ALFACER INNOVATION: DIFFERENTIATE INTERNATIONALLY. IDEA IMPLEMENTATION RATES IN IDEA MANAGEMENT. MULTIGENDER TEAMS INNOVATE BETTER. COMPANY IS LIKE R&D UNIT. Statistics Unique Visitors: Total Unique Visitors: Outgoing: Total Outgoing: 0 0 1 1175

Articles from ALFACER

don't be afraid to innovate! 2008-03-17 04:50:00 ECONOMIC SLOW DOWN I was living in Bangkok in 1997 when the Thai Baht collapsed, wrecking havoc upon the local economy and sending other South-East Asian economies into free fall. At the time, I was running a web and multimedia production company - which had been a pioneer in the field. Although we were a well established company - business slowed dramatically in the months following the ...

The Value of Employees Playing On-Line 2008-03-16 12:18:00 WEB: KILL PRODUCTIVITY OR INSPIRATION A lot has been written about the web being a productivity killer. In 2005, research by Websense indicated that US businesses were losing US$178 billion annually - or about $5,000 per employee - to time wasted by employees using the web for personal activities while at work. Let us put aside for a moment the fact that Websense is web content filtering ...

YOUR EMPLOYEES THOUGHT UP YOUR COMPETITORS' INNOVATIONS FIRST 2008-03-16 07:19:00 Consider this: for every innovation your competitor successfully launches, at least one employee in your firm almost certainly had had a similar idea. And, if your firm had recognised, captured and implemented that idea first, it would be your firm reaping the profits of the innovation. Think about it. You are a creative thinker. Doubtless, over the years you have had numerous creative ideas ...

INNOVATION INITIATIVE IN ORDER 2008-03-16 01:43:00 If you were to decide to launch a career in surgery, you would not start off by jumping into an operating theatre and performing open heart surgery. Likewise, if you are launching an innovation initiative in your firm, you should not start off by setting up an idea management tool and immediately trying to capture ideas. Because just as the consequences of the first scenario would likely result ...

*Output-Related Innovation Metrics* 2008-03-15 13:46:00 Measuring The Black Box * *Number of new products or services launched. *Clearly, a well oiled innovation machine should produce tangible output. Tracking the number of outputs makes sure the engine is running appropriately. *Percent of revenues in core categories from new products. *As mentioned above, this metric in isolation can unintentionally encourage needless line extensions. But coupled ...

*How to design innovation metrics* 2008-03-15 03:46:00 *Winning Metrics* Organizations like the Boston Consulting Group suggest using a balanced mix of metrics to assess a company’s innovation-related activities. We agree. The metrics described below come in three categories: input focused metrics, process-focused metrics and output-focused metrics. Metrics are rarely one-size-fits-all. The best set of measures varies considerably depending on ...

*How to implement innovation metrics* 2008-03-14 03:29:00 * More than two decades ago,* *management* *guru Tom* *Peters penned an editorial titled* *“What Gets Measured Gets* *Done.� Indeed, one of the findings* *from the research that Peters* *summarized in the 1982 business* *classic /In Search of Excellence /is* *that excellent firms use measurements* *and metrics to make sure* *people spend time on the things* *that really matter.* * The theory ...

HOW TO Implement INNOVATION metrics 2008-03-13 06:27:00 *From Theory to Practice** * Implementing innovation metrics is no easy feat. The following steps can ease the process. *1. Focus, focus, focus. *In /Animal Farm/, George Orwell wrote, “All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.� The same is true of innovation metrics. All the metrics described above matter, but some matter more. Furthermore, what matters depends sharply ...

Brain Waves Innovation Strategy 2008-03-12 10:42:00 Dynamic Horizons has been working with South East Water, which provides drinking water and sewerage services to customers spread over over 3,640 square kilometres, since late 2004 to develop the successful Brain Waves innovation program. Brain Waves is about growing South East Water´s culture to support innovation in all forms - from operational to service to business model innovation. It is also ...

INNOVATION: DIFFERENTIATE INTERNATIONALLY 2008-03-11 12:57:00 David is Chairman of The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM - www.cim.co.uk) UK South East Region. INNOVATION - THE INTERNATIONAL DIFFERENTIATOR The search for strategic competitive advantage is a major driver for both governments and businesses in the delivery of economic change, differentiation and delivery of increasing value. In these contexts, innovation is as much a cultural ...

IDEA IMPLEMENTATION RATES IN IDEA MANAGEMENT 2008-03-10 12:17:00 An ideas campaign starts with a focused innovation challenge, such as "In what ways might we improve the efficiency of our fresh produce deliveries" or "How might we encourage more young people to shop in our outlets?" or "How might we use less energy?" Then you have a period of idea generation followed by an evaluation phase in which ideas are sent to experts for peer review in order to ...

MULTIGENDER TEAMS INNOVATE BETTER 2008-03-10 03:18:00 Research published by the Lehman Brothers Centre for Women at London Business School last month found that teams comprising an equal mix of men and women are best when it comes to innovation. Of course it is no secret to innovation specialists that mixed teams generate the most creative results. But most specialists have looked more at a mixture of backgrounds, specialisations and expertise ...

COMPANY IS LIKE R&D UNIT 2008-03-09 03:11:00 Innovation has traditionally been the preserve of research and development (R&D) units in most companies -- particularly manufacturing and engineering firms. And that makes sense. After all, R&D units are responsible for introducing innovations that keep their products ahead of the competition. Now that innovation has become a sexy business concept and is being introduced across entire ...

Why the right brain rules 2008-03-08 04:16:00 "A Whole New Mind" is about the increasing demand for right-brain skills-synthesis, design, storytelling-over left-brain skills such as performance of sequential, logical tasks. Which are you, a righty or a lefty? For those who haven't read the book, explain a bit about the impact of abundance and Asia and automation, and why they are making right-brain functions more ...

Are Diet Foods the Real Thing? 2008-03-07 23:58:00 Top News Diet Coke turns 25. The world hasn't been the same since. But despite the hype, most consumers still want the calories The debut of Diet Coke 25 years ago was a splash heard around the world. A troupe of Rockettes pranced before a giant soda can on stage at New York's Radio City Music Hall in front of 6,000 people. Little did the company realize, however, the important part it ...