Etiqueta: Innovation

The Essential Element of Trust in Open Innovation

What are the barriers against building trust and relationships with stakeholders in your ecosystem

* Most organizational structures foster an internal rather than an external perspective.
* Most companies view external partners as someone paid to deliver a specific service rather than a source of co – creation and open innovation.
* Most companies are more focused on protecting their own knowledge and intellectual property rather than opening up and exploring new opportunities. They play defense rather than offense. This should not come as a surprise as one of the main objectives for corporate lawyers is to minimize risk, and it is fair to say that opening up to the outside world increases the risk element.
* Forging strong relationships takes time and personal commitment. We are just too busy to make it happen and it does not help that most companies do not provide the necessary time, resources, and encouragement to make this happen.


by Stenfan Lindeegar
http://www.15inno.com/

What are the barriers against building trust and relationships with stakeholders in your ecosystem

  • Most organizational structures foster an internal rather than an external perspective.
  • Most companies view external partners as someone paid to deliver a specific service rather than a source of co – creation and open innovation.
  • Most companies are more focused on protecting their own knowledge and intellectual property rather than opening up and exploring new opportunities. They play defense rather than offense. This should not come as a surprise as one of the main objectives for corporate lawyers is to minimize risk, and it is fair to say that opening up to the outside world increases the risk element.
  • Forging strong relationships takes time and personal commitment. We are just too busy to make it happen and it does not help that most companies do not provide the necessary time, resources, and encouragement to make this happen.

What should you do to foster an organizational mindset that supports the building of trust?

Read this article:
http://www.15inno.com/2010/10/05/essentialelement/

The Open Innovation in the European Union (EU) environment

Everyone is being affected by this change from SMEs to Government organizations, but it seems that Europe has not changed enough.

R. Hudson says it takes:

– Focus on Excellence. If Europe wants to compete has to have the best research and ideas available.

– Focus on clusters. We need to focus resources on areas of high technology in order to attract bright students to its universities and companies for their rich business parks .

– Free SMEs. Small businesses are a major driver of ideas to the markets. We must encourage them financially.

– Buy smart. We need to provide the public services with the ability to purchase innovative products and services.

– Regulate smart. The setting is a sign of obligation and can lead to innovation.

Since 2009 it became clear that:

– It is essential to invest in new skills (people) and not only in technology (tools).

– The environmental concern is no longer exclusively green to be too gray and white in reference to creative thinking.

– “The new thinking” can be provided (with help), as is the case presented by Hudson, in terms of policies and regulations.

– The interdisciplinary team (economists, engineers, psychologists, designers, etc.) have guaranteed future. Everyone can create, conceptualize and implement ideas.


http://abaldaia.wordpress.com

Contagious or by the law!

In November 2009 an EU Manifesto targeted focus on funding and the competences and could read:

“The ambassadors believe that a comprehensive innovation policy , along with increased investment in science, technology and design, will help make Europe more competitive . “

At that time Jean -Philippe Courtois, President Microsoft International, said that the future of Europe depends on the imagination of its people and urged political and business leaders to create a environment that encourages creative thinking.

He said that the technology has the potential to radically transform society and create new jobs, but investment in skills is essential.

“The acquisition of IT skills, for example, is as fundamental as reading and writing, “said Courtois, who spoke on behalf of the 27 ambassadors.” Leer más “The Open Innovation in the European Union (EU) environment”

What is Open Innovation? | Crowdsourcing? | User innovation? | Co-Creation?

What is co-creation? Here Wikipedia states that co-creation views markets as forums for firms and active customers to share, combine and renew each other’s resources and capabilities to create value through new forms of interaction, service and learning mechanisms. It differs from the traditional active firm – passive consumer market construct of the past. I like how C.K. Prahalad and Venkat Ramaswamy argue that “value will be increasingly co-created by the firm and the customer, they argued, rather than being created entirely inside the firm.”

These terms overlap which leaves plenty of room for confusion, but I hope this short overview helps.


By Stefan Lindegaard

Many people ask what open innovation is. I suggest that you should view open innovation as a philosophy or a mindset that you should embrace within your organization. In a more practical definition, open innovation is about bridging internal and external resources and act on those opportunities. The value proposition this gives companies that get it right is simply too good to miss out on.

I also like this quote from Henry Chesbrough; “Open innovation is a paradigm that assumes that firms can and should use external ideas as well as internal ideas, and internal and external paths to market, as the firms look to advance their technology”

This still leaves three other questions:

What is crowdsourcing? Wikipedia states that “crowdsourcing is the act of outsourcing tasks, traditionally performed by an employee or contractor, to a large group of people or community (a crowd), through an open call.” I view crowdsourcing as a tool that can be used to bring external input into your organizations.

What is user-driven innovation? I view this as a technique in which companies gain insights from users, which can then be used in the innovation process. I think that a key element in user-driven innovation is the observation of users rather than the use of questionnaires and focus groups. Erich von Hippel is an important influencer with his contributions on lead-user innovation. Leer más “What is Open Innovation? | Crowdsourcing? | User innovation? | Co-Creation?”

