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Rtekgriffin Rtekgriffin 31 January 2013
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Innovator's DNA

Although I am definitely a fan of Steve Jobs and think of him first when thinking of great innovators, one part in the book – also mentioned in “Pirates of Silicon Valley” – did not sit well with me.  When Jobs discusses his calligraphy training and how this lead to the idea to make reader-friendly and aesthetically pleasing typography on the Mac, he claims that he had never taken that calligraphy class “the Mac would have never has multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts.  And since Windows just copied the Mac, it’s likely that no personal computer would have them.”  This strikes me as ignorant because Jobs is essentially assuming that no one else could have possibly had the idea to make the font on a computer look pretty. …

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Actzikas Actzikas 22 January 2013
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Innovation Journal Log

The class conducted survey and then compiled the results and found out that the top two favorite ideas that were in our sample of JMU students were 1) Showker Shots and Smoothies and 2) Tough Mudder “JMU” edition. While I think a Tough Mudder kind of obstacle being brought to JMU is very innovative an could spark other campuses to hold their own “Campus Mudder’s” I am afraid that the project will be a difficult accomplishment. I am unsure that the whole class know the exact extent of how big the Tough Mudder is and even to make a small scale version of it will be difficult. However, I feel as if it is accomplishable if we as an organization become creative with our resources and find out way to make the obstacles difficult at a low cost.

SW…

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ME4G4N ME4G4N 20 January 2013
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Head of IT/Communications

Some questions raised by the CEO:

What tecchnologies will be used to communicate?

How will we assure that everyones voice is heard and everyone sees the information they need to see?

How will these be organized?

Definitely will be using our FB page, MGT 420, for active group discussions that may or may not deal directly with our project (product/service). Other topics may include taking polls (opinions on various topics), coordinating meetings, deciding on a company party, and etc. E-mails are easier for one way communication or private discussions. Due to the co-location, budget, and scope of project will probably not use any sophisticated collaboration software.

 I think my main responsibility will be to put together an awesome website that a…

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Robertm12 Robertm12 11 January 2013
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Ch 10 and Jacques article summary/reaction

Reading Elliot Jacque’s piece on the role of hierarchy in our society made me delve into deeper thinking about the subject.  As a student in the United States, the bureaucratic form of hierarchy is the default standard when I come to think of any organization.  You need somebody at top to make the biggest and most important decisions, with several layers underneath them dispersing the work.  I think Jacque’s makes a good point when he says we don’t need a new, flatter structure, but an understanding of how managerial hierarchy works.  The problem is to find a way to make it work efficiently for the first time in its entire history.  I was surprised that over the course of 3,000 years he believes hierarchical structures have been largely in…

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Actzikas Actzikas 11 January 2013
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Chapter 10 - Blog on Organizing for Innovation

Chapter 10: Organizing for Innovation: 

Key Take-Aways: 

“Innovation is something that comes when you’re not under the gun.”  

Reflection is key!

Disaggregated: Large firms try to create a Small Business feel by breaking down or disaggregate the hierarchy into different sub-units and then infuse them with an entrepreneurial spirit.

Organic Structure: is an organization structure characterized by a low degree of formalization and standardization. Employees may not have well defined job responsibilities and operations may be characterized by a high degree of variation. (Fosters Innovation).

Ambidextrous Organization: is a complex organizational form that is composed of both internally inconsistency architectures that can collectively achieve both shor…

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Rtekgriffin Rtekgriffin 9 January 2013
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Chapter 3 Reactive Summary

One section of this chapter that really caught my interest was when the author pointed out that sometimes the rate of technological development increases faster than the rate of consumer needs.  This means that during cycles, there will be periods where technology is available to customers, that those customers don’t have the need for yet.  I believe effectively selling these products lie in the hands of marketers, and I have definitely noticed commercials that first tell you have a problem, and then present a product that fixes that problem.  If consumer needs aren’t keeping up with the pace of technology and innovation, then it is up to the companies themselves to make them change.  I believe that this is easier for more established comp…

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Tim Devino Tim Devino 9 January 2013
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Welcome!

