“An important and timely contribution to the field of corporate venturing.”
Pekka Ala-Pietilä, President, Nokia
“By taking this book to heart, those involved in business creation can significantly enhancetheir chances of success and avoid costly mistakes. It provides a wealth of guidance on howto go about renewal in a flexible, measured manner.”
Erik Vollebregt, CEO, Shell Technology Ventures
“Offers a new perspective on the age-old problem of generating growth inside well-establishedcompanies. Through detailed examples, it provides a clear set of guidelines that companiescan follow if they want to manage their new business creation activities more effectively.”
Laura Tyson, Dean, London Business SchoolFormerly Chairman, President Clinton's Council of Economic Advisors, 1993-1995
“The central message of this book is that to grow successfully, a company needs ultimatelyto create a culture and capability that supports the process of business creation.Inventuring provides a wealth of detail on how to do this.”
Sir Peter Davis, CEO, Sainsbury’s
“Rich with ideas and examples, Buckland, Hatcher and Birkinshaw have served up a practical,readable aid for managers.”
Andrew Campbell, Director, Ashridge Strategic Management Centre UK
“A useful tool for evaluating whether venturing will create value for your organizationand offers useful advice on how to get started.”
Heino von Prondzynski, Head of Roche DiagnosticsMember of the Executive Committee of F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd
“Experience has taught me that the best time to be investingin new business ventures is at the low-point of the market.Valuations are low, and the resources you need are in plentifulsupply. This book will tell you how to build your company'sventuring capability so that you are prepared for the next boom.”
John Taysom, Founding and Managing Partner, RVC Europe Ltd
What do Virgin Atlantic, Heathrow Express,the Ericsson mobile phone, Tesco.com andEgg, the online bank, all have in common?
They are all successful new businesses created withinexisting companies.
New business creation can be the most powerfulwealth-creating tool in the modern firm’s armoury.When used effectively, it can enable a company toreinvent its core business and extend its strategicassets. But it is difficult to get right. Companiesroutinely invest heavily in business creationinitiatives which subsequently fail to deliversignificant organic growth.
Following extensive research across Europe, NorthAmerica and the Far East, Buckland, Hatcher andBirkinshaw argue that the trick to successful businesscreation lies in a firm’s ability to:
intergrate a business creation capability acrossit’s operationcombine small-company attributes such as agility andcreativity with a risk-tolerant, long-term approachInventuring shows why business creation should beat the top of a company’s strategic agenda and howto organize and manage it alongside other businessdevelopment techniques. It demonstrates how to builda business creation capability from scratch and howto embed it within everyday practices so that itbecomes routine.
The book provides a step-by-step guide to generatingand turning ideas into commercially viable enterpriseswhile avoiding the many pitfalls. It will help you todetermine which ideas to run with, how to developand launch them, and how to extract the best valuefor corporate growth.
William Buckland is a former Vice President of New Ventures at Reuters. With 10 years of strategy and venturing experience gained in a blue-chip environment, he designed and ran a programme of business creation generating over 300 ideas, forming six new ventures and winning $35 million in investment. William now works as a freelancer; coaching, consulting and writing on the subject of new business creation.
Andrew Hatcher is former CEO. of Iseafoodxchange Singapore. He was previously a Vice President of New Ventures at Reuters and a founder of the companys business creation initiative. With 15 years corporate experience in the USA and UK, his roles have ranged from journalism and technology management through to strategic sales and venture capital, Andrew now works as an independent consultant helping companies capture and harness innovation.
Julian Birkinshaw is Associate Professor of Strategy and International Management at London Business School. He is the author of numerous articles and books including Leadership the Sven Goran Eriksson Way and Entrepreneurship in the Global Firm. Profiled by Management Today as one of the 'next generation of management gurus', he is an active consultant and executive educator.
