User-Centered Innovation Is Not Sustainable

Verganti, R. (2010). User-centered innovation is not sustainable. Retrieved on March 20, 2010 from: http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2010/03/user-centered_innovation_is_no.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+harvardbusiness+%28HBR.org%29

This article, published on the Harvard Business Review’s website, was written by Roberto Verganti, professor of the management of innovation at Politecnico di Milano, who is also the author of a book on innovation as well. He states that the user-centered innovation of the pre-recession past will not give the economy a sustainable amount of growth that is needed for strong economic recovery. He states that many experts see user-centered innovation as a panacea but he strongly disagrees. User-centered innovation is basically where firms watch consumer patterns to understand their needs and base their innovative efforts to meet these needs and he believes this approach will not create sustainable growth. He states that successful leaders are forward-looking and they are able to step back from the current needs and behaviors of consumers and are able to envision new scenarios. This is an interesting subject that manager should consider. Most managers and firms seem to concentrate of supplying current consumer wants and needs; however, to be step ahead of the others, it’s important for firms to create wants and needs with innovative products and services the consumer hasn’t even considered yet.