Nature provides an ideal metaphor for business innovation. Those who can observe nature and imbibe them into business practices can learn a lot. An example would be that of an egg. An egg at initial stage is fragile but if provided the right support it turns into a full-fledged bird. New incremental ideas or breakthrough business propositions require similar nurturing. The caterpillar eventually turns into the much more aesthetically pleasing butterfly. Similarly, ideas initially appear ugly and need to be provided the right business environment for them to flourish. Lot of difficult stages need to be passed through during the evolutionary process. Even cells in the body or chrysalis might appear small but numerous ones together create a vibrant body. Similarly, individual employees may have their own use, but it is the team which produces results once all these disparate elements can be drafted together.

Source: http://innovationexcellence.com/blog/2016/08/09/think-like-nature-to-innovate-2/

According to a Bain & Company study, employees are amongst the most important assets as well as major expenses for retail companies. Business research conducted by Bloomberg asserts that the employee turnover ratio stands at a whopping sixty percent in the US. This is because of a lack of employee engagement. Retail stores are notorious for the stark differences that appear between well informed customers using the latest technologies versus employees using age-old tools. That is where an employee-only application developed by Apple can be considered ground breaking as it empowers its retail employees. An internal newspaper is compiled which communicates latest company development and industry trends to the employees. The app also involves tests, games and expense tools. This app can easily be integrated with wearable technology. A business analytics software developed by Retail-Next for in-store usage offers insights on customer traffic, sales and calculations help. Other apps have also enabled company HR to be directly in touch with retail employees.

Source:http://sociable.co/technology/retail-innovation-tech-employees/

In order to excel at business innovation, it is essential for the company to embrace a sense of fun at work. Here fun does not mean that employees engage in actual play, but breaks where people engage with each other in more light-hearted vein helps them relax. Often new ideas are brainstormed during such sessions. Obviously there need to be unofficial moderators to weed out the ridiculous from the actual innovative. Often the gap between these two is quite thin so someone has to step in between.

Source: http://innovationexcellence.com/blog/2016/08/01/the-role-of-play-in-innovation/

IBM has always been known as an industry giant in the field of research and development of technology based products and services. But another thing, where IBM excels in is people management, with the company being regularly being adjudged as one of the best places to work in. IBM has tried to build a culture of business innovation at every stage in order to boost performances and employee engagement levels. Big Data is being studied thorough by several dozens of analysts to derive means by which HR processes can further be improved. Analytics based innovations have already been put in place to speed up and streamline recruitment processes. IBM has also been encouraging employee to go for continuing education programmes to constantly learn while working.

Source: http://www.itbusiness.ca/news/ibm-canadas-hr-head-on-how-a-culture-of-innovation-can-boost-employee-engagement/76515

Source http://customerthink.com/customer-centric-innovation-is-the-new-black/

Source: http://innovationexcellence.com/blog/2016/07/26/innovation-in-the-world-demands-adaptability-in-the-workplace/

Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/gartnergroup/2016/06/27/top-5-digital-innovation-hacks/#1b77bade62a4