MIT Sloan Management Review

Two news items that capture some of the spirit of the times:

 

In a New York Times column, Thomas Friedman raises the question of whether this downturn may signal the end of an era of unsustainable growth.Â

Need to lower costs? Think about “re-featuring” your product, suggests Scott D. Anthony of Innosight.

Bhaskar Chakravorti of Harvard Business School offers insights about entrepreneurship and innovation during a downturn,

 It's not uncommon to hear experts suggest that recessions are good for innovation -- in part because hard times encourage new thinking. John Chambers, Cisco's chair and CEO, goes even further. Earlier this month, in a Wall Street Journal column, he described  the current economic situation as "the biggest opportunity of our lifetime."

Last week, I blogged about a Knowledge@Wharton article containing advice about innovating in difficult times. This week, a visitor to our site added her own insights on that topic: Laura Weiss, an innovation consultant, pointed out her own recent San Francisco Chronicle column on innovating during a downturn.

It can be a formidable challenge to make sure your innovation projects continue to prosper at a time when many company budgets are shrinking. A recent article from Knowledge@Wharton summarizes recommendations from a panel of experts who spoke at Wharton -- on the topic of how to sustain technology innovation, specifically, during tough times.

In this downturn, some companies are trying cost-cutting measures such as reducing workweeks, offering or requiring unpaid time off, or cutting executive compensation.

Sure, the economy’s bad. But it’s a good time to innovate, according to Clayton M. Christensen, a Harvard Business School professor who focuses on innovation. Our interview with Christensen is featured in the new edition of Business Insight.