Chapter 43 W/ Bill Roschek

Open innovation (OI) is a method that can help address the challenges in R&D that organizations face. This chapter offers insight into the evolution of strategically applied OI principles at Nestlé Purina R&D. Leaders in innovation roles have a duty to connect to and find the potential in the people they lead, the processes they adopt, and opportunities they bring forth. This creates a cycle of resilience, leading to openness and increased trust. Silos in organizations impose some limitations on the ability to connect and trust colleagues in other departments. Organizations must therefore create structures, programs, and practices to help drive these behavioral changes and manage existing and new knowledge flows that are necessary to execute on longer-term innovation objectives. The principles of OI, applied internally, can overcome these organizational hurdles.