Innovation has been a buzzword for a while now. By definition, it means something new or different introduced. In a highly competitive world, innovation is key to keep your business fresh and stay alongside or ahead of the competition. This week's roundup features articles on innovative companies and ways of innovating your business. 1) The World's Most Innovative Companies 2014 from Fast Company

"In this special report on the World's Most Innovative Companies, there are plenty of examples to make you a believer ("I've never been more excited about the possibilities ahead of us," Nike CEO Mark Parker recently told me). Our staff has spent more than six months gathering and analyzing data. To generate our list of the 50 Most Innovative Companies--and the accompanying top 10 companies in various sectors--we assessed thousands of enterprises."

2) DevOps: Changing the Nature of Innovation in Your Business from CA Technologies

"We all know that the rate and pace of business innovation is accelerating. Think about how location services, initially focused on mobility, are now used in many more computing devices to determine the services delivered to users. And think about the innovation happening with credit and loyalty cards..."

3) Six Components for Successful Innovation Capacity from Innovate on Purpose

I'm always a little cautious about any post that dares to state a definitive number of tasks or components for successful completion of any task.  Therefore, it's with some trepidation that I'm going out on a limb to talk about what I think are six critical components for sustained innovation capacity.  Note that I am saying six critical, not "the only six critical" because while I'm certain these are important, there are probably others that are just as important.

4) “Why Should I Work Here?” is the NEW “Why Should We Hire You? from LLoyd Intelligence

"It’s a truth in hiring – companies spend a lot of time and expense identifying and recruiting candidates… but they should be giving equal time and expense to doing what it takes to motivate talent so that they say, 'WOW, what a company, I want to work here.'"

5) When Companies Start Innovating from HR Examiner

"All new companies start with innovation – they develop a product or service, build a business around it, and hope to make money. Young companies, especially software start-ups with lots of funding and computer engineers who love making new things do cool tricks, are rich in innovation — new ways of thinking, doing, and making. As companies grow and hire more employees, they naturally start worrying about making money and growing what they have. They are interested in improvements and new ideas, but not complete changes to their core offerings. One main reason is success. Successful companies tend to focus on doing more of what they have been doing because it’s worked so far."