Does location matter?

Innovation, startup, silicon valley or fen or bog whatever. Does location matter if you intend to start a new venture?

The FT ran a piece in 2005 investigating the phenomenon of Cambridge startup success; "The Fertile Soil of Silicon Fen". The argument goes that Cambridge's close social circles and the willingness of entrepreneurs to try again and again, priming new ventures with prior experience and capital while also drawing on the fertile imaginations and academic excellence of the University's graduate output.

In spite of the small scale of firms spawned under Cambridge's influence, profiting from early success undoubtedly worked, the next question was always going to be "can a Cambridge startup achieve global success?" Well apparently that question is answered in the affirmative, albeit by firms that aren't quite household names but are nonetheless well known in their respective fields. The Cambridge Startup Report "From the lab to the limelight" looks at recent history surrounding Cambridge. Previously Cambridge innovation stories were characterised by early stage sales, meaning few firms attempted to grow and achieve scale success; now it seems that has changed with the four+ biggest Cambridge startup stories displaying longevity, ability to grow beyond the initial concept product and the capability to scale.

So a question: What would a 'Dublin Startup Report' have to say?

References

Maija Pesola. The Fertile Soil of Silicon Fen, The Financial Times, 2005 (link)
The Cambridge Startup Report "From the lab to the limelight" (link)

Accenture report on managing a global workforce

HR capability is perceived to be a crucial input into whether a multinational organisation is able to manage a global workforce or not. Global presence and global expansion necessitate the extension of a firm's workforce into regions beyond those that were responsible for its origin. Expansion may be an outward pushing into new markets or it may arise through acquisition or disparate national organisations and businesses. Zynga for example has grown into a multinational firm by virtue of its acquisition strategy, buying smaller games developers from Sao Paulo to Tokyo to Boston, London and beyond.

This report from Accenture highlights the remarkable growth of business taking place in emerging economies; what might have previously be considered the 'developing world'. This change implies another change, a change in employee's perception of corporate culture and prior assumptions that culture reflected the national character of the parent company. Corporate culture is increasingly being seen as cosmopolitan, global, international, not necessarily an extension of a central value system or language of the parent. HR is posited as a force for standarisation, a system for enforcing unity in so far as the corporate entity is constituted through policy, procedure, terminology etc. HR is also posed as the corporate function best placed to encounter, interpret and implement compliance with local regulation while at the same time as it translates between and among the global 'locals' of national offices within the international firm. In this sense HR becomes a shared service, a global function that services the 'local' wherever it is.

Reference
Gartside et al, (2011), Different strokes: How to manage a global workforce, Accenture. (link)
Commentary from Silicon Republic, July 19 2011 (link)

Why the Irish are the business.

Robert Short from RTÉ interviews Bono after the Global Ireland Economic Forum concluded. He asks about Bono's perspective on Ireland as a place to live and a place to work, considering the character of Irish people, their fighting spirit, self belief, and what he suggests is an openness to thinking different.



Robert Short recalls Bono's earlier reflection on ideas around anarchic mind, Bono replied...

"That really is the key to the digital age..."

"To write code, to write software, to crack the problems of the digital age, you have to think different!"

"In the information revolution, thinking different, smartness; India particularly there are some amazingly brilliant software writers - Ireland this is who we are... That anarchic spirit, it's actually, that's what makes us good at the future."

"We live on a small rock in the North Atlantic Ocean, it is pissing rain here, a lot! We have to be very smart about how we bring people, to want to work here and live here."

"And then think it's other things. It is culture, it's, you know, walking around Temple Bar and there's something in the air."

Bono (Paul Hewson)

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And consider this short promotional video from IBEC, the Irish Business and Employers Confederation, on why Ireland is a good place to do business and to be a base for business with the rest of the world. Naturally IBEC has its own take on the financial crisis, Ireland's position in the world, and the kinds of values we should hold, however it does present a compelling view on 'why Ireland'.



(for more on IBEC see ibec.ie)

Sourcing shift: Polycentric Innovation

Link below to a HBR Blog article on Indian firms shifting to "polycentric" strategy?
Is polycentric just another word for outsourcing or is it code for multi-national? In this case the authors (Navi Radjou, Jaideep Prabhu, Prasad Kaipa, Simone Ahuja) trail the idea that it's a battle between Western and Eastern multi-nationals; a non-conflict or not?
blogs.hbr.org

FT special report on outsourcing issues.

(FT login required to read these articles, access limited to 10 articles per month)
Outsourcing enables IT companies to increase flexibility, harness new skills and cut costs.

Outsourcing: The business model that keeps on giving.

Model that works even in turbulent times
Paul Taylor introduces a focus on outsourcing – used for flexibility, to harness new skills and cut costs.

Security: Internet is industry Achilles heel
There is confusion between cloud computing providers and clients about who is responsible for security, says Maija Palmer.

Industry trends: Standardisation is the way to save
Providers look for work that is scalable and repeatable. They avoid complexity and systems that need customising, discovers Jane Bird.

Business case: First, ask 'why are we doing this?'
Only well run IT functions should be delegated, finds Charles Batchelor.

Service location: Governments vie for work in offshoring beauty parade
The leaders of large outsourcing companies are shopping for locations in a buyer's market, says Jessica Twentyman.

150 new jobs at SouthWestern. Focus on BPO

SouthWestern to invest €3.5m in R& D with Enterprise Ireland Support (links).

SouthWestern has bases in Ireland and Poland. HQ is located at the West Cork Business & Technology Park, Clonakilty, Co. Cork. Service offerings surround Customer Relationship Management, Finance & HR, Public Sector and Financial Services. (more info)

A study of Apple and Google mobile phone application developers

Following on from a recent CITO seminar at UCD presented by Prof. Debra Howcroft, based on a study by Birgitta Bergvall-Kåreborn (event notice link).

http://media.falf.se/2011/05/Bergvall-m-fl.pdf

An important study into a nascent industry sector. Of particular interest is the pull towards casualisation of the work of software production, driven in part no doubt from the lower economic rewards (drive down in software price) of mobile apps. The growth of apps as an industry sector is notionally built on the idea that apps may become components of a service, a service that someone will pay for, either the customer for the good or another say for marketing/ad-ware etc that seeks to access the producer's customers. The economics is of course one aspect; the personal and social impact is another important facet and is ultimately the main the focus of this paper.