Invention versus Innovation

As part of our continuing quest to expand the focus of discussion from invention to innovation, JSB and I have contributed an article on "Funding Invention Vs. Managing Innovation" on Business Week's web site. Check it out.

Comments

[Will]

When are we going to learn that mass production did NOT achieve economies of scale. Many have shown that size most often leads to waste. Lots of waste.

Much Asian innovation has focused on reducing that waste. The results speak for themselves, e.g., Toyota number two and soon to be number one in the global auto industry.

[viinnie mirchandani]

In your article you point to the Chinese being innovative in working around shortages and such. Is that not an efficiency play more than an innovation?

I keep asking Indian offshore vendors how they are innovating and most of them say their global delivery model. That was innovation 5 years ago, not any more...

I would say some of the neatest process innovation is happening right here. When I see with companies are doing with telemetry to rethink logsitics, mobility to rethink CRM, results based on-line advertising, collabaration between communities using RSS etc...there is quite a bit of innovation going on...I agree with you big R&D does not always result in innovation, but there is a lot of applied innovation going on as I write on this blog...

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