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The Rx for Change?

Feb-28-11 By Aminda
Extensive content has been written about barriers to open innovation faced by companies. It’s said that leaders just need to change their mindset, change their vision, change their organizational structure. All the good advice and direction can be more overwhelming than the thought of implementing open innovation in the first place.
An article about crowdsourcing posted by American Medical News makes an interesting observation that might apply to any business leader debating the implementation of an open innovation strategy.

Microsoft and Nokia: Extreme Open Innovation?

Feb-26-11 By Aminda
Since Microsoft and Nokia announced their new partnership earlier this month, there has been plenty of speculation in both the business and technology industries over what exactly what the partnership means.
Is it open innovation? The partnership has been utilized to promote the practice of open collaboration but while both companies have embraced open practices, this partnership involves much more than just sharing technologies or even sharing development plans and building products together, which typical of a reseller deal. The firms also plan to combine assets and collaborate on joint marketing initiatives. A joint statement from the two CEOs describes their plans as a “broad strategic partnership that combines the respective strengths of the companies and builds a new global mobile ecosystem.”

The Schoolhouse of the Future

Feb-25-11 By Aminda
 Anyone wondering whether the workforce of the future will be prepared to manage rapid innovation should be interested in some examples of how educators, beyond Henry Chesbrough at the Haas Business School, UC Berkeley, are stepping up to ensure classrooms evolve; utilizing technology and teamwork to prepare students for tomorrow’s challenges.

Growth Through Government Partnerships

Feb-24-11 By Aminda
Government organizations may get stereotyped as being slow and unadaptable but stories from around the globe demonstrate that plenty of government departments are open to utilizing tools like crowdsourcing and open innovation to meet a variety of goals from listening to constituent opinion to developing more efficient and strategic policies. Accordingly, private organizations should not rule out government when looking for innovation partners.
For example, this year the EU is launching an Innovation Union, as a way of addressing the challenges of the current economic climate and changes in competitive pressure. The initiative is about facilitating practical innovation that can happen quickly enough to maintain competitiveness and living standards under historically unique pressures.

Trust: a Scarce Commodity?

Feb-23-11 By Aminda
Plenty has been written about how to develop an innovative culture. One word frequently thrown around is trust – something that can be difficult to define and even more so to put into practice. Trust extends in many directions; one must trust and be trusted both on an organizational level and the individuals that make it up. Even in partnerships that are built upon a healthy amount of mutual respect and confidence, there is usually room to improve.

Fans Eat Up Crowdsourcing Campaigns

Feb-21-11 By Aminda
There are plenty of examples of how companies are using crowdsourcing to strengthen brands and engage consumers. Mashable, a social and digital media, technology and web culture news site, has posted an interesting article on how three major food and beverage brands have creatively used the technique to strengthen their brands. Here are some highlights:
Ice cream maker Ben & Jerry’s already has several fan-developed flavors that are best sellers, and last year ran a successful campaign utilizing crowdsourcing not only to engage the consumer but to raise awareness for CSR initiatives. The winner of 2010’s “Do the World a Flavor” competition not only saw their idea produced, but won a trip to the Dominican Republic to visit a sustainable cocoa farm.

Innovation Opportunities in Senior Care

Feb-19-11 By Aminda
For creative types looking for industries that could use their talents, consider Senior Care. In North America, “demand for senior care is outpacing the solutions that providers are prepared to offer.”  In the U.S., as healthcare reform will be directing funds into improving senior care, there is growing pressure to push standards of care ever higher, and competition is fierce, according to recruiting firm Witt/Kieffer. Canada too, is expected to experience a surge in people requiring nursing home care.
Mather LifeWays Institute on Aging has recently Identified 10 Senior Living Trends which should provide plenty of inspiration for inventions. Among their forecasts:

What does the U.S. Think of Innovation?

Feb-17-11 By Aminda
An interesting project, called Advise the Advisor, was launched by the White House this month. It’s billed as a way to help senior staff at the White House stay connected to the American people. The process starts when a short video presentation is posted on-line by a senior staff member who outlines an issue that currently has the attention of the White House. They then ask a series of related questions to which they would like responses to.

CSR and Crowdsourcing: a Powerful Combination

Feb-15-11 By Aminda
Research continues to come out in support of the benefits of crowdsourcing, this time a recently released study showing that crowdsourcing and social media play vital roles in helping companies raise awareness and drive engagement for their corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs.
A survey of executives found that 44 percent of companies have asked customers to provide ideas and help in decision-making on how to tackle issues and achieve goals, with 95% of executives who have used crowdsourcing finding it valuable to the organization's pro-social or CSR efforts.

Harley Davidson Embarks on Crowdsourced Campaign

Feb-14-11 By Aminda
Last November, iconic motorcycle maker Harley Davidson showed the world that even the most classic of brands need to stay current, when they enlisted crowdsourcing-based advertising-agency Victor & Spoils, after releasing Carmichael Lynch, their primary agency for the past 31 years. This week the first media effort to come from that partnership has been released, first on YouTube, to be followed with cable TV spots later in the week. The video, called "No Cages," promotes Harley's HD1 customization program, in which buyers can design their own rides, which was launched earlier this month. The video was the idea of Kentuckian, Whit Hyler, described as a "passionate amateur."