( 1 reviews )
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Posted: May 8 2008
Why a second edition? Author John Ettlie explains. "First, it is greatly simplified but broadened in one important way: it adds more material and cases on service innovation...It is also worth noting that there are many videos and additional case recommendations available to assist in this process, which can be accessed through the Web site that supports this text (www.managinginnovation.org). Second, it has new original cases written since the last edition [1998], and a few classic cases that carry over that students have all voted to keep. Third and finally, fewer subjects are included but those that have survived have been significantly updated and treated in greater depth." Ettlie carefully organizes his revised, updated, and (in some instances) expanded material within three Parts. In the first ("Getting Started with Innovation," Chapters 1-3), Ettlie focuses on technological innovation, various theories of innovation, convergence of strategy and innovation. In the second ("The Innovation Process Unfolds," Chapters 4-7), his focus is on managing R&D, economic justification of innovation initiatives, the New Product Development (NPD) Process, and interrelations between and among new processes and IT. Then in the third ("The Context of innovation and Futures," Chapters 8-10), he shifts his attention to various dimensions of public policy, the "Coproduction Imperative" in response to globalizing change, and managing future technologies. With regard to the mini-case studies, there are 17 inserted throughout the narrative, each followed by a "Discussion Questions" section. Exemplar companies include Gillette, AskMen.com, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Outboard Marine Company, 3M, Microsoft, and Honda. Also, there is a "Summary" near the conclusion of Chapters 1-9. Throughout most of the chapters, Ettlie also inserts "boxes" that provide brief examples of managing or mismanaging innovation. For example, Bruce Weber's article, "IBM's Deep Blue Wins Chess Match," a "Self-Assessment" exercise that evaluates the reader's behavior at work, an explanation of how "Technology Drives Bank Mergers," and a summary of "The Advantages of Set-Based Design." Given the scope and depth of the material that Ettlie covers, various reader-friendly devices that also include dozens of Figures and checklists of key points are most welcome. This by no means an "easy read." However, it will generously reward those who are directly or at least indirectly involved in the management of innovation in a world that Thomas Friedman has characterized as "flat," one in which new technologies, new products, and new services are essential for a company to succeed in a rapidly expanding global economy. Those who share my regard for this book are urged to check out Tom Kelley's The Art of Innovation and his more recently published The Ten Faces of Innovation, Tony Davila's Making Innovation Work, and Innovation to the Core co-authored by Peter Skarzynski and Rowan Gibson as well as Competing in a Flat World co-authored by Victor Fung, William Fung, and Yoram (Jerry) Wind. Also Bernd Schmitt's Big Think Strategy, John Cao's Innovation Nation, and Big Ideas to Big Results co-authored by Michael Kanazawa and Robert Miles.
