Rolf Wentz has been a C-level manager and CEO in many large corporations, mainly in the field of FMCG. Today, he worrks as an active investor in start ups.We have the privilege to have him in our ranks of lecturers of practice at RWTH Aachen.
Dr. Wentz has been author of a successful German book on innovation management. Now, this book has been translated into English, in a new and updated version with plenty of case studies.
The Innovation Machine, by Dr. Rolf Wentz. Published by CreateSpace, 2012.In order to launch successful innovations on a sustainable basis in frequent order, most companies have to transform themselves. What they need is an innovation management system whose components are consistent and, preferably, self-reinforcing. Vision, objectives, strategy, culture, process, structure & systems and competencies must be aligned.
In his book Rolf Wentz demonstrates how the world´s best innovators such as Apple, Google, Microsoft, IBM, Toyota, Amazon, GE, Procter & Gamble, Samsung, BMW, 3M etc., which the author calls innovation machines, succeed at this. By means of various case studies and based on his own practical experience, Wentz describes how the use of the innovation management systems will make a company successful, and he lays out the change management to transform firms into innovation machines.
In doing this, he uses storytelling and the vivid language of a practitioner. The conclusions and main indicated actions at the end of each chapter plus worksheets and checklists support the practitioner in the implementation.
In an online interview, we asked Rolf Wentz some questions about his new book -- and innovation management in general.
FTP: Innovation
as a critical element of any future-ready corporate strategy is not new to most
companies. Likewise there is a large number of more or less useful books on
that topic. What sets “The Innovation Machine” apart from the myriad of already
existing innovation guides?
RW: "The Innovation Machine" differs from other books on
innovation management in three major aspects: (1) I take a holistic view, i.e. do not only deal with some selective aspects of innovation management
but cover all relevant components that make up the innovation management
system such as vision, objectives, strategy; culture; process; structure &
systems and competencies.
(2) The "Innovation Machine" makes use of a large number of extensive international case studies of top innovators in order to illustrate the key points about the innovation management system. Although the case studies of U.S. companies still constitute the majority, the book also offers various case studies of European (Zara, Nestlé, BMW, SAP) and of Asian innovation champions (Sony, Toyota, Samsung, Hyundai).
(3) Based on my long experience working in leading managerial roles inside multinational companies like P&G, SC Johnson and Campbell´s, and now as a business angel, I focus on the practical challenges of innovation management.
FTP: In
your book you demonstrate successful innovation based on cases like Apple,
Google, Microsoft and other certainly successful but also rather large
multinational corporations. Are the implications drawn from these cases
relevant (or, useful) for SME as well?
RW: Absolutely. Most of the implications such as those concerning vision,
innovation objectives, innovation strategy, innovation culture, innovation
process and innovation structure are also very relevant for SMEs which
typically have limited innovation resources and, in particular, a limited
innovation budget.
Just to illustrate this by means of one example: major progress can be achieved by SMEs by e.g. starting a radical innovation effort with a tiny two-person team (e.g. one engineer, one commercial person) with the two team members being co-located and fully dedicated to the project. The required resources and budget will be manageable for a SME. There are only some few recommendations that, because of their more elevated cost, are more useful for larger corporations than SMES such as the acquisition of competencies via the acquisition of other companies.
FTP: How did you adopt your book from your earlier German boon into a new English edition?
RW: Although “The Innovation Machine” (in English) builds on the same conceptual foundation as “Die Innovationsmaschine” (in German) ,it hast been vastly updated and modified in some major aspects.
In particular, I have added a completely new chapter about innovation competencies (Chapter 11), majorly enriched the chapter on structure and systems for managing innovations (Chapter 10), and added many new case studies such as those of Amazon, BMW, Hyundai, IBM, Nestlé Nespresso, Samsung and Zara. Furthermore, I have added worksheets and checklists to many chapters in order to increase the value for the innovation practitioner.
FTP: Thank you! I hope that the book will sell well and, first of all, help many practicioners to become better innovation leaders.
Comments