7Nov2019
Innovation as a Springboard to Success with Costas Markides
by: Nordic Business Forum
Did you know that there is more than just one way to innovate? Often, companies use “innovation” as a blanket term to do something new with the expectation that it will achieve groundbreaking results. But if you are diving into the deep end of innovation without all the facts, your department or company may end up sinking rather than swimming.
Costas Markides is a professor of strategy and entrepreneurship at the London Business School, and a specialist in strategic innovation, business model innovation, diversification, and international acquisitions. As a specialist in innovation, Costas is well-versed in the different types of innovation. “There is product innovation, business model innovation, technological innovation, strategic innovation, and process innovation,” he explains. Innovation can mean and be many things, and businesses have to decide what kind of innovation they want to aspire to be.
For business leaders, this begs the question: Which type of innovation do you aspire to achieve? Answering this question, Costas states, is the necessary first step down the road to improving and growing your business in the marketplace.
For Costas, innovation is often incremental and radical. The results of being an innovator are easy to spot, such as growth, higher profits, a motivated workforce, customer loyalty, prestige, and reputation. We can name examples of people who have innovated and created something great, whether they are famous or not. The problem comes when we try to copy innovation; things get tricky when we try to figure out how to actually replicate what the innovator did.
To figure out exactly what kind of solution your company needs, you have to begin with a diagnosis. Costas spoke about this and the following steps at Nordic Business Forum 2019. To read about what he said and learn from his examples on diagnosing and invigorating innovation for your business, download our Executive Summary.
