Defining innovation - what does it mean for functional professionals?

Defining innovation – what does it mean for functional professionals?

‘Innovation’, ‘big data’, ‘the cloud’, ‘sustainability’, and the list goes on.  Business loves buzzwords.  There’s no two ways about it, every technology wave, or generation has it’s lexicon. I came across a great quote from Henry Ford’s autobiography in which he speaks about ‘making to order’: Ask a hundred people how they want an article…

So you think you're innovative? Prove it!

So you think you’re innovative? Prove it!

Are you really walking the talk? Can you measure your actions and see improvements? This article reveals survey results that cover issues like these — results that might inspire a second look at your organization… As organizations, we believe the future of the professions we represent will be greatly enhanced by our ability not only…

The Importance of Beta Feedback

The Importance of Beta Feedback

Increasingly we live in a society where we expect everything to be available instantly, 24/7/365.  Yet often we take for granted the time and effort that it has taken to achieve this for each individual product or service. On another axis the world is becoming increasingly interconnected and therefore more complex.  How many of us…

Subscription based business models

Subscription Based Business Models for Software – have we reached a tipping point?

Back in October 2012 I wrote an article titled “Software by the Month – A better proposition than your gym membership?” in which I highlighted the increasing trend towards subscription based business models in terms of software licensing.  In the article I investigated the opportunities for software publishers and users alike that the model could open…

Can you prototype a contract? - do we have the right contracting skills?

Can you prototype a contract? – do we have the right contracting skills?

In one of my sessions at the recent IACCM EMEA conference which looked at contracting skills I posed the question that whilst we would rarely let a product get to market without some form of testing or prototyping, how many commercial or contract management professionals consider testing their contracting structures or agreements? If we look…