IT Management - CIOInsight
Home arrow IT Management arrow Test Your Innovation Know-How

IT Management Slideshow:
Test Your Innovation Know-How

By Dennis McCafferty on 2011-04-19


In the traditional sense, a great breakthrough happens when a product team comes up with something brand new and brings it to market with astonishing success. But breakthroughs don’t always have to be about launching The Next Big Thing. CIOs, for example, constantly depend upon innovation to keep their organizations ahead of competitors. We devised this quiz to test your knowledge of the kinds of breakthroughs that enabled companies across a wide range of industries to achieve success. We challenge you to identify the breakthrough concept with the company that put this innovation to good use. Questions and answers are based on the case studies featured in the book "Breaking Away: How Great Leaders Create Innovation That Drives Sustainable Growth – And Why Others Fail" (McGraw Hill/Available now). Authors Jane Stevenson and Bilal Kaafarani examine the stories behind a number of high-profile, corporate breakthroughs and extract lessons that you can apply to your IT organization. Stevenson is vice chairman of board and CEO services at Korn/Ferry International, a leading C-suite talent management firm. Kaafarani is a former SVP of global research and innovation at Coca-Cola.

LATEST STORIES

BLOGS
 
  • of

Question


When customers said they didn't want to post their photographs on social network sites, which cosmetic company came up with a digital, customized “perfect look” tool that women could have e-mailed directly to them?

Answer:


Estee Lauder, as part of its “Your Beauty, Your Style, Your Profile” campaign.
Key Takeaway: Listen and learn from your customers' comments on Web sites and in social media.

Question:


Which toy company used the power of narrative to turn a $30 million product into a $500 million-plus brand?

Answer:


Hasbro, which sparked a sales surge and movie franchise by creating intriguing plot lines to revive Transformers. Key Takeaway: Use good storytelling to sell your vision.

Question:


Which business had a breakthrough by answering this question: “If file-sharing works for addresses, documents, music and movies, why can’t it transfer voice data?”

Answer:


Skype, which found no reason not to make it happen. Key takeaway: Breakthroughs often stem from asking: “Why not?”

Question:


Which food giant broke off a brand’s highly associated alignment with one particular product to embrace a more diversified approach?

Answer:


Kraft, which greatly expanded its customer base by promoting Philadelphia Cream Cheese as a food for desserts, late-night snacks, tailgating, etc.Key takeaway: Think about broader applications for existing resources.

  • More slideshows

FEATURED SPONSORED VIDEOS

FEATURED SPONSORED ARTICLES

Erasable E-Paper Saves Trees, Cuts Costs

Why Smart Companies Should Adopt the Lessons of Gaming

Interest in Mobile WiFi Hotspots Fuels New Solutions

A Closer Look at Public Cloud Security

View More Articles

  Brought to You By
Click Here



 

Advertisement

Sponsored Links
  • Try Windows Azure free for 90 days

  • Introducing the world's first family of systems with integrated expertise

  • FREE Securing Smartphones & Tablets for Dummies Book from Sophos
  • 77% of the Fortune 500 Manage Content Securely with Box.
  • Leverage your virtual computing environment with Dell.
  • Build an IT Infrastructure That Delivers the Future
  • 5 New Technologies That Will Change Enterprise ITAdvertisement
  • eWEEK Quick LInks

     
    Close this advertisement