About a year ago I was asked to participate in a roundtable discussion on innovation at the University of Virginia. The participants were senior innovation executives from companies such as Bank of America, Corning, Northrup Grumman, and AT&T, among others. One of the topics we discussed was “open innovation”, beginning with the typical references to Henry Chesbrough and his work on the topic. We spoke about technology licensing, intellectual property, joint ventures, and the challenge of managing this type of innovation. Within a few minutes, however, something interesting happened. A few of the participants challenged the group’s singular focus on the business models and mechanisms that are often associated with open innovation a-la Chesbrough. They spoke about innovation projects in their organizations that were certainly “open”, but not focused on licensing, joint ventures, or other issues typically considered under the realm of open innovation. That session led me to realize that there is some confusion regarding open innovation, or at least there is a need to cast a wider net around what open innovation is all about.
To read the full, original article click on this link: The Ins and Outs of Open Innovation - Forbes
