Innovate!: How Great Companies Get Started in Terrible Times

During the economic upheavals of the late 1800s, the Great Depression, and the Oil Crisis and Market Crash in the 1970s, one thing has been constant... the start-up of groundbreaking technologies and companies that became business icons. Eli Lilly IBM, Procter & Gamble, Hewlett-Packard and Marvel Entertainment are all great companies and they all made their start during the worst economic times. INNOVATE!: HOW GREAT COMPANIES GET STARTED IN TERRIBLE TIMES (John Wiley & Sons; May 2010; $34.95) captures the lessons of these great innovative individuals and companies that began in the worst economic times, identifying the philosohies, strategies, and essential keys to success during today’s challenging economic times. This book is a source of true inspiration based on history.

Author Thomas Meyer shows readers that historically, economic recessions and depressions have been incredibly rich soil for improvement. The book limits the criteria for “great companies” to those that have continued operations or brand equity through 2009. This eliminates many great innovations, but nevertheless provides a substantial list of companies for the purposes of demonstrating the powers of innovation.  An inspiring book INNOVATE! reveals innovation as the catalytic generator that determines an organization's ability to compete in a volatile environment—and to possibly change the course of business history.  Inside, readers learn how great companies got their start during spectacularly difficult economic slumps, and are all still in business, including:

• Procter & Gamble in business since the Economic Panic of 1837
• Barnes & Noble’s doors opened in the midst of the Long Depression of 1873–1879
• Hershey's satisfying the nation's sweet tooth since the Economic Panic of 1893
• General Foods, Texas Instruments, Mobil, Tyson Foods, Krispy Kreme, and Sara Lee Corporation all took off during the Great Depression, despite a 17% unemployment  
• Baskin-Robbins, Cantor Fitzgerald, and Mattel all got their start during the Post–World War II Recession
• Applebee's and Olive Garden restaurant chains served up success in spite of the economic turmoil of the 1980 Recession and a 10% unemployment rate

Readers will quickly learn that tough times are no match for innovation. INNOVATE! discloses innovation as the momentum that sets the course for an organization to keep swimming in rough waters and emerge a champion.  This book is essential reading for a large number of individual and groups that are currently looking for help in fighting through difficult economic times.  

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Thomas A. Meyer, MBA, CLP, (St. Louis MO), is the Chief Innovation Officer of St. Louis University. Meyer’s career in innovation management spans more than thirty years. He created the Domestic and International Intellectual Property Office at Anheuser-Busch, Inc., in 1980. He coauthored the pioneering book on intellectual property management, An Executive’s Complete Guide to Licensing, in 1988. For more than twenty years, Meyer has consulted for many Fortune 500 and privately owned companies in the areas of licensing, franchising, new product development, and marketing. A partial list of clients includes Coca-Cola, Times Mirror Company, Ralston Purina, and CBS Radio and TV. Meyer is also an accomplished entrepreneur who has founded four successful companies in the manufacturing, retail, and services industries. He has been responsible for developing some of the first sustainable products including the first 100% recycled plastic bottle in 1991 and the first bio-based automotive commodity chemicals in 1994. Meyer’s new professional passion is building bridges between industry and universities to ensure America’s innovation leadership in the world. 

INNVOVATE!

How Great Companies Get Started in Terrible Times

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Publication date: May 10, 2010

$34.95; Hardcover; 220 pages; ISBN: 978-0-470-56058-7