OPEN INNOVATION?Building the Future

What is Open Innovation?

?? Open innovation is a concept that encourages organizations to collaborate with external partners, such as customers, suppliers, universities, startups, or even competitors, to create and share ideas and new business models. It is based on the idea, that no organization can rely solely on its own resources and capabilities to innovate in a fast-changing and complex world. By opening up their boundaries, organizations can access new ideas, knowledge, skills, and markets, and also reduce the risks and costs of innovation.

Innovation in Time of Crisis and Change?

? It's obvious, we are living in a time of multiple challenges and opportunities. The pandemic, the climate crisis, the digital transformation, the social unrest, and the geopolitical crisis are all creating uncertainty and disruption for businesses and society. In this context, innovation is not only desirable, but essential for survival and growth to shape a better future and to overcome challenges. However, innovation is also difficult and risky, especially when the future is unclear and unpredictable. That's why open innovation can be a powerful strategy to cope with uncertainty and change. By collaborating with external partners, organizations can:

1??PERSPECTIVES

Gain access to diverse perspectives and insights that can help them identify and solve problems, and also anticipate and seize opportunities.

2??STRENGTHS

Leverage the complementary strengths and resources of different partners to create more value and impact.

3??RISKS

Share the risks and costs of innovation, and also learn from the successes and failures of others.

4??TRUST

Build trust and relationships with stakeholders that can support their long-term goals and resilience.

"A change of meaning is necessary to change this world politically, economically and socially. But that change must begin with the individual; it mus change for him..." - David Bohm

The Role of an Innovation Manager?

The role of an innovation manager leads and facilitates the innovation process within an organization. Innovation managers are responsible for defining the innovation strategy, setting the innovation goals, managing the innovation portfolio, and overseeing the innovation projects. In an open innovation context, an innovation manager also has to:

1??PARTNERS

Identify and engage with potential external partners that can add value to the organization's innovation efforts.

2??COMMUNICATION & COLLABORATION

Establish and maintain effective communication and collaboration channels with the external partners.

3??STAKEHOLDER MANAGEMENT

Coordinate and align the interests and expectations of the internal and external stakeholders.

4??PERFORMANCE MONITORING

Monitor and evaluate the performance and outcomes of the open innovation initiatives.

An innovation manager is a key player in open innovation, as they have to balance the benefits and challenges of openness, and ensure that the organization can create and capture value from its external collaborations.

SUMMARY

?? Open innovation is a concept, that can help organizations navigate through uncertainty and change, by enabling them to collaborate with external partners to create and share value. An innovation manager is a vital role in open innovation, as they have to lead and facilitate the open innovation process, and ensure that the organization can benefit from its external collaborations.

“Creativity is thinking up new things. Innovation is doing new things .” —Theodore Levitt