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Collaborative innovation can have a myriad of benefits for all organizations involved. In today’s business world of ultra-connectedness and globalization, employing collaborative innovation is a prerequisite for staying ahead of the curve. Click here to know more about business phone solutions
Here are some of the main benefits your company can get if you decide to take the collaborative innovation approach:
Lose the Constraints of Closed Innovation
Innovation is generally viewed through two prisms: closed and open (collaborative). Collaborative innovation means that you go outside the limits of your own company and start cooperating with other companies, either within your own industry or beyond.
Closed innovation has its own benefits, such as protection of your company’s intellectual property, but you can usually achieve much more if you decide to go with the open approach. You will get access to a wider talent pool, bigger resources, and implementation of technology your company doesn’t possess yet.
Some of the major projects and technological innovations we know today would be simply impossible if collaborative innovation didn’t exist. So, if you’re still weighing whether you should start utilizing it or not, consider the costs of missing out on potential opportunities that couldn’t be achieved otherwise (in closed innovation processes).
Increased Revenue and Profit
According to the report Best Practices in Collaborative Innovation, this approach the innovation has the potential to raise sales and profits up to 15%. Through an increased customer base that comes with utilizing new, innovative technologies, you can grow your business with the help of your collaboration partners.
The lowering of the necessary investment is caused by lower R&D (Research and Development) costs, as well as the reduction in time-to-market. A company that has a designated R&D team for the project you’re interested in (or even a ready-made solution) will save you a ton of resources compared to going at it on your own.
There are also many other ways collaborative innovation contributes to a reduction of costs and an increase in revenue in direct and indirect ways. If budget and financials are the priority of your project management strategy, collaborative innovation should definitely be of interest to your company.
Create a Customer-Centric Environment
For companies who want to achieve the highest possible differentiation in their respective markets, the trends urge that they focus on customers and start from customer needs instead of the company’s own needs. In the 21st century, we have witnessed some of the most major shifts to customer-centric business. Now, organizations and brands simply have to be customer-centric in order to succeed in crowded, competitive markets.
Basically, it all stems from the primary motivation of each company included in the collaborative innovation process. Namely, in this kind of a working environment, there’s no room for one-sided thinking: each organization involved cannot just do whatever is best for their own company. To come to the perfect compromise, customers come to the center and provide operational and financial benefits for all partners involved in the collaboration.
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Another great way that collaborative innovation will help you engage with your audience is through social media. You can use your social media profiles to post updates on your company’s work, collaboration projects and new technological results.
Improve Intra-Company Collaboration
Collaboration within your own teams is just as important as open collab you employ with other organizations or institutions. If your staff members are highly adapted to working with others, it will have a positive effect on their team spirit and increase the likelihood that they will turn to their colleagues for cooperation.
In modern companies, fostering a collaborative culture is crucial because it allows a positive, motivating and encouraging environment that will keep your employees satisfied. Every employee, regardless of their position in the company, needs to feel like their ideas can be heard and that they can put in effort into collaboration as well.
Better Adaptability
When a company achieves spectacular results, it’s something that should be applauded and recognized. However, hardships and downtimes are just as often a normal part of the operational journey. Many business people think that this is a sign of bad planning or unpreparedness, but sometimes, bad things can happen unexpectedly and sink your business.
In these times, it’s important to be as adaptable as possible. This trait enables your company to welcome problems and setbacks in a much less stressed and chaotic way than in those companies that are rigid.
Collaborative innovation gives you just that: as technology advances, you can cooperate with innovation partners to tackle whichever challenges come your way. If you run a highly agile and adaptable team, you have absolutely nothing to fear.
Conclusion
Open or collaborative innovation is definitely one of the top ways in which companies will work in the decades to come. Even those organizations that were previously unlikely to dive into these types of operations, now they’re partnering up with collaborators to provide the best possible service to their customers.
There are downsides to open innovation only if you’re in specific industries or niches. Nevertheless, you should definitely weigh out the pros and cons before you decide to collaborate with another company.
