الفضائية - برامج القناة - تحت المجهر - إسرائيل وصناعة العلم

الفضائية - برامج القناة - تحت المجهر - إسرائيل وصناعة العلم:

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Blogging Innovation » Get Ready for Open Innovation

Get Ready for Open Innovation

http://www.business-strategy-innovation.com/wordpress/2011/04/get-ready-for-open-innovation/

by Stefan Lindegaard

The leaders of successful small companies understand how important it is to have the right people in the right position. When resources are slim, the ability of everyone to do their job well matters tremendously. One or two weak links can spell the difference between success and failure. So it will come as no surprise when I say that people matter more than ideas when it comes to making innovation of all types happen.

You should take a moment to think about that because many innovation initiatives fail miserably because their leaders don’t understand this simple fact. In fact, it is actually more important to have grade-A people than it is to have a slew of grade-A ideas. Why? Because grade-A people can take a grade-B idea—or perhaps even a grade-C idea—and turn it into a successful reality. Grade-B people, on the other hand, will struggle with even truly great ideas.

If we take this to world of small business, the big question is whether you have enough available grade-A people within your organization who can take great ideas, whether they come from inside or outside the company, and turn them into reality.

When large corporations tackle this question, their answer is simple; with their large body of employees, they can easily switch great people to other projects. But for a small company with its smaller staff, you simply don’t have the ability to do that. In this case, it is particularly critical to identify and develop people with the attributes and skills needed to turn an idea into a finished product or service. So before you get all fired up about generating a ton of ideas, first figure out how you’re going to match those ideas to people who can make things happen.

As you start this work, here’s another key point to remember: The skills needed to lead and manage a project within the existing core business—where innovation is likely to be incremental and resources plentiful—are significantly different from the skills needed to overcome the challenges and obstacles that greet almost any new business project involving breakthrough or radical innovation. And this is especially challenging in small companies where resources may be hard to come by. You need to staff new business projects with people who have a mindset and toolbox that match this different challenge.

You also need different people for the different phases of the innovation process, which presents another challenge for small companies. Just as some entrepreneurs are better at running a company at its very early stage and others are better at helping the business scale once the product is launched, so, too, are there intrapreneurs who are better suited both in terms of mindset and skills to various phases of the innovation process.

For example, the discovery-innovation-acceleration (D-I-A) model of innovation put forward by the Radical Innovation Group identifies three phases of innovation:

Discovery:

• Basic research: internal and external hunting.
• Creation, recognition, elaboration, and articulation of opportunities.

Incubation:

• Application development: technical, market learning, market creation, strategic domains.
• Evolving opportunities into business propositions: creating a working hypothesis about what the technology platform could enable in the market, what the market space will ultimately look like, and what the business model will be.

Acceleration:

• Early market entry: focus, respond, invest.
• Ramping up the fledgling business to a point where it can stand on its own, relative to other business platforms in the ultimate receiving unit.

This model has been used with success at many companies, which have learned that only very few people have the skills to move from heading the project in the discovery phase to heading it during the acceleration phase. The challenge this presents for small companies is obvious. With far fewer personnel to choose from, it can be tough to fill all the slots identified in this model. The good thing is that you can identify people with the right mindset and then start working on their toolbox. Making people more ready for innovation by continuously developing their toolbox is one of the low-hanging fruits and this can be done in small as well as big companies.

NGOs and Donors support in Palestine

Reliance on NGOs distorts the Palestinian economy and makes self-determination harder.

http://www.themarknews.com/articles/5301-the-palestinian-aid-trap

This article triggered me to write this note which I was thinking of these issues for long time during my work for several funding agencies in different countries. Although those comments in the article somehow applicable to other countries but I believe that effect is much more in Palestine.

I do not want to be on any side of the extremes, to stop the funding or not stop it or are they useful or not. I see lot of opportunities both on the short and long term coming from the funding agencies but I have different opinion.

It is true and understandable that the external donors have their own priorities in supporting countries no one can argue with that and I do not blame them for that. Everyone has the right to think for his advantage.

Historically lot of countries have benefited from such donor money to build their sustainable economies. I do not want to go into detailed discussion about such countries but have a look at Germany, Korea, East Europe and some Middle Eastern countries all were able to achieve a lot (to some extent) using such support schemes.

