Happiness-centred Business model

Click here for the full Trend Blend 2007+ map
Future Exploration Network is a company that assists major organizations globally to gain insights into the future and develop strategies that create competitive advantage, along with NowandNext -a trends report company offering clear, concise and non-sensationalist commentary on trends in society, business, science & technology, government and the environment; issues covers new trends, innovations and ideas across twelve sectors and speculates about future risks and opportunities.

These two innovative companies released The trend map 2007 inspired by the subway map of the city of London.The map shows some of the major trends across ten segments: society & culture, government & politics, work & business, media & communications, science & technology, food & drink, medicine & well-being, financial services, retail & leisure, and transport & automotive, as well as the key intersections between the trends. We can see some of the more interesting trends in the landscape. The map deals with ideas (with the River of Consciousness standing in for the Thames).

For a start this map is not meant to be taken too seriously… but still there is some truth in it.
We can see on this map many disruptive trends that are driving new business models.

I have selected one trend that interests me more than others: HAPPINESS.Actually it takes someone to be either brave or a dreamer to even think about tackling this topic. Before I start, let me say that I know there is no ‘logical answer’ or consensus to this concept I don’t think there might exist one universal standard or school of thought when it comes to this topic, perhaps just an ideagoras of different thoughts, ideas and philosophies. Like most of you, I’m still exploring it, which is why I have chosen to make it just that; a discussion and a group exploration.In fact Happiness is an issue which is relevant to every person on the planet. It’s probably the one topic which commands universal interest.

So What is Happiness? and how is it related to business as a trend?

Happiness can mean different things to different people. We might think that happy people have lots of money, are physically attractive, have great jobs, or own the latest gadgets. Or, we might just think happy people are plain lucky, and are born that way. Research suggests, however, that there are a number of variables that make a far greater contribution to happiness than external and more superficial factors.

That doesn't mean that if we have a lot of money we won't be happy, or that having a lot of money is bad, it just means that other factors are more important in determining happiness. In fact, a strong positive relationship between job status/income/wealth and happiness only exists for those who live below the poverty line and/or who are unemployed.

Actually,what distinguishes happy people from the unhappy, is that they have a different attitude in life- a different way of thinking about things and doing things. They interpret the world in a different way, and go about their lives in a different way.

The "Happiness Equation"

It has been suggested that there are several factors that contribute towards our happiness. This is an 'equation for happiness' suggested by Martin Seligman, an American based psychologist:
H = S + C + V

H = Happiness
S = Set range - (genetics: about 50%)
C = Circumstances (8-15%)
V = Voluntary Control - (past, present, future)

If we take a closer look to our daily lives we see that everything is speeding up thanks to our obsession with technology and efficiency - although whether anything is actually moving in the right direction is a moot point. We can blame computers, email, the Internet, globalisation, mobile devices, low cost travel, whatever you like. The result is 24/7 access to goods and services, multi-tasking, meals in minutes, hectic households, microwave mums, meals on the run, insecurity, one minute wins and individuals (and organisations) that want everything tomorrow. The result is a lot of stress, anxiety, chronic lack of sleep, a blurring of boundaries between work and home, work-life imbalance and, conversely, an interest in slowing things down.
So as we see, Happiness seems to be an ever more elusive ideal in society of empty materialism, violence and spiritual crisis. Yet, as we all know the United States Constitution is dedicated to the pursuit of it. Happiness is supposed to be what we are all here to achieve.

Talking about "The pursuit of Happiness"Forbes Magazines published in 1917 an article "The Pursuit of Happiness" explainig that
Business was originated to produce happiness, not to pile up millions. 90 years latter Happiness has not taken a single wrinkle; it is as powerful as ever as a business trend.

How this trend is influencing business models ?

Major businesses are custumer-based models, but I see a shift to this new trend which is going to be hapiness-based model businesses, to explain this in plain words:Customer centered models can have the net effect of creating an imbalance within a business. No one will argue the fact that customers are an important leverage point in any business. However, it is quite another thing to say that the customer is in the center and the world revolves totally around them.

The ultimate lowest common denominator that ties us all together on this planet is our individual desire to seek happiness. At work, happiness is derived from each of us realizing our full potential.

