Innovation

GLOBAL INVESTOR FOCUS Innovation — 33
Connectivity................................................ page 34
Renewables................................................page 35
Food........................................................... page 36
Robotics..................................................... page 37
Fertility....................................................... page 38
Solar energy................................................ page 39
Education.................................................... page 40
Toys............................................................ page 40
Carbonomics............................................... page 41
Chips.......................................................... page 42
E-payments................................................. page 43
Hedge funds............................................... page 44
Focus on Asia ...................................... pages 44/45
Alzheimer’s.................................................. page 46
Transportation.............................................. page 47
Redefining the customer/supplier relationship
In a world where information flow is becoming increasingly ubiquitous
and free, industries’ product development curves are steepening,
and public/private/social partnerships are becoming more economically
valuable, companies must constantly rethink their business models
and how they interact with their customers as a part of sustainable
competitive advantage.
“One way to think about it is actually
as innovation within the interface
itself, between the seller and the
buyer.” Niraj Dawar
“We have long assumed the firm
will dominate the consumer because
it has more information and more
resources. But what we are
beginning to see now is that the
consumer has as much access
to information as the firm has had
traditionally.” C. K. Prahalad
“Innovation typically works through
the process of cross fertilization.
I think there has never been a better
laboratory for cross fertilization than
the Internet.” Chris Anderson
“A billion Chinese and a billion
Indians using resources the way the
West does is going to create
enormous pressures.” C. K. Prahalad
“Food oriented towards health
and vitality is going to be a big
thing.” C. K. Prahalad
New infrastructure /resource consumption
New distribution, logistics and production mechanisms are needed to
sustain 21st-century global economic development. Emerging markets
are developing without the existing resource-intensive infrastructures
that developed markets have. As the world’s average standard of living
rises, resource consumption will need to become far more efficient.