Open innovation, the collaborative practice of engaging with external partners to co-create new value, has become an indispensable driver of business success. With a multitude of challenges on the horizon, including sustainability issues, organizations must harness the full potential of open innovation to accelerate their responses and seize future opportunities.
This reality is clearly reflected in the results of our survey of 1,000 large organizations. A remarkable 75% of respondents highlighted the critical role of open innovation in tackling complex business challenges, and 71% of them intend to increase their investments in open innovation over the next two years. Organizations are taking diverse approaches to open innovation, encompassing business accelerators, incubators, venture capital initiatives, client venture, venture creation, crowdsourcing and the creation of innovation labs opened. Notably, New York, London and Paris have emerged as the top three cities likely to invest more in open innovation labs over the next two years.
Open innovation generates a wide range of benefits: 55% of organizations report increased speed of innovation, while 62% see improved employee agility and adaptability. Additionally, more than 60% of them reaped financial rewards, resulting in increased revenue and operational efficiency. Additionally, open innovation is proving instrumental in supporting organizations’ sustainability goals, with 63% citing marked improvements in environmental sustainability indicators as a direct result of their open innovation efforts.
However, organizations have yet to harness the full potential of open innovation. Just over half of the organizations surveyed rate their open innovation results as “above average” or better, and only 22% rate these results as “good” or “excellent.” Our research highlights that organizations are not fully engaging in open innovation, often preferring traditional partnerships with customers and suppliers rather than exploring new sources of innovation.
In our report, we examine the distinctive characteristics that distinguish organizations that achieve superior results from open innovation. We also provide insights on how organizations can improve the effectiveness of their open innovation initiatives. Maximizing the benefits of open innovation requires establishing a solid foundation for success and implementing specific measures to further increase the impact of open innovation efforts.