Abraham Maslow defines this as Self-Actualization - the instinctual need of humans to make the most of their abilities and to strive to be the best they can. In order for companies to reach their full potential, they need their team members to reach their individual goal of self actualization first. Only then, through this cummulative effect of the self actualization of the individual team members, can the company acheive the same goal. It follows that if the company is reaching its full potential, it should be maximizing the value for its customers, vendors, stockholders and the community at large as well.

Every business has five stakeholders; customers, team members, stockholders, vendors and the community at large. The only truly sustainable business model that will lead to organizations realizing their full potential is one that focuses on happiness creation as it’s center. Creating happiness for customers for sure, but also and equally important for all of the other stakeholders at the same time.

I will give two main examples of successful businesses with happiness-based business models you may not agree on one of them but that' a fact tha Business, Happiness, and Money; the trio never mixed … until now!

through my quest online I came accross the book "BUILDING A HAPPINESS CENTRED BUSINESS" which describes how Brisbane, Australia, dentist Dr Paddi Lund turned his dental practice into a happiness centred business, and has lots of lessons for any business, large or small.

You may be wandering, what has happiness got to do with running a business. Well, it has a lot to do with it. Not only whether you enjoy going to your business … but "happiness" in your business reflects on the bottom line.
So you may wander how did he create a "happiness centred business" that is fun, enjoyable, and profitable. Well heripped up his front reception desk with a chainsaw, fired his "C" and "D" clients, built his surgery around a kitchen so you'd smell fresh scones instead of dental smells... and ... now works half the hours and earns triple the income.
Dr Paddi Lund is the self-confessed "Crazy Dentist" from Queensland, Australia. "Crazy" because he's doing so many outrageous things in his practice and because his success defies all conventional business paradigms. He's built a 'By Invitation Only' business that thrives despite the fact that he locked his front door, took down all his signs and removed his name from the phone book! It's hard to believe he's still in business, let alone hugely successful. And successful he is.
Paddi works only 22 hours a week yet makes 3 times more than the majority of his colleagues.
His team never leave, and his customers are clamouring to buy his services.
But more than that, Paddi loves coming to work and has a rich, fulfilling life as a result. All this from focussing on just one aspect of business: not marketing nor advertising, his products, services nor even profits ... but HAPPINESS!!! Business Happiness, to be precise!
It's in fact very rare to find people who... Are massively passionate about what they do,
Are exhilarated by their work, and, Look forward to Monday morning.

While most people think the purpose of business is to create wealth, Dr Paddi Lund takes a different view: if in fact we’re miserable in the process, what's the point of earning the money in the first place?
As far as Paddi's concerned, the real purpose of a business is to add happiness to your life - that without some enjoyment in the process, you just can't keep going with your business for very long, despite the money.

It is to say the least An Unusual Profession ... for a Business Guru! Dentistry is, after all, a universal - in that we all have been to the dentist at some time and most likely have had a bad experience!

Paddi has created one of the most incredible customer service experiences in the world, and let's face it, if he can do it in dentistry, just think what you can do in your profession!

My second example will be about happiness in health and food businesses there are in fact easier and faster ways to put a smile back on your face ­ using what I like to think of as "Happy Food". No, it's not about slipping illegal substances into your brownie recipe, but cooking with ingredients shown to have certain health benefits I supose Gordon Ramsay can best fit in for him Running a retaurant is like baking a cake . It is important to have a balance among three things: Food Cost, Overhead/Staffing and Profits. To much of any of three, and the cake ends up being a horrible mess.
In business, this is much the same. Every business has cost associated with doing the business, a tech business has intellectual property or the idea itself, a services business might have time or media costs, and a product business has manufacturing costs.
Spend too much on physical costs or staffing/overhead you eat up your profits. Spend too much effort on generating profits, and you will lose customers/clients or create opportunity costs.
Baking a cake takes more than just combining a bunch of ingredients and throwing it in the oven. Same could be said for running a business.
Here is a video about his method of running a business not directly suggesting happiness but passion for his job and a great sense of perfection.


and also this video:

How does Ramsay teach people how to run a profitable restaurant? It's not what you may be thinking. He isn't about cutting costs, shoddy work, and cheap labor. Ramsay is all about profit through excellence and skill. That's what attracts people to a restaurant and keeps them coming back...and back. Good food, good service, good atmosphere, happiness and enjoyment in what they are doing.

