Dual Focus on Broad Exploration & Innovation While
Simultaneously Assessing and Controlling the Impact of Complexity
Study Provides Practical Insights on Understanding Customer
Needs, Managing Innovation Resources and Unraveling Cost
of Complexity; Features Interview with CEO of Humana
DALLAS and PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 26, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- Innovating to meet the needs of the marketplace while managing the complexity and costs of an ever-expanding product portfolio is the key topic of Smart Growth: Innovating to Meet the Needs of the Market without Feeding the Beast of Complexity, an important new joint study released today by George Group Consulting and the Wharton School's Knowledge@Wharton. Drawing on real-world examples, insights and proprietary research, and featuring an extensive interview with the CEO of Humana, the report discusses how smart growth companies can think "ambidextrously" about their businesses by focusing on innovation and broad exploration, while simultaneously assessing and controlling the impact of complexity on efficiency and cost-competitiveness.
"This report provides fresh new thinking on many of the issues challenging CEOs of growth-hungry companies - What is the next big idea or market opportunity? How can we tackle the complexity in our portfolio, while remaining innovation-focused? How can we bring our innovations to market faster? How much are these innovations really costing us?" said Dan Chow, Senior Vice President at George Group.
The report, to be published by Knowledge@Wharton, focuses on three key areas:
-- Getting to the Heart of the Customer - How do companies
know what products and services their customers want - and
are willing to pay for? Unbridled product proliferation
in the hopes of "hitting it right" can often lead companies
into the trap of having too much complexity, consuming
resources and eroding returns. The report examines ways
that companies can better identify the unmet and
unarticulated needs of the customer and align their
innovation processes to those insights, resulting in a
stronger bottom line and increased market visibility.
-- The Impact of Clutter on Time-to-Market - Too many
companies spread their innovation resources too thin,
often the result of a "disconnect" with internal processes,
inadequate understanding of customer needs or the late
arrival in the marketplace with new offerings. According
to the report, innovation shouldn't be approached as just
a matter of products and services - it should be an
integral part of internal process design. Companies that
focus their resources on those projects with the greatest
chances to succeed (and which drive the greatest value for
customers and for the company), versus working on rigid
multi-year timeframes, are able to get innovations to
market more quickly.
-- Getting a Grip on the Costs of Complexity - How can
companies go about unraveling the knot of cost and
complexity to free up resources and accelerate innovation?
The authors discuss ways that companies can examine existing
operations to understand the actual costs incurred and how
to avoid creating more "clutter" while driving innovation.
In addition, the report takes a close look at the impact
of offshoring on complexity and ways in which organizations
can identify operational "cost guzzlers", from highly
"siloed" corporate structures to information technology.
In addition, the report features:
-- An in-depth interview with Mike McCallister, CEO of Humana,
that examines how his organization manages complexity,
identifies consumer needs and continues to deliver
innovative products and services to the marketplace. He
also addresses the role of management in driving
innovation and keeping complexity at bay. The interview
is also available as a podcast.
"This collaborative effort sheds light on a side of innovation that is often overlooked," said Mukul Pandya, Knowledge@Wharton Editor in Chief. "As important as it is for companies to innovate and grow, they need to do it in a way that recognizes and deals with the potential pitfalls of an expanding portfolio."
To receive a copy of the Smart Growth report, please contact John Hubbs at jhubbs@georgegroup.com or (972) 789-8658. The report is also available at www.georgegroup.com.
About George Group Consulting
George Group Consulting (www.georgegroup.com) works with Fortune 500 companies and government organizations to develop breakthrough insights that unify strategy and execution, thereby creating lasting shareholder value. The firm's proprietary FAST Innovation approach provides clients with the first strategic and operational framework and tools to accelerate innovation and drive sustained organic growth. George Group is also the recognized authority in the development and deployment of strategies for Conquering Complexity of product or service offerings. The undisputed leader in Lean Six Sigma, the George Group has supported more global Lean Six Sigma operations engagements than any other consulting firm.
George Group is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, with teams of consultants based locally around the world to provide services to clients in more than 54 countries.
About Knowledge@Wharton and The Wharton School
Knowledge@Wharton (http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu) is the Wharton School's free online business journal that captures knowledge generated at Wharton through such channels as research papers, conferences, books, and interviews with faculty on current business topics, and distributes that knowledge online to a global business audience.
The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania is recognized around the world for its academic strengths across every major discipline and at every level of business education. Founded in 1881 as the first collegiate business school in the nation, Wharton has approximately 4,600 undergraduate, MBA, and doctoral students, more than 8,000 participants in its executive education programs annually, and an alumni network of more than 81,000 worldwide.