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  • Are you a risk taker?

    Do you think of yourself as a risk-taker? Risk-taking behavior is associated with innovators, entrepreneurs, and intrapreneurs. Elke Weber, a professor of international business at Columbia University and a leading researcher on risk, says, that understanding the roots of risk-taking can guide people in making better decisions. (See, " What Makes a Risk Take r" Wall Street Journal, May 22, 2013). The Wall Street Journal reports, "Most people overestimate the probability of something going wrong" when they venture into unfamiliar turf, says Margie Warrell, a Melbourne, Australia-based authority on risk-taking who has coached many U.S. executives and employers. "They also overestimate the consequences of things going badly," says Ms. Warrell, author of "Stop Playing Safe." With experience, they become more realistic, and learn they can handle the consequences of failure. "The more often we step out of our comfort zone, the more we build our tolerance for risk-taking," she says. As depicted in the graphic below, the five areas where people take gambles are health and safety, ethical, social, recreational, and financial. Answer the questions on the graphic below. When do you take chances? Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324102604578497133593217870.html Take the attached risk assessment. What are your biggest risk areas?

  • Bill Gates on Steve Jobs

    In this 60 Minutes interview, Charlie Rose asks Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, about his competitor, the late Steve Jobs, founder of Apple. If you aren't familiar with these entrepreneurs, browse the Triumph of the Nerds , a history of the personal computer and the people who helped shaped it. How important is a computer to you? How do you use a computer? How important is the computer to business? Which jobs don't use a computer? Explain.

  • Twitter CEO Costolo's Commencement Speech

    "When I was your age we didn't have the Internet in our pants," Twitter CEO Richard Costolo joked during his speech at the University of Michigan commencement. "We didn't even have the Internet not in our pants - that's how bad it was." When talking about innovation and Twitter's impact on the world, he said, "Not only can you not plan the impact you're going to have, you often won't recognize it even while you're having it." What has been Twitter's impact on the world? What do managers need to know about Twitter?

  • Product of the Year Winners

    Managers want their consumer products to be chosen " Product of the Year ," because winning the contest can result in increased sales. Winners are revealed at an awards ceremony in New York City. The winning products get to use the honorary red "Product of the Year" seal on packaging, advertising, and in-store displays. The process starts with a jury of industry leaders and journalists choosing products that show innovation in function, design, packaging, or ingredients. (See attached file.) Next, 50,000 shoppers choose the winners. Most Innovative Consumer Packaged Goods of 2012 PET TREATS - Milk-Bone® Mini's Dog Treats - Del Monte Foods PET HEALTH - Better Than® Bones Plus Dental - Ainsworth Pet Nutrition LAUNDRY - Wisk® Deep Clean TM Original, The Sun Products Corporation PERSONAL HYGIENE - Softsoap® Bar Soap Coconut Scrub - Colgate-Palmolive Company ORAL CARE - LISTERINE® TOTAL CARE ZERO - Johnson & Johnson, Inc. PROFESSIONAL ORAL CARE - Zoom NiteWhite & DayWhite - Philips Oral Healthcare WHITENING - Colgate® Optic White - Colgate-Palmolive Company BEAUTY CARE - Clairol® Nice 'n Easy Color Blend Foam - Procter & Gamble BABY CARE - HUGGIES® Little Movers Slip-on Diapers - Kimberly-Clark Corporation BEVERAGE - Sierra Mist® Natural TM - PepsiCo Inc. CANDY - SNICKERS® Peanut Butter Squared - Mars Chocolate North America SNACKS - Orville Redenbacher's® Gourmet® Popping Corn - ConAgra Foods, Inc. FROZEN FOOD - Healthy Choice® Top Chef Café Steamers - ConAgra Foods, Inc. SPECIALTY FOODS - New York Brand® Garlic Knots - T. Marzetti Company AIR CARE - Air Wick® Flip n' Fresh TM - Reckitt Benckiser Group TODDLER MEALTIME - mOmma® Straw Cup with Dual Handles - Lansinoh Laboratories, Inc. TODDLER ORAL CARE - Aquafresh® Training Toothpaste - GlaxoSmithKline PAINT - Valspar® Spray Paint - The Valspar Corporation HOUSEHOLD CLEANING - Zero Odor® Eliminator - Zero Odor, LLC INSECT REPELLENT - OFF!® Deep Woods® Dry Insect Repellent - S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc. SKIN TREATMENT - RetinoSyn-45 - Beauty Bioscience CREAMER - Coffee-mate® Natural Bliss® - Nestle USA, Inc Colleen Kelly , Managing Director of Product of the Year USA, said, “In today’s technology-driven economy, companies have the capability to listen to their customers and develop innovations tailored to what they need. The products we honor each year prove to be not only cutting-edge, but make consumers’ lives easier.” How are managers listening to conusmers?
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  • Lynsi Torres, In-N-Out Burger Owner, is Youngest Female Billionaire

