Tag Archives: innovation

Innovating Beyond GDP — Otto Scharmer

MIT Sloan Sr. Lecturer Otto Scharmer

Ask almost any economist or government official about how they measure a nation’s progress and they are likely to answer with three letters: GDP, or gross domestic product. But just as there is growing disenchantment with the way we currently run our economies, there is also now mounting discontent with GDP as the main and sometimes only indicator of social and economic progress.  That’s why I am partnering with others to launch the Global Wellbeing & Gross National Happiness (GNH) Lab to explore new ways of measuring and implementing well-being and progress in societies around the world. Read More »

Increasing manufacturing jobs in the U.S. requires innovation and variety — Donald Rosenfield

MIT Sloan Sr. Lecturer Don Rosenfield

In the last 10 years, there has been a dramatic reduction in manufacturing jobs in the U.S. due to a combination of factors, such as the economic crisis and foreign competition. But manufacturing jobs can return to the U.S., and a key component of that return involves innovation to facilitate product variety.

Companies that manufacture products abroad typically do not offer significant product variety, as the support costs — like inventory, markdowns and returns — are too high. It’s more economical to produce a narrow product line when you’re shipping to warehouses from across an ocean. Read More »

A systems engineering view of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner–Steve Eppinger

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is a huge innovation. The first new aircraft launched in more than a decade, Boeing uses incredibly advanced manufacturing technology to build a lighter-weight carbon composite plane for improved fuel-efficiency. In addition, the planes include a number of state-of-the-art design features to increase passenger comfort on long-haul flights. Read More »

Not all jobs are created equal–Bill Aulet and Fiona Murray

MIT Sloan Prof. Fiona Murray

From the Boston Globe

October 17, 2012

We heard the presidential candidates discuss their views again Tuesday night, and it is clear that they agree on at least one thing: jobs and job creation policies are critical to the future of the economy. Yet like many politicians, policy makers, and pundits, the candidates continue to gloss over what both men certainly know to be true: Not all jobs are created equal.

Based on our work at the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship, we see two clear and distinct routes to new job creation.

MIT Sloan Sr. Lecturer Bill Aulet

There are small- and medium-sized companies created to offer traditional goods and services to a local or regional market. Think “mom and pop” operations. They include your yoga studio and the pizza place down the street. While valuable to the economy in general, these companies are not large enough to serve as a growth engine for the entire economy. They do, however, offer important opportunities for employment and provide valuable services. Read More »

Luis Perez-Breva: Prototyping Technology Innovations — Tinkering, reasoning, and experimenting: Innovation is a process.

MIT Lecturer Luis Perez Breva

Some people think that the first step of innovation is asking for $10 million. We have grown accustomed to the idea that landing that kind of money from a granting agency or a venture fund is a prerequisite to execute on an idea for a new technology or market —or for that matter, even come up with a good idea in the first place.

No wonder we see gaps. Read More »