Innovaro - Europe's Leading Innovation Consulting and Insight Firm - Publications

Reviewed books: Strategy
	Sustainable Innovation Rene J. Jorna Exploring a theme that is gaining strong traction across a number of sectors, this new collection of academic perspectives of the sustainability of innovation and its outcomes is a comprehensive collection. Instead of simply focusing on environmental and technological matters, it views and evaluates innovation-for-sustainability in terms of the human, social and management challenges and responses. It argues that a just, efficient and sustainable balancing of these elements is best achieved by the development of new knowledge, and by the evolution of better means both of embedding that emerging knowledge in organizations and institutions, and of managing the relevant flows of information, knowledge and wisdom. Overall it suggests that knowledge and innovation will be the key drivers of social and corporate sustainability in the years ahead and so should be a worthwhile read for many involved in the area.
	Multinationals, Clusters and Innovation Ana Teresa Tavares With the subtitle of ‘does public policy matter?’ this collection of papers provides an interesting overview of some of the key factors influencing innovation driven economic growth. Examining the interconnecting influence of globally focused multinationals, regional industry clusters and local innovation activity, it builds a variety of views around the base assumption that foreign direct investment is the major driver of new economic growth in many countries. Drawing on a wide range of academic studies undertaken in recent years, the chapters variously cover multinational innovation, clusters and industrial development, linkages between multinationals and local firms, and the influence or not of public policy. Countries examined include Brazil, China and the US as well as many of Europe’s Eastern and Northern high growth economies.
	Making Innovation Pay Bruce Berman Taking as a core theme the conversion of intellectual property into shareholder value, this book brings together the views of some of the leading IP thought leaders and practitioners. Drawing on expertise from Microsoft, IBM, Lucent, Intel and several specialist consultants, this provides a comprehensive overview of such core topics as turning a patent portfolio into a profit centre, using a patent portfolio strategically and managing innovation assets as business assets. In addition, it looks at some of the wider issues including patent disputes, global IP drivers and the benefits of patent enforcement. As an up to date summary of the latest thinking and major drivers this is a good book for many in technology / R&D / portfolio roles.
	Smartsourcing Thomas M. Koulopoulos Subtitled ‘Driving Innovation and Growth through Outsourcing’ this is a timely and informed perspective on how some leading companies are using the evident opportunities from off-shoring and out-sourcing to deliver higher levels of innovation. Looking at how companies are variously cutting innovation costs, growing through moving operations and increasing innovation efficiency, this is a good companion to the 2005 FT book of the year, ‘The World is Flat’ as it moves the innovation and globalisation overlap a step further. Staring with a review of the forces at play in and around the outsourcing trends, it goes on to first examine where source of innovation advantage are currently being gained and then to explore some potential future and even greater impacts. With a strong focus on the R&D dimension, this book does not just stop at the traditional product view but interestingly also looks at some service innovation and, amongst the varied organisations used as examples, it includes GE’s India based GE Capital International Services business which led the way in process innovation.
	Ten Rules for Strategic Innovators Vijay Govindarajan Building on the author’s HBR article, this book looks in greater depth at the challenges of strategic innovation within existing companies to drive higher levels of growth – and specifically at the best approaches for building a new business from within a profitable old one. With a detailed examination of the creation of New York Times Digital, the development of Hasbro Interactive and the success of Analog Devices in establishing the new technology of MEMS (micro-electromechanical systems) in the core of the text, many see that the most useful chapters are in fact the last two. Chapter 9 focuses on how organisations can use eight steps associated with theory focused planning and influence diagrams to enable rapid learning, build key metrics for a new business, predict performance and refine development and launch plans. Chapter 10 uses the MEMS case to re-examine the core ten rules mentioned in the title and detailed in the initial chapters with particular emphasis on the benefits of unlearning and renewal of strategic focus.
