Customer Integration in B2B Open Innovation
Today, almost any B2B firm claims to be “customer-oriented”. However, only few firms have a rigorous and stringent system that integrates the “best” (B2B) customers into its innovation process – where “best” in this context is measured not by volume of sales but by contribution to the firm’s innovation. A lot of insight has been generated on how to engage consumers in the innovation process. There is also a growing body of knowledge about how to innovate openly on the R&D side of the innovation process. But little has been written up so far about how to systematically integrate B2B customers in the firm’s Open Innovation system. innovation-3’s Frank Mattes closes this gap by sharing some insights.
Why Marketing Doesn’t Want R+D’s Ideas – and what to do about it
One of the most common frustrations expressed by R+D professionals is that marketing lacks interest in their ideas. Why is this often the case, and what can be done about it?
Neuronal Innovation – the Next Big Thing After Open Innovation
This article shows how biomimicry can be put to effective use in designing innovative networks. It builds from similarities between the brain connectome and innovation networks to lead to a novel concept in innovation - Neuronal Innovation. This new concept shows how organizations can become proficient in deploying and using collaborative innovation.
Halal Products – Burgeoning Growth Ahead
The race is on to take advantage of the $2 trillion (and rising) market opportunity represented by the global Muslim population, many of whom are young, well educated, fashion conscious and tech savvy.
Product Development: Do you Know what you Really Need?
Product development requirements often change in the course of a project, sometimes for the most arbitrary of reasons. Too often, the executives who ask for these "tweaks" fail to understand the significant ripple effects these changes can cause in terms of manpower, resource allocation and time, warns Michael Fruhling.
Happiness, Meaning & Innovation
Can an organization be too customer oriented? What are the consequences of letting short term requirements of existing customers cannibalize the exploration of your own an agenda? How can a sense of meaning be reinstalled in disillusioned development organizations? Read Susanna's latest blog post to find out.
Open Innovation: Colgate’s Sensible External Partnership Approach
Ken Klimpel, Colgate Palmolive's Worldwide Director of External Innovation and Outreach shares his perspective on some aspects of the approach he and his company take to drive their open innovation successes.
Social Product Innovation Challenges: Sustaining Processes
A couple months ago I laid out the framework for the most common challenges companies face as they get started with their social product innovation initiatives. The most common challenges fall into five main buckets – strategy, people and culture, business processes, technology and sustainability. So let’s take a deeper look at typical sustainability challenges and some ideas for overcoming them.
Innovation Through Co-creation: Consumers Can be Creative
A new trend in business and product development is ‘co-creation’. By its very name it implies a collaboration between the company and some other entity. In this case it is the consumer who partners in the creation of value. The term ‘co-creation’ is not new, however, but is now receiving more attention - driven largely through the increasing use of the Internet and social media websites - as companies endeavour to differentiate themselves from the competition.
Characteristics of Winning Communities for Social Product Innovation
Internal and external communities can bring real value to your organization by providing ideas and feedback for the innovation pipeline. Amy Kenly takes a look at several leading practices companies should consider when managing or participating in these communities.
The Role of Social in Innovation Strategy
In a recent SAP Community Network post Harun Asad mentioned innovation as one social strategy. In this article he explores the role of social in innovation strategy more broadly, and cites several real-world examples as well as shares some predictions for the future.
How to Understand the Notoriously Irrational Consumer
Companies put in lots of Market Research efforts to nail down the needs, wants, wishes and whims of the elusive consumers. But, how reliable are the results? Are there logical – or illogical – reasons why consumers sometimes say one thing and still do the other? In this blog, Bengt Järrehult uses the findings of Daniel Kahneman, the Nobel Laureate in Economy 2002 to understand more of this in the area of innovation.
Entrepreneurs of the World, Unite in Eco-systems!
Clientelism, Wintelism and innovation eco-systems: moments of truth within the global semiconductor industry. Europe and Japan tried for years to challenge Intel by building national seminconductor champions, yet wihout success. Today, a small British company named ARM has qua its eco-system strategy managed to launch a more serious go at Intel.
Product Innovation: Unifying People, Processes and Tools
Product innovation is not simply about generating new ideas. It is a complex process, and many organizations struggle with the design and implementation of an effective innovation strategy that yields measurable results over the long-term. Sustained growth and profitability can be achieved through the integration of three critical levels: People, processes and tools.
The Idea Game Helps Teams ‘Battle’ to Produce the Best Ideas
The Idea Game is a new group brainstorming tool that corporate teams can use to generate fresh ideas and insights. Developed by Swedish creativity consulting firm Realize AB, it provides a variety of creative stimuli using a card deck and game board to generate ideas, and "idea battles" to help identify and improve upon the best ideas.
Best Practices and Common Pitfalls Associated with Suppliers Involvement in NPD
Involving suppliers in new product development provides organizations with a range of benefits, including shorter development time, better quality products, and lower cost of development. In this new in-depth article Dr Sanda Berar delves deeper into some of the best practices and the most common pitfalls associated with suppliers’ involvement in NPD.
Don’t let Market Research Myopia Distract you from Innovation
Customer and market research, competitive benchmarking, and focusing on market share could be detrimental to your organization's future performance. These approaches are critical improvement tools. Top performing organizations have turned them into a disciplined and useful science. But they can also lead to "me-too" followership or - even worse - commodity products and services that compete only on price.
Innovation’s Silent Killer
If they want to compete successfully in the future, companies should hold off on rapid ideation and faster commercialization until they take an unflinching look at what is truly stifling breakthrough innovation. In this article, Soren Kristensen provides insight on how honest self-reflection can free you from your biggest impediment to growth.
Social Product Innovation Challenges: Business Processes
Recent data from the Industrial Research Institute (IRI) shows a sharp rebound in planned R&D spending. After the past few years of operating with reduced budgets and staff, companies are finally starting to make the R&D investments they need to ramp up the innovation and product development activities that will help them achieve their growth goals.
Why do Most Products Fail? 3 Techniques to Leverage Hidden Needs
Many managers want their organizations to develop breakthrough products and ask their R&D departments to come up with the equivalent of the iPod or iPhone. Unfortunately, the reality is that product failure is more common than success. So what are the reasons for product failure and what steps can companies take to avoid it?
Social Product Innovation Challenges: Culture and People
The most common challenges companies face as they get started with the application of social models and technologies to innovation and product development fall into five main buckets – strategy, people and culture, business processes, technology and sustainability. In this post I will take a deeper look at the typical challenges around people and culture during a social product innovation initiative, and some ideas for overcoming them.
Social Product Innovation Challenges: How to Develop Your Strategy
A couple weeks ago I laid out the framework for the most common challenges companies face as they get started with their social product innovation initiatives. The most common challenges fall into five main buckets – strategy, people and culture, business processes, technology and sustainability. So let’s take a deeper look at developing a social product innovation strategy, the typical challenges and some ideas for overcoming them.
How Next-Generation Social Technologies can Help Drive Innovation
Product innovation is about developing and delivering the “next” product or service-to-market quickly and cost-effectively. A well-managed innovation process that meets customer demands for new and unique products and services can contribute to creating a competitive advantage and business growth. Organizations can improve their innovation processes through the use of next-generation social technologies, says Catherine Constantinides.
Seven Managers Struggling with Innovation
Managers may come in all shapes and sizes, but almost all of them struggle with innovation or the lack there of in their organization. Gis van Wulfen introduces us to seven different managers who explain their views on innovation. Do you recognize any of them?