Innovation can happen in any part of the business value chain -in the business model, logistics, manufacturing, sales and distribution channel and customer service. If undertaken at the segment where a company has core expertise, innovation can catapult the company from obscurity to success. Innovation in the business model has led a revolution in the…
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The patterning nature of the human brain seeks certainty and is therefore, hardwired to solve problems. As soon as you are confronted with a difficulty, the first response is to blurt out suggestions that you think can alleviate the problem. It is interesting to note that this is particularly true of the male brain, the…
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Constructive thinking is about overcoming the odds, it is about surviving, or even thriving, in adverse conditions. The key premise of constructive thinking revolves around finding creative and innovative solutions to overcome difficulties. The innovator uses various thinking tools that collectively, serve as a methodology for sparking new ideas. So far, we have examined four…
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As mentioned in the last article, the surest and fastest way to ruin, for Malaysian SMIs, is by engaging in R&D focussed on creating revolutionary products that break new scientific or technological grounds. As pointed out, SMIs do not have the resources and staying power required in the invention game. Innovation however, is a different…
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We are now at a juncture in this Mental Protein series where we should pause to take stock of what we have learned so far on this journey. We started by understanding the silent shifts that are changing our landscape and making competition more keen than it has ever been in the past. The second…
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When competitors force their backs against the wall, companies innovate to survive. They innovate to meet the needs and demands of their customers. Every management book clearly states that success is dependent on understanding the trends and directions of landscape – the market, the customers and the competitors. You will fail if you don’ know…
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I frequently come across entrepreneurs who have developed equivalent versions of globally-popular software (usually a Microsoft product) and want to compete on price. The prevailing sentiment is that if the entrepreneur sells his software at a lower price, customers are likely to swing the sale towards his cheaper option. These entrepreneurs get stumped when asked…
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Innovation is about profitability. Having a great idea and rushing ahead, allocating scarce resources to it, is one of the biggest blunders an SMI or SME can make. Unless the path to profitability is clear, the company should either drop the idea or proceed with it in a non-conventional manner that does not tie up…
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Have you wondered how the track-size or gauge of modern trains came about? If you question it far back enough, you will find that British engineers settled on a particular size because the tools to make carriages for that size were easily available. The tools were common as they had been designed to make carriage…
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ABSTRACT The mobile workforce is a relatively new concept for Malaysian workers in the service industry in Penang. The label “telecommuter” can fit anyone who works in a home or mobile office for an employer somewhere else – whether it’s daily or weekly, at a few kilometres’ distance or halfway around the world. Further, with the extensive…
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