Open Innovation's Champs and Also-Rans

Collaboration can pay off, as Procter & Gamble shows, but only if companies jump in with both feet

By Stefan Lindegaard

Open innovation is a hot topic at almost every company that is serious about innovation. Why? Because the idea of combining internal and external resources to increase innovation productivity and prowess is just too good a value proposition to miss out on.

Nevertheless, I believe that only about 10% of all companies are adept enough at open innovation to get significant benefits. Another 30% have seen the light and are scrambling to make open innovation work and provide results that are worth the bother. I call them contenders. The other 60% are pretenders—companies that don't really know what open innovation is and why or how it could be relevant for them. Some might figure out how to follow the leaders one day, but today they're mostly going through the motions.

When it comes to open innovation, Procter & Gamble (PG) is the undisputed champ. Its efforts began in 2000 with what a Web site called Connect & Develop. It's a two-way street, accessing externally developed intellectual property in its own markets while sharing its internally developed assets and knowhow with others.

Pictures on Pringles

Connect & Develop is about much more than just technology transfer. It encompasses everything from trademarks to packaging, marketing models to engineering, and business services to design. This approach has already resulted in more than 1,000 active agreements with external partners.

Here's an example of open innovation at work. P&G had an idea to print words or images on Pringle chips. It then went outside the company for technology to make this happen. P&G found a small bakery in Bologna, Italy, run by a professor who had invented an ink-jet technique to print pictures on pastries. Within a year, these customized Pringles were on the market, a launch that was much faster than usual and that cost a fraction of doing it in-house.

What makes P&G a champ in my view is that management no longer views open innovation as something new, unique, and different. It is just the way the company innovates. Not many others have reached this level of confidence.

Intuit (INTU) and General Mills (GIS) seem to be champs in the making. The reason I like Intuit is its Entrepreneur Day, held for the first time in October for 40 selected startups. Although I have not yet heard of specific outcomes on this initiative, it's a great display of setting clear goals, establishing a filter process, and showing strong commitment to creating new partnerships. All are important aspects for open innovation.

Smooth Linkage

At a first glance, the portal for General Mills Worldwide Innovation Network (G-WIN) might be mistaken for the other open innovation portals that are popping up right now, where hosts seek new business-boosting ideas and technologies. But based on an interview with Jeff Bellairs, who directs G-WIN, I picked up on some sharp thinking behind the scenes.

General Mills is making the linkage between outside and inside resources as smooth as possible. One of its tools for this is an "external speed team," a cross-functional group that meets biweekly to discuss projects, share insights, and make sure the external partners are talking with the right people. In addition, General Mills recently launched an innovation entrepreneur program.

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