As they grow larger, businesses tend to innovate less and focus on proven products and service more. That’s the belief of Aberdeen Asset Management executive Martin Gilbert, who claims that large businesses often lose the entrepreneurial spirit which contributed to their initial success as they grow into larger operations.
It’s certainly a theory that holds some weight, particularly with many of the leaders of technology switching from a model built on innovation to one that’s built around gradual improvement and an increasingly refined product. The result, Mr. Gilbert is quick to say, is the result of having ‘more people in the decision making process.’
Leading technology company Google is a fantastic example of the theory in practice, with its recent products often built around improving search – something that has been at the core of Google’s business since 1997. Google has increasingly killed off its extra products in favour of improving and optimising its core search function.
Apple, another innovator, has been stuck in a similar rut. Investors and technology industry commentators have voiced their concerns about Apple’s lack of brand new products in recent years, claiming that its focus has shifted from creating new things to refining its existing products since the death of co-founder Steve Jobs.
Others in the technology world have dealt with similar problems. Others, however, such as Amazon.com, have innovated more as their businesses – and their market share – grew larger. The company’s Kindle and its recent investment in television content have made Amazon.com one of the last decade’s top online innovators.
While some companies get caught in a rut as they grow, offering little in the way of innovative products that made them popular in the first place, others seem to make the opposite change. Given the change in some of today’s top technology firms, is it unrealistic to think that we could see an entirely different market by 2023?
