| BUSINESSWEEK ONLINE : DECEMBER 13, 1999 ISSUE | ||||||||
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| BUSINESS WEEK E.BIZ -- MANAGEMENT
Knowledge Markets Companies are creating so-called knowledge markets--small groups inside big companies that are armed with seed money to attract and develop new ideas. Here's a sampling: NORTEL Nortel allocates ''phantom stock'' to those who volunteer for special high-risk innovative projects. Nortel "buys" the stock, as if it were an internal IPO. Staffers get paid twice--once when a product is finished and again after it has been on the market for about a year. Nortel now has 17 products under development in this program. PROCTER & GAMBLE P&G has created a group called Corporate New Ventures, an autonomous idea lab. Its mission: to encourage new ideas for products and put them into speedy production by funding the best ideas. P&G has 33 new products under CNV development. Seven have already gone to market, in half the time of previous new products. ROYAL DUTCH/SHELL Holds weekly ''GameChanger'' sessions to brainstorm for new ideas. So far, more than 300 new-product and process-improvement ideas have surfaced, including four of the company's five most crucial initiatives this year. DAIMLERCHRYSLER Creates so-called outposts of small teams to scout around for new trends and products. Example: A Silicon Valley outpost is doing consumer research on electric cars and is helping designers in the early stages of Net-equipped automobiles. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ BACK TO TOP |
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RELATED ITEMS Using the Net for Brainstorming TABLE: Knowledge Markets INTERACT E-Mail to Business Week Online | |||
