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InnovationDecember 1, 2008 | Year 3 | Number 31A way of lifeBy Jaime Parada  The speed of change demands from us a new type of attitude in our minds and in our organizations in order to remain competitive. This attitude is called “Innovation.” In the world of business, innovation seeks to create value, differentiators, and advantages over competitors. In the Monterrey, International City of Knowledge Program, we consider it a priority to promote and facilitate innovation of products, services, manufacturing processes, business processes, and new business models and we support the formation of human capital for this purpose. Currently, in Nuevo Leon, several institutions and organisms offer an attractive set of courses aimed at making innovation a more professional task. We need to understand that innovation is not an immediate process, but a great adventure that can be compared to planting a walnut tree, a tree that will yield its first fruits after several years. Let us begin today to sow the future of our State. Let us cultivate innovation.
INNOVATION LESSONSInnovation is essential in order to transform a productive system from manufacturing to mindfacturingThe differentiating factor in business is the ability to transform the value process into innovation. From raw material to the finished product, passing through transversal processes and leadership, they all require an innovative capacity as they search for new models that support today’s businesses. “It’s very clear to me – businesses either innovate or they disappear,” expressed Enrique Espino-Barro, Director of the Monterrey Center for Competitiveness of the Transformation Industry Chamber (CAINTRA), whose objective is to increase productivity and competitiveness of small and medium-sized businesses. In his opinion, innovation is a challenge that we must face in order to make the country progress, since it implies more jobs, new markets for goods and services, new organizational structures, the possibility of growing and better standards of living. But, how can organizations determine what is or is not innovation? How can they channel innovation when it appears in a business? Because of the importance of this theme, the range of options for the development of innovating talent within organizations is very large. The following are efforts being made for the formation of innovators in the productive sector: The Master’s Degree program in Commercialization of Science and Technology, the ADIT program, and the agreement between the I2T2 and the CCM, which offers the ‘Enrique Canales’ Innovative Leaders Seminar, the “Methodologies of Competitive Intelligence” Seminar, the “Presentation of Patents” Course, and the “Innovation’s Strategic Vision” Conference.
Decision-Making GymMore than 400 entrepreneurs have gone through the Top Management in Innovation and Technology (ADIT) program. They have learned how to promote change in their organizations under the guidance of gurus from Harvard, Stanford, MIT, and other global institutions. Miguel Angel Casillas-Alcala, Director of ADIT, of the Monterrey site of the Pan-American Institute of Top Business Management (IPADE), explained that this program was created by CONACYT with the objective of stimulating technological innovation and research applied to businesses. “Given that we focus on teaching business people, we thought about incorporating technological innovation and research into businesses,” expressed Casillas. “Entrepreneurs must understand the need to adopt a new business culture, to change their processes and products, and, at the same time, become more global.” Casillas-Alcala pointed out that this is a relatively short program; it consists of 72 sessions divided into 12 modules, where one business case is analyzed in each session. IPADE’s methodology facilitates the development of the skills required for the participant’s job position by subjecting them to a reiterative practice of making decisions. At ADIT, the participants enter into a sensitization and conscientization process that will lead them to generate intellectual capital and value added within their organization and will acquire the necessary elements to establish a culture that stimulates innovation within their company. The program is so innovative that changes that generate valuable experiences are continuously being proposed, such as including a week of sessions and visits to the most innovative region of the planet – Silicon Valley. The next. program will be launched in June 2009.
COMMERCIALIZE… GRAY MATTERCIMAV and the IC2 of the University of Texas in Austin implemented the Master’s Degree program in Commercialization of Science and Technology. The objective is to identify and evaluate new technologies and develop business strategies to be applied to the operating model of academic or business institutions. Gregorio Vargas, Director of CIMAV-Monterrey and a participant of the program, mentioned that the goal is to create a top management team that will manage the new risk businesses; to know where financing sources and resources are, to develop strategies that will guarantee the financing and secure the feasibility of innovations, besides protecting intellectual property. It is a program that focuses on Master’s degree and Doctoral students. For its operation, professors from the UT in Austin come once a month to CIMAV’s facilities where forty two people from all over the country attend the program. “In addition to the presence of professors from the UT, we are working with the Epsilen platform, where documents required for learning are made available to the participants and communication with them is made possible,” he pointed out. Carlos Ross, representative of the UT, explained that the program is supported by IC2 (Innovation, Creativity, and Capital), an institution founded by George Kozmetsky in 1977, which has one of the most successful business incubator models in the United States.
CULTIVATING INNOVATIONDeveloping an innovation system in a company may sound like a far away goal, but for an SMB it can be viewed as an area of opportunity to be taken into account if it wants to remain in business. “Innovation is not something that happens by mere inspiration or chance, or something that happens to a group of scholars who have nothing to do with the organization. We want to teach small and medium-size entrepreneurs the methodology for innovation. We transfer the method in order to make innovation a life style,” explained Enrique Espino-Barros, Director of the CAINTRA’s Monterrey Center for Competitiveness. Inspired in Dr. Enrique Canales’s philosophy and methodology, the Innovative Leaders program consists of practices, audiovisual systems, and individual and group dynamics; in other words, it makes use of various resources to enhance the learning experience.
INNOVATION DIRECTORY
Innovation and Technology Transfer Institute Monterrey Competitiveness Center Global Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship Top Management in Innovation and Technology, ADIT - IPADE UANL • Dr. Magda García Universidad de Monterrey Leader Program Tec de Monterrey Four-Leafed Clover Innovation Project Managing Innovation Workshop Special Course on New Product Development and Innovation • Bianca de la Garza y Griselda Rosales
INNOVANOTASInformatel Receives a Quality AwardThe Brazilian Association of Quality Incentives, ABIQUA, an organism formed by various international Chambers of Commerce, rewarded the work of Servicio Informatel de Nuevo Leon. The award presented in Brazil on November 29, 2008, joins the 2008 Nuevo Leon Quality Award and ISO 901 certification for almost all the processes involved in providing this service. Informatel also received the Recycling Award from the Environment Protection Agency because of its ability to optimize supplies. Informatel’s phone number: 070
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© Copyright Nuevo Leon State Government. The logo and the name “Monterrey, International City of Knowledge” are registered trademarks with the Mexican Institute of Intellectual Property. | ||||||||
Miguel Angel Casillas-Alcala
Kate Mackie, from UT
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