If you want what may be the simplest innovation process, here it is: Find the things that others are not doing well, or just not doing. Once you identify these deficiencies, design a better service or product based on what customers really want. Then sell it.

For example, there was an article in Forbes magazine recently on a Japanese company called Kumon that teaches kids around the world how to read and write and do basic math. They have over a thousand centers in the United States alone, with 194,000 students. They do almost no advertising, yet keep growing rapidly.

Now, you might wonder why with universal public education in the U.S. a Japanese company can do so well teaching the basics. The answer is simple enough: The public schools don’t do it very well in many places. Blame it on modern educational theories, “feel good” grading, distracted children or whatever, but the public system doesn’t do as good a job as parents would like. Many of them are willing to pay the relatively small amount it takes to get their kids educated properly (Kumon charges less than $120 per two-month course).

Some just want their kids to get further ahead. The federal No Child Left Behind Act pushes schools to spend resources on low-scoring students, so potential high achievers don’t get as much help as they might. Kumon teaches math without calculators, phonetic reading, and essentially stresses rote learning of the basics. Whatever they are doing, it s Continue reading »

Education system is the backbone of a progressing society. It is the standard of education that determines an individual’s and the country’s progress. A typical educational system consists of Primary Schools, High Schools, Colleges and Higher education institutes. It is important to provide quality education at all levels in order to have sustainable growth and development.

To improve the educational system, it is important that people are aware of the education issues and problems in the education system. Awareness about the current issues in education helps people in finding the loop holes in their education system and suggests innovative ideas to plug these holes. Some important issues/challenges related to education are:

1.Improving quality – Invariably one of the most important education issues, the quality can be improved by initiatives taken by schools and teachers. Here the importance of a trained, understanding and well informed teacher to raise the education standards cannot be stressed enough. An efficient teacher will use the latest innovations in the field of education and the outcomes of educational surveys for the benefit of his students.

2.Improving access – Along with impr Continue reading »

If you are an individual or a small team not yet operating as a business, starting first on business model innovation sounds like it’s impossible. The world is full of long-standing companies that seem to be serving virtually every conceivable need.

However, can you serve those needs by employing new business models in a better way? Probably you can. And if you can, then you can be the first to compete based on business model innovation.

Notice that business model innovation usually requires more mental agility than resources, so the playing field is either level or may be slightly tilted in your direction. As you work on business model innovation, pay attention to closing the competitive door behind you with impossible-to-duplicate advantages, though, so that others cannot leapfrog past you if you want to enjoy the ultimate competitive advantage from business model innovation.

Let’s consider an example. Commercial art schools had been operating for decades when Education Management started out in 1969 by purchasing the Art Institute of Pittsburgh.

How could the company be first with an improved business model in other geographic markets where commercial art was already being taught by for-profit schools and by tax exempt public or private colleges and universities?

What Education Management did was to focus the commercial art learning process on the needs of employers. In doing so, the com Continue reading »