Harvard Business Review on the Innovative Enterprise (Harvard Business Review Paperback Series) [Paperback]

Harvard Business School Press (Author), Peter F. Drucker (Author), John Seely Brown (Author)

Book Description

Series: Harvard Business Review Paperback Series | Publication Date: March 20, 2002

It's not enough to come up with great ideas-companies must ultimately turn those ideas into profits. This valuable collection is full of tried and true specific managerial techniques, processes, and policies that set innovative leaders apart from their less successful competitors. "The Harvard Business Review Paperback Series" is designed to bring today's managers and professionals the fundamental information they need to stay competitive in a fast-moving world. From the preeminent thinkers whose work has defined an entire field to the rising stars who will redefine the way we think about business, here are the leading minds and landmark ideas that have established the "Harvard Business Review" as required reading for ambitious businesspeople in organizations around the globe.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

The Series: Harvard Business Review is a brand name recognized throughout the world. The volumes cover "hot" topics and perennial favorites. Books help readers understand the fundamental issues, concerns, and controversies associated with each of the respective topics. Readers can use the books to brush up on the latest, best thinking or to address a particular need in their organizations.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Harvard Business Press; 1ST edition (March 20, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 159139130X
• ISBN-13: 978-1591391302
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,568,232 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How to achieve and then sustain innovation enterprise-wide, August 23, 2006

By 

Robert Morris (Dallas, Texas) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Harvard Business Review on the Innovative Enterprise (Harvard Business Review Paperback Series) (Paperback)

In this volume, one in a series of anthologies of articles previously published in the Harbard Business Review, the reader is provided with eight brilliant analyses of how to establish and then nourish innovative thinking entreprise-wide. No brief commentary such as this can do full justice to the rigor and substance of these articles. It remains for each reader to examine the list to identify those subjects which are of greatest interest to her or him. My own opinion is that all of the articles are first-rate. One of this volume's greatest benefits is derived from sharing a variety of perspectives provided by a number of different authorities on the same general subject. In this instance, "the innovative enterprise." Readers will especially appreciate the provision of an executive summary which precedes each of the articles. Also of interest is the "About the Contributors" section which includes suggestions of other sources to consult.

These are some of the key questions to which the contributors respond:

Which "time pressure" situations yield creativity? Why? (Amabile, Hadley, and Kramer)

What are the most effective "tough-minded ways" to "get innovative"? (Pearson)

How to break out of - and stay out of -- the "innovation box"? (Wolpert)

What causes an R&D "machine" to "sputter" and how to repair it? (Peebles)

What does the "discipline of innovation" require of both individuals and organizations? (Drucker)

How can research help to "reinvent" an organization? (Brown)

If "creativity is not enough," what else is needed? (Levitt)

Those who share my high regard for this volumne are urged to check out other "Harvard Business Review on..." volumes such as those on Culture and Change, Effective Communication, Innovation, Knowledge Management, Organizational Learning. Also Thomas Kelley and Jonathan Littman's The Art of Innovation and The Ten Faces of Innovation, Teresa Amabile's Creativity in Context, Evan Schwartz' Juice, Jane Fulton Suri' Thoughtless Acts?, Michael Michalko's Cracking Creativity, and Making Innovation Work co-authored by Tony Davila, Marc J. Epstein, and Robert Shelton.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly nutritional and tasty food for thought, November 11, 2005

By 

ServantofGod - See all my reviews

This review is from: Harvard Business Review on the Innovative Enterprise (Harvard Business Review Paperback Series) (Paperback)

Today when the word "innovation" becomes more or less a cliche, this book does breathe valuable substance (not sheerly vague concepts but practical advice) to aspired innovators supposedly to have the power to steer the course of an institution. Some readers might think that HBR publications are quality guaranteed. As a regular reader on my company's monthly HBR subscription, I assure you that's not the case. However, this book is really a big beautiful pearl. In particular, I like "the discipline of innovation by Peter Drucker" the most because of the author's emphasis on innovators' need to look for simple, focused solutions to real problems, that the greatest praise an innovation can receive is for people to say "That's so obvious!" and grandiose ideas designed to revolutionize an industry rarely work. Drucker also points out that if diligence, persistence, and committment are lacking, companies are unlikely to succeed at the business innovation. Other passages like "Creativity under the Gun by Amabile, Hadley and Kramer" and "Research that revinvents the corporation by John Brown" are also brilliant. Without exaggeration, it's a very useful and great read. Dont miss it.

1.0 out of 5 stars Just a book version of the magazine: a disapointment, January 3, 2010

By 

Beverly Bachel "Idea Girl" (Minneapolis, MN United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Harvard Business Review on the Innovative Enterprise (Harvard Business Review Paperback Series) (Paperback)

How innovative is it to take the content of a magazine (the August 2002 issue of the Harvard Business Review) and turn it into a book? Not very.