	Get Back in the Box Douglas Rushkoff By comparison to many of the consultant authored books that follow the same story, this is a refreshingly different read. Rather than focusing on what needs to be done to an organisation by external brand and marketing agencies to make it appear more innovative, this looks more at what the organisation can do to itself to actually make it innovative – hence the subtitle ‘innovation from the inside out’. As a guide to reinventing your business through natural expression of core competency, this collection of articles and reviews covers a wide range but includes a number of interesting internet orientated perspectives. Instead of running around trying to ‘think out of the box,’ the essence of this book is to encourage people to ‘get back in the box’ and improve the way we do our jobs, run our operations and drive innovation from the ground up.
	Strategic Management in the Innovation Economy T. Davenport, Marius Leibold, Sven C. Voelpel This MBA targeted book, is an interesting collection of theoretical papers, case studies and articles designed to highlight the wide range of approaches and techniques that are being used to drive innovation. Aiming to explain the dramatic shifts taking place in the innovation economy, it challenges some conventional management thinking and suggests a modified mind-set – termed the ‘poised strategy’ approach. After an introduction highlighting the key elements and drivers forcing a change in the global innovation economy, subsequent chapters cover such topics as strategic sourcing of innovation, open innovation, innovative business models, strategic management processes, outsourcing of innovation and the role of leadership in the management of innovation. Associated in-depth case studies look at IBM, Xerox, the airline industry and GE. As another reference book, this can be recommended as a complement to others reviewed in previous editions of Innovation Update.
	Think, Play, Do: Technology, Innovation, and Organization Mark Dodgson, David Gann, Ammon Salter The premise of this book is that technological innovation is now having greatest impact at the interfaces of three generic types of technology – namely innovation technology such as modelling and simulation; information and communication technology; and design, networking and coordination technologies such as CAE and ERP. These are allowing us to respectively create, enable and implement innovation in new ways that are also having impacts on the organisations that are taking the lead. Using a number of examples including Arups, IBM, P&G, GSK and Renault, the three authors from Imperial College in London, highlight how and where these technologies and there interactions are raising the level and impact of innovation in the related fields.
	Innovation Happens Elsewhere Ron Goldman, Richard P. Gabriel Written by two researchers from Sun Microsystems, this is a detailed exploration of the whole open source arena as a business strategy. Although very software related in its examples, it actually has many perspectives relevant to a wider range of sectors and the changes that are taking place in how companies innovate. That said, in its assessment of the role of communities, developers and open source per se, the primary audience is clearly the IT sector. After introductions to open versus closed innovation, the philosophy of open source, licences and how to develop an open source community, the book moves on to the more generic issues that a wider audience will find useful – how to build innovation activities in communities, how to deal with the inevitable tensions and lack of resources and how to maximise innovation impact.
	Sumantra Ghoshal on Management Julian Birkinshaw, Gita Piramal Although not specifically an innovation focused book, this collection of papers written or co-authored by Sumantra Ghoshal and collated by his LBS colleagues after his sudden death last year provides an excellent insight into some of the key new ideas of recent years. Ghoshal is considered by many to be one of the most original thinkers of recent years and, as such, many of his perspectives on management and organisations have been used to challenge the way companies think about themselves, their markets and their futures. The book is split into three sections each grouping together several key papers. The core themes are new concepts on the multinational corporation - looking at managing across borders, the individualised corporation – focusing on key behaviour and context, and building social capital and unleashing organizational energy which covers social capital, radical performance improvement and enterprise integration. If you have a free weekend ahead of you, dipping into this collection could well prove beneficial.
	The Growth Gamble Andrew Campbell, Robert Park Ashridge duo Andrew Campbell and Robert Park have produced a new book based on their recent research into corporate venturing and new business creation. Using an extremelywide range of examples from Disney, McDonalds, 3M, Tesco, Virgin and MSN to Apple, DSM, Canon, Cisco, Google, Philips, Reuters, Shell and Yahoo, they look first at the challenge of creating significant new businesses and some of the major difficulties that the varied companies highlighted have experienced in this area. Next on the agenda are the varied merits of diversification and searching for new business concepts. As the core of its focus, the book then goes on to explore and contrast the role for corporate venturing and highlights various successes of this covering four key groupings of harvest venturing - BT Brightstar, ecosystem venturing – Intel Capital, Innovation venturing – Shell GameChanger and Nokia’s New Growth Business unit, and private equity venturing – GE. Lastly lessons from the examples are drawn together in and around positioning and support for new business creation together with a good critique of some of the other books that have published in this arena.
