Bose: Passion Driven Innovation

A few years ago when I was living in France, my elder brother visited me. We both walked down to the small city centre in hope of finding a home theatre system for me. Back then, I was a novice to the audio world with very limited knowledge on available systems, whilst my brother had years of experience of assembling speakers, woofers, sub-woofers and amplifiers on his own to achieve the best sound effect and quality.

We entered a store that sold several systems. My eyes were immediately caught by popular brand names such as Sony and Yamaha, particularly with the display of large multi-component systems. The intricacies intrigued me and were compelling evidence for what I perceived to be high quality.

While I kept myself busy with the popular and catchy systems, I realized my brother was stationed in a corner looking at what appeared to be a black box akin a computer CPU.

Apple finds magic number to square the innovation circle

In The Innovation Manual, David Midgley identifies three categories of challenge from which innovation can spring:  customer, technology, business model.

While examples of innovations in the technology category abound, they sometimes mask where the real innovation takes place. For example, the Wii is less about technology than about bringing to the video-game console a whole new range of customers (yoga beginners, grannies and families) that would not be your typical shoot-`em-up PS3 user. Likewise, despite being encapsulated in hi-tech products, Dell’s or Intel’s innovations were really about creating new ways of doing business.

Can BlueCar create an upset in the auto industry?

The BlueCar that the Bollore Group (France) is about to launch will be the first electric car to run on the LMP (Lithium Metal Polymer) battery, which Bollore claims  will deliver superior autonomy and performance/weight benefits. While Bollore banks on this technological innovation to create a decisive competitive advantage, it is also conscious of being a new comer in the world of auto manufacturers, lacking brand recognition as well as distribution and aftermarket channels. Can Bollore create an upset? Here are a three readings of the situation.