Innovation is one of the important tools being utilised today across the industry. It helps the development of new customer value through solutions that meet new needs, methods or ways. Innovation refers to the use of a novel method and attribute to the notion of doing something different, signifying the principle of ‘change’.
Five Indian companies, including Hindustan Unilever and Tata Consultancy Services, are on the Forbes list of the world’s 100 most innovative companies that investors think are most likely
to ‘generate big and new growth ideas’. The annual ‘World’s Most Innovative Companies’ list was released recently, which has been topped by California-based global cloud computing company Salesforce four years in a row. The five Indian companies on the list are consumer goods company Hindustan Unilever, which is ranked 14th, followed by IT major Tata Consultancy Services (57), construction services firm Larsen & Toubro (58), pharma major Sun Pharma Industries (65) and Bajaj Auto (96).
Inspired by the likes of Warren Buffet, Gates Foundation and Azim Premji Foundation, these days, philanthropy and CSR has become a subject that gets discussed and practised more often than in earlier days. However, there is a need of it to grow exponentially similar to some of the other exponential growth segments in the society. Muhammad Yunus has had phenomenal success in helping people lift themselves out of poverty in rural Bangladesh by providing them with credit without requiring collateral. Yunus developed his revolutionary micro-credit system with the belief that it would be a cost effective and scalable weapon to fight poverty. He founded Grameen Bank in 1983, which is owned by the rural poor, whom it serves. The bank has provided more than USD 4.8 billion to over 8 million borrowers in rural Bangladesh, with a repayment of 97% . Today, Grameen methods (micro-credit programmes) are being applied by more than 250 institutions in nearly 100 countries. This programme has been viewed as “the single most important development in the third world in the last 100 years”.
Ray Anderson founded Interface, the company that makes the adorable floor carpet tiles. He was a serious carpet guy, focused on building his company and making great products. Then he read Paul Hawken’s book “The Ecology of Commerce”. Something clicked: with his company’s global reach and manufacturing footprint, he was in a position to do something very real, very important in building a sustainable world. Anderson focused the company’s attention on sustainable decision making, taking a hard look at suppliers, manufacturing processes and the beginning-to-end life cycle of all its products. (For example: If you can’t find a place to recycle a worn or damaged floor tile, Interface invites you to send it back to them and they’ll do it for you.) They call this drive Mission Zero: “our promise to eliminate any negative impact our company may have on the environment by the year 2020.” The result: the company’s profitability improved.
Today we need thought leaders who are openers of mind, like the ones above. One such action is the formation of GAP (Global Action on Poverty), which is a global platform to alleviate poverty by bringing about a marriage of thought and action, beginning with the Indian sub-continent. It is a call for individuals and corporates to come together to be the change makers. More details available on http://globalactiononpoverty.org/
All these are some of the ideas and incidences that can inspire all of us to contribute our bit for a better tomorrow. We need your input on any such facts in your region and any observations about the industry around you. Your feedback will be useful to us to inform our readers about a better tomorrow.