	Seeing What’s Next Clayton M. Christensen, Scott D. Anthony, Erik A. Roth Building on Clayton Christensen’s preceding twosome of the ‘Innovator’s Dilemma’ and the ‘Innovator’s Solution’ this 2004 book provides a framework for predicting outcomes in the evolution of an industry by using disruptive innovation theory. Using a three-part model to helps decision makers spot the signals of industry change, determine the outcome of competitive battles, and assess whether a firm’s strategic choices will ensure or threaten its future success, it seeks to take the core elements of the earlier two books as the basis for any industry. Case studies of industries from aviation to health care supplement the academic research that underpins the theoretical frameworks to answer such questions as ‘will a new start-up succeed or fail?’, ‘which emerging technologies are consumers likely to embrace?’ and ‘does an entrant pose a serious threat to a leading incumbent?’
	The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid C.K. Prahalad Receiving rave reviews as being truly visionary, C K Prahalad’s most recent book addresses how to create products and opportunity for the world’s most rapidly growing market – the bottom of the pyramid where billions of poor people in the world have immense untapped buying power. Arguing that while most companies today focus on the populations in the top tiers of society, and especially the 100 million or so that have purchasing power parity of over $20,000, it suggests that the 4000 million people who have less that $1500 PPP are collectively a far more attractive and untapped area of focus. Based on extensive research intp the dynamics and viability of the ‘BOP’ markets and supported by numerous cases studies, this highly recommended book challenges many of our preconceptions about the consumer needs and capabilities of the majority of the world’s population and provides a blueprint for how to fight poverty with profitability.
	The Only Sustainable Edge John Hagel III, John Seely Brown John Seely Brown, former Chief Scientist of Xerox PARC, and consultant John Hagel have just authored this book that argues that the only sustainable advantage in the future will come from an institutional capacity to work closely with other highly specialized firms to get better faster. They see that in order to compete in the future, companies will have to fundamentally change how they look at innovation, growth and business strategy and emphasise the increasing importance of talent development, specialisation, connectivity and coordination. Building a sustainable competitive edge for the future is seen to require organisations to deepen their distinctive capabilities, mobilse the resources available in other specialised companies and accelerate learning across firms and networks. All in all an interesting read that should give many food for thought.
	Blue Ocean Strategy W. Chan Kim, Renée Mauborgne From the originator of the Value Innovation approach to innovation strategy that gained recognition on the back its use in the creation of Formule 1 budget hotels back in 1997, comes an updated view of how the concept has evolved over the past few years. Based on the HBR article from Oct 2004, with new examples ranging from Cirque de Soleil and Samsung to the Joint Strike Fighter and Net-Jets, this book uses the concept of blue oceans as arenas of unexploited opportunity for both cost structure and customer value. Featuring the associated eliminate / raise / reduce / create model it looks at options for delivering market changing new business innovations that challenge pre-existing value propositions. A good explanation of the use one of the core tools that several companies are now using within their strategic thinking.
	Innovation that Fits Donald Debethizy, Jeffrey Wager, Michael Lord This provides an overview of varied approaches that companies have been adopting in the desire to improve innovation over the past few years and attempts to separate those that work from that those that don’t. Covering a wide remit from corporate venturing, intellectual property licensing, collaborative innovation, R&D by M&A and spinouts, it successfully outlines some of the key issues and implications. What is arguable missing is a little more understanding of the subjective context and clarification of the rationale behind the varied options that organisations have taken with more or less success.