How Happiness as a disruptive trend inter-reacts with the other trends present on the map?

Happiness as a concept and as a trend is closely related to other factors and trends present on the market and on the map,all trends have interelation and thus affect one another, Globalizaton in itself is a major market disruptor.

Happiness (as station on the map) is almost central to all the Network,it's line includes Anxiety(station) and goes to Personalisation(station) closer stations or spots are as we see it on the map :Too much choice,Health Work/Life balance,Luxury goods and many other disruptive factors.
I defenitly see the future of the Happiness trend as flourishing,expanding and spreading to almost all sorts of businesses mainly leisure health and wellbeing businesses. Happiness-based business model is a real shift which can grow positivly worldwide in unthinkable ways.

Starwood E-Biz model

This is a fantastic speech of Robert F. Cotter ( President and Chief Operating Officer, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.) who explains how Starwood Hotels gained power on customers and online agencies.
Consumer Forum 2004, New York, September 19, 2004, a Forrester Research's event.

Happiness economics

Satisfaction with Life Index Map - Map has no authentic source. Map coloured according to The World Map of Happiness, Adrian White, Analytic Social Psychologist, University of Leicester.
green = happiest
blue
purple
orange
red = least happy
Micro-econometric happiness equations have the standard form: Wit = α + βxit + εit.
In this equation W is the reported well-being of individual i at time t, and x is a vector of known variables, which include socio-demographic and socioeconomic characteristics.
Other quantities have been suggested as making people happier. Money correlates with happiness, however at a diminishing rate with how much that amount of money increases.One study, when corrected for social status, showed no correlation between income and happiness. The amount of spare time people have, as well as their control over how much spare time they have, also correlates with happiness. More generally, there is a significant correlation between feeling in control of one's own life and happiness levels. Losing one's job can be a great source of unhappiness.
Children tend to decrease parental happiness, at least until they leave for college, although in terms of a broader life narrative the opposite may be true.Married people are happier, but it is unclear if this is due to the marriage or if already happy people tend to marry.
Source

NASA and GOOGLE innovation models

NASA Takes Google on Journey into Space

NASA Ames Research Center, located in the heart of California’s Silicon Valley, and Mountain View-based Google Inc. announced plans to collaborate on a number of technology-focused research-and-development activities that will couple some of Earth’s most powerful technology resources.

NASA and Google have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that outlines plans for cooperation on a variety of areas, including large-scale data management, massively distributed computing, bio-info-nano convergence, and encouragement of the entrepreneurial space industry. The MOU also highlights plans for Google to develop up to 1 million square feet within the NASA Research Park at Moffett Field.

“Our planned partnership presents an enormous range of potential benefits to the space program,” said NASA Ames Center Director G. Scott Hubbard. “Just a few examples are new sensors and materials from collaborations on bio-info-nano convergence, improved analysis of engineering problems, as well as Earth, life and space science discoveries from supercomputing and data mining, and bringing entrepreneurs into the space program. While our joint efforts will benefit both organizations, the real winner will be the American public,” he added.

“Google and NASA share a common desire-to bring a universe of information to people around the world,” said Eric Schmidt, Google chief executive officer. “Imagine having a wide selection of images from the Apollo space mission at your fingertips whenever you want it. That's just one small example of how this collaboration could help broaden technology's role in making the world a better place.”

As they say it's always better to hear it from the horse's mouth here is Eric Schmidt he speaks in this video at the NASA 50th Anniversary Lecture Series on January 17, 2008 in Washington, DC.

Google and students

Eric Schmidt speaks at the Virginia Business High Education Council on January 18, 2008 in Richmond, Virginia.speaking about the internet centric version of learning and collaborative learning and its effect on education: youtube, ITunes U,Google book search ... the students are the ones who make the change for the next generations

SUPER MODELS FOR REAL ESTATE BUSINESS MODEL!

