Rendez

Business process modeling, work product methods, kaizen, six sigma, lean sigma.

Moving from regional orientation to global process networks should come with a change in orientation from push to pull.

• John Hagel III and John Seely Brown, “From Push to Pull: The Next Frontier of Innovation”, McKinsey Quarterly, 2005, Number 3. (See the article at McKinsey Quarterly).
  • Excerpt: ... in “push” systems generally—the core assumptions are that companies and other institutions can anticipate demand and that mobilizing scarce resources in previously specified ways is the most efficient and reliable way to meet it. But the efficiency of push systems comes at a stiff price, for they require companies to specify, monitor, and enforce detailed activities and tasks. [....] This new approach might be called the “pull” system of resource mobilization. Its early elements began to emerge from Toyota Motor’s lean-manufacturing system in the 1950s, when the company began pulling resources into the assembly line as needed rather than allowing inventories to pile up during production. But more versatile and far-reaching pull systems—which extend beyond production and, indeed, beyond the enterprise itself....

Although some think about innovation as a local phenomenon that gets diffused globally, it’s also possible to reframe it as global.

• Jose Santos, Yves Doz, Peter Williamson. “Is Your Innovation Process Global?”, MIT Sloan Management Review. Summer 2004. Vol. 45, Iss. 4; p. 31
  • Complexity of (market knowledge, technological knowledge)
  • Excerpt: some companies have managed to assemble an integrated “innovation chain” that is truly global, allowing them to outflank competitors that innovate using knowledge in a single cluster. They have been able to implement a process for innovating that transcends local clusters and national boundaries, becoming what we dub “metanational innovators” This strategy of utilizing localized pockets of technology, market intelligence and capabilities has provided a powerful new source of competitive advantage: more, higher-value innovation at lower cost. It is the logical next step beyond augmenting in-house R&D with external ideas in what has been called the “era of open innovation.”

Operating to scale requires developing processes that are mature. It’s not enough to do it once, it must be repeatable. There are ways to measure and track this.

• Thomas H. Davenport, “The Coming Commoditization of Processes”, Harvard Business Review, June 2005. (See the article at HBR)
  • Abstract: A broad set of process standards will soon make it easy to determine whether a business capability can be improved by outsourcing it. Such standards will also help businesses compare service providers and evaluate the costs vs. the benefits of outsourcing. Eventually these costs and benefits will be so visible to buyers that outsourced processes will become a commodity, and prices will drop significantly. The low costs and low risk of outsourcing will accelerate the flow of jobs offshore, force companies to reassess their strategies, and change the basis of competition. The speed with which some businesses have already adopted process standards suggests that many previously unscrutinized areas are ripe for change.

Innovation is not just a function in research. Innovation can happen in many places in a business, in many ways.

• Mohanbir Sawhney, Robert C. Wolcott, and Inigo Arroniz “The 12 Different Ways for Companies to Innovate”, MIT Sloan Management Review, Spring 2006. Vol. 47, Iss. 3; p. 75. (See at MIT Sloan Management Review).
  • Customer, processes, presence, offerings
  • Abstract: Surprisingly, traditional visions of innovation — a “myopic” focus on R&D, for example — can lead to systematic erosion in competitive position. This article draws on case studies to show that it is, in fact, possible to innovate across any of 12 different dimensions in order to achieve competitive advantage.

These references are suggested as part of the Stadia 2006 International Service Business Management Sessions. Please respond with comments to suggest additional readings or express opinions on those above.