BusinessWeek Article …. Innovation Culture

In this weeks issue of BusinessWeek's In Innovation special report, there is an article on my “day job” and innovation culture. The photo above appears in the article and is of Rahul Sood, Founder of Voodoo, and myself ….

The article gives a good overview of how large corporation's can use start-up's to influence their innovation culture.

Probably the most notable quote in the article is . . . .

Their new strategy is innovation via absorption and that's very hard to do. “It's difficult to infuse the acquirer's culture with the target's culture,” says Saikat Chaudhuri, a Wharton School assistant professor of management who's followed the tactic for a decade. Even HP's McKinney admits: “Companies have to realize this isn't a quick fix. It isn't business process re-engineering. This is a fundamental shift in the culture of an organization.”HP has embraced many kinds of innovation in recent years. The acquisition of Compaq, for example, changed the nature of its business. Hurd's move to raise efficiency and cut costs changed its many processes. Now, it's inciting a cultural change. And the company that began as the prototypical story of two guys experimenting in a garage is trying to see the world through the fresh eyes of a startup. Again.

Read more . . .