1897
n
Making far-reaching decisions
dictable ways: hence, using some of the characteristics described
above. However, the characteristics of how to organize do not
merely concern the rm’s internal features, but also concern how
it connects to the outside world, for example through innovation
networks.
“Innovation networks” is becoming a bit of a corporate buzzword
so I write this with some level of embarrassment, but it happens
to be one that (to my slight disappointment) I actually believe in.
More and more companies I see and talk to seem to realize that
it is difcult to be innovative on your own. For true innovation,
almost by denition, you need a wide variety of capabilities,
knowledge, and insights. It is difcult to nd such diversity
within one organization. If you, as a rm, are trying to come up
with fundamentally new things, you would likely do well to look
outside your organization’s boundaries, to see whether anyone
knows anything that might be useful to you.
This is what “innovation networks” are about; combining and
tapping into other companies’ knowledge resources to, collec-
tively, come up with something that neither rm could have
done by itself. IBM, for example, does this consistently and in a
highly structured way, working with specic partners on specic
projects. Some of these partners are from outside their industry
but others could even concern straight competitors. For example,
in their Cell Chip project, developing multimedia processors,
they work with Sony, Toshiba, and Albany Nanotech. In their
Foundry R&D project, designing manufacturing processes for
cell phone chips, they work with Chartered, Inneon, Samsung,
Freescale, and STMicroelectronics. And they have several other
similar projects, with yet different groups of partnerships.
However, networks can also be of a more informal nature. For
example, the successful Sadler’s Wells theater in London that
I described earlier, which focuses on the creation of ground-
breaking modern dance, has no orchestra or ballet of its own.
Instead, it tries to create innovative modern dance shows by
putting artists in touch with each other who otherwise would
not have worked together. It organizes dinners during which