innovation and creativity are the keys to success. “Change or die.” “Innovate or get passed over. Be

innovation and creativity are the keys to success. “Change or die.” “Innovate or get passed over. Be creative to be successful.” A key tenet upon which progressive, market-based, capitalistic societies are based is the idea of creative destruction. That is, without creativity and innovation, individuals and organizations become casualties of the second law of thermodynamics-they disintegrate, wither, disorganize, and die New prodacts are needed to keep consumers happy. Obsolescence is ubiquitous. Innovation and creativity, consequently, are touted as being at the very heart of success. For

View complete question »innovation and creativity are the keys to success. “Change or die.” “Innovate or get passed over. Be creative to be successful.” A key tenet upon which progressive, market-based, capitalistic societies are based is the idea of creative destruction. That is, without creativity and innovation, individuals and organizations become casualties of the second law of thermodynamics-they disintegrate, wither, disorganize, and die New prodacts are needed to keep consumers happy. Obsolescence is ubiquitous. Innovation and creativity, consequently, are touted as being at the very heart of success. For more evidence, just skim over the more than 49,000 book titles when you log onto Amazon and search using the key woed “innovation.” On the other hand, consider some of the most innovative companies in recent American history. Xerox Corporaticn’s famed Palo Alto Research Center gave the world laser printing, the Ethernet, Windows-type software, graphical user interfacing and the mouse, yet it is notorious for not having made any moncy at all. Polaroid introduced the idea of instant images, yet it filed for bankruptcy in 2001. The Internet five tools an effective manager would use in this situation. Question 6 Explain the four stages of team develepment and any one of the key interpersonal behaviers typically exhibited by team mambers in each stage. Part 3: Case Study Questions (40 marks in total) Instructions Please read the following case and answer the questions accordingly. Please note that you need to answer all the questions. Creativity at Apple boom in the late 1990s was an explosion of what is now considered to be worthless Apple has always been a trailblazing company whose innovative products are almost universally acknowledged as casier to use, more powcrfal, and more elegant than those of its rivals. In the last ten years, Apple has been granted 1,300 patents, half as many as Microsoft, a company 145 times the size of Apple. Dell Computer, by contrast, has been granted half as many patents as Apple Apple has invented, moreover, more businesses than just the personal computer. In 1984, Apple created the first computer network with its Macintosh machines, whereas Windows-based PC’s didn’t network until the mid-1990s. A decade ago, Apple introdaced the first handheld, pen-based computing device known as the Newton and followed that up with a wireless mouse, ambient-lit keyboards for working in the dark, and the fastest computer on the market in 2003. In 2003, Apple also introduced the first legal, digital music store for downloading songs-iTunes-along with its compatible technology, iPods. In other words, Apple has been at the forefront of product and technological innovation for almost 30 years. Apple has been, hands down, the most innovative company in its industry and one of the most innovative companies on the planet. Here’s the problem. Today, Apple coemmands just two percent of the $180 billion worldwide market for PCs. Apple’s rivals have followed its creative leads and snatched profits and market share from Apple with astonishing effectiveness. From its number one position two decades ago, Apple currently ranks as the ninth largest PC fim- behind name-brand firms such as Dell, Hewlett-Packard, and IBM, but embarrassingly, also behind no-name firms such as Acer and Legend. These clone-makers, from Taiwan and China respectively, have invented no new products. Moreover, whereas Apple was once among the most profirable companies in the PC industry, its operating profits have shrunk from 20 percent in 1981 to 04 percent in 2004, one-tenth the industry average. Its chief competitor in software-Microsoft- sold $2.6 billion in software in the most recent quarter compared to $177 million for innovation. And, Enron may have been the most innovative financial cempany ever On the other hand, Amazon, Southwest Airlines, cBay, Wal-Mart, and Dell are examples of inredibly successful companies, but did not invent any sew products or technologies. They are acknowledged as innovative and creative companies, but they don’t hold a candle to Apple. Instead of new prodacts, they have invented new processes, new ways to deliver peoducts, new distributicn channels, new marketing approaches. It is well known that Henry Ford didn’t invent the automobile. He simply invented a new way to assemble a car at a cost affordable to his own workers. The guy who invented the automobile hardly made a dime. The trouble is, creativity as applied to business processes-manufacturing methods, sales and marketing. employee incentive systems, or leadership development- are usually seen as humdrum, nitty gritty, uncool, plodding, unimaginative, and boring Creative poople and creative companies that capture headlines are usually those that come up with great new product ideas or splashy features. But, look at the list of Fortune 500 ccmpanies and judge how many are product champions versus process champions. Decide for yourself which is the driver of economic growth: good innovation or good management Questions 1. Consider the four approaches to creativity. What approach(es) has Apple relied upon? (10 marks) 2. What are the major obstacles and conceptual blocks that face Apple right now? What do empleyees need to watch out for? (10 marks) Apple. What could possibly be wrong? If one takes seriously the messages being declared loudly and prominently in the business press and in the broader global society today, 3. Assume you were a coasultant to the CEO at Apple. What advice would you give on how Apple could capitalize on its creativity? (20 marks) -6- -7-

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