Archetypes of Innovation
An interesting attempt to uncover the secrets of innovative firms is presented in a paper from George Pool and Stephen Wunker. After asking questions of executives in 90 organization and 14 countries, they developed four “archetypes.” An archetype is simply a model or exemplar, the “perfect” example.
They called their four archetypes the “marketplace of ideas” model, the “visionary leader” model, the “innovation through rigor” model, and finally the “innovation through collaboration” model. For each archetype, they name a company as an example. The marketplace model is Google, they identify several visionary leader models – Sony, Apple, Henry Ford, Harrah’s – the rigor archetype is Procter and Gamble . and the collaboration example is Vodaphone.
THE MARKETPLACE FIRM , GOOGLE, EXPECTS EMPLOYEES TO COME UP WITH GREAT IDEAS AND SHOP THEM AROUND THE FIRM. IT’S A BIT CHAOTIC. IDEAS THAT GET TRACTION ARE DEVELOPED QUICKLY INTO PROTOTYPES, THEN RELEASED FOR INTERNAL USE, THEN PUT OUT IN BETA FORM. A SIMILAR FIRM IS BEST BUY. TELEVISION COMPANIES ALSO ENGAGE IN THIS. IDEAS FOR SHOWS COME FROM ALL CORNERS, ARE RAPIDLY TRIED, AND IF THEY DON’T HIT QUICKLY, THEY ARE PUT TO SLEEP. FAILURE IS EXPECTED. SINCE IDEAS COME FROM ANYWHERE, THEY LIKE CLOSE INTERACTION WITH CLIENTS AND PARTNERS. THEY LAUNCH NEW PRODUCTS AND BUSINESSES AT A HIGHER RATE THAN FIRMS USING THE OTHER INNOVATION MODELS.
THE VISIONARY LEADER FIRM IS CENTERED ON A KEY EXECUTIVE WHO UNDERSTANDS THE FUTURE, MOTIVATES EMPLOYEES, AND KEEPS GENERATING GOOD IDEAS. STEVE JOBS IS AN EXAMPLE. HE WAS INVOLED IN CREATING ONE OF THE FIRST PERSONAL COMPUTERS, BROUGH T THE Graphical User Interface to the public, AND WAS IMPORTANT IN DEVELOPING THE IPOD. THE FIRM LAUNCHES ONLY A FEW KEY PRODUCTS. SONY’S AKIO MORITA DID SOMETHING SIMILAR WITH THE WALKMAN A GENERATION EARLIER.
BUT MOST FIRMS AREN’T LIKE GOOGLE OR APPLE, SO INSTEAD OF REPLYING ON A MARKETPLACE OF IDEAS OR A SIGNLE INDIVIDUAL, THEY TRY TO BUILD PROCESSES THAT WILL PRODUCE RESULTS SYSTEMATICALLY. SAMSUNG DOES IT THIS WAY. IT CREATES MANY NEW AND INNOVATIVE PRODUCTS, FOCUSING ON DESIGN QUALITIES. IT HAS DESIGN CENTERS IS SEVERAL MAJOR CITIES AROUND THE WORLD.
FINALLY, SOME COMPANIES COLLABORATE TO ACHIEVE INNOVATION. THESE FIRMS ARE EXTERNALLY ORIENTED, TEAMING WITH OUTSIDE FIRMS. IT IDENTIFIES NEEDS AND SEEKS SOLUTIONS FROM ITS PARTNERS. VODAPHONE WORKS WITH EXTERNAL SUPPLIERS SUCH AS ERICSSON. EVEN ITS SOFTWARE IS SOURCED FROM MANY THIRD PARTY DEVELOPERS.
THERE YOU HAVE THE FOUR ARCHETYPES. LIKE ANY TYPOLOGY, THIS SUCCEEDS IN DESCRIBING AND DOESN’T HELP TOWARD , FOR EXAPLE, BEING PRESCRIPTIVE – TELLNG FIRMS WHICH ARETYPE THEY “SHOULD ‘ FOLLOW. THAT’S YOUR JOB!