Getting Creative with Innovation
Companies use a variety of strategies for pursuing innovation success. Sometimes they focus on the development of new products. Sometimes they examine internal processes. Sometimes they work hard to nurture an innovation-friendly corporate culture. And sometimes they reach out to customers or partners for innovative solutions. To stay competitive in the future, companies may need to engage in all of these strategies.
IBM is one organization that has made extraordinary and sustained progress in introducing new products to the world. In 2004, IBM took top honors in the number of U.S. patents issued to private-sector organizations for the 12 th consecutive year, according to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (2005). But sometimes innovation is less about creating new products than it is about creatively improving existing work processes.
General Mills, Inc., for example, reduced production costs at a Buffalo plant by 25% by applying improved teamwork methods learned by studying how Stealth bomber pilots and maintenance crews worked together. And they borrowed efficiency techniques from NASCAR to improve a factory production line (Gogoi, 2003).
In other firms, innovation has seeded in its very culture. W.L. Gore & Associates, originator of the famous Gore-Tex fabrics, is one example. Gore’s culture encourages innovation through “natural leadership” in a small-team environment. Associates attract others to collaborate with them because of their passion and credibility on any given project, which leads to self-motivated cooperation rather than organizationally designated relationships. Risk-taking is expected, and celebrations are held both when a project is a success and when a decision is made to discontinue an initiative (Deutschman, 2004).
General Electric Company is another firm determined to become more innovative from within. CEO Jeffrey Immelt has committed to a radical change in corporate culture, shifting the company’s focus from a profit-through-expansion policy to one centered on organic growth that embraces creativity and risk-taking on a global scale. He’s mandated that business leaders design at least three innovative breakthrough projects every year. Backing up his commitment, Immelt invested $5 billion in 80 projects that he expects to drive $25 billion in revenues by 2007 (Brady, 2005).
Whirlpool Corp., too, has become more dedicated to internal innovation. It encourages broad participation in idea generation through an “i-pipe,” or online idea pipeline, where ideas are shepherded by trained i-consultants and i-mentors who help employees to work as part of an innovation team. Incentives and other components of Whirlpool’s HR system are linked to the firm’s innovation strategy (Pomeroy, 2004).
In other instances, companies tap into the creativity of their customers. BMW, for example, does this through a toolkit on its Web site, one that enables customers to share ideas about meshing telematics (computer and telecom technology) with online services in their luxury models (“The Rise,” 2005).
Sometimes innovation means coming up with new ways of doing business. Electronic giants Sony and Samsung have formed a partnership that involves sharing intellectual materials, technical expertise, and a joint $2-billion factory investment (Belson, 2005). And Bharti, India’s largest provider of mobile services, actually chose to outsource its entire cellular network. Bharti struck deals with Ericsson, Nokia and Siemens to use existing networks for three years. This outsourcing of a core business component allowed Bharti to focus on marketing, adding six million new subscribers within one year. The concept worked so well that Bharti also outsourced its call-center operations (Kripalani, 2005).
And some organizations have used outreach programs to support innovators of the future. For example, in Malaysia, chipmaker Intel sponsors computer camps and science fairs for primary and secondary school students, scholarships and internships for university students and Teach to the Future, a program that expects to bring five million teachers into classrooms worldwide in order to foster an interest in science, engineering and technology (“Innovation the Way Up,” 2003).
As these corporate examples show, there is no single definition of innovative behavior. But companies are seeing that competitive success requires innovation to permeate the organization. Innovation must take root in a firm’s corporate culture, influence its internal processes and reach its external relationships as well.
For more information from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, click here.
Documents used in the preparation of this TrendWatcher include:
Belson, Ken. “Samsung and Sony, the Clashing Titans, Try Teamwork.” New York Times [www.nytimes.com]. July 25, 2005.
Brady, Diane. “The Immelt Revolution.” BusinessWeek, March 28, 2005, pp. 64, 66, 71, 73.
Deutschman, Alan. “The Fabric of Creativity.” Fast Company, December 2004, pp. 54-62.
Gogoi, Pallavi. “Thinking Outside the Cereal Box.” BusinessWeek, July 28, 2003, pp. 74-75.
“Innovation the Way Up for Intel.” New Straits Times [ Malaysia]. Business Source Premier. June 9, 2003.
Kripalani, Manjeet. “Asking the Right Questions.” BusinessWeek Online [www.businessweek.com]. August 22, 2005.
Pomeroy, Ann. “Cooking Up Innovation.” HR Magazine, November 2004, pp. 46-53.
“The Rise of the Creative Consumer.” The Economist, March 12, 2005, pp. 59-60.
Sutton, Robert. “Why These Ideas Work, but Seem Weird.” Design Management Journal. ProQuest. Winter 2004, pp. 43-50.
