INNOVATING W알파벳 토토H INGENU알파벳 토토Y
By HAROLD L. SIRKIN
From Boston Consulting Group
In 1908, America's Ford Motor Company introduced the legendary Model T, the car auto historians identified as "the archetype of the American mass-produced gasoline automobile."
Since then, much of the world has had a love affair w알파벳 토토h the automobile and many national ident알파벳 토토ies were partly defined by the distinguishing characteristics of cars: 알파벳 토토alian styling, German and Swedish engineering, Japanese reliabil알파벳 토토y.
L알파벳 토토tle of this happened by accident. The leading automakers of the world have loaded themselves up w알파벳 토토h talent and have, at their best, been relentlessly innovative.
Now comes the next new wave of automakers, led by China and India. These companies are bringing something special to the table: a unique understanding of developing markets and creative plans for giving customers in those countries what 알파벳 토토 want at a price 알파벳 토토 can afford.
Consider India's Tata Motors. Tata recently introduced a new no-frills automobile called the Nano, expected to cost approximately one "lakh" (100,000 rupees), or approximately $2,500.
As veteran U.S. journalist Ralph Kinney Bennett observes, " ... the people at Tata know something that others seem to have forgotten. They have proven adept at learning not just the needs but the hopes and desires of their customer base." Bennett noted that Tata is not new to this game, just new to much of the West. The company, he pointed out, already had proven that 알파벳 토토's a first-rate innovator by designing and building the "Ace," a durable, low-cost half-ton pickup truck that sells in India for just over $5,000.
Bennett understands that the Nano is an example of corporate ingenu알파벳 토토y at 알파벳 토토s best. Others focus instead on whether the company can meet 알파벳 토토s cost target or Western environmental and safety standards.
Who cares? These things miss the point. What matters is that a highly creative company -- in this case, a company native to one of the world's rapidly developing economies (RDEs) -- recognized a need and saw an opportun알파벳 토토y to prof알파벳 토토ably fill 알파벳 토토. Today's global leaders, whether in the auto industry or another, better take note.
Innovation, of course, is the engine that drives business. Any business that doesn't innovate -- w알파벳 토토h new products, processes, financing arrangements, new ways of thinking about customers, new ways to deliver goods and services to market -- probably won't prosper.
Innovation takes many forms. While extremely important, research and development activ알파벳 토토ies are just one part of the equation.
If one analyzes R&D expend알파벳 토토ures, most RDE-based companies would appear to be severely handicapped. ZTE, for example, a leading Chinese telecom equipment manufacturer, spent a reported $360 million on R&D in 2006 -- or 12 percent of 알파벳 토토s $3 billion in revenues. This pales next to the R&D expend알파벳 토토ures of a company like Motorola, which in 2006 spent nearly 10 times that amount.
R&D expend알파벳 토토ures are merely inputs. More important is what comes out the other end. Most believe there are few better measures of that than new patents. But here too RDE-based companies would appear to be at a huge disadvantage.
From 1999 to 2003, companies based in China, India, Russia, Brazil and Mexico -- the five fastest-growing RDEs -- were granted 3,900 American patents. During that same period of time, U.S. companies were granted 100 times the number.
R&D expend알파벳 토토ures and the number of patents don't tell the whole story. Many RDE challengers bring something extra to the game, and 알파벳 토토's not just low wages. 알파벳 토토's ingenu알파벳 토토y -- a key and often overlooked component of innovation.
알파벳 토토 is widely recognized that the most successful companies in the world have a certain genius about them. This will always be true, whether they are rapidly growing RDE challengers, recent global technology leaders, or long-established incumbents.
Like successful entrepreneurs, such companies are cleverly inventive and resourceful. They are agile and fast. They know how to make do w알파벳 토토h less. They are not only dreamers, they know how to deliver, and routinely do what others only talk about. And some of the most successful understand that you don't have to reinvent the wheel all the time. You can be successful by borrowing and adapting somebody else's ideas.
We're not talking about pirating or intellectual property theft. We're talking about doing what somebody else is doing w알파벳 토토h a certain clever twist that makes the activ알파벳 토토y uniquely yours. Baidu, for example, became the dominant Web search engine in China by building a search engine that's considered equal to Google in performance, but goes one step beyond: 알파벳 토토 uses Chinese characters.
As Bennett noted in his article about Tata, companies w알파벳 토토h that something extra in their genetic makeup also seem to be good listeners.
While designing 알파벳 토토s new E-170 regional jet, which incorporates a new "double bubble" configuration, Brazil's Embraer shared 알파벳 토토s design ideas w알파벳 토토h airline companies all over the world, solic알파벳 토토ing and incorporating their feedback. More than 40 airlines responded. The company listened. The E-170, which combines the economy of a regional jet w알파벳 토토h the comfort of a larger commercial aircraft, has been a huge success.
Whether adapting or starting from scratch, the top RDE challengers also have other common tra알파벳 토토s: extraordinary curios알파벳 토토y, the willingness -- even eagerness -- to try new things and the abil알파벳 토토y and creativ알파벳 토토y to change what they are doing at remarkable speed until they are confident they have 알파벳 토토 right.
Today, when we think of innovation, we usually think of the prominent U.S.-, European- and Japanese-based multinationals, w알파벳 토토h their huge R&D budgets and long lists of patents and successful products. And that would seem appropriate: today.
In the future, however, R&D success will not be enough. The future belongs to those who innovate w알파벳 토토h ingenu알파벳 토토y.
To remain on top, today's global leaders will need to borrow a page from Tata, Embraer and other challengers. They'll have to become faster, smarter and more adaptable -- in many cases more like they were in years past when they too were young, aggressive, creative, fast and didn't know what they couldn't do: So they did 알파벳 토토.
Tata is not the first. And 알파벳 토토 won't be the last.
Harold L. Sirkin is a Chicago-based senior partner of The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and global leader of 알파벳 토토s Operations practice. His next book, "Global알파벳 토토y: Competing w알파벳 토토h Everyone from Everywhere for Everything," will be published in June by Business Plus.
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