Interview with Henry Chesbrough: innovating innovation

Abstract

PurposeAsk an expert to describe an innovation system that enables companies to successfully advance valuable technologies that fit their current business model – and those that do not fit it.Design/methodology/approachStrategy & Leadership interviewed Henry Chesbrough author of Open Innovation: The New Imperative for Creating and Profiting from Technology (Harvard Business School Press, 2003). His book is based on numerous research projects he conducted.FindingsHe developed an open innovation model based on the observation that great inventions can come from both inside and outside the company and should then be commercialized both using the current business model and with alternative business models.Research limitations/implicationsCase studies are needed. Tools are needed for bringing the customer into the open innovation process.Practical implicationsCorporate leaders should review and consider the open innovation model as one approach in their search for new growth businesses.Original/valueOpen innovation is a radical approach to business growth that is being pioneered by a number of cutting edge firms.