Unrelenting Innovation: How to Create a Culture for Market Dominance - Hardcover

by Gerard J. Tellis (Author)

The hands-on guide for fostering relentless innovation within your company

Gerard Tellis, a noted expert on innovation, advertising, and global markets, makes the compelling case that the culture of a firm is the crucial driver of an organization's innovativeness. In this groundbreaking book he describes the three traits and three practices necessary to create a culture of relentless innovation. Organizations must be willing to cannibalize successful products, embrace risk, and focus on the future. Organizations build these traits by providing incentives for enterprise, empowering product champions, and encouraging internal markets.

Spelling out the critical role of culture, the author provides illustrative examples of organizations with winning cultures and explores the theory and evidence for each of the six components of culture. The book concludes with a discussion of why culture is superior to alternate theories for fostering innovation.

• Offers a groundbreaking take on innovation that is driven by a company's culture
• Shows what it takes to create a culture of innovation within any organization
• Based on a study of 770 companies across 15 countries, the origin of 90 radical innovations spanning over 100 years, and the evolution of 66 markets spanning over a 100 years
• Provides numerous mini cases to illustrate the workings of culture
• Written by Gerard Tellis director of the Center for Global Innovation

This must-have resource clearly shows the role of culture in driving relentless innovation and how to foster it within any organization.

Front Jacket

"Through decades of rigorous research, Professor Gerard Tellis posits a powerful thesis: that the internal culture of a firm is the primary driver of innovation. . . . This book is deep in theory and rich in insight." --From the Foreword by Vijay Govindarajan

In Unrelenting Innovation, Gerard Tellis (a noted expert on innovation, advertising, and global markets) makes the convincing case that the culture of a firm is the crucial driver of an organization's ability to innovate. Using powerful cases to illustrate his message, Tellis shows how changing an organization's culture can overcome the main barrier to innovation--the complacency of success by current incumbents. The ideal culture of an innovative organization is comprised of three traits and three practices. Innovative organizations should be willing to cannibalize successful products, embrace risk, and focus on the future. Leaders can ensure that these traits are incorporated into their organization's culture by introducing the following three practices: provide incentives for enterprise, empower product champions, and encourage internal markets. To bolster this thesis, Tellis outlines why transforming an organization's culture is superior to alternate theories for fostering innovation.

Based on multiple research studies and grounded in practical recommendations, Unrelenting Innovation contains a wealth of valuable tools to help senior leaders implement the practices that will foster a culture of relentless innovation. The book is filled with illustrative examples of established companies that have stumbled in recent years due to lack of innovation and rising new stars that have become innovative giants.

Back Jacket

"Through decades of rigorous research, Professor Gerard Tellis posits a powerful thesis: that the internal culture of a firm is the primary driver of innovation. . . . This book is deep in theory and rich in insight." --FROM THE FOREWORD BY VIJAY GOVINDARAJAN

In Unrelenting Innovation, Gerard Tellis (a noted expert on innovation, advertising, and global markets) makes the convincing case that the culture of a firm is the crucial driver of an organization's ability to innovate. Using powerful cases to illustrate his message, Tellis shows how changing an organization's culture can overcome the main barrier to innovation--the complacency of success by current incumbents. The ideal culture of an innovative organization is comprised of three traits and three practices. Innovative organizations should be willing to cannibalize successful products, embrace risk, and focus on the future. Leaders can ensure that these traits are incorporated into their organization's culture by introducing the following three practices: provide incentives for enterprise, empower product champions, and encourage internal markets. To bolster this thesis, Tellis outlines why transforming an organization's culture is superior to alternate theories for fostering innovation.

Based on multiple research studies and grounded in practical recommendations, Unrelenting Innovation contains a wealth of valuable tools to help senior leaders implement the practices that will foster a culture of relentless innovation. The book is filled with illustrative examples of established companies that have stumbled in recent years due to lack of innovation and rising new stars that have become innovative giants.

Author Biography

Gerard J. Tellis is a professor of marketing, management, and organization, Neely Chair of American Enterprise, and director of the Center for Global Innovation, at the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business. Dr. Tellis is an expert in innovation, advertising, global market entry, new product growth, quality, and pricing. His book, Will and Vision, was cited as one of the top 10 books in business by the Harvard Business Review and was the winner of the American Marketing Association Berry Award for the best book in marketing over the last three years.