presented to F. Emil Jacobs for setting bold, new strategic directions in petroleum and petrochemical R&D; for aggressively pursuing game-changing opportunities in energy R&D; and for tirelessly supporting STEM education and the development of future technical leaders. F. Emil Jacobs joined Exxon Research and Engineering in 1978 at the company's development laboratory in Baytown, TX. He held various technical positions in synthetic fuels and petroleum processing...

The Innovation Master Plan: The Ceo's Guide to Innovation, Volume 2

The Innovation Master Plan: The CEO's Guide to Innovation, by Langdon Morris, is reviewed.

The Progress Principle: Using Small Wins to Ignite Joy, Engagement, and Creativity at Work

The Progress Principle: Using Small Wins to Ignite Joy, Engagement, and Creativity at Work, by Teresa M. Amabile and Steven J. Kramer, is reviewed.

The State of Sustainability

For the past several years, surveys asking executives about their organizations' sustainability practices and values revealed a focus on brand reputation and outward appearance. Respondents to these surveys frequently commented that implementing sustainability in a holistic way was easier said than done, and often the costs and benefits associated with implementing green initiatives were unclear. But something has apparently changed. In a late-2011 McKinsey survey, 33% of respondents indicate...