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the wedding of science and business

maz — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 19:48:55 +0000

Harvard Professor Gary Pisano is currently working on a paper about “The Evolution of Science-Based Business: Innovating How We Innovate“.
The odd couple science and business works side by side in the process of economic growth but a real cooperation is quite infrequent. One example are corporate industrial laboratories but this form of organized science with the aim to maximize firm profits is decreasing. At the same time, we have seen the emergence of a new class of entrepreneurial firms that are deeply immersed in science in sectors like biotech, nanotech, and more recently energy.

But there is still a large gap between the profession of a manager and a scientist. So let’s follow Pisano’s studies about the required organizational innovation.

To my mind a profitable kind of this team play could look like the following process:
the scientist finds an opportunity, the manager and the scientist collaborate on the idea and the manager translates the innovation concept into a business model.

benefit from “downturn needs”

maz — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 20:13:10 +0000

I have high hopes tempered with great caution. The entrepreneurs who can capture the limited resources have the potential to do well. Shortage and adversity are powerful stimuli for focusing the mind.

credit: Ricky Schmidt

I think it is critical to systematically identify what I would call “downturn needs.” There are many different kinds of such needs. First, there are needs that are created by the substitution effects I spoke of earlier. Second, there are needs that emerge because of the availability of excessive time or the unavailability of productive employment. These are by way of necessities. In addition, there is also a need for affordable luxuries. After all, just because consumers are cutting back doesn’t mean that they do not still enjoy products that give them pleasure and entertainment—or even distraction from the difficult times around them. The third category of needs is a more obvious one: products that deliver value for the money spent on them. When consumer budgets are tight, such products will have plenty of appeal.
Bhaskar Chakravorti

I really recommend to read the whole interview – it introduces a refreshing pragmatical approach to what people willingly call “times like this”.

The “green hitlist”

maz — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 19:20:23 +0000

Since 2003 the research firm Clean Edge is publishing an annual report on the “Clean Energy Trends”. Here are some key figures about biofuels, wind power, solar photovoltaics and fuel cells from this years issue:

Credit: Clean Edge

And what are the trends for 2008 (summed up by Joel Makower)?

electric cars (how all of the action seems to be from smaller players, not the major automotive companies)
sustainable cities (the emergence of new, fossil-fuel, carbon-neutral cities – in the Middle East, of all places)
wind (how the U.S. market is being driven by foreign companies)
geothermal energy (it is experiencing a global renaissance, particularly as large, utility-scale projects)
shipping (the new push to create cleaner oceangoing transport, including putting sails on freighters)

Download the full report.

The last item (“putting sails on freighters”) is one that I’m monitoring for some time (maybe you remember the post at cilinc!?). Perhaps it’s the sailor in me who encourages this but apart from that the “back to the roots”-idea is fascinating for me.

What is innovation for you?

maz — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 17:51:22 +0000

Here you find the answer of Bjarne Stroustrup, the father of C++:
I basically agree with Edison: â€œ1% inspiration and 99% perspirationâ€. There are few great ideas, and many good ones. Even the great ones require much work to validate them and to make them into useful tools for someone. I think he called it â€œinventionâ€, though, but the main point is that you need a good idea (or several) carefully refined and embodied in some form of gadget, tool, or system to make a real innovation. An idea by itself isnâ€™t much. Think how far the idea of â€œatomsâ€ have come since the early Greeks. Think how far computing has come since Turingâ€™s paper. And those were two of the most revolutionary ideas in history â€“ the 99% perspiration is probably an underestimate.
(The whole interview you can read at the Addison-Wesely-Blog.)

Credit: themodulator.org

innovation book of the year

maz — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 18:12:13 +0000

The 800-CEO-READ Blog awarded the Business Book of the Year in the category “Innovation/Creativity”:

Credit: amazon.com

Group Genius, The Creative Power of Collaboration, by Keith Sawyer

At amazon.com you’ve the chance to read at least the first pages of the excerpt online.
“Collaboration drives creativity because innovation always emerges from a series of sparks – never a single flash of insight.”

I hope I’ll find some time to read more than just this short abtract. Please keep me updated if you’ve read it – thanks!