Lulu.Com Case Study

Lulu.com

Organization:

Lulu.com formed around a devoted team with a variety of unique talents critical to operation and adaptation within the highly competitive world of print on demand. The employees are well matched to their tasks and positioned within a horizontal organization with Bob Young and Gart Davis at their head setting the strategic direction. The structure allows for increased responsiveness and productivity within the company while giving the employees ownership of their ideas.

Culture:

As often found within modern companies which have embraced the culture of innovation, Lulu.com has instigated a very open and relaxed workplace environment which focuses on fostering the creative potential of employees rather than forcing a more disciplined atmosphere. While this culture often seems unstructured to an observer, the relaxed office-free atmosphere allows for quick communication of ideas among co-workers and generates strong intrinsic motivation in employees. In addition, the yearly all employee “Gartfest” increases this culture of openness and employee participation in strategic planning. The company has also embraced the online consumer community as an integral part of customer service. This integration creates a very loyal base, a well of potential employees with a strong knowledge of the company, and an excellent communication system that helps keep consumer satisfaction high.

The work environment and culture have fostered excellent innovation capabilities. The wide interest and experience base of the employees creates a solid foundation of knowledge for innovation. The open office layout and sharing of ideas between the diverse employees creates strong work group encouragement. The internal trial system and yearly Gartfest planning meeting creates strong organizational encouragement. Although the resources provided by internal capabilities in need of updating are sometimes lacking, there is a strong encouragement from the leadership. This builds into a highly motivated, diverse employee base which is willing to try new ideas and take an active role in innovation.

Management:

Davis’s use of sponsored internal trials follows the experiential approach of innovation management. Allowing employees to launch trials of ideas allows Davis to determine whether or not the ideas will be successful. It reduces the uncertainty of launching new ideas within the often turbulent online marketplace. The method also corresponds well with the hiring of employees who have experience in a broad array of media and involving consumer community their where they may encounter potential ideas for innovation. Davis’s willingness to accept failures along with successes allows any idea to be a potentially valuable source of new information.

Recommendation:

While each of the three focuses Lulu.com must consider are important to their company mission of an expansive intellectual property marketplace, the decision of which to focus on must involve the company’s core competencies. The expansion of their services into international markets certainly needs attention. With a