WHAT INNOVATION MEANS TO BUSINESS

WHAT INNOVATION MEANS TO BUSINESS 

 

People think that innovation is a cliché but it's not. Being innovative is, in fact, the core capability that industry needs to succeed in the new century. It's about having a hunger for doing things better and faster.

Companies that are going to succeed will be those that can bring to market as soon as possible new ideas embodied in new services and products and keep doing it.

To be innovative requires good management; it requires a highly skilled and engaged workforce; and it requires access to innovative thinkers and networks.

At any scale, business finding the right connections and networks can mean the difference to achieving a competitive edge. There will be setbacks and failures but, if we are innovative enough, there will also be great successes.

The Prime Minister made a very perceptive comment recently when he said that there was no such thing as old industries; there were only industries that don't innovate. I couldn't agree with him more.

Heather Ridout, CEO,
Australian Industry Group

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WHAT INNOVATION MEANS TO ENERGY GENERATION

 WHAT INNOVATION MEANS TO ENERGY GENERATION

 

In an increasingly resource-limited world, the ability for humans to innovate will determine the future we create. This is no more apparent than in the energy sector, where today's creative thinking will produce tomorrow's potential sources of green energy, clean coal and sustainable technology. Those who innovate will help create new markets, and will lead and profit into the future.

That's why it's important for leaders today to view innovation as a necessary part of doing business.

At Ergon Energy, we try to embed innovative thinking in our business by encouraging it at every level: by supporting the creation of process - improving inventions by our regional linesmen, through to funding the development of the world's first power plant run solely on macadamia nut shells, and developing innovative products that help our customers use energy more efficiently and sustainably. Our ability to foster innovation rewards us daily with improved safety, better efficiency, widespread staff pride, and at the end of the day, new revenue streams and a healthier bottom line.

At the same time, we provide new ways of doing things that benefit our customers and the planet. That's a real win-win scenario.

Tony Bellas, chief executive,
Ergon Energy

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WHAT INNOVATION MEANS TO HUMANITIES

WHAT INNOVATION MEANS TO HUMANITIES 

 

The industrial model of innovation has the notion of smart ideas leading to products, which then are taken to market through commercialisation or some process of technology transfer. But this notion of commercialisation does not always sit well with the image or activities of the humanities, arts and social sciences.

Almost the first activity of the newly-formed Council for the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences was a survey of commercial activities of people working in the field. Our respondents were researchers and educators at the tertiary level, and the subsequent report is a snapshot of who is commercialising research and how they approach this task.

Services, such as research consultancy and contracting, were found to be the most common form of commercialisation, particularly in the area of government policy advice.

The benefits were wide: improvements to teaching and research through a better understanding of the needs of industry; exposure of students to industry practices and research experience; higher profile and enhanced promotional prospects, as well as improving business and negotiation skills; and economic rewards that allow departments and faculties to fund research units, to hire staff, and to send researchers to conference.

But for many, money is not the driving factor in the commercialisation of their work, nor are they comfortable with the idea that commercial imperatives should govern their research activities. They are attracted to the idea of being relevant, influential and connected to their communities. Commercial activities allow them to engage with the community by helping solve
social and community problems.

The report is available on the CHASS website, www.chass.org.au.

Toss Gascoigne, Executive Director,
CHASS

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WHAT INNOVATION MEANS TO MANAGEMENT

WHAT INNOVATION MEANS TO MANAGEMENT 

 

We are born. We innovate. At first we have no choice. Everything is a new experience. We go to school. We are taught to conform.

We do exams. There are questions to which there is only one expected and acceptable answer. We go to work. We learn what's expected of us. The more we do it, the faster and more efficiently we do it.

We have forgotten how to innovate. We have lost the taste for new experiences because they can make us uncomfortable. And yet that never crossed our minds as children.

For me, innovation is all about unlearning. Innovation is about being taught how to look for a second right answer. Or a third. It's about looking at a familiar face upside down. It's about taking Robert Frost's road less travelled.

To be innovative is to be childish, adventurous, inquisitive, na ve, humble, disobedient, observant, questioning and contrarian. To be innovative means being hungry for new experiences, new tastes, new skills. It also means being occasionally wrong, misunderstood, alienated, ridiculed and uncomfortable. The most innovative thinkers are people who have learnt to make creativity a daily habit.

Greg Alder, director,
Allsorts Habit Creation

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WHAT INNOVATION MEANS TO MANUFACTURING

 WHAT INNOVATION MEANS TO MANUFACTURING

Innovation in new products is the life-blood of our business. We must keep bringing new products to market, but increasingly innovation in
design is the great differentiator.

Most brands now have the same technology and offer the same range of features, so it is imperative that we constantly introduce innovations to keep ahead of our competitors. At the same time, I'm a great believer in 'emotional' design where the form or styling prompts people to want to use our appliances.

We have a range of activities to ensure Electrolux remains at the forefront of major appliance design and innovation.

For instance, consumer insights are an integral part of all new product development at Electrolux. It involves our people - designers, engineers, marketers, even psychologists - going into people's homes and observing them as they complete a family washing load, prepare a meal, unpack the shopping and fill fridges, etc. We note how they interact with their appliances, as well as ask them a myriad of questions about their appliances including what they would like to change or add.

At the same time, we stimulate and assist our professional team of designers by, among other things, conducting an international design competition, called the Electrolux Design Laboratory. In 2004, a team of three University of NSW industrial design students won with their concept for a waterless dishwasher which they called Rockpool.

Starting with the world's first domestic vacuum cleaner, Electrolux has been at the forefront of appliance design and innovation throughout its 85-year history and our determination to continue that tradition is as strong today as it always has been.

Lars Erikson, director of design Asia-Pacific,
Electrolux

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