In a world where self-driving cars are the norm, will fewer people want to buy a car? Japanese automaker Nissan is looking ahead to this and other scenarios in the future of transportation.…Read More
Preparing for a Future of Self-driving Cars
Events
A New Program to Propel Innovation at Penn
The Penn Wharton Commercialization Workshop brought together 33 researchers from across the university to learn how to bring their ideas to market.…Read More
At Microsoft, Makers and Dreamers Head to the Garage
How does a company as large as Microsoft keep its innovative spark alive? Todd Rawlings, the senior quality manager for corporate business excellence, expounded on the new models for institutionalizing innovation and how the technology giant strives to stay on the cutting edge.…Read More
Dish Soap, Toothpaste, and Digital Disruption
Even though Colgate has global brand recognition and broader penetration than Coke, it still takes competition from digital start-ups seriously. Jenny Gomez, director of global strategic innovation, spoke about the company’s strategy for staying innovative.…Read More
The Internet of Things: Why Success Lies in Services
Companies hoping to capture economic value from the Internet of Things phenomenon should look for ways to transition to a service-based business model, according to Sokwoo Rhee of the U.S. Department of Commerce.…Read More
The Future of Telecom in the Internet of Things Era
Digital technologies like Skype and WhatsApp are eroding traditional telecom revenue streams, and the Internet of Things promises even more uncertainty ahead. Martin Creaner, corporate strategy advisor for telecom giant Huawei, spoke at a recent Mack Institute conference about how his company is working to develop a new, more flexible business model.…Read More
2016 Y-Prize Winner is Fermento!
The winner of the 2015-2016 Y-Prize competition is Fermento for their idea to use Penn-developed microfluidics technology to improve the production process of beer.…Read More
Strategies for Success in the New Era of Connected Ecosystems
Our Fall Conference 2015 stressed the need to trade places with consumers in order to identify opportunities in a landscape where digital technologies have changed all the rules.…Read More
Introducing the 2015-2016 Y-Prize Finalists
The finalists in this year’s Y-Prize Competition have proposed ideas that would bring drug manufacturing right to the patient’s bedside, accelerate the production process of beer, and take the needle out of vaccine delivery.…Read More
“All Effective Innovations are Derived from a Profound Understanding of the User”
The “experience engineering” approach to innovation encourages designers to think about the series of emotions a user needs to feel in order to buy a product. Elisa Jagerson, CEO of Speck Design, argues that managers need to adopt a similar approach when trying to establish a culture of innovation.…Read More
To Create a Culture of Innovation, Learn to Celebrate Failure
To be more innovative, organizations need to adopt the practice of testing and experimenting with new ideas. Nate Fink of Microsoft Yammer explains why abolishing the fear of failure is essential to this process.…Read More
Leadership, Talent, and Culture: How to Win the Long Game in Innovation
Our most recent conference examined the intangible factors that can make or break a company’s innovation outcomes.…Read More
How to Cultivate Innovation for the Long Run
Here’s a generalization we feel pretty safe making: Every successful company achieves its success by figuring out how to deliver a particular product or a service better than anyone else previously has. Here’s another one: Unless that company can keep figuring out how to do that, its success is going to be short-lived. It’s only as strong as its ability to stay ahead of the next new thing.…Read More
Y-Prize Competitors Making News
Recent Y-Prize winners and finalists have used the competition as a launching pad to pursue even bigger and better opportunities.…Read More
For Best Customer Insights, Ask Them How They Feel. But Don’t Actually Ask Them.
How Technology is Transforming Market Research Take a typical adult to an ice cream parlor, says Richard Thorogood, and before making a choice they’ll weigh as many factors as there are flavors. “Well, I kind of want strawberry,” they’ll think, “but I always get strawberry, so maybe I should…Read More
Visuals Are the New Language of Consumers
Mobile and social technology have introduced a major cultural shift in the way we communicate. Why companies need to tailor their market research strategies – and their cycle times – accordingly.…Read More
Matching Entrepreneurs with Markets to Cure Health Care’s Woes
Executives from the new company Avia explain how their innovation cohort model helps struggling health systems while creating new marketplaces for entrepreneurs.…Read More
Connecting What’s Needed with What’s Possible
The Mack Institute Fall Conference 2014 examined how rapid advances in technology continuously change the way that organizations innovate.…Read More
When Disruptive Technology Threatens, Find a Partner
In new research sponsored by the Mack Institute, Rahul Kapoor and coauthor Thomas Klueter analyze how alliance-based strategies may help companies successfully manage the challenge of disruptive technology.…Read More
Why Established Firms Should Keep an Eye on Kickstarter
Crowdfunding has exploded in popularity since 2009, and its pace shows no signs of slowing. Funded researcher Ethan Mollick argues that this trend poses important implications for established firms as well as entrepreneurs.…Read More