	Democratizing Innovation Eric von Hippel Eric von Hippel’s new book looks at the increasingly popular user-centred innovation system. Using examples mainly from open-source software and information products, but also including a few physical products, it traces a trend towards the development of new innovation around lead users and the increasing demands for customised products. Based on an extensive MIT research study, it argues that manufacturers should redesign their innovation processes and systematically seek out innovations developed by users. With strong academic analysis, this provides an interesting view on an emerging theme.
	The Medici Effect Frans Johansson Based on the premise that the most significant innovations occur at the intersection of ideas and concepts, this consultant authored book adopts the parallel of the creativity of the Medici banking family in Renaissance Italy to build another ‘how to’ approach for breakthrough innovation. Mixing Darwin, Clayton Christensen and even Mike Oldfield to illustrate the context, it uses PDAs, unmanned aerial vehicles, Virgin Atlantic and Vertex as examples of historical intersectional innovation, and then offers advice on how to improve innovation performance through following a codified process focused on exploring the key intersections that impact the markets and technology spaces in which firms operate. This is a good overview of one approach that may well work for some, but may equally not be right for all.
	Fast Second Constantinos C. Markides, Paul A. Geroski Challenging the paradigm of being first mover into a new market, this new book by two LBS professors is based on research that has looked at the relative performance of those that have lead and those, including Microsoft, P&G, Amazon and Heinz that have been large-scale fast followers. Mapping out the competitive landscape for much of today’s technology-led innovation, it succinctly outlines the key drivers of scaling up rather than pioneering the market. Using a wide range of comparative examples such as Apple’s Newton vs. Palm in PDAs, Ampex vs. JVC in VCRs, Xerox vs. Sharp in fax machines and CompuServe vs. AOL in ISPs, it highlights who have been the firms that have gained from scaling up and examines the attributes that have been used in doing so – from price and ease of use to convenience and product size.
	Product Leadership Robert G. Cooper This is an updated revision of Bob Cooper’s 1999 book that brought together his work on the, now dominant, stage-gate process and portfolio management approaches for improving new product development effectiveness. It uses the insights gained from a recent major study of success and failure in product development for the American Productivity and Quality Center to add content in several areas. Key topics addressed include how different companies are structuring their NPD processes, how they are picking winners from a combination of R&D portfolio management approaches and, in doing this, what is distinguishing the top performers from the rest. A useful reference book for those leading new product development, this provides little new thinking but will nevertheless be a worthwhile starting point for many.
	Innovation – The Missing Dimension Richard K. Lester, Michael J. Piore This MIT authored book focuses on some of the challenges of maintaining an innovation capability in an age of increased outsourcing of analytical elements of the innovation process in many firms. Aiming to identify the economic and managerial requirements to maintain American leadership in innovation, it looks into three core sectors – mobile communications, fashion and medical devices to highlight a way forward. The conclusion is that the real innovation capability that needs to be nurtured is not analysis but interpretation. Given that this missing dimension is therefore the area that US businesses need to focus on, the book ends with an examination of the implications of the associated shift to current practice in engineering and management would mean.
	Markets for Technology Ashish Arora, Andrea Fosfuri, Alfonso Gambardella In a new paperback edition, this study from three academic researchers looks at how firms have moved from integrating R&D with activities such as production, marketing and distribution to forming R&D alliances, joint ventures, licensing deals and a variety of outsourcing deals with universities and technology based start ups. It particularly examines the nature and workings of innovation as an economic process and how industry structure, the nature of knowledge and intellectual property rights now facilitate the development of technology markets. Using a combination of theoretical perspectives from economics and management disciplines together with some empirical examples, it provides a useful frame of reference for public policy and corporate strategy alike.
	Strategic Management of Technology and Innovation Melissa Schilling Now in its fourth major edition, this 1000 page compendium of a wide range of papers covering many topics related to technology and innovation management has been edited by leading researchers Robert Burgelman, Clayton Christensen and Steven Wheelwright. The five main chapters address integrating technology and strategy, implementing technology strategies, developing innovation capabilities, creating a development strategy and innovation challenges in established firms. Highlighted the breadth and depth of content and experience that now exists in this area, this remains an ideal source of both theoretical and practical examples to stimulate thinking.