Paolo Zampolli launches Real Estate agency in New York City with high-fashion models as the Agents. Agents include former Supermodel, Angie Everhart. Amazing!!

iPhone Magic

Innocentive and food industry

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InnoCentive Business Model or Cash for answers on the largest scientific online network

1. Brief description of the business InnoCentive as a virtual R&D lab:

InnoCentive is a privately-held company which provides a web-based service to Fortune 500 companies to tap into a global community of more than 125,000 engineers, technologists, scientists, inventors, and entrepreneurs for solving development and innovation challenges.Founded in 2001, InnoCentive connects companies, academic institutions, and non-profit organizations, all hungry for breakthrough innovation, with a global network of more than 125,000 of the world's brightest minds on the world's first Open Innovation Marketplace.InnoCentive, based in Andover, Massachusetts, matches scientists and researchers worldwide with companies that have challenging problems to solve and which have exhausted internal means to find real and valuable solutions.

Here bellow is a very interesting interview with InnoCentive CEO about its Business Model:





Thomas Edison, the quintessential inventor, once said that genius is 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration. But Ralph Bingham the Founder of InnoCentive thinks it's time to update that equation : "There will always be a lot of perspiration involved," Bingham says, "but should the inspiration be 1 percent, or should we make it 10 percent by opening it up to a diverse net of human beings before you put the perspiration in? I think it's time to turn on the radio."

The idea of lanching InnoCentive goes back to the late 1990s, when pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly wondered if it was getting enough bang for its r&d buck, Rakph Bingham president in research and development for Lilly recalled his student days when his professors of organic chemistry would turn to the graduate students and post-docs in their research group and ask for their help in solving some complicated problem or another. The students would come back with different answers, some of which might prove more useful in resolving the problem, others less so.

The idea of InnoCentive came to him from this experience and practical fact and as a strong advocate of open Innocation he submitted the project to Lilly.
Lilly invested several million dollars in 2001 to launch InnoCentive, implementing Bingham's vision of an online marketplace where companies with questions and scientists with potential answers could find each other.It sounds like a business and intelectual 'dating' website, but realistically it is market place to buy and sell intellectual power.

2. What problems does it solve:

To Understand the way InnoCentive works and which kind if problems does it solve we may first watch the way industry works, where a problem only gets exposed to a handful of minds, things get invented, or problems get solved, based on resource allocation. In other words, who is available, and not necessarily because of who's best qualified to respond to that particular challenge.
But in fact,who's 'best' may not even be knowable as solutions often involve a complex interplay between training, experience and serendipity. Sometimes Short of turning to a few high-priced consultants who may or may not solve the problem, the question to ask is : Is there a way for the company to tap into the vast pool of potential knowledge outside its walls and overcome hitches in development that the company's own researchers had been unable to overcome? Or, even to simply improve the solution speed and productivity?

Thinking about the way scientific creativity manifests, it's not always given that the next problem busineses encounter will be solved by a Nobel laureate. Perhaps it will be by some guy at a rural, private college in Mexico or a small research facility in China or a Deutch startup.

So, if there is enough diversity of exposure, would we get new solutions to given problems? the answer is yes.
Bingham has likened his concept to talk radio: If he broadcast an obscure question to millions of listeners, someone out there was likely to call in with the correct answer.

InnoCentive as a platform of open innovation is Changing the world. For example InnoCentive Solvers develops solution to help clean up remaining oil from the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster. "Green" groups taking advantage of prize-based Innovation to help solve long-term environmental problems: please Check out the InnoCentive Oil Spill Cleanup video , and this is the solver John Davis talking about his innovation and solution to the problem, he won $20,000 for solving the Open Innovation Challenge posted by the Oil Spill Recovery Institute.

In fact, what InnoCentive provides is a "spot" market where companies can get a problem worked on immediately. where companies and innovators can buy and sell intellectual power without the costs associated with facilities, recruiting, career management, negotiations, custom contracting, etc."

Bingham compares this Business model to bounty hunting. While companies have spent more than a million dollars on challenges they've solved through InnoCentive, that's much less than it would have cost to invest in internal r&d to resolve them. Most importantly, they've paid ONLY for solutions and not for attempted solutions in the risky venture of R&D.
Innocentive, provides an exchange where “seekers’’ can offer cash to “solvers’’. Both sides are anonymous, which is one of the selling points of innovation prizes: they reward neither connections nor seniority, but solutions alone.

