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  3. Businesses throw around the term "innovation" to show they’re on the cutting edge of everything from technology and medicine to

Businesses throw around the term "innovation" to show they’re on the cutting edge of everything from technology and medicine to

admin2022-02-06  56
问题 Businesses throw around the term "innovation" to show they’re on the cutting edge of everything from technology and medicine to snacks and cosmetics. Companies are touting chief innovation officers, innovation teams, innovation strategies and even innovation days.
    But that doesn’t mean the companies are actually doing any innovating. Instead they are using the word to convey monumental change when the progress they’re describing is quite ordinary. Like the once ubiquitous buzzwords "synergy" and "optimization" , innovation is in danger of becoming a cliche—if it isn’t one already.
    "Most companies say they’re innovative in the hope they can somehow con investors into thinking there is growth when there isn’t," says Clayton Christensen, a professor at Harvard Business School and the author of the 1997 book, The Innovator’s Dilemma.
    The definition of the term varies widely depending on whom you ask. To Bill Hickey, chief executive of Bubble Wrap’s maker, Sealed Air Corp., it means inventing a product that has never existed, such as packing material that inflates on delivery. To Ocean Spray Cranberries InC. CEO Randy Papadellis, it is turning an overlooked commodity, such as leftover cranberry skins, into a consumer snack like Craisins. To Pfizer InC.’s research and development head, Mikael Dolsten, it is extending a product’s scope and application, such as expanding the use of a vaccine for infants that is also effective in older adults.
    Scott Berkun, the author of the 2007 book The Myths of Innovation, which warns about the dilution of the word, says that what most people call an innovation is usually just a "very good product" . He prefers to reserve the word for civilization-changing inventions like electricity, the printing press and the telephone—and, more recently, perhaps the iPhone.
    Mr. Berkun, now an innovation consultant, advises clients to ban the word at their companies. "It is a chameleon-like word to hide the lack of substance," he says. Mr. Berkun tracks innovation’s popularity as a buzzword back to the 1990s, amid the dot-com bubble and the release of James M. Utterback’s Mastering the Dynamics of Innovation and Mr. Christensen’s Dilemma. The word appeals to large companies because it has connotations of being agile and "cool" , like start-ups and entrepreneurs, he says.
    Technology concerns aren’t necessarily the worst offenders. Apple InC. and Google InC. mentioned innovation 22 times and 14 times, respectively, in their most recent annual reports. But they were matched by Procter & Gamble Co. (22 times), Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. (21 times) and Campbell Soup Co. (18 times).
    The innovation trend has given birth to an attendant consulting industry, and Fortune 100 companies pay innovation consultants $300000 to $1 million for work on a single project, which can amount to $1 million to $10 million a year, estimates Booz & Co. innovation strategy consultant Alex Kandybin.
What does the word "innovation" mean to Scott Berkun?
选项 A、A very good product.
B、Cool and agile.
C、Civilization-changing inventions.
D、Start-ups and entrepreneurs.
答案C
解析 细节题。根据题干中的“Scott Berkun”可定位至第五段和第六段。根据第五段中的“He prefers to reserve the word for civilization-changing inventions like electricity，the printing press and the telephone一-and，more recently, perhaps the iPhone”可知，Scott Berkun更喜欢把创新这个词用于电、印刷机和电话等改变文明的发明。C项“改变文明的发明”符合Scott Berkun对创新的看法。根据第五段中的“Scott Berkun…says that what most people call an innovation is usually just a‘very good product’”可知，A项“一件非常好的产品”是大多数人对创新的看法，而不是Scott Berkun对创新的看法，故排除。根据第六段中的“The word appeals to large companies because it has connotations of being agile and‘cool’，like start-ups and entrepreneurs，he says”可知，“创新”这个词对大公司有吸引力，是因为它像初创企业和创业者一样具有灵敏和‘酷’的含义。由此可知，B项是大公司对“创新”一词的看法，故排除。D项也不是Scott Berkun对创新的看法，可排除。故本题选C。
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