Making the transition to collaborative innovation

Issues of readiness, trust and governance

This publication is part of our Business Briefing series, exploring how businesses innovate.

Download the Collaborative Innovation business briefing (PDF 200Kb)

Organisational innovation has generally been considered a confidential and internal activity. Firms have now recognised that innovative ideas can emerge from anywhere and it is more fruitful to engage others in collaborative innovation. However, the transition to collaborative innovation is demanding. It poses three major challenges for a firm – ensuring that it is ready to collaborate with others, building trust among partners, and establishing a business model that incorporates governance mechanisms (e.g., equitable decision rights) for a mutually rewarding relationship.

This business briefing outlines four models of progressively collaborative innovation among firms. Through a rich case study of Thomson Reuters we examine the transition challenges, as well as opportunities, that firms are likely to face and how to address the readiness, trust and governance issues.

Published:
May 2011

Authors:
Michael Barrett and Chander Velu of Cambridge Judge Business School, University of Cambridge, UK; Rajiv Kohli, Mason School of Business, College of William and Mary, USA; Torsten Oliver Salge, Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany; and David Simoes-Brown, NESTA/100%Open.