"In the struggle for survival, the fittest win out at the expense of their rivals because they succeed in adapting themselves best to their environment", noted Charles Darwin.

This book presents an original approach to innovation in business as the authors take us on a discovery tour of DNA and its nitrogenous bases.

Like every living system, a company has its own genetic make-up - the fundamental basis of its ability to innovate. To survive and mutate, each company's DNA has to adapt to the environment, moments of discontinuity, painful disruptions, industrial revolutions and crises. This is when a company adopts new behaviours. And at the dawn of the 21st century one of the results of this ability to adapt and mutate is the emergence of the hyperconnected company and grid-like innovation.

This work is a treasure trove of interesting ideas for today's decision makers who want to improve their ability to innovate. It has been fed by daily observations of large European companies as well as pluri-disciplinary thoughts that alternate metaphors, analogies, theoretical analysis and concrete illustrations. They all give a voice to important innovation players - 3M, Air Liquide, Bouygues Télécom, BNP Paribas, Danone, Orange, Siemens, Vuitton and many more.

This is a "must read" for directors and managers (strategy, marketing, R&D and innovation) but the book will also enrich the work of management scholars, students and teachers with ideas for future business innovation.

• DNA Innovation in Business
  • The Actor Base (A) and Innovation Profiles
  • The Ideation base (I) and Creative Expression
  • The Emotion Base (E) and Innovation Senses
  • The Collaboration Base (C) and the Ability to Implement Innovation
• The Environment: DNA Mutation Factors
  • The Environment: Bearer of Genetic Mutations
  • The first Factor: Discontinuity
  • The seconde Factor: Historic Playing Fields
  • The third Factor: New Lands
• The Hyperconnected Company in an Era of Grid-like Innovation
  • The Individual: A Trigger for Genetic Mutation
  • The New (A) Base: The Extended Company and its New Roles
  • The New (C) Base: From C