Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 13
 Why has this book not received more attention? April 8, 2005
Robert Morris (Dallas, Texas)
41 out of 42 found this review helpful
This is one in a series of several dozen volumes which comprise the "Harvard Business Review Paperback Series." Each offers direct, convenient, and inexpensive access to the best thinking on the given subject in articles originally published by the Harvard Business School Review. I strongly recommend all of the volumes in the series. The individual titles are listed at this Web site: www.hbsp.harvard.edu. The authors of various articles are among the world's most highly regarding experts on the given subject. Each volume has been carefully edited. Supplementary commentaries are also provided in most of the volumes, as is an "About the Contributors" section which usually includes suggestions of other sources which some readers may wish to explore.
In this volume, we are provided with eight articles, in each of which the focus is on a specific aspect of innovation. For example, the first was co-authored by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne. They explain how to create new market space. The core concepts were later developed in much greater depth (no pun intended) in their book, Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make Competition Irrelevant. They are also the co-authors of a second article in this HBR anthology, "Knowing a Winning Business Idea When You See One." They offer three "tools": the buyer utility map (how attractive a new business idea will likely be), the price corridor of the mass (identifying a price which will unlock the greatest number of buyers), and the business tool model guide (a framework for determining whether and how a company can profitably deliver the new idea at the targeted price). Authors and co-authors of the other six articles explain how creative breakthroughs were achieved at 3M, how to build an innovation "factory," how to meet the challenge of disruptive change, how to discover points of differentiation, how to use the social sector as a beta site for business innovation, and finally, how and why "enlightened experimentation" offers the new imperative for innovation.
As a long-time subscriber to the Harvard Business Review, I am always curious to see which of the articles it publishes lead to books such as Kim and Mauborgne's Blue Ocean Strategy. With Michael Overdorf, Clayton M. Christensen wrote "Meeting the Challenge of Disruptive Change." Its core concept is explored in The Innovator's Dilemma, The Innovator's Solution, and most recently in Seeing What's Next: Using Theories of Innovation to Predict Industry Change, a current bestseller which Christensen co-authored with Erik A. Roth and Scott D. Anthony.
I highly recommend all of the various volumes which comprise the "Harvard Business Review Paperback Series." Every executive should own and frequently consult those which are most relevant, indeed essential to her or his own professional development. Years ago, then president of Harvard Derek Bok observed, "If you think education is expensive, try ignorance." The wisdom of that observation is especially true of attractively priced paperbacks such as this one.
My only regret is that Teresa M. Amabile's "How to Kill Creativity" was not included. However, fortunately, it is the lead article in a companion volume, Harvard Business Review on Breakthrough Thinking. For those who wish to explore her work in much greater depth, I strongly recommend Creativity in Context: Update to the Social Psychology of Creativity.
Innovation Expression that cannot be matched. September 15, 2008
Ratchild
I was pleasantly surprised at the ease of reading this book. Each patr is beautifully orientated with outstanding diagrams and notes. The ideas expressed within are quick to collect and rapidly absorbed and understood. A great 3-4 hour read that will set your innovation engines on fire!
Great! January 30, 2009
Victor Israel Garcia (Tijuana, MX)
Great book,exactly what I was expecting, I use it for teaching purposes and works great...great service
Good short article, help you catch up! March 31, 2009
Brian Glassman (Miami Florida)
You must understand that Harvard Review books are always just snippets of the last 2 or 3 years articles on that subject, this book presented some of the best articles on Innovation during that period. If you are an innovation manager you should catch up with these fine articles, because they are short and easy to read during a plane flight, and gives you an understanding of advancements in this field.
Also I must commend the other reviewers for their very through reviews.
I would recommend advanced innovation managers to buy this book if they do not read HBR.
Brian Glassman
Ph.D in Innovation Management from Purdue University
Innovation Management
Commercialization
Amazon Book Review
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Good Collection of Articles August 13, 2007
Intelligent Reader (Dubai)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
With a good collection of articles and case studies, the book helps us to recognize and seize innovation opportunities. I certainly recommend this book for executives. Another one that I recommend is Eightstorm: 8-Step Brainstorming for Innovative Managers.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 13
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