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  3. Last November, engineers in the healthcare division of GE unveiled something called the "Light Speed VCT", a scanner that can cr

Last November, engineers in the healthcare division of GE unveiled something called the "Light Speed VCT", a scanner that can cr

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问题     Last November, engineers in the healthcare division of GE unveiled something called the "Light Speed VCT", a scanner that can create a startlingly good three-dimensional image of a beating heart. This spring Staples, an American office-supplies retailer, will stock its shelves with a gadget called a "wordlock", a padlock that uses words instead of numbers. The connection? In each case, the firm’s customers have played a big part in designing the product.
    How does innovation happen? The familiar story involves scientist in academic institutes and R&D labs. But lately, corporate practice has begun to challenge this old, fashioned notion. Open source software development is already well-known. Less so is the fact that Bell, an American bicycle helmet maker, has collected hundreds of ideas for new products from its customers, and is putting several of them into production. Not only is the customer king: now he is market-research head, R&D chief and product-development manager, too.
    This is not all new. Researchers have demonstrated the importance of past user contributions to the evolution of everything from sporting equipment to construction materials and scientific instruments. But the rise of online communities, together with the development of powerful and easy-to-use design tools, seems to be boosting the phenomenon, as well as bringing it to the attention of a wider audience, says Eric Von Hippel of MIT. "User innovation has always been around," he says. "The difference is that people can no longer deny that it is happening."
    Harnessing customer innovation requires different methods, says Mr. Von Hippel. Instead of taking the temperature of a representative sample of customers, firms must identify the few special customers who innovate. GE’s healthcare division calls them "luminaries". They tend to be well-published doctors and research scientists from leading medical institutions, says GE, which brings up to 25 luminaries together at regular medical advisory board sessions to discuss the evolution of GE’s technology. GE’s products then emerge from collaboration with these groups.
    At the heart of most thinking about innovation is the belief that people expect to be paid for their creative work: hence the need to protect and reward the creation of intellectual property. One really exciting thing about user-led innovation is that customers seem willing to donate their creativity freely, says Mr. Von Hippel. This may be because it is their only practical option: patents are costly to get and often provide only weak protection. Some people may value the enhanced reputation and network effects of freely revealing their work more than any money they could make by patenting it. Either way, some firms are starting to believe that there really is such a thing as a free lunch.
选项 A、benefit from customer innovation.
B、challenge academic institutes and R&D labs.
C、are pioneers in adopting customer innovation.
D、are predominant in new products research.
答案A
解析 本题问首段中GE和Staples公司的例子是为了说明两家公司如何。首段前半部分是那两个例子，例子本身并不能说明问题。但首段末尾的"The connection? In each case，the firm’s customers have played a big part in de signing the product"表明两家公司的顾客对于新产品设计都起到了很大的作用，也就是说两家公司都受益于顾客创新，这样就引入了顾客创新这个话题，正是作者要说明的问题。故"受益于顾客创新"正确。挑战学术机构及研发实验室：这是对第二段第三句中"challenge this old-fashioned notion"的曲解。文中的意思是原来的观点认为创新与学术机构及研发实验室有关，但现在顾客也参与创新，这是对原来观点的一个挑战。是采用顾客创新的先锋：过度引申。作者举这两个例子只不过是用最近的创新来引入顾客创新这个话题。从中只可以得出这两家公司采用了顾客创新，不能推出它们是最先采用顾客创新的。实际上从第三段首句可知顾客创新原来就有，只不过最近更加普遍罢了。在新产品研究方面占有统治地位：作者举这两个例子的目的并不是强调它们的新产品如何出色。如果仅从例子中的"startling good"等词判断这两个公司的地位，显然过于武断。像这种目的题，关键不在于例子本身，而在于例子上下文的前后的行文，正是这些才能够说明作者的目的。
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