Page 79 - Grow from Within Mastering Corporate Entrepreneurship and Innovation

66 grow from within

access to a cost-competitive pool of talent, and the ability
to redirect resources to core strategic activities.
8. Organization. Organization refers to the way in which a
company structures itself, its partnerships, and its employee
roles and responsibilities. Organizational innovation
involves rethinking the scope of a company’s activities to
enhance performance, and redefining roles, responsibilities,
and incentives. Bharti Tele-Ventures Limited, India’s largest
private telecom operator, has created an innovated
“extended” organization through partnering. The company
reached an agreement with Ericsson to manage and
maintain its network operations and completely outsourced
its customer service centers to providers like IBM, Daksh,
and Nortel. These partnerships allow Bharti to function as a
mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), with greater
agility and minimal asset intensity.
9. Supply chain. The supply chain is the sequence of activities
and agents that moves goods, services, and information
from their source to the delivery of products and services.
Supply chain innovation involves streamlining the flow of
supply chain information, changing the supply chain
structure, or enhancing supplier and channel
collaboration. The Spanish apparel retailer Zara has
created a very fast and flexible supply chain by making
counterintuitive choices in sourcing, design,
manufacturing, and logistics. Unlike its competitors, Zara
does not fully outsource its production, but retains half of
its production in-house to cut sourcing lead times. Zara
also owns most of its retail stores, allowing it to maintain
direct contact with its customers. And Zara eschews
economies of scale by making small lots and launching
myriad designs, allowing it to refresh its offerings almost
weekly. It ships garments on hangers, a practice that