27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent Framework For Innovation, November 13, 2006
Innovation and Entrepreneurship is a good resource for categorizing and identifying sources of innovation. Drucker does an excellent job of organizing the key elements involved in innovation and there is a fair amount of real world examples that help the reader understand the concepts. However, most books on this topic usually leave me asking for more concrete examples of the execution of the topics laid out here, and this book is no exception. Innovation and Entrepreneurship is more about creating a framework for innovation that can be used to compartmentalize current practices and shed light on their origins. Drucker accurately points out that the least likely sources of innovation are from new knowledge and bright ideas. The insight into this alone, makes the book well worth reading. If you are looking for a way to categorize and identify the most effective sources of innovation in an effort to budget the research efforts in you corporation, I highly recommend this book. If you are an entrepreneur looking for new sources, you might me better off looking elsewhere, such as Clayton Christensen's The Innovator's Dilemma.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
29 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I fully concur: 1st book to present innovation & entrepreneurship as a purposeful & systematic discipline!, September 30, 2006
I am very gratified to note that this wonderful book is still around & is being re-released as a new print. I read it when it was first published in the mid-80s. I remember that I had reread it during the early 90's when I had just started my own consultancy business.
I fully concur that this book is the first book to present innovation & entrepreneurship as a purposeful & systematic discipline. The book concists of three major parts:
- Part I: The Practice of Innovation;
- Part II: The Practice of Entrepreneurship;
- Part III: Entrepreneurial Strategies;
According to the author, entrepreneurial strategies are as important as purposeful innovation & entrepreneurial management. Together, they make up innovation & entrepreneurship.
What I like most about the book is the author's clear definition & concise elaboration of innovation as a disciplined business practice. He makes a very clear distinction: "Business, because of its purpose, has just two functions, & only two: MARKETING & INNOVATION. Marketing & Innovation make money. Everything else is a cost."
Best of all, he also provides some general guidelines for identifying innovative opportunities.
As a matter of fact, in Part I of the book, he describes the seven sources for innovative opportunities. Each of these seven sources are systematically covered in a specific chapter. For all entrepreneur-wannabes out there, understanding these 'innovative secrets of success' alone is worth the price of the entire book.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Forget about that MBA - buy this book and read it!, February 19, 1998
By A Customer
This is my pick for the best business book of the 20th century. I have read this book three times, have taken extensive notes on it, and still learn a great deal with each re-reading. Peter Drucker has written many excellent business books, but this one shines. Unlike other books with "entrepreneurship" and "innovation" in their titles, this book does not go through the mechanics of setting or running up a business, but instead focuses on the essence of good business planning and practice.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
