Open Innovation

The open innovation approach, that is going beyond the corporate internal R&D for new ideas or products, seems to be gaining traction lately. BusikessWeek just published an article describing Henry Chesbrough’s new book titled “Open Business Models: How to Thrive in the New Innovation Landscape”.

Personally I think Chesbrough theories are very insightful because they go against conventional wisdom, and throughout this blog I have always defended that success in emerging markets where innovation plays a central role will require a completely different mindset from the one that is practiced in business schools (you can read some of my criticism here).

When asked how companies could combat the resistance to adopt an open innovation approach Chesbrough suggested: “One way to combat resistance is to offer incentives to researchers who could help the company by tapping into a network outside the company rather than concentrating solely on internal R&D. Now, most companies only reward research staff for internally developed projects. When R&D staffers get a patent, most companies will give those researchers some money and a plaque.”

You can read the full article here.

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