Top 5 Companies for Open Innovation – Jan 2013
Here you get my top 5 list of companies with strong open innovation efforts. Your comments and suggestions for other companies are appreciated!
1. GE – for continuously developing the Ecomagination Challenge
GE have turned the Ecoimagination Challenge into a very interesting innovation vehicle – which also doubles as a good PR tool – and they seem to get not only high external engagement, but also high business value out of their efforts. Great work!
2. LEGO – for making different kinds of external sources work together
LEGO is building a strong open innovation program as you can read about in this blog post, which also includes a recent presentation on their efforts.
They also have LEGO Cuusoo, which is a great example of how a company can combine different approaches in order to get external ideas and input into their innovation process. They work with a partner on the platform itself (Cuusoo), they use crowdsourcing (10,000 supporters needed for suggestions) and they reward the individuals (co-creation between LEGO and individuals).
I really look forward to seeing other open innovation portals from LEGO. I know they are working on some great ideas : – )
3. General Mills – for reaping the benefits of a long-term vision
General Mills is often mentioned as one of the most innovative companies in the world and I believe that the success of their open innovation efforts, which started all the way back in 2005 is a key reason for this.
They continue to push the borders of open innovation and I also like how General Mills shares their experiences including this piece, Five Tips to Jumpstart an Open Innovation Program by Jeff Bellairs, Sr. Director of Connected Innovation.
4. Philips – for having a thoughtful approach on open innovation
Not all companies know that the real work of open innovation happens behind the scenes. It is more about building a strong internal infrastructure than having a flashy portal. My interactions with Philips tell me that they know this very well and even though they kind of keep their efforts under the radar, they have too many things going not to make this list.
Besides their internal work, they do have a public portal, they are involved with the High Tech Campus and they also offer their insights and experiences to others through the Philips innovation consultancy.
5. The last spot is up for grabs…
For the fifth spot, I thought about companies such as Unilever, DSM, Beiersdorf, Shell, AkzoNobel, Siemens and Weyerhauser. I could mention several others that they deserve such an “honorary mention” but I was not ready to give them the last spot.
Of course, I could also ask you which companies you would put on a top 5 list for open innovation companies. Let me know what you think!
You can also find some related blog posts here:
40 Examples of Open Innovation and Crowdsourcing
Top 5 Countries for Open Innovation – Nov 2012
I think all the ones you mention in fifth spot can jump beyond the likes of Philips, GM & even Lego. They in the present fifth place you mention all mostly face sustainability issues or big industry changing challenges and to lead them through this OI becomes necessary.
Lets take Unilever, what holds them back still is their internal culture. When you still read statements like you need R&D to grow a company and innovation needs to come from R&D still is locked in older thinking in my view. I even read they want to put R&D BACK at the heart of the company- is this in danger of turning the clocks back?
To halve the environmental footprint of their product portfolio and to source 100% their agricultural raw materials in a sustainable way SCREAMS collaborations across the organization- everyone, everywhere needs to get involved. This is tied to their Compass strategy to double turnover while reducing this environmental impact is a massive challenge.
They are dealing with this in today's traditional management mindset and can they? I think not. They need to dramatically look for a real innovation ecosystem that cuts across functions, disciplines and approaches taken today. They need to "jump out of their corporate skin" to meet these challenges adopted by the Unilever board yet they continue to manage this in present bounds- so wrong.
They have set themselves 2020 to meet these targets. Will it happen? I doubt it. Most of the present constraints , the management themselves, will have retired.
They have not made the connections they need too.
Watch Unilever, watch Shell, watch AkzoNobel and Weyerhauser they all need to throw open their thinking far, far more and 2013 needs to be a marker of this intent or not
Hey Stefan,
Great list, but I think that Proctor and Gamble should be on it. Their Connect and Develop program is about the most successful innovation platform around.
Here's the link: http://www.pg.com/connect_develop/index.shtml
Hi Greg, I know Connect+Develop quite well. It is a great program, but where is the progress? You cannot dwell on the past and I think it is fair enough to expect more of a (once) visionary company as P&G.
While I don't have intimate knowledge of the program, I think that they have built such a comprehensive ongoing platform, across not only products but business processes such as supply chain management and marketing is quite impressive.
Both Olay Regenerist and the Pulsonic toothbrushes were conspicuous successes, but the fact that Connect + Develop goes so deep makes it reasonable to assume that many of its successes aren't so well known.
Reasonable minds can often disagree about what qualifies as innovative, but I think it at least deserves an honorable mention.
- Greg
In my view Connect and Develop from P&G should be Reconnect & Redevelop. They extracted a lot from OI as a unifying force, to some degree it achieved its corporate targets set and now needs to be Reset. They have the potential but I think their focus is moving into regaining lost growth and that will hurt margins and understanding what the significant investment in Big Data will bring to drive insights, then we might see a new wave of innovation. Today, it is simply enjoying the momentum from its past efforts. No, it is in a point looking for Renewal
There is "talk" that GE have downgraded innovation in the way it has been developed in the past few years through its Ecoimagination programme. Again, I think we will see a reverting more to "type" where results in each quarter dominate the decision making and the mid-term will be squeezed. Less transfer from short, to medium to long term, I think GE will look even more at real big bets but "sweat" the today. What that means in challenges, again it will become clearer in 2013
It seems like "Ecomagination" has been retired for a more tech focussed innovation strategy. At a Minds+ Machines 2012 event in SF last November, they revealed their move towards harnessing the third wave of innovation – the Industrial Internet which aims at amplifying the combined powers of industrial innovation, big data and computing capability. They call it the Industrial Internet – because it's an open, global network that connects machines, people, and data.
You can read more – http://www.ge.com/docs/chapters/Industrial_Intern…
Thanks Priti for this document. I remember something in the back of my mind about this significant move, you have provided the source, much appreciated- regards Paul
Thanks for sharing this update!
Thanks for the post, however I don't agree that you say that the company should be listed in the top 5 (except LEGO maybe). For example we work with Philips, also with the High Tech Building you named, and many people there are not experienced nor open for open innovation. Just some departments may have done some great work in the past, but when the general company's culture is still very closed, I don't think you should place it in a top 5. Companies such as Giff Gaff, the old-school example Threadless and some pharmaceutical companies where their entirely business model relies on open innovation (cant name them) have done far greater efforts in my opinion…
Agree, the pharma industry is doing some great work. Lilly has really changed their business model towards open innovation succesfully. https://openinnovation.lilly.com/dd/