Personally I find Innocentive’s problems ads rather funny because they read a little like the small ads on the world’s least romantic lonely-hearts website: for example “A technology is desired that produces a pleasant scent upon stretching of an elastomer film’’ ($50,000). “Surface chemistry for optical biosensor with high binding capacity and specificity is required’’ ($60,000).


a. For InnoCentive Customers

In order to achieve and maintain competitive leadership and create breakthrough discoveries, corporations and non-profits face the challenge of continually seeking out new ideas and solutions. So,by signing up as a Seeker organization, these progressive companies can supplement internal R&D and Product Development resources by reaching out to some of the world's most creative thinkers; people who thrive on solving tough challenges.
There is about 40 'seeker' companies which have signed up with InnoContive, posting challenges in a wide range of scientific disciplines, including the fields of chemistry and applied sciences—such as material and polymer sciences—and the life sciences, and offering rewards ranging from $10,000 to $125,000 for working solutions. Now, over 40 blue chip companies, from Boeing to Dow Chemical, DuPont, Lilly, Novartis, and Procter & Gamble are among the seekers and thy post problems with InnoCentive.


Still, many companies are reluctant to turn to outsiders like the InnoCentive Open Innovation platform for help with products in the pipeline. Fundamentally, most places still run the old, classic, 'my lab, my walls' system, so there is a huge market oportunity for Innocentive in the future.

b. InnoCentive Suppliers

Nearly 135,000 'Solvers' from some 175 countries have registered on the InnoCentive website, where they can find new challenges each week. Tens of thousands of solvers might read the abstract of a challenge, but only a few hundred who think they can realistically solve it continue to the details.



c. Innocentive Partners

The company has partnered with 59 research institutions and scientific organizations in Russia (35), China (20), and India (4) to access more scientists.

The Rockefeller-InnoCentive Partnership enableS researchers and entrepreneurs addressing the needs of poor or vulnerable people to access the same cutting-edge resource to innovate as Fortune 500 companies.The Rockefeller Foundation-InnoCentive partnership brings the benefits of this model to those working on innovation challenges faced by poor or vulnerable people. The Rockefeller Foundation will pay access, posting and service fees on behalf of these new class of “seekers” to InnoCentive, as well as funding the awards to "problem solvers."


I see this as what we call Teaching an old dog new tricks.For an organisation that has suffered from “not invented here” syndrome, Rockefeller by teaming up with InnoCentive, the online business that posts problems and offers rewards to innovators who solve them. Rockefeller will provide funding to adapt this “open innovation” model to helping the poor. Next are likely to be projects on climate change and on the growing economic insecurity that many people experience. Whether all of this will accomplish remains to be seen.

d. InnoCentive Owner:
As an open Innovation strong advocate Alpheus Bingham is the Co-Founder of InnoCentive he is himself an innovator by launching this succesful and original website which he runs with InnoCetive management team .
InnoCentive's President and CEO, Alpheus Bingham, was a senior research executive at Eli Lilly and has over 28 years experience as a scientist, and its Chief Marketing Officer and VP of Global Markets, Ali Hussein, is a leading expert in Chinese, Indian and Russian scientific communities, and was Director of Marketing and Business Development for Amazon.com's wireless initiative, Amazon Anywhere. So this is a company where R&D expertise meets the ultimate in internet know-how.

3. Innocentive customer groups

In the past, R&D departments worked more or less on their own, while today the so-called Open Innovation concept is becoming increasingly widespread Companies are thus able to cost- effectively "outsource" highly specialized tasks to a large pool of inventors around the world when they lack the in-house expertise.Innocentive's site, which is essentially a marketplace for inventors, has expanded considerably since pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly started it in 2001. Now even some of Lilly's competitors use the site, including BASF, Novartis, Nestlé and Procter & Gamble, which has increased the share of product ideas accepted from outside inventors from 20 to 35 percent over the last three years.

Of the 350 challenges posted on InnoCentive since it opened, about a third have been solved. The average posted reward is about $30,000; the highest awarded amounts to date have been three awards at $75,000 each (though higher bounties have been offered.) In return, scientists who present solutions sign over the intellectual property rights.



