Bill Fischer
Bill Fischer is Professor of Technology Management at IMD, the leading global business school based in Lausanne, Switzerland.
China's long march to innovation success
07 Oct 2011
China's journey from a seriously poor, insular, economy to the 'shop floor of the world' took a little more than two decades. Today, it appears poised to evolve into becoming a leading global innovator. But can China actually make this next great leap forward?
Made in China: smarter companies?
02 Jun 2011
Made in China: What does it mean to you? Low costs? Good enough quality? Would you believe me if I told you that 'being the smarter competitor' was becoming the objective of a number of aspiring Chinese global players?
The idea hunter
24 Mar 2011
Most individuals and organizations don't spend much time thinking about how they actually go about generating new ideas. But why are some people and places so much better at generating ideas than others?
Giving up to get more
28 Feb 2011
Great impromptu performance in the face of the unknown will be an increasingly important attribute of successful management in the 21st century. Increasingly this means that it will be impossible to maintain control throughout, if only because we won't know what to control in advance.
A retrospective of the 21st Century
05 Jan 2011
Looking back at the first decade of the 21st century, it's hard to avoid thinking that we should be ashamed of how little we have accomplished. But even if we haven't seen much revolutionary change, some vital trends have nevertheless emerged that will shape all of our lives.
The value of collaboration
02 Dec 2010
Co-creation is the business idea of the moment. Why? Because the more ideas you can work with, the better. So more minds are always better than fewer, and the more different minds you can enlist, the higher the probability of finding a really different idea.
Leadership for a better world
12 Nov 2010
At a time when new ideas are the only hope for our economic salvation, the real crisis we face is the inability of tired old institutions to produce the innovation and creativity that we are so desperately need. Instead, they are full of great people achieving mediocre results.
Innovation lessons from Apple
09 Sep 2010
Almost everyone's choice for the most innovative firm of recent years is Apple. But as history shows, it's far from easy to deliver consistent innovation. So what is the secret of Apple's innovation success?
Can China's maintain its competitive advantage?
09 Jun 2010
Until now, China's competitive advantage has been based on cheap labour, not innovation. But if it is to remain anything more than a low-wage producer, China has to find innovative ways of sustaining growth.
Shanghai: forging the future?
04 May 2010
The gala opening of the Shanghai Expo has focused the world's attention on this vibrant city that - or so we are told - is 'forging the future'. But while one can't doubt Shanghai's size and vibrancy, it's potential impact on the future is much more of a moot point.
How much was that Volvo?
16 Apr 2010
The $1.8 billion that Zhejiang Geely Holdings recently paid for ailing Swedish car maker, Volvo, raises some provocative questions about corporate worth and valuation, particularly where Chinese companies are concerned.
Improving, not inventing: the secret of China's success
30 Mar 2010
China is affecting the way global business operates and the way value-chains work. In particular, it is changing the speed at which business is done. And to do this, it is concentrating on improving, rather than inventing.
Lessons from the Toyota recall
09 Feb 2010
Toyota's problems stem from the fact that in that while pursuing growth, it neglected to pay attention to things that it already knew as an organization. Because abandoning everything that you know all at once can be a recipe for disaster.