MAY 28-JUNE 3, 2021
The theme for IBJ’s latest Innovation Issue might be disturbingly familiar: Disruption. But as the now-trendy saying goes, “Never let a good crisis go to waste.” Tom Fisher, chief digital officer for KAR Global, explains how the auto-auction company went all-digital in just two weeks after the pandemic disrupted its sales model. Kurt Christian details how manufacturers are adjusting to the global semiconductor shortage. And Anthony Schoettle provides some of the most recent examples of local entrepreneurs who are introducing disruptive products and services to their markets with big-step innovations, including Chris Baggott’s ClusterTruck.
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2021 Innovation Issue: Small companies are most likely to be disruptors
One reason is that big companies are focused on staying on course—maintaining the successes and strengths that made them big in the first place. And if you’re always on course, there’s little room for innovation.
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2021 Innovation Issue: KAR Global wants to be the disruptor, not the disrupted
When the pandemic hit last spring, KAR Global had little choice but to shut down its in-person, wholesale auto auctions, which had been the publicly traded company’s backbone for years. But within two weeks, the Carmel-based company was back up and running—with 100% remote auctions. So how did KAR make it happen?
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2021 Innovation Issue: When the chips are down, manufacturers scramble
A global semiconductor shortage, driven in large part by pandemic-related factors, is forcing many central Indiana manufacturers and distributors to broaden their supply base and forecast their needs longer term, along with hoping for federal aid from the president’s infrastructure proposal.
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2021 Innovation Issue: Navigating disruption means letting go of the perception of control
Some organizations are able to consistently thrive in a volatile environment, and it’s no accident. Is it because their leaders are more intelligent? Is it because they have a better plan?
Read More2021 Innovation Issue: Here to stay?
We all hope that much of what turned the world upside down during the pandemic was temporary. Everyone wants to see mask-wearing, shuttered businesses and social distancing fade in the rearview mirror. But some altered behavior might become permanent, or at least more commonplace.
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2021 Innovation Issue: Telehealth is disrupting traditional care model for doctors, hospitals
For decades, one industry—health care—has largely clung to its traditional model of person-to-person visits in brick-and-mortar buildings, even as other industries have gone virtual. It took a pandemic to disrupt everything, almost overnight.
Read More2021 Innovation Issue: Creating the post-pandemic workplace
Just as happened at the beginning of the outbreak, managers and employees are once again navigating terra incognita, feeling their way toward a new workplace normal.
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2021 Innovation Issue: Tumultuous year jolts diversity efforts into overdrive
Shaken by protests and social unrest in cities across the country in 2020, employers in particular ramped up diversity commitments within their organizations.
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2021 Innovation Issue: ‘This is the most traction I’ve ever seen’
Tamara Cypress—of Black Onyx Management, Indy Black Businesses Matter and Indy Accomplice—discussed with IBJ the progress that’s been made on equity and inclusion problems and the challenges that still exist.
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2021 Innovation Issue: Lilly’s disruptive model opens doors to women, minorities
For more than a century, Eli Lilly and Co. has pushed for innovation in the pharmaceutical industry. But six years ago, the drugmaker had to admit it was less than innovative in its own workforce.
Read More2021 Innovation Issue: Supply chains remain a challenge across industries
Even as U.S. COVID-19 cases have declined, supply-chain problems have persisted. For a variety of reasons—from shifts in consumer behavior to a plummet in available airline flights to congestion at ocean ports—the pandemic has scrambled everything across a wide swath of industries.
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2021 Innovation Issue: Kim and Todd Saxton on the myths of disruption
We often hear people talk about the “first-mover advantage.” In reality, academic research suggests the opposite. First movers rarely reap all the benefits of their disruption. In
Read More2021 Innovation Issue: Brian Payne, Pamela Ross call for commitment to end systemic racism
The most important example of CICF’s innovative approach to community philanthropy is its journey toward equitable opportunity for all and dismantling systemic racism.
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New toy store with international flair opens in Broad Ripple
Monon Toys & Crafts opened at 6510 Cornell Ave. and is in 1,000 square feet of rented space previously occupied by Broad Ripple Knits.
Read MoreIndiana governor traveling to Israel during ‘hour of need’
Gov. Eric Holcomb cited business and cultural ties between Indiana and Israel for making the trip.
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Holladay Properties proposes $25.5M in new Westfield warehouse projects
South Bend-based Holladay Properties is asking the city of Westfield to grant it a tax abatement to offset the costs of developing three speculative buildings in NorthPoint Industrial Park.
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City forcing removal of landmark red caboose from Broad Ripple site
The 117-year-old caboose has occupied a tiny parcel of city-owned land adjacent to the trail for a half-century. But Indy Parks & Recreation and the Department of Metropolitan Development want it gone.
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