Metabolix stock looks like a hit. The Cambridge-based company produces “green plastics” from biomass – materials like wood or corn which can decompose over time. This contrasts with petroleum-based plastics, which do not biodegrade.

Since the company went public last October, its stock price has moved from about $15.50 to a high of over $20. It is currently trading at around $18. It has a production partnership with agribusiness giant ADM and a market cap of around $350 million.

What does Claude Monet, the idiosyncratic French Impressionist painter, have in common with McDonald’s, the fast-food restaurant? At a mature age, both went through a radical re-interpretation of their “operations” in order to re-emerge with a new, successful approach.

The first months of 2003 were the worst period in the entire 52 year history of McDonald’s. In the fourth quarter of 2002, the company reported its first-ever quarterly loss. The company’s stock price hit a low of $12 a share in mid-March of 2003. Its CEO, Jack Greenberg, was fired by the board at the end of 2002. Operations were suffering and franchisees were losing money. At the time, Business Week called it “hamburger hell.”

Four years later, McDonald’s is prospering again. Its sales have grown 40% from the end of 2002 to the end of 2006. The company has quadrupled its dividend over the past five years, and its net income has quadrupled as well, to $3.5 billion in 2006. Its US market share is now three times that of its nearest competitors, Wendy’s and Burger King. This stellar performance has been reflected in its stock, which now trades at around $45.

“Traditional measures of innovation such as market success are significantly lagging indicators. We’re interested in measures that are timely, meaningful, and, most importantly, actionable.”

David Burrage, Motorola research portfolio and processes manager, in Business Week, 28 April 2006

How does your organization measure its innovation performance?

Based on research we’ve done recently at the ICE Center, there seem to be several common themes and issues around commercializing innovation, applying to both new products and services.

First, innovation effectiveness is an area of perennial concern — senior executives are always interested in assessing their company’s…

Back in April of 2004, Reed Hastings, Netflix’ CEO, announced that the company would provide a video-on-demand (VOD) service in 2005. Hastings maintained that the company had always intended to provide VOD services – the use of DVDs and the assistance of the U.S. Post Office was an interim step towards a disk-free future.

On January 16, 2007 (two years late), Netflix announced that its VOD service was finally available.

”This is a big moment for us … I have always envisioned us heading in this direction. In fact, I imagined we…

“We couldn’t afford to lose any more money on a program that appealed to a very small number of people. As great as it was, it would go about 100 miles and take about six to eight hours to charge.”

General Motors Spokesman Dave Barthmuss on the EV-1 in The New York Times, 29 Sep 05

Just 15 months after Mr Barthmuss explained why GM’s EV-1 electric vehicle had no place in the company’s future, GM is back with a mass production electric vehicle, the Chevy Volt.

Bob Lutz introducing the Volt at…