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The New Age of Innovation: Driving Cocreated Value Through Global Networks
From the greatest minds in business today comes a groundbreaking new blueprint for executing the next stage of customer-created value. C.K. Prahalad, the world's premier business thinker, and IT scholar M.S. Krishnan unveil the critical missing link in connecting strategy to execution--building organizational capabilities that allow companies to achieve and sustain continuous change and innovation. The New Age of Innovation reveals that the key to creating value and the future growth of every business depends on accessing a global network of resources to co-create unique experiences with customers, one at a time. To achieve this, CEOs, executives, and managers at every level must transform their business processes, technical systems, and supply chain management, implementing key social and technological infrastructure requirements to create an ongoing innovation advantage. In this landmark work, Prahalad and Krishnan explain how to accomplish this shift--one where IT and the management architecture form the corporation's fundamental foundation. This book provides strategies for · Redesigning systems to co-create value with customers and connect all parts of a firm to this process. · Measuring individual behavior through smart analytics. · Ceaselessly improving the flexibility and efficiency in all customer-facing and back-end processes. · Treating all involved individuals--customers, employees, investors, suppliers--as unique. · Working across cultures and time-zones in a seamless global network. · Building teams that are capable of providing high-quality, low-cost solutions rapidly. To successfully compete on the battlefields of 21st-century business, companies must reinvent their processes and culture in order to sustain innovative solutions. The New Age of Innovation is a complete program for achieving this transformation to meet the needs of the end consumer of the future
304 pages, Hardcover
First published February 5, 2008
21 people are currently reading
323 people want to read
About the author
C.K. Prahalad
41 books51 followers was the Paul and Ruth McCracken Distinguished University Professor of Corporate Strategy at the Stephen M. Ross School of Business in the University of Michigan, USA.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
February 7, 2009
It did present some interesting ideas about the future of innovation and how companies will be organized in the future. The whole idea of N=1 and R=G seems to be pretty valid. I see companies moving that way, but I don't think that all of them will or can.
I think he rambled on a little too long. The concluding chapter wasn't all that bad, and I think it expressed his main points pretty well. That chapter could have been the whole book and you wouldn't miss much. However, the other chapters did have nice examples that illustrated his points and were entertaining at times.
The authors fall into the typical bias of bringing up examples that support their views while ignoring those that don't. There are plenty examples of times when outsourcing has failed and companies have pulled back to their local origins.
I think he rambled on a little too long. The concluding chapter wasn't all that bad, and I think it expressed his main points pretty well. That chapter could have been the whole book and you wouldn't miss much. However, the other chapters did have nice examples that illustrated his points and were entertaining at times.
The authors fall into the typical bias of bringing up examples that support their views while ignoring those that don't. There are plenty examples of times when outsourcing has failed and companies have pulled back to their local origins.
October 7, 2015
I got this book in 2014 from an intensive five-month program in which Prof. Krishnan, one of the co-authors, was a coach.
This book focuses on the new concepts of value creation - building organizational capabilities to co-create unique experiences
with customers, one at a time (N=1); and by utilizing global network of resources (R=G). Resilient business processes and
focused analytics are defined as the glue to transform ideas into competitive operations by linking technical architecture (information technology) to
the social architecture (skills and attitudes of managers) of the firm.
This book focuses on the new concepts of value creation - building organizational capabilities to co-create unique experiences
with customers, one at a time (N=1); and by utilizing global network of resources (R=G). Resilient business processes and
focused analytics are defined as the glue to transform ideas into competitive operations by linking technical architecture (information technology) to
the social architecture (skills and attitudes of managers) of the firm.
April 21, 2020
Whole book could have been written in 10 pages. Unnecessarily dragged to 250 pages.
March 7, 2016
C.K. Prahalad has been described as one of he most influential management theorists in the world, and perhaps because of that, I expected more from this book on innovation in 21st century business. At its heart however, this book really comes down to just one major insight, which Prahalad and his co-author M.S. Krishnan explore from a number of different angles. Nonetheless, the concept is an interesting one and I still enjoyed the book.
