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The Forward-thinking Food Industry

The Forward-thinking Food Industry

Aug-16-11 By Aminda
An interesting new study from Antennae says the global food market boasts trends on the cusp of transformational global growth. This market is “evolving with imaginative product developments and new brands hitting retailers' shelves. These innovations, such as functional foods providing extra health benefits and edible coatings result in a greater variety of foods reaching consumers' shopping baskets.”  
Innovation in the food industry should not be any surprise with companies like General Mills and Campbell’s leading the way. Among General Mills’ initiatives is the posting of detailed technical briefs on the company’s G_WIN website. While the site has received a lot of attention, the company also runs an internal social networking-type site which allows staff to collaborate with each other, culminating in annual conferences where various business units come together in person to share ideas. They also create opportunities to generate ideas from and engage with suppliers, start-ups and entrepreneurs.
Innovation in India

Innovation in India

Aug-15-11 By Aminda
“There’s a bit of Innovation in every Indian’s life”, according to a recent article analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of innovation in India. The author sees several aspects holding the country back from reaching its full potential. For example, when it comes to spending on research, Indian companies do not even spend 5% of the net sales on research. Then there is the absence of collaboration between educational institutes, laboratories with the industry which are at the heart of success in innovation. The country is also lacking the presence of angel investors putting money into new product or business idea.
However, several recent studies, including the Global Innovation Index, support India’s great potential for innovation leadership. Here are a few ways that creative mindset is demonstrated.
The Publisher’s Dilemma

The Publisher’s Dilemma

Aug-12-11 By Aminda
Creative minds and innovative problem solvers – the publishing industry needs your help to guide it into the future. Affordable eReaders have brought eBooks to the masses and Google’s rapid entry into the eBook retailer space seems to signify a tipping point of sorts, when it’s clear that the domination of eBooks is in the not-too-distant future. The challenge to writers and publishers is how to make this transition successful and sustainable and beneficial to all parties; publishers, retailers, authors and readers.
A Huffington Post article provides a concise, insightful look at this transformation, pointing out some of the major challenges and opportunities. On one hand, ePublishing provides incredible opportunity to aspiring writers. The ease of self publishing allows anyone to profit from their work without dealing with the chain of agents and publishers. It's a liberating development for many authors, according to one writer, who explains that as traditional book sales have declined, publishers have gradually provided fewer benefits to their authors.

Improving the RPF Process

Aug-11-11 By Aminda
The Request for Proposal is a process usually associated with large, slow moving, traditional corporations and government agencies. The lengthy document contains all the detailed functional, technical and business requirements for large scale projects ranging from constructing a bridge to planning a capital campaign. Once the document is created the organization has to seek bidders, review bids and make a selection; altogether a 6- to 12-month process.
Multi-generational Teams Produce Innovation Results

Multi-generational Teams Produce Innovation Results

Aug-09-11 By Aminda
An interesting article on CLOmedia.com analyzes the workplace relationship between Gen X (currently between about ages 30 and 45) and the younger Gen Y. The author asks whether these two generations can partner to make a significant impact on workplace technology and learning, or if the conflicting egos will lead to disparity?
How Not to Measure Innovation?

How Not to Measure Innovation?

Aug-08-11 By Aminda
The decline of the U.S. stock market has fueled a debate regarding the methodology used to determine Forbes’ list of the world’s 100 most innovative companies. The list, published last month, was lead by expected heavy hitters such as Google and Apple alongside some lesser known players like Tencent Holdings at #4 and Salesforce.com at #1.
Kudos to Forbes for also allowing its writers to publish critiques of the list. Both business writer Bruce Upbin and innovation columnist Haydn Shaughnessy wrote analytical commentary regarding the methodology used rank the companies. The process calculated a company’s innovation premium by determining the proportion of a company’s market value that cannot be accounted for from the net present value of cash flows of its current products in its current markets. Or as Upbin says, “it’s the premium the stock market gives a company because investors expect it to launch new offerings and enter new markets that will generate even bigger income streams.”
Connecting With Consumers

Connecting With Consumers

Aug-05-11 By Aminda
A recent post profiled some unique new methods available to small businesses and other marketing professionals to gather professional advice and consumer intelligence, particularly related to pricing and spending. A second post on the topic seemed justified since there are so many other ways marketing departments are creatively working more efficiently and effectively utilizing technology.
The Eyes Have It
Companies for which click-through rates and other site visit data isn’t enough, now have another option for evaluating the effectiveness of their websites. A new service called You Eye uses webcams installed on testers’ computers to track eye movements as they navigate a site. Audio, screen, and mouse activity are also tracked during a user test to create a full profile of a tester’s interaction. The service is an appealing alternative to expensive traditional eye tracking research but has its limitations, as an article from Fast Company explains.
New Tools for Customer Intelligence

New Tools for Customer Intelligence

Aug-02-11 By Aminda
One thing that all businesses of any industry or size have in common is that they wouldn’t exist without customers. So it would make sense that businesses would want to know as much as possible about their customers: what they want, how much they want to spend and how they make decisions on products. Fortunately, with social media, crowdsourcing and other innovations, it’s easier, more efficient and more affordable to gather consumer intelligence. Here are some examples:
Crowdsourcing for the Children

Crowdsourcing for the Children

Aug-01-11 By Aminda
The National Movement for America’s Children, an organization devoted to the well-being of children in the United States, recently launched a crowdsourcing campaign designed to achieve the ambitious goal of “developing and implementing a clear strategy and set of actions that provide for healthy child development for all children.” The hope is that this plan will reduce the likelihood of unhealthy childhood experiences and help address the $104 billion the country spends each year when failing to prevent child abuse and neglect.
The organization is calling for a multifaceted approach and a holistic national strategy, including policies and actions for government, businesses, communities, faith institutions and individuals - all of whom have a role to play in supporting healthy development for all children.
TED Talks to Spark Creativity

TED Talks to Spark Creativity

Aug-01-11 By Aminda
When looking for creative inspiration there might not be a much better source than TED talks. TED is an organization dedicated to Ideas Worth Spreading. Through conferences and online videos, these events have been inspiring, encouraging and motivating people for years. A recent TEDx event at Chapel Hill University focused on presenting new innovations related to health care, particularly to improving service the neediest amongst us.

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