Linking Cricket - IPL & Innovation

The buzz word around Indian sports revolves primarily on Cricket. The latest event making it to the top is the IPL (Indian Premier League). The concept/business model itself is an innovation. When the sport looked almost saturated, there came an innovation, a spark of fire which ignited the entire cricketing community with unknown fire & energy. Followers of the game sat glued to the TV sets, so much so that most of the streets ran empty during match timings.

Rules are made to be broken – an old saying, but IPL has adopted this by bending the traditional barriers. The format, the team composition, the economy and the sheer size is a total change from the orthodoxy which the game was known for. Even a small modification in the gaming tradition - like including cheerleaders, was seen as a sin during the first season of IPL, but today it has become order of the day.

The sport gear has also seen a plethora of innovations. The ‘mongoose’ bat, the new design shoes, the modified helmets, and many other accessories stand testimonies for innovations triggered by IPL.

A trendsetting movement always attracts innovators not only from that particular field but also from other fields. IPL did not make only cricket fraternity to innovate; it also opened the platform for the media to innovate. There was a live coverage of the match in 3-dimensional format, a concept put into use for the first time in India. This integrated technology innovation into a sporting innovation. Even the hotel industry innovated by offering live coverage & special events along with their F&B . IPL opened doors for innovators in advertising field, media, accessories manufacturers, hotel industry and various other fields linked to the event directly or indirectly.

Innovation happened even on the field; cricketers played the game with new methods that were beyond imagination. Improvised batting techniques, variations in bowling methods, each department of the game saw innovations.

IPL – a classic example of “Innovations in Cricket”.

Credit : Rakesh Babu

BCG-Business Week - Innovation Survey 2010

Knowledge Network - Leading Invention across borders

http://www.technologyreview.com/web/24642/

“Inventing across borders” it is evident that globalization of R&D is key in emerging Innovation trends through knowledge network leading to inventions. In Indian context, more than 70% of Patent applications are filed by foreign nationals as key inventor, your coverage brought out that innovation connection setting trend. This cross pollination of ideas and market is forcing the labs to network for their innovation efforts. It is further evident that companies moving a part of the R&D efforts outside their home country are not just a part of time zone or cost benefit. They stay-on for innovation through knowledge collaboration. The question now is whether the next wave of export will be Innovation through network of R&D’s across borders. It is surprising that knowledge network is less appreciated in asia-pacific specifically in Korea and Japan... is it due to language barriers?.

Innomantra Salutes Prof. C K Prahalad

Innomantra Salutes 'Global Innovation Guru Prof. C K Prahalad' for his contribution to the Management world. May his soul rest in peace.

Innovation @ Bottom Of the Pyramid (BOP)

This concept dwells upon the idea of focusing on the lowest rung in the pyramid of consumers. A book by C.K.Prahlad – “The Fortune at the bottom of the Pyramid” made a revolutionary change in the way corporate and SMEs think about a forgotten reservoir of consumers. The book moots the idea to formulate business modules catering to a huge consumer base of an estimated four billion people who are below the poverty line.

Innovations in BOP: It is not just enough to give statistics of the huge potential customer base. The action next revolved around formulating business module around this segment with the catch that the end product has to be really economical (affordable). Though any innovation has various criteria to be fulfilled, the innovations in BOP area necessarily have to focus on economic viability. A consumer at the BOP segment has expectations as any other normal consumer, but expects the product/service to be fitting in his/her budget. There have been numerous new business models focusing on this area and are reaping rich rewards both in India and world-over. Financial products, consumer products, mobile solutions, computer and electronics, garments, food products and various other categories have explicit examples which have adopted innovations aimed at BOP domain.

If you have and can share a success story  or you have come across about innovations in the area of BOP which would help us for our research.

Innovation Inspired by Nature: Biomimicry

The book “Biomimicry” authored by Janine Benyus, describes a science that studies nature’s best ideas and then imitates these designs and processes to provide innovative and sustainable solutions for industry and research development.

Benyus’s book sets out that there are nine basic laws underpinning the concept of biomimicry:

1. Nature runs on sunlight

2. Nature uses only the energy it needs

3. Nature fits form to function

4. Nature recycles everything

5. Nature rewards cooperation

6. Nature banks on diversity

7. Nature demands local expertise

8. Nature curbs excesses from within

9. Nature taps the power of limits.

The book also gives cases of innovations which have been inspired by nature.

Comments: Since the time in memory Man has been constantly reaping nature. Apart from using nature’s gift, he has endeavoured to imitate nature and develop ideas for various purposes. This practice has rendered numerous successes and today’s world is replete with these imitations.

Innovation inspired by nature must be one of the most powerful innovations even in this modern technology driven genre. Some of the basic laws that nature adopts for its innovations (listed above) are valid for any of real world innovator. The concepts remain the same for any innovation and giving a careful look into how nature innovates with purpose will surely give more insights into the process of innovation itself.

Nature in its truest form offers unlimited ideas, it is only unto the innovative mind to lap up these ideas and implement.

 

Scribe:Rakesh