• Steve Jobs and the Art of Mental Model Innovation

    Many people who attended a meeting with Steve Jobs said that being there was like going on a magical mystery tour. The brilliant Apple leader was indeed ingenious, with his ability to entrance, enthrall, and bring others around to his way of thinking. Jobs was also difficult to decipher and many employees and competitors wondered where his amazing ideas came from. This author, a former employee at Apple, says that Jobs’ magic and mystery was informed by what he calls “re-framing” — or mental model innovation — a talent that only a very few leaders have.
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  • Oral Insulin: Breakthrough Innovation at Biocon

    This case deals with the innovation challenges of a medium-sized firm (under $1 billion) in an emerging economy (India), particularly the challenges of product development and commercialization. The management has to decide how to proceed with a promising novel formula for oral insulin — promising both in terms of financial returns as well as social impact. The company has spent several years of research and development in getting the drug through Phase I and Phase II trials, and is entering the most critical stage, Phase III. The case is set in 2009, a period that was punctuated with a lot of economic uncertainty. Students are asked to decide if Biocon should go ahead with Phase III and, if so, whether it should be done locally or globally and with a partner or alone. The case also deals with transitioning research and development strategies in emerging markets, wherein firms that have traditionally focused on “imitation” (or generic drugs) are moving to high-risk drug discovery.
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