The Architecture of Innovation

Most companies struggle with how to generate and commercialize innovative ideas--full stop. In many cases, bad approaches to innovation can cause plans to backfire or prevent you from creating a new product or service that anticipates changing market preferences. And some practices that work in one context aren't going to work in another--something that many companies discover far too late (just ask Motorola). In The Architecture of Innovation, Harvard Business School professor Josh Lerner--one of the world's foremost experts on how innovation works--explains how to avoid such blunders. Lerner introduces the tools and principles of organizational economics and shows how to use them to build an innovation infrastructure, including establishing the right incentives and time horizons for your investments. Drawing from years of experience studying and advising venture capital firms, companies, and governments around the world, Lerner weighs the strengths and weaknesses of the traditional open and venture-capital-backed innovation systems. He reveals how to exploit the best elements of these systems through a hybrid "third way." And he provides a wealth of detailed examples of how it all works in practice--from successful companies in an array of industries around the world. Practical and compelling, The Architecture of Innovationprovides the missing blueprint for any company seeking to strengthen its innovation prowess.