Open Innovation as a clear business strategy

About this Publication

Overview
For organizations beginning their Open Innovation journey, this Quick Insight will prove invaluable. It explains how the concept can be used strategically within a business to gain maximum value from technologies, and how it can be used to change the organizational culture from being bottom-line-oriented and risk averse, to one of increased risk taking, and top-line focused.

Implications
Open innovation is the way that most companies will work in the future and how many are already working today. The key is to look on open innovation as a generically valuable approach to creating value from technology. To do this in practice requires the right decisions to be made at a strategic level within the organization. In particular, this Quick Insight demonstrates: 

• how open innovation can change organizational culture and risk tolerance from the outside in
• how open innovation can be used to gain a long-term vision of projects and to obtain a broader view of what can be possible
• that when used as a complete business model, open innovation can bring significant financial return

Originality
This Quick Insight marries together the theory and practice of open innovation as a business strategy. In it, Mike Docherty CEO of Venture2 outlines what open innovation is and offers advice for companies to help make innovation work for them. Dr Rob van Leen then discusses how DSM’s strategic approach to open innovation has led to it being regarded as a pioneer in the field, changing their culture from a risk-averse to “open”.

Structure

• The “Focus On… Open Innovation” is written by Mike Docherty of Venture2.
• The “Open innovation at DSM” section is based on an interview with Dr Rob van Leen, chief innovation officer at DSM, and includes insights into techniques employed to instill an open innovation mindset throughout organizations, how various business units are supported and a short case study describing of a highly successful joint venture between DSM and Bühler.
• A final “box item” explains DSM’s open innovation model and explains how internal R&D councils determine whether the competencies that are available today within DSM are sufficient to support the R&D strategy.

Table of Content

Key Insights