Companies Need All The Innovation They Can Get

by Sheldon Laube | Innovation Office, PwC

In a recent Bloomberg article entitled “Why Companies Need Less Innovation“ Pat Lencioni makes the case that companies should not be asking employees to be innovators. He goes as far as to say that leaders should not even be open to more ideas from their employees and that only a few people really need to innovative. He suggests that rank and file employees should not try to innovate but simply “do their jobs and satisfy customers in the most effective and charismatic way possible, but within the bounds of sound business principles.”

Lencioni has a far too limiting view of innovation. Let’s start with the definition of innovation itself. While this is widely debated, I always fall back to the simple dictionary definition:

Something new or different introduced


by Sheldon Laube | Innovation Office, PwC

In a recent Bloomberg article entitled “Why Companies Need Less Innovation“   Pat Lencioni makes the case that companies should not be asking employees to be innovators.  He goes as far as to say that leaders should not even be open to more ideas from their employees and that only a few people really need to innovative.  He suggests that rank and file employees should not try to innovate but simply “do their jobs and satisfy customers in the most effective and charismatic way possible, but within the bounds of sound business principles.”

Lencioni has a far too limiting view of innovation.  Let’s start with the definition of innovation itself.  While this is widely debated, I always fall back to the simple dictionary definition:

Something new or different introduced Leer más “Companies Need All The Innovation They Can Get”

Is Corporate Venture Dead? Is Open Innovation the New Thing?

Once upon a time, we had many corporate venture units that invested in external projects as well as in internal projects from the corporate groups that they belonged to.

The number of units declined steadily during the last decade and it continues to do so in the aftermath of the financial crisis. One company that I have always admired is Danfoss Ventures, which is the corporate venture arm of Danfoss, a group with 26,000 employees working with refrigeration, air conditioning, compressors and more.

Unfortunately, Danfoss Ventures – my role model on corporate venture – is now dead. According to Executive Vice President at Danfoss, Nis Storgaard, this is about prioritizing resources where they make most impact.


Once upon a time, we had many corporate venture units that invested in external projects as well as in internal projects from the corporate groups that they belonged to.

The number of units declined steadily during the last decade and it continues to do so in the aftermath of the financial crisis. One company that I have always admired is Danfoss Ventures, which is the corporate venture arm of Danfoss, a group with 26,000 employees working with refrigeration, air conditioning, compressors and more.

Unfortunately, Danfoss Ventures – my role model on corporate venture – is now dead. According to Executive Vice President at Danfoss, Nis Storgaard, this is about prioritizing resources where they make most impact. Leer más “Is Corporate Venture Dead? Is Open Innovation the New Thing?”

The efficient use of ideas

Every significant “leap forward” in the span of human consciousness has coincided with a significant change in the efficient use of a significant resource. For example – the transition from nomadic life to farming. This transition came about because people learned to till the ground and grow food that was dependable and sustaining. The fact that people could stay in one place and have a consistent food source meant that they could take on other tasks. The more efficiently they used the soil, the more crops they could grow, and the more time available for other activities.


Frederick Winslow Taylor lived from 1856 to 1915
Image via Wikipedia

Every significant “leap forward” in the span of human consciousness has coincided with a significant change in the efficient use of a significant resource.  For example – the transition from nomadic life to farming.  This transition came about because people learned to till the ground and grow food that was dependable and sustaining.  The fact that people could stay in one place and have a consistent food source meant that they could take on other tasks.  The more efficiently they used the soil, the more crops they could grow, and the more time available for other activities.

Other “leaps” forward include the efficient use of labor (thanks Frederick Taylor) and the efficient use of capital, which has eventually brought us to the problems with financial engineering that we’ve encountered recently.  All Taylor cared about was understanding how to get the most, best, productivity out of the labor of individuals, while bankers, financiers and CFOs have their own metrics about the efficient use of capital – return on invested capital as an example.
Leer más “The efficient use of ideas”

In Innovation, Culture Trumps! Learnings from P&G

Quick – what company do you think of when you hear “Open Innovation”? Many think of P&G – they were, and are, at the forefront of Open Innovation (OI) and the results are now case studies at business schools around the world and benchmarks for many. I had the chance to talk with Chris Thoen, P&G’s OI guru, at the 2nd Annual OI Summit. It seems that everyone has interviewed him and if you google him, you’ll find a lot of great learnings on how P&G has grown their OI initiatives and made it a part of their culture. Of course I wanted to ask him something original, so, being interesting in how we learn, and apply, from failure, I asked Chris what he thought was one of their key failures and what they learned from it. The answer surprised me.


Quick – what company do you think of when you hear “Open Innovation“? Many think of P&G – they were, and are, at the forefront of Open Innovation (OI) and the results are now case studies at business schools around the world and benchmarks for many.  I had the chance to talk with Chris Thoen, P&G’s OI guru, at the 2nd Annual OI Summit.  It seems that everyone has interviewed him and if you google him, you’ll find a lot of great learnings on how P&G has grown their OI initiatives and made it a part of their culture.  Of course I wanted to ask him something original, so, being interesting in how we learn, and apply, from failure, I asked Chris what he thought was one of their key failures and what they learned from it. The answer surprised me. Leer más “In Innovation, Culture Trumps! Learnings from P&G”