September 2009 - Strategic Innovation Newsletter 

 

Welcome to the September 2009 edition of Strategic Innovation newsletter, a free monthly newsletter on leadership, strategy and innovation. Delivered on the first Tuesday of each month.

Back issues are archived for free downloading at www.DanielLockConsulting.com.

 


Follow Me, Follow You

 

I'm getting more into the online marketing space.

You can a find a page at Facebook and also LinkedIn.

Look forward to an online hand shake!

 


Tips for improving business processes

 

  • Improvement of a process means changing a process to make it more effective, efficient, and adaptable.
  • Preventing means you change the process to ensure that errors never reach the customer.
  • Excelling means that the process works, it is stable, and meets customer requirements.
  • Bureaucracy is bad, boring, burdensome, and brutal.

 


The 10 cornerstone tools to streamlining

 

Innovation is carried out by many Australian businesses both big and small. The ABS in its summary of IT Use and Innovation in Australian Businessesfor 2005-2006, reported that 38.9% of Australian businesses areimplementing innovation.

According to the report, approximately 21% of businesses are introducing new operational processes. About the same proportion (19%) are introducingnew goods and services, while new marketing methods are beingintroduced by 14% of businesses. However, most of these are largebusinesses: 74% of those that implemented innovation employed over 200people, while only 49% of those with 5 – 19 employees did so.

Interms of broad industry categories, those implementing an innovationduring the period were manufacturing (45%), services (38%) and mining(36%)

Facts and Statistics

Results of the ABS 2005-2006 Business Characteristics Survey (BCS) revealed some significant statistics. In this survey, the Health and CommunityServices and Personal and Other Services were included as additionalsectors. It also expanded the survey population by including those with0-4 employees.

This change in the survey population and the level of stratification madethe current results different from those of previous years so datacontained in the two years should not be compared.

Innovation can be classified into four. These are product innovation (goods and services), process innovation, marketing innovation and organizationalinnovation.

"An innovation is the implementation of a new or significantly improvedproduct (goods or services), or process, a new marketing method, or anew organizational method in business practices, workplace organizationor external relations.” To be considered an innovation, the process ormethod must be new or a significant improvement of that already inplace.

The Four Types of Innovation

  1. Product innovation refers to new orsignificantly improved goods and services as to their characteristicsor intended uses. Examples are significant improvements in components,materials, technical specifications, ease of use, the software involvedor any other functional characteristic.
  2. Process innovation refers to changes in production or delivery methods, including equipment and/or software and innovative techniques.
  3. Organisational innovation refers to new organisational methods that are implemented in workplace organisation, business practices and external relations.
  4. Marketing innovationinvolves new marketing techniques that involve changes in productpackaging or design, product placement, product pricing or promotion.


In summary, then, a significant number of largeAustralian businesses are innovative in nature, while smaller companiestend to be less so. Innovation is a must for any business that wishesto retain their market share, or even improve it, in difficultfinancial times such as these.

Innovation can save money and increase productivity, and there are few doubts that new product designs are attractive to the consumer.



Technique of the month: Involve your people

 

Innovation is all about doing something new and different, and doesn't necessarily mean spending more money. More often it just means slaughtering somesacred cows.

Below are three quetions to ponder, from the Theory of Constraints (TOC):

  • What to change?
  • What to change to?
  • How to cause the change?