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Posts Tagged ‘Innovations’

If you live in a tropical climate and have good soil, you know that a bamboo shoot that you plant can grow by as much as two inches an hour. That’s the kind of explosive expansion that should drive your business model innovations.

When is good enough when it comes to business model innovation? Business people know that the pursuit of perfection can often be folly. You may only get one percent more benefit from adding twenty percent more improvement.

On the other hand, there are places where as little as a one percent improvement can provide twenty percent more benefits. Creating a business model innovation advantage is just such an area where the pursuit of perfection pays off extremely well.

In my interviews with companies whose track records were outstanding in business model development and improvement, I failed to locate companies that were turning business model development and improvement into constantly repeating processes like those used routinely in most larger companies for new product development and quality improvement.

While there would appear to be relatively little of this business model process development going on, clearly this direction will be part of creating future business advantages over competitors. Establishing this source of future customer and competitive advantage should focus on both establishing and improving a business model innovation process, and enhancing the capabilities of those who work with the process to employ it well. What are some key elements that companies should focus on?

Start by defining the process you have used. In the average growing company, most employees have been with the organization in their current job for only a few years. Today’s reality seems like all that there is, or ever has been.

As a result, people are usually focused on wanting to optimize what they have today. But if the company had simply done that kind of optimization in the past, the company might not have survived. How did we get to where we are today, and what does it teach us about what we need to be doing now?

Most companies have a process that has been used at least once to create the current business model. By making that process explicit, you can begin to see what elements need to be repeated and by whom.

Critical elements of this process mapping include:

(1) How does the process begin?

(2) How are objectives set?

(3) What questions are asked?

(4) How are the questions answered?

(5) What does the output look like?

(6) How is the output used?

(7) How is this thinking turned into operating reality?

Note that for smaller companies, you may be describing the inner dialogues that some of the senior executives have with themselves.

With that process in mind, the next step is to examine how you might improve your business model innovation process.

Copyright 2008 Donald W. Mitchell, All Rights Reserved

Think of South India and silk sarees invariably come to mind. The South Indian bride still prefers to wear the traditional silk saree on the occasion of her wedding. With changing times, trends in sarees are also changing. Retailers in South India are well known for their innovations in sarees. This article attempts to throw light on the latest innovations in sarees in the silk and temple area of South India.

Some of the significant innovations in silk sarees by South Indian retailers have been described below. Most of the saree innovations are by Sri Kumaran Silks in Chennai.

The saree-shirt combo

Sri Kumaran Silks has launched the concept of a saree-shirt combination, which is known as ‘Jodi Pattu’. They have designed sarees with a matching shirt piece, which is meant for the lady’s husband. Both the saree and the shirt are made of pure handloom silk. The saree has a beautiful embroidered pallu and matching embroidery is done on the shirt piece too.

The color-changing saree

Sri Kumaran Silks has also come up with the concept of a silk saree that changes color. When the wearer of the saree moves out of her home, the color of the saree changes. The retailer claims that this is the first ever color-changing saree to be developed in the world.

The Durbar Krishna Saree

The Durbar Krishna saree has been developed by RMKV. This saree depicts a famous picture of Lord Krishna in the pallu, in which Swarowski crystals have also been used. This image is believed to bring good luck to the owner.

The zip-n-wear saree

This is another innovative concept in silk sarees by Sri Kumaran Silks. They have designed a saree with four different but matching pallus. Each of these pallus have an attached zip. The wearer of the saree can easily detach one pallu and attach another. This saree is popularly known as Zip-n-wear saree.

The pocket saree

This is yet another innovative concept by Sri Kumaran Silks. This saree has a pocket, which can hold a cell phone and other small items.

The landscape saree

Sri Kumaran Silks has also developed a new type of saree called the Landscape Saree. This saree is made of pure silk and the design of a rural landscape is woven into the pallu.

The denim saree

The denim saree has been designed by Sri Kumaran Silks. It is a pure silk saree that gives the look of denim, at the same time retaining the soft feel of silk.

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Copyright © 2007

2008 is an exciting year for cruising with the addition of 8 new cruise ships to the booming market.

• April – P&O’s Ventura , MSC Poeisa

• May – Independence of the Seas (Royal Caribbean)

• July – Carnival Splendor, Ms Eurodam (Holland America)

• Nov – Ruby Princess, MSC Fantasia

• Dec – Celebrity Solstice

Each ship is being built on the promise that it will be bigger and better than its current sailing rivals, with a heavy focus on innovations at sea. Already we have ice skating rinks, rock climbing walls, F1 simulators, self leveling pool tables, boxing rings, bowling alleys and 4 deck high water slides. So the big question everyone’s asking is; what could possibly be coming next?

Well, the answer is grass. Real growing green grass.

Celebrity Cruises have proudly announced that their latest fleet addition, the Solstice, will feature a grassed lawn area where guests may “enjoy bocce ball and croquet, practice their putting, picnic with a basket of wine and cheese, or simply feel the grass between their toes, while sailing the oceans of the world”. And, if all the grass isn’t too much excitement, you can go and watch the hot glass show, another industry first.

Clever, or just plain dull?

Is this really the best they can come up with? Or, are they taking a brave step outside of the current innovation trend box? In reality, the ice skating rinks are a little on the small side, the bowling alleys only have 4 lanes, and does anyone really want to go boxing?

It seems the cruise companies are measuring their success on the uniqueness of their ship innovations, but I wonder if that’s what today’s typical cruise passenger is really looking for.

Pre 1960’s cruising was all about the destination, the ship simply providing comfortable accommodation. Then came more emphasis on the actual voyage itself, with the onboard experience becoming as important as the destination. It seems we may now be facing a u-turn, with more and more cruisers wanting to explore new, “undiscovered” places which offer a more intimate cruise experience which the mega liners just can’t offer.

In spite of this, the cruise industry seems to be confidently striving forward with their bigger is better approach with Royal Caribbean’s mind blowing Genesis project on the horizon. Building by far the largest ships at sea, 2009 will see a vessel that has a capacity of over 5000 passengers with a gross tonnage in excess of 220,000 tonnes, compared to the current largest, the Queen Mary 2 at a mere 160,000 tonnes, it’s a pretty outstanding figure.

Surely there must be concerns over the damage a ship that large may cause. For a long time, cruise ship damage seems to have been ignored, when, in reality, they are one of the world’s largest, uncontrolled sources of air pollution, and surprisingly, more damaging than flying. Sewage, oil contamination and coral reef damage are all becoming increasing concerns.

Royal Caribbean have recognized this and have stated that one of the most important priorities for the new ships is energy efficiency and the minimisation of waste to make the ship as environmentally friendly as possible.

What they can’t control is annoying disembarkation queues, port over crowding and inaccessible ports. But, at least there is a boxing ring to let out all those frustrations, if it’s not already been booked up…

So what is coming next? Whilst some of the cruise lines are heading down the more subtle route, others are sailing full steam ahead with their innovative ship features. What do you think of the current cruise ship innovations? Have you ever made use of them whilst onboard? Would an ice rink and bowling alley influence your choice of ship? What do you imagine future innovations may be? And would you fancy a trip on the Genesis class ships?