This report – Harnessing the Power of Entrepreneurs to Open Innovation – is a great read if you want insights on how large companies and entrepreneurs can become even better at innovating together.
As a starter, I would like to point you to this perspective given by Accenture that published the report:
“One beacon that has drawn large companies and entrepreneurs together is “open innovation,” a concept introduced more than a decade ago that has since become a catchphrase for a broader and deeper form of collaboration. Yet we contend in this report that large companies and entrepreneurs believe collaboration and open innovation are, as yet, under-delivering on their promise.
One reason for this shortfall is the fact that open innovation is a journey of multiple phases. Too often, large companies remain stuck in the early phases—those that primarily involve corporate ventures and incubators or accelerators. Too seldom do large companies collaborate in a spirit of joint innovation. Even more rarely do they participate in truly entrepreneurial innovation— collaboration among a broader ecosystem of players who are focused less on specific goals and more on continuous idea generation, testing and learning.”
I really like the reasoning here. There is lots of potential for companies that take a broader approach to open innovation.
This snippet is also worth having in mind:
“Additionally, our research found that although nearly three-fourths of large companies (71 percent) reported successful collaboration with entrepreneurs, unfortunately little more than half of entrepreneurs (57 percent) agreed. This gap must be closed.”
The below questions – and insights from the report – highlight some of the challenges with open innovation efforts between large companies and entrepreneurs.
Can entrepreneurs’ confidence be boosted?
Similarly, entrepreneurs feel less confident about the success of the collaboration. According to almost three-fourths of large companies (71 percent), collaboration with their entrepreneurial colleagues was a success. Unfortunately, little more than half of entrepreneurs (57 percent) agree.
Can access be improved?
More than one-third of entrepreneurs (39 percent) would like to collaborate with large companies but do not have sufficient access to them in their country.
Are large companies doing enough?
Large companies currently collaborate, or will collaborate, with startups/entrepreneurs specifically on innovation. However, a significant majority (69 percent) collaborate with only a few select startups on an ad hoc basis instead of collaborating with multiple startups on an ongoing basis.
Check out the full report here: Harnessing the Power of Entrepreneurs to Open Innovation
