It is often argued, and many articles have been written by various authors that state “Big companies can innovate like small companies”, this may as well be possible, but I would suggest that this will be the exception rather than the rule.

When you look at work environments and also at the personal freedom employees have, a smaller company will almost always outperform a larger company. This is of course is typically the case if the small company is a leader in a niche market, and as it grows, it either steps into becoming itself a large company or it attracts the attention of a larger cooperation.

A recent example is a regional Canadian company, Hibar Systems Ltd. that for many years with the innovation, engineering spirits from its founder Heinz Barall, the company thrived and achieved a more than 90% market share in the dispensing of battery electrolytes. Which happened to be the original purpose of the inventor and founder, as he had created the dispensing pumps for this purpose. Under his guidance, the company thrived and innovated its way to become also the leader of assembly systems for alkaline batteries. Then after his untimely passing away, the company was eventually sold to no one else, but the current media darling Tesla. Now, nearly 2 years after the sale, the company Hibar Systems Ltd. does not exist anymore. Tesla Automation has formally told all the previous customers of Hibar (many as long as the late 1970s) that from now on the products are not available anymore.

Of course, many would argue that Tesla is a champion of inventions and so on, but let’s face it. The company is the same as most other larger co-operations, stifling innovation and trying to do this with a weak attempt by limiting access to the technology they had purchased.

And like in so many cases, a unique personality and a champion of innovation is wiped off the business landscape, and no one is the wiser. And as it is in this case, and many others, a trove of employees are usually forced to retire or are simply shown the door, such as was the case here.

Interesting articles relating to this topic are “Why Big Business Can’t Innovate” by Maxwell Wessel, published in Harvard Business Review, or “Big companies are swallowing up smaller ones. Why that’s not good for the economy” by Don Lee, published in the Los Angeles Times.