Free Kindle

InnovationThe Missing Dimension

ebooks Download

Amid mounting concern over the loss of jobs to low-wage economies, one fact is clear: America's prosperity hinges on the ability of its businesses to continually introduce new products and services. But what makes for a creative economy? How can the remarkable surge of innovation that fueled the boom of the 1990s be sustained? For an answer, Richard K. Lester and Michael J. Piore examine innovation strategies in some of the economy's most dynamic sectors. Through eye-opening case studies of new product development in fields such as cell phones, medical devices, and blue jeans, two fundamental processes emerge. One of these processes, analysis--rational problem solving--dominates management and engineering practice. The other, interpretation, is not widely understood, or even recognized--although, as the authors make clear, it is absolutely crucial to innovation. Unlike problem solving, interpretation embraces and exploits ambiguity, the wellspring of creativity in the economy. By emphasizing interpretation, and showing how these two radically different processes can be combined, Lester and Piore's book gives managers and designers the concepts and tools to keep new products flowing.But the authors also offer an unsettling critique of national policy. By ignoring the role of interpretation, economic policymakers are drawing the wrong lessons from the 1990s boom. The current emphasis on expanding the reach of market competition will help the analytical processes needed to implement innovation. But if unchecked it risks choking off the economy's vital interpretive spaces. Unless a more balanced policy approach is adopted, warn Lester and Piore, America's capacity to innovate--its greatest economic asset--will erode.

Paperback: 240 pages

Publisher: Harvard University Press (April 15, 2006)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0674019946

ISBN-13: 978-0674019942

Product Dimensions: 5 x 0.7 x 8.2 inches

Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)

Best Sellers Rank: #998,428 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #45 in Books > Business & Money > Economics > Commercial Policy #2066 in Books > Business & Money > Skills > Decision Making #2500 in Books > Business & Money > Management & Leadership > Decision-Making & Problem Solving

Innovative ideas need space to germinate, grow, and develop intocomplete products. The nature of this space, how it can be created,and how to steer it are the topics of this book. The authors basetheir arguments on studies of companies from various industries thatwere either introducing new products to markets where they had nofoothold, or trying to stay ahead of the competition by continuousinnovation. It is very interesting to see how seemingly disparateindustries such as fashion, medical imaging or home lighting facesimilar issues when they have to connect different departments withinthe same organization or interface with other companies forinformation exchange. While Motorola has to balance the gung hoattitude of radio operators with the more reliability-oriented approachof telephone network operators, Levi's has to cooperate with stonewashing laundries and share techniques that differentiates them fromthe other jean manufacturers.The authors point out that the way product and manufacturing design isformulated and studied in the literature and in companies is throughthe problem-solving perspective. Design is treated as a problem to besolved, whereby an analysis is performed to split the problem intoparts, which are then delegated to people with suitable expertise. Thespecific insight of the authors is that the analytic approach isneither accurate, in that it's not what really happens, norpreferrable if innovation is to be a focus. It's not accurate, becausethere is something preceding the analysis step. As one executiveremarks, "by the time I see the parts, I already have theanswer".

InnovationThe Missing Dimension DanceKinesis: The Missing Dimension in Ballroom & Latin Dance Innovation--The Missing Dimension JavaScript & jQuery: The Missing Manual (Missing Manuals) Dreamweaver CC: The Missing Manual: Covers 2014 release (Missing Manuals) Investigating Mysteries: Literature & Writing Workshop (The Case Of The Missing Ring,Meg Mackintosh and The Case Of The Missing Babe Ruth Baseball,The Binnacle Boy) iWork: The Missing Manual (Missing Manuals) The Hidden Dimension (Anchor Books a Doubleday Anchor Book) Human Dimension & Interior Space: A Source Book of Design Reference Standards Supernatural Transportation: Moving Through Space, Time and Dimension for the Kingdom of Heaven Gorgeous Wool Appliqué: A Visual Guide to Adding Dimension & Unique Embroidery Casting Shadows: Creating Visual Dimension in Your Quilts Thread Painting: Simple Techniques to Add Texture and Dimension The ADDed Dimension: Everyday Advice for Adults with ADD The Cultural Dimension of Global Business Subtle Activism: The Inner Dimension of Social and Planetary Transformation (SUNY series in Transpersonal and Humanistic Psychology) Active Subspaces: Emerging Ideas for Dimension Reduction in Parameter Studies Geometry, Relativity and the Fourth Dimension (Dover Books on Mathematics) Lyrical Conducting: A New Dimension in Expressive Musicianship Time Travelers from Our Future: A Fifth Dimension Odyssey