Innovation is not a matter for one individual.

The concept of Open Innovation

It often happens... that products and services come to market too late, are not technically successful or do not meet the requirements of stakeholders. The problem behind this is the lack of cooperation partners, lack of knowledge and expertise as well as lack of creativity and resources for implementation. This is especially the case with SMEs. Open Innovation is the solution. And Open Innovation is not the responsibility of an individual.

The concept of Open Innovation was first brought to life by Henry Chesbrough. He defines Open Innovation as the use of purposeful inflows and outflows of knowledge to accelerate internal innovation or expand markets for the external use of innovation. From this definition, it is clear that there are two sides to Open Innovation. One is the "outside in" aspect, where external ideas and technologies are brought into the company's own innovation process. This is the most commonly used method of open innovation. The other, less common method is the "inside out" aspect, where unused or underused ideas and technologies are brought outside the company to be included in the innovation process of others. Often both methods are combined. For companies, open innovation is advantageous because it can reduce costs, speed up time to market, increase differentiation in the market and the development risk is also reduced.

Consumer wishes are taken into account: A win-win situation.

At the same time, Open Innovation meets consumer demands, because the social web has greatly changed consumer behaviour. Consumers now want to and can have their say and share their opinion. This turns innovation from a matter for one person to a matter that affects everyone. Through Open Innovation, you can involve your customers in the innovation process. This way, development is not only close to the customer, but also close to the market. You get more ideas through different perspectives. Because in today's knowledge society, knowledge is the most valuable asset, and this is widely spread.

So why should a company collaborate with its customers, competitors or others from the outside world? Quite simply, to leverage knowledge and remain competitive, which is becoming especially relevant for SMEs. Because the customers and competitors or even other actors may have a certain knowledge, expertise or resources that your company does not have itself. Your own innovation potential is expanded and increased by involving the outside world. In doing so, you must not be deterred from sharing intellectual property. Instead of protecting it from others, it is shared in Open Innovation in order to work together successfully and thus create a win-win situation.

So how do you create an innovation-friendly mindset in SMEs?

Especially when the number of employees is still manageable, the chances of promoting proactive participation are particularly high, starting with the company management. After all, motivated employees are the ultimate success factor. AnyIdea offers a platform to increase the innovative capacity of your company. And it does so as simply and quickly as possible. Because Open Innovation is practised here. And through innovation, the company becomes more productive and efficient. At the same time, innovation ensures growth and new market development. With AnyIdea, you can invite not only employees but also partners, customers, experts, interested parties and many more to innovate together with you. Because innovation is not a matter for one person, it concerns everyone.