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Need to change
The surveys overall ndings do indicate a change in the way companies think about innovation and Broussell believes that there might be a link here with the way the manufacturing business as a whole is heading. Businesses now seem to appreciate that they need to change, with almost half acknowledging that this is the only way that they will be able to innovate successfully. The polls do, however, point to a worrying gap between intention and implementation: while 55.1 percent of respondents saw innovation as a strategic initiative, only 32.4 percent say that they have put in place a core set of metrics to determine the effectiveness of innovation
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STRATEGIC DIRECTION
VOL. 27 NO. 8 2011, pp. 18-21, Q Emerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 0258-0543
DOI 10.1108/02580541111146830
efforts. A similar gulf can exist between idea generation and innovation programs. Lisa Bodell, CEO of futurethink, says that: They [companies] must also develop a strong strategy around innovation and execute the process seamlessly. Strategy and process, she argues, might be two of the tougher and less exciting parts of the innovation process, but good ideas on paper will remain just that if they are not addressed adequately. One aspect of innovation that should be treated with caution is the notion that new ways of doing things are always the best. Technology opens many doors, but that doesnt mean it should be used to open every door. Some French companies are trying to engage customers by more traditional means. They can see that technology might change the way consumers behave, but its use does not always encourage development of good relationships. The French seem to have a better understanding than many of their European neighbors of the need to engage personally with customers, and this is reected in the countrys lower use of social networking sites. In 2008, only 20 percent of the French visited social networking sites. It reached 36 percent the following year, but that statistic is still behind the UK, Spain and Italy with 43, 52 and 59 percent, respectively. As Larry Kramer reports, the French have looked for other ways to improve their relationship with customers, seeing social media technologies as a complementary way of going about business (Kramer, 2010). One reason for their reluctance to engage too heavily with social media such as tweets is that it does not allow for a two-way conversation. And if the one-way conversation takes on a negative tone, it is not easy for companies to do anything about it. You could argue that if the telephone had been invented after e-mail and social media, it would have been seen as a remarkable step forward i.e. you can actually talk to people. Perhaps that was the thinking behind Nespressos (a subsidiary of Nestle) decision to make the telephone the companys most important technological weapon. Kramer quotes Arnaud Deschamps, President of Nespresso France, who says: in France, when people have problems they prefer human contact . . . they prefer to go to a boutique or call.
The French seem to have a better understanding than many of their European neighbors of the need to engage personally with customers, and this is reected in the countrys lower use of social networking sites.
. . . although consumers might well be sympathetic to environmental issues (indeed there was a strong bias towards green consumers in the sample), this does not necessarily translate into making the switch to green electricity.
by listening to them and addressing their concerns. Even where a business is technology-driven, the relationships matter. Ritsuko Ozakis focus, ultimately, is on resistance to innovation the limits placed on innovative activity by consumers reluctance to buy into the concept (Ozaki, 2011). His article looks specically at sustainable innovation in the form of green electricity. Such environmentally friendly products might seem to bring advantages that make their success a certainty. However, their diffusion into the market place has so far been a slow process. An examination was carried out into the motivation of consumers who might, or might not, adopt a green electricity tariff. It consisted of focus group discussions, a questionnaire survey with 103 respondents and interviews with ten people. The most signicant overall nding was that although consumers might well be sympathetic to environmental issues (indeed there was a strong bias towards green consumers in the sample), this does not necessarily translate into making the switch to green electricity.
schools and continue into further education. Both society and the markets benet from innovation. The message has to be that sustainable innovation, as much as technological and manufacturing innovation, has to be perceived as the norm, the road down which society must go.
Comment
This review is based on A new model for innovation, by David R. Brousell; How French innovators are putting the social back in social networking, by Larry Kramer; and Adopting sustainable innovation: what makes consumers sign up to green electricity? by Ritsuko Ozaki. Broussells article provides a useful snapshot of company attitudes to innovation. It offers grounds for cautious optimism, so long as the right mechanisms are put in place to ensure that good intentions are translated into something more substantial. Francophiles always believe that the French way is the best way, and they will enjoy conrmation of this in many of Kramers observations, even if the case is made by reference to just a handful of companies. As Ozaki observes, it is the gap between good intentions and actual practice that needs to be lled in relation to sustainable innovation. There are some particularly illuminating observations by interviewees.
Keywords: Communications, Consumer behaviour, Product development, Product innovation, Manufacturing systems, Social networking sites
References
Brousell, D.R. (2010), A new model for innovation, Managing Automation, Vol. 25 No. 9, pp. 28-33, ISSN 0895-3805. Kramer, L. (2010), How French innovators are putting the social back in social networking, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 88 No. 10, pp. 121-4, ISSN 0017-8012. Ozaki, R. (2011), Adopting sustainable innovation: what makes consumers sign up to green electricity?, Business Strategy and the Environment, Vol. 20 No. 1, pp. 1-17, ISSN 0964-4733.
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