	Embracing the Knowledge Economy Gerd Schienstock This is an excellent collection of articles that give multiple insights into the role innovation has played in the growth of the Finnish economy over the past decade or so. It aims to give a broad overview of the Finnish Innovation System and its recent development trends and to highlight Finland’s capability to create a knowledge-based national development path in a country that, until the early 1990s, was mainly known as a forestry economy. Given the popularity of Finland and Nokia as international benchmarks, it provides many very good insights into the varied components – both structural and cultural – that the Finnish public and private sectors have been effective in bringing together to help the economy become one of the world’s most competitive.
	Sand to Silicon Jeffrey Sampler, Saeb Eigner Although primarily addressing the rapid change of the economy of Dubai from oil to trading, real estate, tourism, medicine and media, this LBS authored book includes two brief overviews of the alternative approaches taken to encouraging innovation and growth in Silicon Valley and Singapore. The bottom-up approach of Silicon Valley facilitated by the entrepreneurial culture, approach and policies of institutions such as Stanford and the large technology Californian based IT, aerospace and medical corporations is portrayed alongside the more top down approach of government influenced investment and strategic planning achieved by the Singapore government through Temasek and the Economic Development Board. The second half of the book looks at how both approaches are being brought together in new ways in what is seen as the fastest moving economy in the Middle East.
	Silicon and the State J. Gunnar Trumbull France is often widely seen as one of the nations most willing and yet also most effective in using state intervention to steer grand infrastructure projects, the economy and in some areas international trade. In the early 1990s, French officials viewed with some concern the emerging and innovative high-tech sectors of the US and UK. Concerned about being left behind, the French government implemented a wide range of policies to promote the commercialisation of new technologies in France. This book looks at what these policies achieved, where they had most impact and how they have enabled France to, in several sectors, build and maintain innovation leadership at or equal to the world’s best. Touching everything from tax and technology parks to state intervention, regulation, private equity and the internet, it provides an interesting overview that gives good understanding of how this unique nation has done what it has over the past decade.
	The Future of Ideas Lawrence Lessig This provides an informed and insightful discussion of how the Net has moved from being a field within which innovation can be experimental in many areas at once to one where some corporations are impacting creativity as they take on the role of virtual gatekeepers. Examining how copyright and patent laws have been influenced by Congress and influential media companies, it provides an eloquent argument for a revision of how intellectual property can be better created, valued and exploited in a post e-revolution world that is grappling with the consequences of the society is has enabled. A view that has impact across many areas.
	The New Bottom Line Alan Mitchell, Andreas Bauer, Gerhard Hausruckinger The essence of the discussion here is based on the premise that the world and hence the scope for innovation has changed from being product-centric to become person-centric. Linked into this is the shift for those delivering innovation from ‘value in our operations’ to ‘value in my life’. Fundamentally the message is that the move from a rational to an emotional basis of engagement and innovation delivery is having impact. With a primary FMCG focus, this book does nevertheless contain useful perspectives for other sectors. Examples include P&G and Tesco.
	Platform Leadership Annabelle Gawer, Michael A. Cusumano In depth research into the IT industry is used as the basis for this book examining how the likes of Microsoft and Intel all drive industry innovation through being platform leaders. With an in-depth exploration of the differences between product and platform innovation, the benefits of being able to influence standards through the creation of common platforms and the strategies that the three main companies highlighted have taken in this area, this is a good insight into the workings of the industry. Other examples include Palm, DoCoMo, Linux and Symbian.
	Karaoke Capitalism Kjell Nordstrom and Jonas Ridderstrale The latest offering from the authors of Funky Business, is characteristically challenging. Full of concepts such as the Lego corporation, brands as experiences, the revolting elite and network orchestrators, it is a lively and provocative read. It is a book ‘of ideas, different perspectives and soundings in the darkness’ that at heart addresses the shift from corporate innovation to individual innovation, the opportunities that this creates and how the world in which we all live is being fundamentally changed by this shift.
