Aligning Strategy to Innovation - How to Dream Big but Start Small
Connect the dots between innovation and core business strategy to engage stakeholders, secure funding, and build the case for new ventures. Like everything else in the business world, trends in corporate innovation come and go. And as market conditions shift, the way businesses see the role of their innovation teams is always changing. As Paige…
Meeting ESG Goals With Open Innovation
Banking on the future: How an open innovation platform helped Société Générale make single use plastics a thing of the past. When it comes to solving problems, two heads are better than one. But there’s no need to stop there. The more perspectives we have on a problem, and the greater the variety of skills and expertise we can apply to it, the…
World’s Largest Organizations Join Forces To Solve Complex Innovation And Growth Challenges
Mars Inc, Kraft Heinz, RTI and 20 of the world’s largest organizations are joining forces to form Innov8rs CoLab Innov8rs CoLab is an invite-only and member-driven collaboration of senior innovation leaders from the world’s leading organizations. The group works together to solve corporate innovation management challenges, share best practices and…
The Zurich Innovation Championship: Zebras - Not Unicorns - for Profitable and Scalable Corporate Innovation
How Zurich Insurance Group uses its annual Innovation Championship to harness the innovative potential of startups for long term success. Innovation at Zurich Insurance Group is characterized by a mindset that embraces challenge head-on. As Mattia Visigalli, Innovation Consultant - Group Strategy and Innovation at Zurich Insurance Group, says:…
Innovative Strategies for Effective R&D Budgeting
Dreaming big and balancing the books by taking a different approach to R&D budgeting at Siemens Energy. Imagine you have a piggy bank. Every day, you put a dollar into it, saving for something special. Now, imagine that something special is a groundbreaking innovation that could change the world. But here’s the catch: you don’t know how much…
Sustainable Innovations - How To Close the Say-Do Gap
Consumers increasingly express a preference for sustainable products, yet a gap remains between stated intentions and actual purchasing behavior. 80% of shoppers say they want sustainable products and 90% say they are willing to pay a premium for sustainable products. But only 7% actually buy sustainable products. The path to bridging this gap…
Building Capacity for Breakthrough Innovation
Breakthrough innovations are characterized by their ability to disrupt or redefine the competitive landscape, often rendering existing solutions obsolete. They represent a radical departure from existing products, services, or processes, paving the way for new markets, industries, and value networks. It contrasts sharply with incremental…
It’s Time To Upgrade Your Innovation Management System
After the Covid-19 pandemic, many corporate innovation units felt a sense of relief. Companies were optimistic, innovation budgets grew, and there was an increased appetite for out-of-the-box innovation. However, the business environment for corporate innovators has since shifted, and they are now being asked to do more with less. This (economic)…
Leveraging Venture Building for Long-Term Returns
Corporates often grapple with the "Innovator's Dilemma," where the gravitational pull of the core business's existing processes, incentive structures, and risk models stifles the pursuit of groundbreaking innovation. The dilemma is further exacerbated by corporate governance systems designed for operational excellence rather than innovation.…
Creating Innovators, Not Just Innovations
At Chick-fil-A, innovation is not merely a process, but a culture deeply embedded within the organization's fabric. Their approach is to develop the innovation mindset at all levels, starting with leadership and gradually influencing the entire organization. Michael McCathren, a senior innovation leader at Chick-fil-A, recently sat with Tommy…
Proving the Value of Innovation: How Innovation Departments Measure Their Impact
Companies are increasingly focusing on quantifying the return on investment (ROI) of their innovation initiatives. In an environment where results and returns are closely scrutinized, as innovation teams we must navigate the delicate balance between pursuing long-term, transformative initiatives and delivering short-term wins that affirm their…
Innov8rs and The Alliance for Southern California Innovation Co-hosting Innov8rs SoCal, 10-11 April 2024
Innov8rs and The Alliance for Southern California Innovation are excited to announce they are co-hosting Innov8rs SoCal on 10-11 April. The SoCal Innovation Ecosystem is rapidly rising. Their people and their sectors are more diverse than anywhere else in the world, enabling them to spark collisions and collaborations that no other ecosystem can.…
