As new technologies cause the boundaries between industries to blur, clear metrics for innovation become increasingly important to setting a firm’s strategic direction.…Read More
Benchmarking for Innovation Performance Amid Industry Convergence
Spring and Fall Conferences
How Microsoft Is Working with Tech Startups to Build Win-Win Relationships
Tereza Nemessanyi (WG’97), Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Microsoft, shares how she works to create mutually beneficial relationships with competing startups.…Read More
How IBM Is Scaling Blockchain Solutions for Major U.S. Companies
Alain Neyroud, Principal Blockchain Architect at IBM, discussed the current state of blockchain technology, along with new initiatives that are putting it to work.…Read More
As Brands Embrace Artificial Intelligence, It’s The Human Touch That Will Drive Value
Justin Reilly (W’10), head of customer experience innovation for Verizon Fios, projects that 80% of value creation in artificial intelligence (AI) will be in business-to-business [B2B] applications, and the rest in consumer services.…Read More
Emerging Innovation Leadership Challenges for Global Firms
Our Fall Conference 2017 asked participants to consider how to effectively link strategy with strong organizational leadership.…Read More
To Master Innovation in Today’s Markets, Think Outside the Firm
Saikat Chaudhuri and Harbir Singh discuss why companies need to cultivate their own innovation ecosystem in this interview on Wharton’s Business Radio.…Read More
Leveraging Ecosystems, Investments, & Acquisitions to Keep an Innovative Edge
The Mack Institute Spring Conference 2017 explored how firms can deploy externally facing strategies for innovation success.…Read More
Building a Connected Strategy: From Customer Experience to Technology Platforms
At the Mack Institute’s Fall Conference 2016, leaders from across industries discussed their companies’ pursuit of “connected strategy” defined by continuous customer engagement.…Read More
Digital Disruption and Empowered End-Users
Digital disruption is driving transformation across entire industries. Our Spring Conference 2016 examined how healthcare, transportation, and retail are adapting.…Read More
Preparing for a Future of Self-driving Cars
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
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
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
“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
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