Genivi Alliance is setting the standards for an open source IVI reference platform

I recently returned from a business trip to Munich where I attended the second Genivi member meeting. Genivi is a non-profit automotive and consumer electronics industry association, driving the development and adoption of an open in-vehicle infotainment ( IVI ) reference platform.  There are currently 79 members in the association, and that number is expected to grow as more industry and non-industry players join.

During that very same trip, I had a hands-on experience with infotainment systems.  My colleague and I rented  a gorgeous German car to visit a client. For a rental car, it was well-equipped and had a sufficient level of bells and whistles.  Early in the morning, we were in a hurry and wanted to secure a punctual and trouble free arrival by letting the navigator guide us to our destination.  Should’ve been easy…

Well, after 15 minutes of desperate trial and error, we finally called the rental guy for help with the settings, and after another 15 minutes of fumbling, we finally stepped on the gas and floored it on the Autobahn. Unlike with the Autobahn we had a very BAD USER EXPERIENCE with the [Continue Reading...]

Hot or cold is the difference between a fantastic meal or something utterly inedible.  In the business world, these are the opportunities that are hot that will go cold if and when you don’t jump on them.  At Symbio, we use the “eat it while it’s hot” analogy as one of the ways we help our team “get” Intrapreneurship.  Long-term sustainability of any company is based on Intrapreneurship, and when you see an opportunity, you’ve got to strike, often with very limited information.  Here are a few other key ingredients that help inspire long-term Intrapreneurship:

• Intrapreneurial Culture: Having an intrapreneurial culture means creating an environment where experimentation is honored and failure is just another step towards finding the right solution.  It means having a distributed decision-making structure whereby those closest to the action can make the right calls.  It means having a leadership team that treats its staff as constituents and respects honest, open feedback.  It means that good ideas that create value are rewarded and implemented regardless of whose brain it came from.  In short, it means respecting the intelligence of the individual, trusting them to come up with the best [Continue Reading...]

Having the right approach to globalization will define successful leadership in 2010. While financial institutions toppled in 2009, new industries were born. While industry incumbents struggled to survive, new entrants thrived. It’s in the sharp corners of when industries and economies turn that new leaders emerge. Today’s leaders understand the importance of globalization. Globalization is one of the fundamental laws of business. If business were physics, then globalization would be its gravity. The best products and services will be sought out, bought, and consumed by people all over the world, especially since comparative product information is now essentially available to anyone, at anytime and anywhere. And successful products and services will be produced globally to be the most optimally cost efficient and with the highest global utility. Now more than ever before — the time is right for innovation outsourcing without borders.

Companies need to enable flexibility in their product development processes to accommodate market-specific customizations. And companies need to get more value out of R&D spending, and tap the best minds on the planet to create [Continue Reading...]