Innovation is Open – but in name only

Large corporations are paying an increasing amount of attention to Open Innovation. But how Open is the Innovation they practice? Serious impediments exist to managing innovation today:

Truly outstanding Intellectual Property (IP) is at a premium; everybody wants it.
Sometimes the IP is not properly checked out
Open Innovation can be perceived as R&D “on the cheap”
Deals are time consuming
Exclusivity is hard to define
Large company behaviour is like an oil tanker
– “boiler plate” format agreements slow the process right down

– innovation managers increasingly try to second guess budgetary availability which can be turned off and on like a water tap at a moment’s notice by financial controllers (“Don’t look for budget access in March, June, July or after October…”).

Perhaps the best way is resorting to the human factor: win the minds and hearts of the targeted technologists and keep their attention.

Well, nobody said it was easy…!