Five businesses that demonstrate innovation

You’ll be surprised of the lack of the likes of Google, Apple, Amazon and the usual suspects on this list. But, I thought those ones were too easy. They’re industry leaders, trailblazers. These businesses adapt and innovate in a different way.

It’s a way that you can follow or use as an example in your pursuit of leading your business to success.

1.Patagonia

Imagine having a company that remains consistent with their environmental pledge as they continue to grow stronger as a business entity – you have just imagined Patagonia. They are one of the most respected and popular outdoor apparel brands in the world, and they raise awareness around environmental issues including climate change, public land protections and other planetary concerns.

CEO Rose Marcario has helped to push Patagonia to the top through funding grassroots, environmentally friendly business ventures, and streamlining the production line and supply chains.

You can view FastCompany's article on Marcario to see how she's really motivated to make a difference here.

2. Tesla

Whether their vehicles be electric, autonomous or floating around in space, Tesla and their CEO Elon Musk are always looking to lead innovation, and in Musk’s own words: “change the world and humanity.”   

Despite coming under fire for their production line ethics, Tesla continue to be at the forefront of innovation in the automotive industry. Their cars have won Car of the Year awards and been included in Time Magazine’s Best 25 Inventions of the Year lists.

3. Waze

Now owned by Google, who bought Waze for an eyewatering $1 billion, GPS navigation software Waze has been around since 2006 when it was initially released in its home country of Israel. The app allows user to submit navigation and real-time traffic information and route details to the Waze server.

Waze has collaborated with other applications including Spotify, Foursquare and Facebook to provide a more complete user experience using different features like high-crime area notifications and road hazards. Waze was named the Best Overall App in 2013 at the Mobile World Congress.

4. Kakao

Kakao is a South Korean internet company that was formed thanks to the merger of Daum Communications and Kakao in 2014, but they have a hand in many services including their KakaoTalk app, which is their most prominent, which had 49.47 million download in 2017.

Kakao also launched Kakao Bank in July 2017, an internet-only bank which attracted 820,000 customers after just four days of launching. Within a month, they had 3.5 million users of their banking service, making them the owner of South Korea’s most popular messaging application and internet bank. They also offer services in industries including entertainment and transportation.

5. Darktrace

Darktrace is a company that utilises artificial intelligence for cyber defence. They are best known for the Enterprise Immune System which uses advanced machine learning to spot emerging threats to a company’s IT network and infrastructure.

Darktrace have also managed to deploy their popular technology in cloud and Software as a Service (SaaS) environments for both private and public cloud systems. Their solution is made complete through Antigena, an autonomous response solution that acts against cyber-attacks in real-time to limit their damage. Darktrace have managed to become the next step in cyber security thanks to their innovation.

Could your business be the next venture to showcase innovation? e-Careers offer business, leadership and management  courses to help you build your business skills. 

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