As we move into an era of simultaneous innovation and
commoditization, enabled by digital technologies,
managers around the world are asking themselves ''how
can we both adapt to rapid changes in technology and
markets, and still make enough money to survive - and
thrive?'' To provide answers to these important and
urgent questions, MIT Sloan School of Management
Professor Michael Cusumano draws on nearly 30 years of
research into the practices of global corporations that
have been acknowledged leaders and benchmark setters -
and Microsoft, Apple, Intel, Google, and others in
software, internet services, and consumer electronics,
and Toyota in manufacturing. If we look deeply enough,
he contends, we can see the ideas that underpin the
management practices that make for great companies, and
drive their strategic evolution and innovation
capabilities. From his deep knowledge of these
organizations, Cusumano distils six enduring principles
that he believes have been - in various combinations -
crucial to their strategy, innovation management
practices, and ability to deal with change and
uncertainty.The first two principles - platforms (not
just products), and services, for product firms - are
relatively new and broader ways of thinking about
strategy and business models, based on Cusumano's latest
research. The other four - capabilities (not just
strategy), the ''pull'' concept, economies of scope, and
flexibility (not just efficiency) - all contribute to
agility, which is a mix of flexibility and speed. Some
practices associated with these ideas, such as dynamic
capabilities, just-in-time production, iterative or
prototype-driven product development, flexible design
and manufacturing, modular architectures, and component
reuse, are now commonly regarded as standard best
practices. They are also essential to a new world
dominated by platforms and technology-enabled
services. |
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