SIEMENS

Siemens is making use of OI methods in research as well. When faced with particularly tricky problems, Siemens researchers sometimes turn to “e-brokers,” who team up with external problem- solvers. In such cases, developers publicly describe their problem on an e-broker website, such as NineSigma or yet2com, and offer a cash reward for the best solution. And that solution can come from a large IT company in India or from an amateur developer in Germany. Approximately half of the problems are successfully solved in this way. So it’s not surprising that large companies like BASF, Novartis, and Nestlé are likewise using this method of finding solutions.

In addition, Siemens has developed its own tool to foster networking among employees within the company. “When it comes to the process of finding solutions, our internal Siemens tool, which is called TechnoWeb, more or less corresponds to the e-broker principle,” says Lackner. “Put simply, it work s like an Internet forum in which any registered employee can post a specific problem. Whether it’s a complex technical matter or just a question about how to use Microsoft Word - ever y user can see and answer these questions. That speeds up the work routines of individual users an awful lot.”

The Customer as Development Partner. The most widespread method of open innovation, however, is called “crowdsourcing.” “In this case, companies outsource their inventiveness, as it were, by getting customers actively involved in the innovation process through networking platforms or idea competitions, for example,” says Caroline Rudzinski from Management Zentrum Witten (MZW), which has been dealing with the subject of collective intelligence for some time now and is analyzing the use of open innovation in the business market.

The list of companies now using crowdsourcing is long. In 2008, for example, approximately 4,000 people used a dedicated networking platform to take part in a vote arranged by Japanese noodle maker Acecook to determine which flavors consumers like most. In much the same way, fans of automaker Fiat had a chance to contribute design ideas for the new Fiat 500.

Consumer goods manufacturer Procter & Gamble plans to put special emphasis on customer input through crowdsourcing. Over the long term, the company intends to generate half of all new products by means of customer feedback. “With crowdsourcing, companies can take the needs of customers into account more quickly and react rapidly to dynamic market conditions. That leads in some cases to a huge competitive advantage,” says Rudzinski.

Siemens lighting subsidiary Osram has also gained experience in the OI field. In 2009 Osram set up its “LED - Emotionalize your Light” idea competition. The competition gave professional designers and amateurs alike an opportunity to submit, inspect, and discuss their lighting ideas online. The overall goal was to identify practical and affordable lighting solutions that are easy for users to operate and install. Prizes were awarded for the best ideas.

Entries included a floating scallop lamp that provides relaxing hues of light in the bathtub, and the “chromatic ball” (see images above), which uses acceleration sensors to change the color of its light when rotated. “More than 600 ideas were submitted during the competition, and most of them are technically feasible,” says Lackner, who is confident that Osram will implement one or more of these ideas in the not-too-distant future.

Despite these successful scenarios, many companies are still reluctant to open up their innovation processes, because they fear a loss of intellectual property or worry that it may not be possible to patent OI products. “But OI takes place entirely within the existing patenting process if the rules are defined properly - such as with a non-disclosure agreement or a waiver of rights,”