Innovation research: why you don’t need a heart attack to qualify as a cardiologist

Today's Businessweek piece by Maddock and Louis Viton  on how education and professors might not do much for innovation made me smile. Because this is exactly how I thought before becoming an academic  from being a hands on manager. The logic is like going to a doctor whose qualification must include  having your illness. TheContinue reading “Innovation research: why you don’t need a heart attack to qualify as a cardiologist”

Cherry Blossom Festival and Government Shutdown

Last weekend we were  at Washington DC and thoroughly enjoyed the Cherry Blossom Festival on Sunday. We parked  at the Haines Point Parking  place and I was pleasantly surprised at the free shuttle which took us along the Potomac  river to Jefferson Memorial offering a great view of the cherry blossom trees along the way.Continue reading “Cherry Blossom Festival and Government Shutdown”

Southwest airlines: does aircraft maintenance mimic auto maintenance behavior ?

During the great recession (2007-2009) people became more conscious about repairing their cars since they were not going to be buying a new car soon. Airlines  too slowed down maintenance to cut costs ,if you think about it in the context of the cracks found in the Southwest Airline planes. Consider this :  individuals notContinue reading “Southwest airlines: does aircraft maintenance mimic auto maintenance behavior ?”

India-Pakistan Cricket Match seen by 1 Billion TV audience

Today’s India-Pakistan cricket match (March 30, 2011) was seen by an estimated TV audience of 1 Billion people. Life came to a standstill in both countries where “cricket” is almost a religion. For my part, I decided to postpone calling friends in India about research I am doing being pretty sure that no calls would be taken!

[Note: This post from March 30, 2011 is updated for formatting issues on May 22, 2021]

Learning fortitude from the Japanese and the iodized salt rush

The world truly bows to the Japanese for their fortitude in crisis. Have you seen [ Note: This post from March 22, 2011 was updated for formatting issues on May 31, 2021] of:

Innovation needs a “challenge vs. threat” organization culture

Today (March 16, 2011) Karim Kassam (then of Carnegie Mellon University and in 2021 at Jacksonville Jaguars) talked  about challenge vs threat  and measuring stress in the lab through blood pressure , heart rate etc. at  the Yale SOM -Behavioral Marketing -Eli Seminar Series.  This got me thinking about the organizational culture you need to allow innovation. But first let’s differentiate between what we see as a challenge vs. threat.
[Note: This post from March 16, 2011 was updated and reformatted on May 31, 2021]

Japan Earthquake: heartbreaking images -seismologists, structural engineers and nuclear power industry worldwide to learn

// <![CDATA[ // &lt;![CDATA[ // &amp;lt;![CDATA[ // &amp;amp;lt;![CDATA[ // &amp;amp;amp;lt;![CDATA[ // &amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;![CDATA[ // &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;![CDATA[ // &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;![CDATA[ var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push([&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;_setAccount&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;, &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;UA-857684-6&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;]); _gaq.push([&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;_trackPageview&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;]); (function() { var ga = document.createElement(&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;script&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;); ga.type = &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;text/javascript&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;; ga.async = true; ga.src = (&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;https:&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39; == document.location.protocol ? &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;https://ssl&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39; : &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;http://www&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;) + &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;.google-analytics.com/ga.js&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;; var s = document.getElementsByTagName(&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;script&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;)[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })();Continue reading “Japan Earthquake: heartbreaking images -seismologists, structural engineers and nuclear power industry worldwide to learn”

Facebook relationship status, DOMA and B2B Relationships

With the latest “Facebook relationship status” categories(February 2011) and the Government decision today that it will no longer defend the Marriage Act or DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act) B2B marketing thought is truly at a cross-roads. Because ever since Dwyer,Schurr and Oh’s 1987 article on relationship marketing, the customer funnel has been seen as B2B partners proceeding through the following relationship phases viz. 1) Awareness 2) Exploration 3) Expansion 4) Commitment. The parallel logic is based on the sociology of the traditional marriage starting with exploring possible mates,dating, engagement and marriage.CRM systems speak to this kind of linear view and to some extent SRM systems also take such a perspective.

[Note: This post from February 23, 2011 was updated for formatting issues on May 22, 2021]

Effecting change- leading by building consensus

// <![CDATA[ // &lt;![CDATA[ var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-857684-6']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl&#039; : 'http://www&#039;) + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); // ]]&gt; // ]]> The leadership change at Time magazine after newContinue reading “Effecting change- leading by building consensus”

Facebook not a waste of time- prove Egyptians

Betty White on Saturday Night Live made the famous comment that Facebook sounded like a "huge waste of time". Well,the Egyptians proved today that it is not!  President Mubarak stepped down after a non-violent street protest unprecedented in recent memory. By all accounts Facebook (and Twitter) made the Egyptian revolution possible. Online communication helped rallyContinue reading “Facebook not a waste of time- prove Egyptians”