Tag Archives: innovation

Journeys: Seeing the world as customers do

Posted on March 21, 2016 by | Leave a comment

Again McKinsey says something relevant to ocean carriers. Do you see the world from the customer’s viewpoint? You deal in journeys, why not look at the customer’s?  Or are you stuck trying to make touchpoints successful without seeing the big picture?

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To maximize customer satisfaction, companies have long emphasized touchpoints. But doing so can divert attention from the more important issue: the customer’s end-to-end journey.

Source: From touchpoints to journeys: Seeing the world as customers do | McKinsey & Company

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Posted in Production Operations, Service Management, Shipping, Supply Chains, Uncategorized

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Eight essentials of innovation?

Posted on May 6, 2015 by | Leave a comment

McKinsey is reputable and has a good track record.  Are these essentials oriented enough toward disruptive innovation?  Or are they too much in line with large company needs?  I’m constantly reminded of Clayton Christensen and the big firm need to keep appeasing their very large customers with new highly targeted minor innovations instead of disruptive changes that would require the old customers to throw away their investment.  But we may need more of the latter.

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The eight essentials of innovation | McKinsey & Company.

Still, it is very interesting. I was impressed at how many firms think they have a culture of innovation.  I’ve been watching SAP from within their user organization, and seeing how really slow even a very substantial corporate wide thrust at disruptive innovation fueled by high powered individuals is.

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Posted in Leadership, Org Behavior, Strategy

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Brightening the black box of R&D

Posted on April 16, 2015 by | Leave a comment

McKinsey’s take on measuring productivity of R&D.  This is a very contentious area, and many have criticized companies for spending too much or too little on R&D.  It’s largely based on hypotheticals however, because it is hard to guess what a project is going to contribute.  And it’s worse at small innovative enterprises, which are mostly R&D, because there is little info on what the impact of new products will be. The formula would seem to work well at Clayton Christensen’s large stable companies which are simply innovating to please a large group of present and demanding customers, rather than disrupt through spectacular new innovation to gather new customers.  Still, it’s good reading and extends the thinking in this area.

Brightening the black box of R&D | McKinsey & Company.

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Posted in Advanced Computing, Managerial Econ, Production Operations

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