Search

Innovation management is the discipline that allows an organization to mindfully respond to the need to continuously develop new products and services, while also creating the infrastructure within the organization that will facilitate smoother navigation of unanticipated developments with which the organization must contend. For example, an automobile manufacturer would rely on its innovation managers to supervise the ongoing search for new ways to improve the company's cars and make them more attractive to consumers, and they would also look to this group if there were a sudden shift in the regulatory environment.

Earl Tupper developed his innovative plastic products in 1942, but it was not until 1946 that his products were introduced to market. The plastic storage containers and legendary airtight seals provided benefits that traditional food containers did not offer. They kept food fresher, cut down on spills, and were less likely to break than traditional glass and crockery containers. However, the concept was new, and sales lagged in retail stores.

This article will focus on managing the process of innovation. The article will provide an overview of the main types of innovation found in organizations, including incremental and breakthrough innovation, the trajectory of innovation, barriers to innovation, and the history of private and public sector innovation. This overview will serve as a foundation for discussion of managing the innovation process. The issues associated with managing breakthrough innovation will be addressed. A case study of Boeing's formalized innovation program will be in included. The case study will provide an example of how a company can effectively manage the innovation process on an extremely large scale and the ways in which successful innovation creates competitive advantage in the marketplace.

Volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA) is a concept used in modern businesses, governments, and many other organizations. The VUCA model developed in the 1990s as a result of the great global changes occurring after the Cold War, in which sudden shifts in cultural values, technology, and many other factors presented strategists with an array of new uncertainties and challenges.

Feature films shot in wider aspect ratios than those of standard films. With television sets in more than one million American homes by 1948, the film industry sensed that it must find new ways to draw paying audiences away from the free medium of television. Wide-screen movies offered an alternative to conventional films, presenting audiences an impressive viewing experience. The format was often employed for spectacles such as war films, historical epics, musicals, and science-fiction films. Wide-screen formats had dramatic names such as Superscope, CinemaScope, and VistaVision that were often showcased in the opening credits. Alfred Hitchcock’s grand-scale features such as North by Northwest (1959) and To Catch a Thief (1955) capitalized on wide-screen photography, as did intimate dramas such as Rebel Without a Cause (1955) and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958).

Henry Ford and Charles Lindbergh were both American heroes, in their way. And both were fairly controversial figures. Ford launched the Ford Motor Company, with several partners, in 1903. In 1908 he introduced the Model T, a car that proved durable and efficient and highly successful in the auto market. In order to keep up with demand, Ford developed new mass production methods, including the moving assembly line. He bought out his partners in 1919, introduced the Lincoln luxury line of automobiles in 1922, and by 1923 was producing more than half of all US vehicles. Such heights could not be sustained, however, as competitor General Motors began to make inroads into the market. In 1926, facing dwindling sales, Ford suspended production of the Model T. The next year he brought out the Model A, to great success. Ford strove to treat his workers well, on the premise that successful workers (and their families) become car owners and therefore likely consumers of Ford products. He observed an eight-hour workday and paid his employees well above the average. By and large, Ford exerted a positive influence on American life. On the other hand, he kept track of employee conduct outside the plant, strenuously opposed labor unions, blamed greedy financiers for the creation of wars, and was an anti-Semite and sympathizer of Nazism. In what follows, we present a selection from his 1922 memoir, My Life and Work.

Innovation leadership is a relatively new concept in the study of leadership. Its purpose is to create an organizational environment that is conducive to innovation, and the method it uses to achieve this goal is to combine elements of various leadership styles into a coordinated approach that encourages the creative development of new ideas, experimentation with and evaluation of those ideas, and implementation of the ideas where appropriate. Innovation leadership is a style that supports members of an organization in taking the risks necessary to explore novel approaches and to adapt them to practical applications.