    America's youngest female billionnaire is Lisa Torres, heir to In-N-Out Burger . In this video, Sheila Dharmarajan reports on In-N-Out Burger restaurant's 30-year-old owner Lynsi Torres and the possibility she will maintain ownership after gaining full control of the franchise in five years. (Source: Bloomberg) Dharmarajan says there isn't a picture of Torres, but the Huffington Po st lists a picture of her onlline. Harry and Esther Snyder founded In-N-Out Burger in 1948 as a single drive-through hamburger stand in Balwin Park, California. They are the grandparents of Torres. She doesn't have a college degree or formal training in management, but she is the chain's owner and president. Today, In-N-Out Burger is worth over a billion dollars, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index .. Bloomberg explains the business. It doesn't franchise to outsiders so that it can maintain quality control. The menu is simple. "Butchers carve fresh beef chuck delivered daily to the company’s distribution facility in Baldwin Park, where hamburger patties leave for restaurants on 18-wheeled refrigerated trucks outfitted with over-sized tires so the In-N-Out logo can be better seen on the highway. The company only expands as far as its trucks can travel in a day, either from the Baldwin Park complex or a newer facility in Dallas, the only two places where the company makes hamburger patties." In-N-Out Burgers consistently rate as one of the best burgers. Do some more research on the company. What innovations and/or management decisions have led to its cult-like following?

  • Congratulations to the 2012 Baldrige Award Recipients

    The 2012 Baldrige Award recipients-listed with their category-are: Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control , Grand Prairie, Texas (manufacturing) MESA Products Inc. , Tulsa, Okla. (small business) North Mississippi Health Services , Tupelo, Miss. (health care) City of Irving , Irving, Texas (nonprofit) The nation's highest award for innovation and performance excellence is the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award . It is a presidential honor, established by Congress in 1987 "to promote quality awareness, to recognize quality and business achievements of U.S. organizations, and to publicize and share these organizations' successful performance strategies." Past winners include Motorola, Xerox, and FedEx. The seven key areas of the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence are: leadership; strategic planning; customer focus; measurement, analysis, and knowledge management; workforce focus; operations focus; and results. "The Criteria are designed to help organizations improve their performance by focusing on two goals: delivering ever-improving value to customers and improving the organization's overall performance." Organizations submit an application detailing their achievements and improvements in those key areas. Many U.S. organizations have improved since the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence were introduced. Baldrige Performance Excellence Program Strategy Map is attached. You can give feedback on the form at http://patapsco.nist.gov/BNQP_Feedback/SubmitFeedback.cfm .

  • Visionary Edwin Land

    Book trailer for INSTANT: THE STORY OF POLAROID by Christopher Bonanos from Princeton Architectural Press on Vimeo . Edward Land was a visionary innovator. He invented the instant camera and founded Polaroid. Instant: The Story of Polaroid by Christopher Bonanos, includes this 1970 quote from Land. "We are still a long way from the...camera that would be, oh, like the telephone: something that you use all day long...a camera which you would use not on the occasion of parties only, or of trips only, or when your grandchildren came to see you, but a camera that you would use as often as your pencil or your eyeglasses." Land's 1970 vision is today's smartphone. "Don't do anything anyone else can do." How can this advice from Land help today's innovators?
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  • The Laws of Subtraction

    Matthew E. May is the author of The Laws of Subtraction : 6 Simple Rules for Winning in the Age of Excess Everything . In the book, he applies Occam's razor to innovation; the simplest answer is often the best. He encourages, "wage war on more." Based upon his study of businesses, May offers 6 simple rules: What isn't there can often trump what is. The simplest rules create the most effective experience. Limiting information engages the imagination. Creativity thrives under intelligent constraints. Break is the most important part of breakthrough. Doing something isn't always better than doing nothing. " Subtraction is defined simply as the art of removing anything excessive, confusing, wasteful, unnatural, hazardous, hard to use, or ugly . . . or the discipline to refrain from adding it in the first place." What do you need to subtract?
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  • Ford Uses Social Media to Control Costs

    Automobile companies were losing billions of dollars six years ago. They had too many plants, too many workers, and union contracts forced them to pay workers even when the plants were shut down. So, factories were kept running to cover expenses, even though cars weren't selling. Too many cars and trucks were built that had to be sold at deep discounts. Today, carmakers are doing everything they can to control costs. One example is Ford Social , Ford's social media site used to share information. Jim Farley, group Vice President of global marketing, sales and service for Ford Motor Company told the attendees at the Association of National Advertisers' Masters of Marketing conference, "We test it, and if it works, we scale it right away. It's allowed us to innovate where others have gone on autopilot. It's not a very fancy message." Consumers opt-in at Ford Social. For example, they could opt-in to see information about the Ford Fiesta about a year before it launched. Potential buyers could comment on the car and make requests. They told Ford that they liked the European colors better and wanted a cup-holder for Red Bull. Ford loaned 100 of the new cars for six months to social media content creators, such as bloggers. Farley reports, "Ford didn't launch the car; our Fiesta agents did. Auto writers interviewed these agents, not executives, and it produced 28 million views. We had 60% nameplate awareness before we ran one traditional ad, and we had spent nothing. That showed me the power of social media." Ford is also very active on other social media sites, such as Twitter and Facebook. Has Ford found the right balance between spending on advertising balanced with interesting social media posts? What makes customers, as well as potential customers, return to Ford's social space day after day? Source for quotes: Sarah Mahoney, "Ford Uses Social To Rewrite Launch Rules" http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/185069/ford-uses-social-to-rewrite-launch-rules.html#ixzz29O87bLgh

