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Innovation Pipeline

Good Essays

Some companies are able to sustain innovation over the long run, and their competitors find it difficult to replicate this success. For the innovative company, that innovation pipeline becomes a key source of sustainable competitive advantage. There is no one magic formula for innovation, but for the most successful firms it stems from a combination of leadership, culture and processes. This paper will take a look at some companies with strong track records for innovation, and analyze why those companies have been able to succeed where their competitors have failed.

Leadership comes in many forms, and the best leaders can drive a company's innovation pipeline. From a transactional perspective, leaders organize the company and motivation systems to influence innovation, but such organization can be replicated. What cannot be as easily replicated is a leader that actually drives the innovation at a company personally. Apple under Steve Jobs is a good example of a company that used leadership to drive innovation. Jobs was a combination of transactional leader and inspirational, and was personally responsible for guiding the development of the company's biggest projects. Leadership can inspire workers to innovate, but can also help to guide that innovation process in ways that enhance the end results. Innovation at Apple has always been linked to Jobs, and the company failed to innovate without him, and it remains to be seen if it can maintain its innovation pipeline under

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