The main problem in my opinion is the ability of the locals to utilize those programs or funds.

From what I see in Palestine that NGOs are focusing on very short term objectives and building not sustainable programs that will enable the employees to live on the existing fund and look for the next round of funding.

On contrary the NGOs should focus on creating sustainable programs for long term objectives which will help them to survive after the end of the fund.

The other day I was talking to one of the NGOs who have very wonderful program funded by donors that will have large impact on the society in different aspects, but I asked them what will you do after the end of the fund how are you going to run your operations? They said we will apply for next fund. But what if the next fund has different objectives than now what are they going to do? No idea most probably they will start new project that suits the new objective of the donor.

That is why we get in the trap of the donor money. That is why the salaries in the “not for profit” NGOs is very high because they want to anticipate the risk they have and the donors money help them in that.

If they plan from the beginning programs that will sustain they would not think of providing high salaries because they will think how they are going to pay such salaries after the end of the fund.

What is wrong if the “not for profit” NGOs can generate revenues to spend them on their operations and programs why do they want always be dependent on the government or the donors money?

On the other hand the donors sometimes are mislead by the lack of information they get from the locals and the lack of clear strategic plans about what the local communities need. This reminds me of the term “garbage in, garbage out”. That is what we will get if we misinform the donors about our strategies and needs.

In short my opinion is that the donors contribute only to 30% of the problem the rest if the locals responsibility.

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أخيرا استثمار عربيي في التكنولوجيا

أستوقفني خبر اعلان موافقة شركة AMD العالمية لتصنيع الالكترونيات على استثمار شركة مبادلة الاماراتية وانشاء شركة جديدة لتصنيع الالكترونيات. تزيد قيمة الاستثمار عن 58 مليون دولار وتعطي حصة الشركة الام 16%. ما زاد فخري ان المفاوضات كانت صعبة وستمرت اكثر من عام و لكن وبكل فخر فقد تمكن العرب من الضغط على المساهمين وحصلوا على الصفقة والتي ستدر الربح للعرب وتنوع اقتصادهم وتنقلهم لعصر التكنولوجيا.

كل ذلك يبدو جميل وبراق ولكن المفاجأه ان الشركة الجديدة ستنشأ في أمريكا بوادي السليكون وسيكون فريق البحث والتصنيع موزع بين ولايت امريكية وألمانية ولا يوجد اي ذكر للدول العربية!!!
فيالفخر نحن لسنا بحاجة الى نقل العلم والمعرفة فعندنا الكفاية ومايزيد نحن في مرحلة البحث عن النقود السريعة ولاحاجة لتامين مستقبل الاجيال القادمة بالمعرفة!!!.

هذه النقود والارباح ستذهب وتضيع مع الوقت ولكن المعرفة باقية تقدر ان تجني المزيد من الاموال في المستقبل.

ألم يكن بامكان الشركة الاماراتية ان تطلب مقابل استثمارها ان تفتح ولو مكتب واحد للتصميم وتنقل المعرفة الى بلادنا العربية؟؟؟

متى كيف ستاتي المعرفة الى بلادنا ان كنا نرحل علمائنا العرب ولانستثمر في استقدام المعرفة!!!

www.itp.net/news/547365-amd-spin-off-plan-approved-by-shareholders

http://innobtikar.blogspot.com/2009/02/what-kind-of-investments-in-technology.html

What kind of investments in technology do we have in the Arab World?

An announcement made in one of the Technology related newsletter has stopped me and
pushed me to write this. The announcement said one of the governmental companies in the gulf area has bought 8% of one of the most advanced companies in the microelectronics industry.
Although this might make us proud and say wow the Arabs partially owns a semiconductor company but the problem that no one thinks do we really make an advantage from this acquisition?

From the profit and financial point of view this is very good investment since both this company and this field are very successful and the ROI is high. But again is this is what we need in the Arab world and specially in the gulf area? Is it the problem in the region that we do not have money? No. That is why they are able to buy these shares for more than half a billion US dollars.

What we do not have is the knowledge, the know how, the technology, etc. does this kind of investments help us in achieving all that? Sure not specially that the shares do not allow us to have a seat in the board of the company. What hurts me more is that they announced that this investment will go to support R&D activities which non of them take place in the Arab world!