	Service Innovation Joe Tidd and Frank M. Hull This collection of recent articles by leading academics is focused around the challenge of innovating in the service sector. It covers three main areas – different conceptual frameworks for service innovation; sector and national studies of innovation performance in varied sectors from financial services though to engineering and healthcare; and how to best apply innovation management good practice to the service sector. Authoritative and up to date, this is a good reference text.
	Product Development for the Service Sector Robert G. Cooper, Scott Edgett This is an overview of how the market leaders in the service sector were delivering new products back in 1999. Although some of the examples are becoming a little dated, many of the core elements covered here still have great relevance to the service sector as a whole. Addressing the development process, success factors for innovation and how to manage a portfolio of development projects as well as select the best candidates is still a good background read. Examples include Telenor, Allied Signal and The Royal Bank of Canada.
	Strategy Maps Robert Kaplan, David P. Norton The authors of The Balanced Scorecard, have returned with this book that provides another framework whereby businesses can potentially better define and manage their operations. Where the balanced scorecard was a performance management system to quantify intangibles, the proposed strategy maps are designed to help companies better describe their activities – so that they can then measure the right things. The section on innovation management provides a template that some might find useful in integrating activities focused on expanding revenue opportunities, enhancing customer value and managing life-cycle costs.
	Winning at New Products Robert G. Cooper First published over ten years ago, this most recent update includes a look at some of the key factors that contribute to a successful product. As well as addressing issues such as quality of execution, decision making and the core process, it also examines the impact of several key elements in the early stages of product definition and selection: - The importance of predevelopment homework, the level of market orientation as well as the speed of product definition. Examples include 3M, Exxon and Guinness.
	Funky Business Kjell Nordstrom and Jonas Ridderstrale One of the most popular innovation texts of the late 1990's, this focuses on how talent and not physical assets is the key to success today. Written by two of Sweden's leading thinkers, it raises key concepts for the future such as 'People worth employing' and 'Organisations worth working for' and how the two can interact to create value in an increasingly blurred society.
	The Big Idea Robert Jones Authored by a director of Wolff Olins, the corporate identity group, The Big Idea looks at what it is that successful companies possess more than vision, brand, development and delivery excellence. Using examples from 50 companies including Amazon, Apple, First Direct, GO, Orange and Pret a Manger, this is a provocative and insightful read.
	Leading the Revolution Gary Hamel From the co-author of Competing for the Future and chairman of Strategos, this was one of the best selling books of 2000. Using examples including Cisco, Virgin and (unfortunately with hindsight) Enron, this is a rally cry for companies to look for the radical and not the incremental as they seek to lead their sectors.
	The Innovator's Dilemma Clayton Christensen Looking at how key technologies cause disruptive change and propel their exploiters into the lead, this 1997 book from a leading Harvard professor takes the position that great companies can fail precisely because they do everything right. Focusing on how and why disruptive technologies are often missed by large firms, this is full of insights for all.
	An Innovator's Tale John Grant We were initially dubious of a corporate crime thriller centred on the innovation activities of a snack food company. However this is a good contribution in engaging a wider audience around the many sides of contemporary product development. Whilst it will not be winning the Booker prize, this novel does provide a unique insight into the world of fast paced FMCG innovation wrapped up in a page turning narrative.
