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The Google model : managing continuous innovation in a rapidly changing world
Steiber A., Springer Publishing Company, Incorporated, Cham, Switzerland, 2014. 125 pp. Type: Book (978-3-319042-07-7) |
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We cannot deny that in the globalized world of the 21st century we face very rapid technological development. This means the lifetime of any innovation or any product/service is getting shorter and shorter, and that time to market (TTM) is shrinking. If a company wants to remain competitive, it needs to maintain a continuous flow of innovation--innovation in technology and innovation in management--and this is the main topic of the book.The book does a good job motivating the need for a paradigm shift in management to sustain continuous innovation. A company that depends on outdated experience (we were successful with this in the past and we will continue doing it the same way) will dwindle to irrelevance and disappear from the competitive scene. Annika Steiber, the author, proposes a theory, an example, and a plan regarding management and leadership in the area of continuous innovation. The theory, Part 1 of the book, presents six management principles for continuous innovation. It starts by showing that companies usually face a paradox. They want to cut costs by increasing productivity and efficiency, yet spend money on innovations that may not earn income until much later (if at all). Based on this paradox, and the need for continuous innovation, the six principles of management are introduced and discussed: - (1) Dynamic capabilities: the ability to utilize resources to reach goals. A goal can be a threat or an opportunity.
- (2) Continuously changing organization: the company needs to be flexible enough to restructure and take proactive actions before problems arise.
- (3) A people-centric approach: you need your employee to be a good team player, yet also have the freedom to individually pursue innovative plans. This requires continuous training and educational programs.
- (4) An ambidextrous organization: to embrace innovation, a company must not forget its daily production. You need continuous income to sustain continuous innovation.
- (5) An open organization that networks with its surrounding: a company may not have the resources (time, people, or technology) to continuously innovate and come up with innovative products/services within the continuously shrinking TTM. Therefore, learning from others, collaborating with others, and embracing technology from the surroundings are a must.
- (6) A system approach: any organization is a group of components interacting together. This means we must always have a holistic view of the organization to ensure that the value of the whole is always larger than the sum of its parts.
Those six principles are well explained in Part 1. Now it is time to see how they move from theory to practice. An example of the application of these principles is described in Part 2. In this second part, the author discusses how Google was built and managed based on those six principles, even when those principles were not academically out yet. Google is one of the world’s most valuable brands. Also being in a sector where innovation is a daily routine, Google is an excellent example of leadership and management for continuous innovation. The author spent a year at Google headquarters and interviewed a lot of people there. She then summarized her findings by showing how Google applied the six principles outlined and discussed in Part 1. Now a question worth asking: Is it easy to apply those principles in our own companies? To apply those principles, a company may phase a big challenge related to the stress of change. Any drastic change is not easy and may be painful at times. This is why Part 3 of the book describes five general steps in the change process that every company goes through when it implements an organizational change. Raising the awareness of these five steps leads to a faster and more successful change process. Those five steps can be summarized as follows: Is this management concept desirable? Is the concept right for the company? If so, undertake small-scale trials. If the trial results are positive, implement the new management concept. Finally, conduct follow-up work to further improve the concept.All in all, the book is very useful. It is easy to read and follow, and not long. The only drawback is that it’s sometimes very wordy. For example, ten pages could have been written in two. This gave me the impression that the book was actually an article that was transformed into a book. However, this impression arises only in few parts.
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Reviewer:
Mohamed Zahran |
Review #: CR143033
(1504-0282) |
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Disaster recovery handbook
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Aug 1 1991 |
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Frenzel C., Boyd & Fraser Publishing Co., Danvers, MA, 1992. Type: Book (9780878355082) |
Sep 1 1992 |
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Production software that works
Behuniak J., Ahmad I., Courtright A., Digital Press, Newton, MA, 1992. Type: Book (9781555580834) |
Dec 1 1992 |
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