Anyhow this is not the only case in the Arab world, one of the Arab governments owns large shares (not on board) in one of the most famous and important companies in the automobile industry. This acquisition took place long time ago but so far we do not have any Arab made car.

I believe Kenya and Zimbabwe will have their own national cars before we the Arabs have it if we still invest and deal with technology transfer the same way.
I liked what china did when they put the development of their new Transrapid train lines for tendering. The winning company (German one) has to come to china, open factory for the development of the trains and all complementary products and they must hire locals. Why did they saw? Because they want to be independent from the company and want to be able to develop their own skills and experience. They own the money and they can set the rules!!

Whenever we want to transfer the technology to our countries we have to think in investments that will transfer the knowledge. This transfer does not depend on large amount of investments, just on how they are managed and to where they go. Sometimes even they can be free, lot of technology and knowledge transfer goes with simple interaction and cooperation in the projects development.

I hope someday we will have better plan for our own innovation system and technology transfer plans.


http://www.itp.net/news/547365-amd-spin-off-plan-approved-by-shareholders

هم يبنون القطارات ونحن نتفاخر بوجودها في بلادنا

كم شعرت بالفخرعندما أعلنت السعودية عن بناء أول خط قطارات سريعة في الشرق الاوسط تربط بين الحرمين لخدمة الحجاج. أخيرا سيكون بمنطقتنا سكة قطارات سريعة وفي الحجاز!!!

وبعد القراءة ومتابعة الأخبار علمت أن شركة صينية هي من ربحت المناقصة وستقوم بانجاز المشروع. شركة صينية!؟ تلك البلد اتي يُنظر اليها لتأخرها ورداءة منتجاتها وقلة سعرها. كيف تمكنت تلك البلد من الحصول على مثل هذا العقد؟ هل كان السبب موازنة الجودة مقابل انقاص التكلفة وخاصة في فترة الكساد العالمي؟

ربما الاجابة على هذا السؤال تكون لا، بل لخبرتهم بهذا المجال ومنافستهم للشركات العالمية.

قبل عدة سنوات قررت الصين ان تقوم بإنشاء خط قطارات فائق السرعة (Transapid) وذلك بالتعاون مع الشركات الألمانية. وبما ان الصينيين من سيدفع الاموال فقد اشترطوا على الشركات الالمانية ان يتم انشاء السكك والقطارات في بلادهم لكن بأيدي وسواعد شعبهم تحت الاشراف الألماني. وما كان من الشركات الألمانية الا أن قبلت بالعرض شأنها شأن كل الشركات التي تسعى لتحقيق الربح المادي وان لم يقبلوا بالشروط فلن يكون بمقدورهم اتمام الصفقة.

لم يكن يهدف الصينيون فقط الى إنشاء خط قطارات بل الى نقل الخبرة والمعرفة لأن ذلك سيمكنهم في المستقبل من تصليح وتطوير سككهم وقطاراتهم بأيديهم دون العودة الى الخبرات الاجنببية. ومع مرورالوقت ستتمكن خبرات شعبهم من إنشاء شركات ومصانع جديدة بتكنولوجيا متطورة وسعر منافس وهذا بالفعل ما حدث فهاهم يدخلون في مناقصات ومشاريع حول العالم.

كل ذلك لانهم استطاعوا أن ينقلوا الخبرة والمعرفة وليس فقط التكنولوجيا الحديثة والتي ستبلى مع الايام. نقلوا الخبرة ليس فقط على أيدي العمالة الرخيصة والمهام اليدوية الشاقة بل على كل المراحل الفنية والتقنية والإدارية.

فها هم الصينيون "المتأخرون" أصروا على بناء ونقل الخبرات الى بلادهم أما نحن فلا داعي لها مادمت هناك حلول سريعة وسهلة ومتوفرة دوما بالدول الأخرى فما الداع لبنائها وتوطينها عندنا إن كان ذلك سيحتاج لوقت طويل!!!!

لاداع طالما بقينا عرب بعقلية العرب الساعية للربح السريع دون التخطيط الطويل!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transrapid

http://www.arabianbusiness.com/546402-china-to-build-mecca-railway-linking-holy-cities