Welcome to Tim's MGT 420 blog, I assume you are expecting to see the blog post summary for ch. 3 of the stategic management book but it is arriving in the mail today so i will have it up at some point this afternoon. 

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Welshd Welshd 9 January 2013
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Blog 1 - Ch.3 Types and patterns of technology

In the chapter on Types and Patterns of Innovation the author begins by identifying the four different types of innovation that occur: product vs. process, radical vs. incremental, competence enhancement vs. competence destroying, and architectural vs. component. Companies in the technology industry should find it beneficial to have an understanding of which type of innovation will be most effective for them based on the resources they have and the impact they would like the innovation to have on customers and competitors.

            Next, the author introduced the technology s-curves. He points out that both the technology’s performance improvement as well as the rate at which technology is adopted in the marketplace, repeatedly resemble a…

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Mays23 Mays23 9 January 2013
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Chapter 3 Summary

       After reading this chapter, I have a better understanding of why companies do not focus and invest vast amounts of time and energy towards architectural innovation. As it said in the chapter, there is more money to be made by improving the components of the existing technology rather than create a new one that will vastly affect the whole industry. Thinking of this, I think of all of the oil companies who say they are researching renewable energy (aka "vaporware" for Dr. Wales(accidently read chapter 4)), but are still continuing to put most of their focus towards what they already have in place. The first question that comes to my mind is, "Why wouldn't you want to preserve our planet and create reliable, environmentally safe energ…

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Actzikas Actzikas 9 January 2013
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Blog 1 - Ch3 - Types and Patterns of Innovation

             Today, innovation is the driving force of America’s economy. I believe while many are fixated on China’s growing economy, I believe that it will gradually slow down as they switch from becoming a economy focused on manufacturing to an economy focused on innovation. What I see today in China is what I saw in America since the 50’s, an era of manufacturing. Clearly we can see that this era is no longer our driving force in our economy with incidents such as what happened in Detroit in 2009. Countries such as America or Japan I believe have entered in this new era of innovation where companies are seeking to make products capable of vast capabilities while focusing on simplicity. Perhaps my last sentence may sound contradicting b…

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Robertm12 Robertm12 9 January 2013
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Chapter 3 types and patterns of innovation

 After reading chapter three, Types and patterns of innovation, I was already familiar with several of the concepts presented, but still gained knowledge of unfamiliar terminology in the text.  One thing I never really thought about was that process innovation typically occurs in conjunction with product innovation.  I now see how an improvement in one can then lead to innovation in the latter.  Incremental innovation was something else I had not understood before.  I was always under the mindset that “innovation” meant a product always stemmed from “out of the box”, which is completely new and different from anything else offered.  However, simple improvements such as smaller batteries on cell phones can be considered incremental innovatio…

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ME4G4N ME4G4N 9 January 2013
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Chapter 3 Summary

I wasn't sure how different this course was going to be from MGT 372; however, after reading through Chapter 3 I realized some significant variances yet also commonalities that I think will be useful. The venture will probably be focusing a bit more on process innovation rather than product innovation. With a larger group of people thus more creative energies and an environment that allows for high risk, I think we have room for more radical innovation rather than the incremental we achieved in 372.

I found the authors point interesting in explaining the competence destroying innovation vs. competence-enhancing innovation. This made me think of Hostess's bankruptcy; I believe what helped to contribute to the demise of the company was with t…

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Walesw Walesw 24 October 2012
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Blog Post Entry

Hi,

This is a test.

Who am I?

Ph.D. in Business Strategy and Entrepreneurship. My research and consulting interests span the development and maintenance of firm competitive advantage. My interests also include analyzing the corporate innovation process, focusing upon the ability of existing firms to better recognize, evaluate, and effectively exploit opportunities for new products/services, markets, ways of organizing, or other means through which they may leverage their strengths.

~Dr. Wales

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