I am, by nature, and optimist. So when confronted with the very difficult business conditions we now face, I can’t help but look for the opportunities. After all, opportunities do often lie in the the most unexpected places. In this case, I have been researching the phenomena that a lot of very good innovation comes in the face of great adversity. I recently wrote a column for Electronic Design on this subject. The gist of the article is that while R&D spending clearly decreases in a recession, good ideas do tend to rise to the top, and they face less competition, in these tough times. In fact, there are quite a few examples of companies and products that have succeeded not just despite a recession, but because of it. I also discuss some strategies that you and your company can employ in this time to maximize the opportunity.
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April 7th, 2009 at 3:51 pm
I just saw that Rick Nelson of T&M World posted a similar article on his blog at:
http://www.tmworld.com/blog/640000064/post/1980042998.html
April 9th, 2009 at 8:59 am
In my opinion,in these specific times,Innovation is not only means creating new products, but also innovation to all the process that the products how to be planned and manufactured !
April 10th, 2009 at 1:42 pm
Walter - I absolutely agree. And these two sides of innovation (continuous improvement and breakthrough innovation) feed off of each other. For example, continuous improvement can generate additional profit which can fund research dollars.
May 5th, 2009 at 6:52 pm
Another blog post from Rick Nelson at T&M world on innovating in a recession:
http://www.tmworld.com/blog/640000064/post/1730044173.html