	Lessons in Radical Innovation Wolfgang Grulke This is a lively ride through many of the key issues facing organisations as they seek to innovate successfully. It uses a high impact style to cover several themes with many memorable nuggets. Fast-paced and accessible this is another fresh contribution to the ever growing and increasingly crowded library of innovation. Case studies include: Egg, Smile, Deloitte and Vivendi
	Hyperinnovation Chris Harris This is a heavyweight text from a specialist in complex systems innovation. Built around the concept that increasing complexity is driving the need for multidimensional innovation strategies that can be linked together through ‘hyper innovation’, this book spells out in detail a view that new industry structures and innovative products and services are not simply a result of convergence but of a ‘multidimensional interconnection of ideas’ Example companies include AMP, Fujitsu, i-Mode, NEC and Toyota
	How Breakthroughs Happen Andrew Haragon This is an insightful study of how many of the last century’s major innovations occurred. The first section looks at the role of social networks in enabling innovation and the linkages between creativity and technology. The second half explores the role of ‘technology brokering’ bringing together previously disparate ideas and bridging between different areas to create the key components for a fundamental innovation. Examples include Ford, Reebok, Xbox, 3M and IDEO
	The Slow Pace of Fast Change Bhaskar Chakravorti This book looks at the challenges of the sometimes lengthy introduction of major innovations into the marketplace. Peppered with multiple examples it builds a framework for understanding some of the complexities of getting the market to engage in and adopt step change innovations. An approach for dealing with the challenges of moving from 'the lab to the living room' is suggested. Examples include Healtheon, MSN, Johnson & Johnson, Sony and IBM
	Why Innovation Fails Carl Franklin This takes an unconventional view of innovation. Rather than providing yet another generic step-by-step innovation guide, its focus on what goes wrong when companies try to innovate provides a wide range of interesting examples. Built very much on the premise that we learn more from mistakes than we do from best practice checklists, this covers a host of areas. This engaging, provocative read is a welcome addition. Examples include NASA, Coke, WebVan, the Segway and Apple
	Managing Innovation, Design & Creativity Bettina von Stamm A comprehensive overview of many of the key elements involved in building an effective innovation capability. Covering topics from strategy, branding and globalization to collaboration, market research, IPR and outsourcing, examples based on extensive interviews give a good feel of the real challenges of innovating in today's market. In an era of superficiality in innovation books, this is a welcome addition. Examples include the BBC, GKN, Black & Decker, RBS, Lotus and Roche
	The Bright Stuff Arnoud De Meyer and Soumitra Dutta This book focuses on how a number of key incumbents have innovated in response to threats from internet newcomers. Based on the perspective that for most sectors innovation is now not just the prerequisite for growth but increasingly one for survival, this is a good read that provides a salient overview of the impact that the internet has had on several sectors. Examples include Merrill Lynch, Schwab, Wal-Mart, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, GM and Auto-By-Tel.
	The Innovator's Solution Clayton Christensen Six years on from The Innovator’s Dilemma this follow up moves on from the examination of the consequences of sustaining vs. disruptive innovations and technological discontinuities to look at how companies are trying to create the disruptions rather than deal with them. This time the authors suggest that innovation is not as unpredictable as it has preciously been thought to be and look wider than the core technical platforms. Examples include Bloomberg, Google, MBNA and Toyota.
	Diffusion of Innovations Everett Rogers First published in 1962, this fifth edition of the classic study of the social, technological and political influences on the mechanisms by which innovation are shared and penetrate markets includes a wealth of new insights. Alongside many of the original examples of the diffusion of are a host of revealing cases based on more recent developments: From mobile phone adoption in Finland and global internet usage through to the publishing success of 'Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood'
	Strategic Innovation Nancy Snyder and Deborah Duarte Describing the programme to build new innovation capability within Whirlpool, this is written very much from the experience of having being involved at the coalface. It takes us through the change process that occurred within the company since September 1999 when the idea to embed innovation as a core competence within the organisation was first aired. Touching on key cultural as well as strategic issues it provides a good example of how new innovation capability can be built and how it can help an organisation make a shift into new areas.
	Re-imagine! Tom Peters Tom Peter's latest book aims to not only redefine how we think about business but also to redefine our view of the business book. He succeeds more in the second area than the first. Underneath all the large font quotes, was / is contrast lists and multiple exclamation marks there is regrettably little here that is not already recycled and hence cannot already be found elsewhere.