4. InnoCentive revenue sources

From the “seeker,” InnoCentive collects posting fees for the use of its platform. In addition, depending on the type of challenge, InnoCentive receives a commission on awards made by the “seeker” to the “problem solver.” So, for a relatively modest fee and comparatively minor effort , “seekers” significantly increase their research capacity.practically speaking at InnoCentive, companies pay an annual $80,000 access fee to post problems anonymously on the website. They also pay the rewards for the best solutions and a commission of 20% or more to InnoCentive.


5. InnoCentive main competitors


InnoCentive's growth has mirrored a developing trend in open innovation and external collaboration, a trend that has also spawned competitors such as NineSigma which enables clients to source innovative ideas, technologies, products and services from outside their organizations quickly and inexpensively by connecting them to the best innovators and solution providers from around the world. Its unique "Discover-Connect-Solve" approach is based upon the principles of Open Innovation. Their clients access one of the the largest and most comprehensive open network of scientific researchers in the world to solve their business needs.

- another 'competitor' is :status quo.

- an other example of these companies is Netflix, a film rental website which offers recommendations based on what you looked at, bought, rented or reviewed in previous visits,Netflix has skipped middlemen like Innocentive. In March 2006, the chief executive of Netflix, Reed Hastings, met some colleagues to discuss how they might improve the recommendation system, Cinematch. Hastings, inspired by the story of John Harrison, suggested offering a prize of $1m to anyone who could do better.

The Netflix prize, announced in October 2006, struck a chord with the Web 2.0 generation. Within days of the prize announcement, some of the best minds in the relevant fields of computer science were on the case. Within a year, the leading entries had reduced Cinematch’s recommendation errors by more than 8 per cent – close to the million-dollar hurdle of 10 per cent. And it has cost Netflix very little to mobilise all this effort. The company has had to pay out a mere $50,000 progress award, to a team of three AT&T data analysts.Even Netflix is surprised at how well it’s been going. “We just didn’t think the relevant research community was so big,’’ says Steve Swasey, vice-president. Source


6. Can the model apply offline as well, or it is unique to the web? I think that as a virtual R&D LAB and being the largest scientific online network the model can not apply offline because its success is closely related to the development of the Web 2.0 generation, as a virtual laboratory,InnoCentive has developed a unique virtual platform reducing both the time and the risks providing solutions faster then any offline R&D platform and community.


7. Scalability and sustainability of InnoCentive Business Model
InnoCentive capitalized on the fact that major companies spend billions of dollars on research and development that could more effectively be outsourced. What if a company had not just a handful of problem solvers, but a worldwide network of problem solvers all working on their hardest nuts-to-crack, and at a fraction of the typical R&D cost? In what it terms as a “virtual laboratory,” the company’s website, is accessed by over 90,000 scientists and scientific organizations located in over 175countries (and like everything on the worldwide web, this number continues to organically grow).
it is sustainable beccause it is a very innovativ e-business operation. Lilly's idea was to use the "power of the Internet" to enhance scientific collaboration. The Internet offers an unparalleled means of exchanging information and connecting people. InnoCentive has taken advantage of this, logging thousands of miles, literally and electronically, to build its network.


Fast Company’s Most Innovative Business People of 2007



8. Stretching of the idea:

What first caught my eye in this business model analysis is InnoCentive's novelty. I love when a company makes me say, “Why didn’t I think of that?!"). Its business model is one that comes directly out of our new, modernized world. We live in a world full of smart people out there, and now with the internet, we have the ability to reach them. Why should companies limit their brainpower to those found on their individual payrolls?

a. How to increase InnoCentive users or customers:
This business is expanding in leaps and bounds internationally, but in order to reach more customers it has to be launched in many languages and open the platform to new feilds of research and innovation.


b. We can Expand revenue sources – not just increase revenue from existing sources by:
- opening the platform to new disciplines such as law and finance and also publishing.
- In an ideal world :opening the platform for "solvers" to submit new innovative concepts and ideas and connect them with companies and investors who may be interested to make them real.peôple may have innovative ideas to problems that companies havent encountered yet, so it will be a sort of anticipation process.

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