A new book explodes many a management myth and cites innovation as the key to corporate success.
"The tragedy in India is that in large companies, there is no innovation. This can become a big challenge in the near future," says D.V.R. Seshadri, author of "Innovation Management - Strategies, Concepts and Tools for Growth and Profit". The co-author is Israeli Shlomo Maital.
"The book is an attempt to trigger dialogue and bring in innovation as a subject in academic institutions. (However) innovation by itself cannot bring success. The right process needs to go with it," Seshadri, an advisor to technology companies, told IANS here.
The 490-page book chronicles innovations the world over, without which big business could not have thrived. The publishers are Response Books, a division of Sage Publications (Rs.695).
"In an organisation setting, we bring a lot of baggage," said the management guru who specialises in strategy formulation and implementation.
From Ford's assembly line to the ubiquitous yellow post-it notes, the book looks at Picasso's "sustained" work, process innovations like Linux, Bill Stumpf and his Aeron chair and the Patriot anti-aircraft and anti-missile system that decided the result of the 1991 Gulf war.
The book also attempts to teach management students how to encourage and handle innovation. With case studies, the authors set the framework for a rigid and well thought-out strategy to "manage" innovation.
{{/usCountry}}The book also attempts to teach management students how to encourage and handle innovation. With case studies, the authors set the framework for a rigid and well thought-out strategy to "manage" innovation.
{{/usCountry}}"Change will come through islands of excellence and the market will decide on the services," forecasts Seshadri, who is on the Indian Institute of Management-Bangalore's visiting faculty.
There is a lot of work to be done in the field of managing innovation by larger industry organisations in India, he added.
The co-author is the academic director of the Technion Institute of Management, Israel's leading executive leadership development institute, and a researcher with the S. Neaman Institute for Advanced Studies in Science and Technology.
Lucidly written, devoid of jargon and replete with examples, the book is likely to be released in Israel with a Hebrew translation later in the year.