Research and Development


Recent Research and Development Articles

What You Can Learn from Starbucks

By Adam Hanft |  Apr 1, 2005

Maybe it's because I've just spent some time in London, Paris, and Berlin -- and have seen the cultural success of Starbucks in locales whose immune syst...  Read more

Thinking Small

By John Grossmann |  Aug 1, 2004

Forget about finding the killer app. New research shows that smaller ideas pack a bigger payoff.  Read more

A Perfect Brainstorm

By Alison Stein Wellner |  Oct 1, 2003

What cutting-edge science tells us about mastering the art of the brainstorm. Plus: Why do the best ideas always seem to happen in the shower?  Read more

Book Review: Experimentation Matters

By Soundview Staff |  Sep 1, 2003

Experimentation Matters by Stefan H. Thomke Harvard Business School Press 307 pages $27.95 Stefan Thomke, ...  Read more

Faster Tech Transfer

By Matthew Fogel |  Jul 1, 2003

Carnegie Mellon University is trying to streamline technology transfer.  Read more

Spy vs. Spy

By Alison Stein Wellner |  Jun 1, 2003

Corporate espionage is a fact of life. Here's how to protect yourself.  Read more

Driven by Design

By Tahl Raz |  Oct 1, 2002

Modo used to be just another struggling manufacturer in a crowded niche. Now it's virtually untouchable. Its secret: design.  Read more

Creation Nation

By Elaine Appleton Grant |  Oct 1, 2002

Wondering where the next hot food ... hit toy ... big band ... miracle drug will come from? Chances are, from entrepreneurs just like you who are furiously c...  Read more

Innovation, We Trust

By John Case |  Oct 1, 2002

In the final installment of our three-part series on innovation, Inc focuses on how today's economic trends will effect the innovative entrepreneurs...  Read more

The Innovation Factor: The Series

Sep 26, 2002

In its three-part special series on innovation, Inc focused on companies and company leaders that have made innovation an integral part of their bus...  Read more

Mail: September 2002

By Inc. staff |  Sep 1, 2002

Readers react to recent Inc magazine articles.  Read more

High Concept: This Phone's for You

By Kate O'Sullivan |  Aug 1, 2002

The next great advance in wireless? One word: plastics.  Read more

The Innovation Factor: Inside the Idea Mill

By Leigh Buchanan |  Aug 1, 2002

What's better than one blockbuster innovation? A company designed to crank out innovations one after another.  Read more

The Innovation 50

By Inc. staff |  Aug 1, 2002

A listing of the most inventive small companies in entrepreneurial America.  Read more

Hands On: Not-So-Bright Ideas

By Anne Stuart |  Aug 1, 2002

Voyant Technologies honors employees who come up with great new product ideas, as well as those less-than-shining suggestions.  Read more

The Innovation Factor: Built to Invent

By Leigh Buchanan |  Aug 1, 2002

Part 1 of a three-installment series on hypercreative organizations and the strategies behind them.  Read more

The Innovator's Rule Book

By Bo Burlingham |  Apr 1, 2002

What companies need now are mechanisms that allow them to come up with real innovations -- ones that produce major results -- over and over again. SRC Holdin...  Read more

Inside the Smartest Little Company in America

By Julie Bick |  Jan 1, 2002

Whit Alexander and Richard Tait, founders of Cranium Inc., had never run a business before. But they did have one thing going for them: brains. That's why th...  Read more

Competitive Intelligence on a Shoestring

By Jan Gardner |  Sep 24, 2001

Some big companies have entire departments devoted to gathering competitive intelligence. Yet even soloists can get a leg up on the competition through on...  Read more

Why Dot-Coms Failed (And What You Can Learn from Them)

By Jamie Walters |  Sep 24, 2001

Headlines are rife with the tally of dotcoms that have "dot-bombed" or are in a downward spiral, not to mention the associated financial losses and human ...  Read more

A Great Way to Spark Creativity

By Jamie Walters |  May 8, 2001

A strategy for jump-starting your creative brain-power  Read more

Red Tape Brainstorms

By Emily Barker |  Nov 7, 2000

Name: Cherrill Farnsworth Number of companies founded: Six Why the big appetite: Irresistib...  Read more

How-to Protect Your Invention from Scams

By Kim Boatman |  Oct 19, 2000

Inventors' enthusiasm and passion for their inventions, coupled with their lack of knowledge about the process, make them attractive targets for scam arti...  Read more

Mortar Combat

By Joshua D. Macht |  Sep 15, 2000

Think your brick-and-mortar can't compete with its Net-based rivals? Think again. New technology is bringing speed, convenience, and expert product informati...  Read more

A Primer on Patents

May 22, 2000

Qualifying for a Patent A patent is a document issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) that grants a monopoly for a l...  Read more

How Trademarks Differ from Patents and Copyrights

May 12, 2000

Trademarks are often mentioned in the same breath as copyrights and patents. While they do sometimes apply to the same thing, they're more often defined b...  Read more

Jump Start Your Business

By John Grossmann |  May 1, 2000

Spend 48 sleepless hours with America's top new-product idea man.  Read more

Can You Get a Patent without a Lawyer?

Mar 30, 2000

You have an invention -- something that would fill a need and make life easier. It might even make you some money, if you could get the exclusive right to...  Read more

Enforcing a Patent

Mar 30, 2000

Once a patent is issued, it is up to the owner to enforce it. If friendly negotiations fail, enforcement involves two basic steps: Mak...  Read more

Patent Searching Online

By David Hitchcock |  Oct 21, 1999

Everyone knows that Americans are natural-born inventors. We love to devise new ways to get things done, whether it be cutting the lawn, opening a jar or ...  Read more

What You Can Learn from Steve Jobs

By Steven Berglas |  Oct 1, 1999

By revitalizing Apple Computer, Steve Jobs proves that there's nothing like a charismatic leader when times are tough. But could all that charisma backfire w...  Read more

Spies Like Us

By Stephanie L. Gruner |  Aug 1, 1998

An interview with Tom Stemberg, CEO and chairman of Staples, Inc. Stemberg describes the industry information he gathers by playing mystery shopper at his co...  Read more

The New Market Research

By Joshua D. Macht |  Jul 1, 1998

Forget focus groups and mail surveys; with constantly changing markets and ever-increasing competition, companies are finding new ways to determine what cust...  Read more

Corps Values

By David H. Freedman |  Apr 1, 1998

The U.S. Marines are trained to make split-second decisions based on incomplete information, in life-or-death situations. Can they provide clues to running a...  Read more

Patent Fending

By Mike Hofman |  Dec 1, 1997

A look at some famous legal battles between inventors and the corporations that stole their patented ideas.  Read more