  • Innovation at Coca-Cola

    Coca-Cola Freestyle® is a new fountain dispensing machine that integrates the latest technologies to dispense more than 100 beverage choices from which the customer can create their own customized beverages. The machine has a touch screen. Managers get a web based consumption report so that they can manage inventory and order efficiently. Coca-Cola Freestyle® won the National Restaurant Association 2011 Kitchen Innovation Award and the Edison Innovation 2011 Award. It has had a positive impact for businesses using it. Profits have increased because customers are buying more drinks. Watch the National Restaurant Association trade show video and the Coca-Cola Freestyle® video . Did you know that consumers needed more variety in their drink choices? Where else could these machines be placed? What drink would you choose?
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  • Warren Buffett says “Improve your communication skills”

    Warren Buffett is the head of a company he built called Berkshire Hathaway . The company, worth over $200 billion, is a collection of many companies that Buffett bought in their entirety, such as Geico and BNSF railroad, as well as those in which he owns stock, such as Coca-Cola and IBM. He is one of the richest men in the world, but he wasn't born rich. In this video, Buffett offers advice on gaining communication skills. He says, "If you improve your communication skills, I guarantee you that you will earn fifty percent more money over your lifetime." How can you increase your writing and speaking skills?

  • Five Guys CEO Shares Lessons Learned

    In this video, Five Guys CEO Jerry Murrell talks about how the company grew from a single Arlington, Virginia, hamburger restaurant to more than 1,000 stores nationwide after 25 years of business. Five Guys is in the fast-casual segment in the restaurant industry. Five Guys offers freshly prepared hamburgers and fries in an environment with somewhat upscale décor and slightly elevated price points. They don't spend money on advertising. They pay their employees above minimum wage and give them bonuses. Murrell says , "Find something you love to do and just do it. Make sure your hearts in it. You can't be everything to everybody. You got to be what you are. That's all you can do." What lesson did you take away from Jerry Murrell's experience with Five Guys?
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  • Dream for Success

    Deirdre Barrett, Harvard researcher, studies how we can use our dreams to solve our problems. Her subjects "incubate" their brains to solve problems during sleep. The process is listed below. Briefly write the problem and put it by your bed. Review the problem just before you go to sleep. Once in bed, visualize the problem as concrete as possible. As you fall asleep, tell yourself you want to dream about your problem. Keep a pen and paper and maybe a flashlight by your bed. Picture yourself dreaming about the problem, waking up, and writing down your dream. Arrange any objects or pictures that relate to your problem nearby. When you awake, lie quietly before getting up. Try to remember your dream, and write it down. Do you pay attention to your dreaming life? Have you ever dreamed about a problem and solved it when you awoke? The next time you have a problem, use your dreams to help you solve it.
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  • McDonald’s Innovation Center

    McDonald's, America's largest food services company, is a global company. To keep ahead of the competition, McDonald's shares and refines best practices from all areas of the world at its Innovation Center. Recently, the company shared some of their new products, menu strategies, and technology platforms with security analysts touring the center . Several years ago Mike Cramer of Analytics Magazine reported that the Innovation Center is housed in a warehouse in Chicago, as seen in the picture below. Laurie Gilbert, manager of Innovation Operations, told Cramer, "We call this the Alpha Phase. In this phase, we rapidly prototype the design and development of solutions applying a mindset of 'Fail Fast, Fail Forward'." The breadth of design and testing includes: The impact of new menu offerings on operational performance Customer experience design inclusive of sight, sound, smell, taste and touch Employee job design for optimal performance with the least amount of cognitive load and stress Equipment design and layout Information systems design and user interfaces Service systems design and stress testing Now, self-ordering kiosks, mobile ordering and digital menu boards are being tested at some locations. This would result in managers receiving real-time ordering data. With this knowledge, staff could be scheduled more efficiently. In what other ways could receiving real-time ordering data help managers?
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  • Scoring Business Model Attractiveness

    Rita McGrath , a Professor of strategy at Columbia Business School , has developed a 10-step chart to assess the level of attractiveness for a company's business model, which is the way a company makes money. Of course, innovation is important to the company's growth and its ability to remain in business. In general, business models with exit barriers, for which there are switching costs and which are relationship-oriented, tend to be more attractive than those with the opposite conditions. A score below 40 would mean that the company is more vulnerable and its business model is less attractive. The business model might lack customer loyalty and/or be easy for competitors to imitate. Identify a company and use Table 2 to assess the attractiveness of its business model. What is the score? Briefly explain why the score reflects your best guess of where the model falls.
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