VOIS - Area 1 - Module 2

  1. MODULE TITLE

Module 2: Main pillars of open innovation strategy
  1. AUTHORS

Ewa Kopczynska
  1. SHORT DESCRIPTION

To benefit from Open Innovation, your company will need an effective strategy accounting for your organisational vision and resource limitations. In this module, you will learn about the key elements of an Open Innovation strategy, such as creating a clear vision of Open Innovation strategy and activities and how to identify needs for external resources in the scope of innovation process. Going through the module, always keep your specific SME in mind to relate the contents to your specific context.
  1. LEARNING OBJECTIVES

    Upon completing this module, you should be able to:

  • Better understand the innovation process and the application of Open Innovation for overcoming shortages in your internal resources and capabilities,
  • Consider different types of innovation for possible application in the scope of your strategy,
  • Design a strategy accounting for a specific vision of your company,
  • Understand the initial steps of your Open Innovation strategy development and what other aspects should be considered afterwards.
  1. Training Content
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Different types of innovation

To answer this question (open or closed innovation?), there are a few aspects to consider. Looking for opportunities to innovate and to build competitive advantage your company can investigate different innovation possibilities:

Image by Tumisu from Pixabay

As you see there are multiple options for your strategic innovation. Moreover, under no circumstances you are forced to limit your innovation strategy just to one of the options. Neither you need to think about the distinction between those different types of innovation. It is perfectly normal if your innovation objectives are integrating ideas across the different categories. What is important, is to know and understand your options and different areas in which you can look to innovate to distinguish yourself from the competition. Especially, for SMEs in a non-technological area it is of high relevance to look at innovation beyond the product. The product responding to actual needs of the customers is a must. But, it is the other forms of innovation that can give you an edge that may give you and your product more time and hence profit opportunity before your competition will catch up with it or may stop them from doing so.

Make sure that you and your team understand those different innovation possibilities, to make truly well-informed decisions regarding the Open Innovation strategy.

Interactive exercise

Match the example of innovation into the correct category

Product Innovation

Process Innovation

Position Innovation

Paradigm Innovation

Biodegradable clothes
Laser scarecrows
Modernization of old processing techniques
Using drones for plantation fertilizing
Selling pasta straws to replace plastic straws
Using weirdly shaped fruits in decorative arts or medical applications
Breaking with the association of agricultural production with rural areas and introducing city farming
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