ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J. – June 2, 2008 – This is the year that innovation moves beyond boardroom theory and into business reality. "The Business of Innovation," CNBC's groundbreaking series presented in association with IBM, shows how to navigate the complex transition from merely "getting it" to "getting it done." The second season of the five-part series explores the topic of innovation in today's business world beginning today, Monday, June 2nd at 9PM and 12AM ET and will air for five consecutive Mondays at 9PM and 12AM ET on CNBC, First in Business Worldwide.*
The series, hosted by CNBC's Maria Bartiromo, will broadcast globally across the CNBC network and its affiliates.
"Innovation is the most important topic in the business world today helping companies stay ahead of the curve, maintain a competitive edge and gain a global advantage," said Susan Krakower, Vice President, Strategic Programming and Development, CNBC. "The goal of this program is to provide companies and business executives with a blueprint to innovate in their own organizations and position themselves as industry leaders."
"We believe programming that helps contextualize Innovation as a business imperative provides real value to today's business leaders. Continuing our partnership with CNBC and "The Business of Innovation" aligns with our belief that it's time to shift the dialogue from talking about Innovation - to actually doing it. We are proud to participate in such an important program that leverages CNBC's expertise in crafting business content. We hope this program will establish a deeper understanding of this important issue," said Noah Syken, Manager, U.S. Media and Branded Content Development, IBM.
Krakower continues, "This program is also about driving innovation to execution and with 'The Business of Innovation,' CNBC leads by example seamlessly utilizing the strength of its global network and multi-platform capabilities."
Each one-hour episode will explore a different aspect of Innovation using CNBC's global newsgathering capabilities and a series of high-profile, world-class leaders and CEOs including Jack Welch, Former Chairman and CEO General Electric Co.; Mel Karmazin, CEO of SIRIUS Satellite Radio; Ursula M. Burns, President, Xerox Corporation; Philip Yeo, Special Advisor for Singapore's Economic Development; Esko Aho, former Prime Minister of Finland; Antonio Perez, Chairman and CEO Kodak; Robert L. Johnson, Founder and Chairman of The RLJ Companies'; Yong Nam, Vice Chairman and CEO of LG Electronics; Howard Schultz, Starbucks CEO; and Dr. Jonathan Lord, SVP and Chief Innovation Officer, Humana; among others, to explore the corporate world's innovation challenge, the rise of the entrepreneur leading the innovation drive, the public sector's role and how the ever changing global workforce is changing any and all status quo business models.
The series also features renowned innovation experts and thought leaders including Suzy Welch, business journalist; Dr. Ranjay Gulati, Professor, Harvard Business School and Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University; Keith Yamashita, CEO and Founder, Stone Yamashita Partners; Scott Berkun, Author, "The Myths of Innovation"; and Vijay Vaitheeswaran, Global Correspondent, "The Economist"; to dissect the topic and provide guidance for viewers seeking to innovate in their own organizations. With each episode, "The Business of Innovation" takes viewers inside a company to profile a unique innovation dilemma and these thought leaders offer innovation solutions.
CNBC's "The Business of Innovation" will feature the following episodes:
- The Human Element – focuses on how innovative companies are coping successfully in a flat world that is globally integrated, where the generation and cultural divide is getting bigger and the choices – for employees and customers – are increasing at lightning speed.
- Innovate or Die – focuses on the importance of innovation within the corporate structure and how executives can embrace and love change, as well as utilize and maximize the potential of their "disruptive" talent. Executives have no choice but to confront and conquer the challenges that innovation presents in order to grow.
- Redefining Innovation – focuses on defining the meaning of innovation today and how innovation can be integrated into the business model, culture and practices of a corporation in order to reach beyond customer's imagination.
- The Responsibility Revolution – focuses on the corporate social responsibility model and how to execute that model in a way that's genuine, not just generous.
- The Innovator's Playbook – once the viewer has defined what innovation means to himself and his company, it's time to tie it together and execute the vision into action and profits.
For more information regarding CNBC's "The Business of Innovation," including a complete rundown of CEO guests and thought leaders, podcasts as well as links to global resources, log on to http://innovation.cnbc.com.
Maria Bartiromo is the anchor of CNBC's "Closing Bell with Maria Bartiromo" (3-5 PM ET), and host and managing editor of the nationally syndicated "Wall Street Journal Report with Maria Bartiromo." The executive producer of CNBC's "The Business of Innovation" is Mary Duffy.
About CNBC:
CNBC is the recognized world leader in business news, providing real-time financial market coverage and business information to more than 340 million homes worldwide, including more than 95 million households in the United States and Canada. The network's Business Day programming (weekdays from 5:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m. ET) is produced at CNBC's headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., and also includes reports from CNBC news bureaus worldwide. Additionally, CNBC viewers can manage their individual investment portfolios and gain additional in-depth information from on-air reports by accessing http://www.cnbc.com.
Members of the media can receive more information about CNBC and its programming on the NBC Universal Media Village Web site at http://nbcumv.com/cnbc/.