The idea at the core of the book is simply this: The authors contend that we are moving from a world of mass-produced products and streamlined services into one where businesses develop customized or co-created products and services using access to a global platform of resources. This concept is described early on and then summarized using the short-hand N=1 and R=G. Prahalad and Krishnan then spend the remainder of the book discussing the implications that this concept has for companies in the areas of business processes, information and communication technology (ICT) architecture, business analytics and social architecture. In the latter half of the book, they discuss how a firm can assess where they are in each of these four areas and give case studies of firms that are moving and adapting to a N=1 and R=G world.
The book is not prescriptive, it's more descriptive. Nonetheless, I found the basic concept interesting and the case studies were fascinating; you may be surprised at some of the things that technology and data can do (and are already doing). Sometimes the writing style was a bit elliptical for my tastes, but the authors are never less than engaging. Written in 2008, the book already feels a bit dated; the world the authors were describing is now even more with us than it was before. The idea remains relevant and it even made me think about my own work in higher education - which is people-based and highly customized - differently. So no matter what industry or field of human endeavor you're in, you probably can't afford to ignore the idea of N=1 and R=G.
The idea at the core of the book is simply this: The authors contend that we are moving from a world of mass-produced products and streamlined services into one where businesses develop customized or co-created products and services using access to a global platform of resources. This concept is described early on and then summarized using the short-hand N=1 and R=G. Prahalad and Krishnan then spend the remainder of the book discussing the implications that this concept has for companies in the areas of business processes, information and communication technology (ICT) architecture, business analytics and social architecture. In the latter half of the book, they discuss how a firm can assess where they are in each of these four areas and give case studies of firms that are moving and adapting to a N=1 and R=G world.
The book is not prescriptive, it's more descriptive. Nonetheless, I found the basic concept interesting and the case studies were fascinating; you may be surprised at some of the things that technology and data can do (and are already doing). Sometimes the writing style was a bit elliptical for my tastes, but the authors are never less than engaging. Written in 2008, the book already feels a bit dated; the world the authors were describing is now even more with us than it was before. The idea remains relevant and it even made me think about my own work in higher education - which is people-based and highly customized - differently. So no matter what industry or field of human endeavor you're in, you probably can't afford to ignore the idea of N=1 and R=G.
April 26, 2016
This book is an odd one. I liked the content, and the ideas presented. In fact, I forwarded several of the ideas and examples found in the book to my corporate office for consideration. The problem is, for some reason, the book reads choppy. It jumps from one company to another, citing examples of what they are doing in relation to the thesis, but these citations lack depth.
Still, there are stellar ideas inside this book. You would need to cherry pick ideas from the book. I think everyone could gain information inside. Just not all of it. I would still recommend this book, even with that thought in mind.
Still, there are stellar ideas inside this book. You would need to cherry pick ideas from the book. I think everyone could gain information inside. Just not all of it. I would still recommend this book, even with that thought in mind.
November 22, 2013
Some great ideas, but as others mentioned, the book gets quite "rambling" after a certain point. I actually ended up skipping large chunks of it because of a lack of a strong tone and repetitive ideas. If you want a quick, effective read with the same concept, I suggest "free prize inside" by Seth Godin
July 31, 2011
solid examples from India and US that exemplify the future of business innovation: co-creation of personalized experience, melting of hardware software and services into 1. nice mathematical like acronym N=1, R=G.
August 10, 2011
American English is not the author's native language, which makes this book difficult. However, there are a ton of great ideas in this book. The only problem, most businesses that can afford them are too bureaucratic to implement them.
October 14, 2010
Very Good
March 1, 2013
Worth of reading, with few new and inspiring views. Mayby slightly missleading title, as this discusses more about business models and how to fullfil single customer needs with global resources.
August 11, 2013
A brilliant book on the new business paradigm. Highly insightful and new insights.
October 12, 2013
I like this book because it brings out the value if business process and converges ideas and concepts that are often explored separately.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews