BUSINESSWEEK ONLINE : SEPTEMBER 18, 2000 ISSUE
BUSINESS WEEK E.BIZ -- WEB SMART 50 -- EXECUTIVES Keeping the Idea Pipeline Flowing Royal Dutch/Shell Group (RD) uses the Net to drill for new ideas. Each week, a half-dozen teams in the oil company's exploration and production divisions meet separately in Houston and in Rijswijk, the Netherlands, to mull ideas that other employees have pitched to them by e-mail. So far this year, the six-person teams, known as GameChangers, have surfaced 320 suggestions--including how to use laser sensors to find oil. The result: Four of Shell's five top business initiatives last year emerged from the GameChanger teams. Now, those projects are producing dollars. One came up with Shell's new ''Light Touch'' oil-discovery method, which senses hydrocarbon emissions released naturally into the air from underground reserves. It helped Shell find some 30 million new barrels of oil in Gabon last year--and millions in new revenues. At Shell, the Net manages innovation by keeping the ideas gushing. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _					RELATED ITEMS e.biz Contents for Sept. 18, 2000 issue Are You Web Smart? TABLE: Fast Facts Products Streamlining Customer Service Marketing Moving the Goods Management INTERACT E-Mail to Business Week Online

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