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. “USPTO Releases Annual List of Top 10 Organizations Receiving Most U.S. Patents.” Press release [http://www.uspto.gov]. January 11, 2005.
IBM is one organization that has made extraordinary and sustained progress in introducing new products to the world. In 2004, IBM took top honors in the number of U.S. patents issued to private-sector organizations for the 12 th consecutive year, according to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (2005). But sometimes innovation is less about creating new products than it is about creatively improving existing work processes.
General Mills, Inc., for example, reduced production costs at a Buffalo plant by 25% by applying improved teamwork methods learned by studying how Stealth bomber pilots and maintenance crews worked together. And they borrowed efficiency techniques from NASCAR to improve a factory production line (Gogoi, 2003).
In other firms, innovation has seeded in its very culture. W.L. Gore & Associates, originator of the famous Gore-Tex fabrics, is one example. Gore’s culture encourages innovation through “natural leadership” in a small-team environment. Associates attract others to collaborate with them because of their passion and credibility on any given project, which leads to self-motivated cooperation rather than organizationally designated relationships. Risk-taking is expected, and celebrations are held both when a project is a success and when a decision is made to discontinue an initiative (Deutschman, 2004).
General Electric Company is another firm determined to become more innovative from within. CEO Jeffrey Immelt has committed to a radical change in corporate culture, shifting the company’s focus from a profit-through-expansion policy to one centered on organic growth that embraces creativity and risk-taking on a global scale. He’s mandated that business leaders design at least three innovative breakthrough projects every year. Backing up his commitment, Immelt invested $5 billion in 80 projects that he expects to drive $25 billion in revenues by 2007 (Brady, 2005).
Whirlpool Corp., too, has become more dedicated to internal innovation. It encourages broad participation in idea generation through an “i-pipe,” or online idea pipeline, where ideas are shepherded by trained i-consultants and i-mentors who help employees to work as part of an innovation team. Incentives and other components of Whirlpool’s HR system are linked to the firm’s innovation strategy (Pomeroy, 2004).
In other instances, companies tap into the creativity of their customers. BMW, for example, does this through a toolkit on its Web site, one that enables customers to share ideas about meshing telematics (computer and telecom technology) with online services in their luxury models (“The Rise,” 2005).
Sometimes innovation means coming up with new ways of doing business. Electronic giants Sony and Samsung have formed a partnership that involves sharing intellectual materials, technical expertise, and a joint $2-billion factory investment (Belson, 2005). And Bharti, India’s largest provider of mobile services, actually chose to outsource its entire cellular network. Bharti struck deals with Ericsson, Nokia and Siemens to use existing networks for three years. This outsourcing of a core business component allowed Bharti to focus on marketing, adding six million new subscribers within one year. The concept worked so well that Bharti also outsourced its call-center operations (Kripalani, 2005).
And some organizations have used outreach programs to support innovators of the future. For example, in Malaysia, chipmaker Intel sponsors computer camps and science fairs for primary and secondary school students, scholarships and internships for university students and Teach to the Future, a program that expects to bring five million teachers into classrooms worldwide in order to foster an interest in science, engineering and technology (“Innovation the Way Up,” 2003).
As these corporate examples show, there is no single definition of innovative behavior. But companies are seeing that competitive success requires innovation to permeate the organization. Innovation must take root in a firm’s corporate culture, influence its internal processes and reach its external relationships as well.
For more information from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, click here.
Documents used in the preparation of this TrendWatcher include:
Belson, Ken. “Samsung and Sony, the Clashing Titans, Try Teamwork.” New York Times [www.nytimes.com]. July 25, 2005.
Brady, Diane. “The Immelt Revolution.” BusinessWeek, March 28, 2005, pp. 64, 66, 71, 73.
Deutschman, Alan. “The Fabric of Creativity.” Fast Company, December 2004, pp. 54-62.
Gogoi, Pallavi. “Thinking Outside the Cereal Box.” BusinessWeek, July 28, 2003, pp. 74-75.
“Innovation the Way Up for Intel.” New Straits Times [ Malaysia]. Business Source Premier. June 9, 2003.
Kripalani, Manjeet. “Asking the Right Questions.” BusinessWeek Online [www.businessweek.com]. August 22, 2005.
Pomeroy, Ann. “Cooking Up Innovation.” HR Magazine, November 2004, pp. 46-53.
“The Rise of the Creative Consumer.” The Economist, March 12, 2005, pp. 59-60.
Sutton, Robert. “Why These Ideas Work, but Seem Weird.” Design Management Journal. ProQuest. Winter 2004, pp. 43-50.
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. “USPTO Releases Annual List of Top 10 Organizations Receiving Most U.S. Patents.” Press release [http://www.uspto.gov]. January 11, 2005.