I will speak on the challenges faced by firms when trying to build sustainable innovation programs. These findings have been deduced from an examination of innovation programs in over 30 organizations based in the North America, Europe, and Asia. 70% of the firms studied were listed in the Fortune 100. The remaining firms were smaller and newer, and operated in the high-technology area and working on emerging products (e.g. bioengineering) and services (e.g. information technology). I examined a wide assortment of organizations ranging from information technology firms, to manufacturing centers, and government research and development laboratories. Preliminary findings were presented in several executive briefing sessions and input from these sessions was used to refine our conclusions. Extrapolating from my examination of organizations, I will comment on how economies, especially those that are emerging (like India, Brazil, China, etc), must learn from the lessons and challenges of incumbents. Failure to learn and be mindful about innovation, at the organizational, or national, level can become a costly mistake.

I am looking forward to meeting the faculty, students, and honored guest of the Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research....