Acknowledgments

Writing this book has been a labor of love for both of us, but it has been a labor that has been generously encouraged and supported by a large number of people who contributed their time and thoughts and to whom we acknowledge our deep gratitude.

Our interactions with Uma Chowdhry of DuPont, Irving Wladawsky-Berger and Dan McGrath of IBM, Tom Cripe of P&G, and Debra Park of Dial Corporation were instrumental in shaping our early ideas and the frameworks presented in this book. We also benefited tremendously from our conversations with the following people, each of whom generously gave their time and shared their insights on various topics: Dave Bayless, Henry Chesbrough, Steve Cugine, David Duncan, Jevin Eagle, Gary Einhaus, Robert Finnochiaro, John Funk, Harvey Gideon, Sharon Grosh, Adam Gross, Laurie Kien-Kotcher, Bill Lazaroff, Stephen Mallenbaum, Richard Marken, Stephen Maurer, Gregg McPherson, Kim Pugliese, Arti Rai, Andrej Sali, Catherine Strader, Scott Strode, Ginger Taylor, Dave Weaver, Brandon Williams, David Ylitalo, and David Yuan. There are many others—both in academia and in the industry—who critiqued our ideas and offered thoughtful comments and suggestions and to whom we are much indebted.

Several people helped us in organizing our interviews and managing our schedules related to this book. We would like to thank Jeff Horn for assisting us in our research, and we would also like to thank Gordon Evans, Jeff Leroy, Ann Schmidt, and several others who helped us in identifying the appropriate person in the various organizations and scheduling our interviews. Rahi Gurung provided valuable administrative assistance at Kellogg.

Satish would like to acknowledge his gratitude to the Kellogg School of Management and to the Center for Research in Technology & Innovation (CRTI) at Northwestern University for generously hosting his sabbatical and facilitating the initial research work that led to this book. He would like to thank Dean Dipak Jain of Kellogg for his encouragement and interest in this project. He would also like to thank Ranjay Gulati, Jim Conley, Mark Jeffrey, Rob Wolcott, and other friends and colleagues at Kellogg and CRTI for being very helpful and for making his stay both enjoyable and intellectually stimulating.

Satish also thanks Robert Baron—his friend, mentor, and colleague at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI)—for his intellectual partnership and patience as a co-author in his other research projects during the writing of this book. He would also like to express his appreciation to President Shirley Jackson and other academic leaders at RPI for promoting research on innovation management and for bringing a vibrant, inter-disciplinary focus to this important topic.

Satish would like to express his deep gratitude to his wife Priya for her boundless enthusiasm, constant encouragement, and for believing in this book from the first day onward. She found the time—amid her own hectic schedule as a first-year assistant professor—to read the individual chapters and give comments and suggestions and to serve at various times as a sounding board, cheerleader, critic, editor, and advisor. Her unwavering love and friendship and her adventurous mind continue to be the source of joy, inspiration, and strength for Satish in his work and life.

Mohan would like to thank all the participants of the Kellogg Innovation Network who have supported our research and have served as a valuable sounding board for our ideas. He would particularly like to thank Blythe McGarvey for her incisive comments on the manuscript, Rob Wolcott for his intellectual partnership, Toby Redshaw for his intellectual provocation, and Mark Karasek for his unwavering support of the KIN. Mohan would also like to thank Dean Dipak Jain for believing in him and the Center’s mission, as well as all his colleagues in the Center, including James Conley, Mark Jeffery, Rob Wolcott, and Bob Cooper.

Mohan would also like to express his profound gratitude to his new wife Parminder for being patient with him as he was working on the book while managing a long-distance relationship. Her love and support was the guiding light that kept Mohan going. And Mohan would like to thank his kids Asha and Bundev for the joy they bring to his life, and for staying out of the way while Dad worked on the book!

We would like to thank Jerry Wind of Wharton for believing in our ideas for this book and driving us to actually start writing it. We would also like to thank Tim Moore, Russ Hall, Martha Cooley, Chelsey Marti, and the rest of the Prentice Hall team for their commitment and enthusiastic support. Thanks are also due to Tom Stewart and Paul Hemp of Harvard Business Review for their support and encouragement of our ideas.