Since Henry Chesbrough coined the term in 2003, open innovation has been providing a framework for companies to tap a vast network of customers, experts, and other organizations. Companies such as Kraft, P&G, General Electric (GE), and Bosch have been using open innovation to source and develop outside concepts that spur disruptive innovation and help solve pressing challenges. Undeniably, open innovation has been a powerful tool for companies looking to boost innovation, but a lack in focus can sometimes lead to an overabundance of ideas that lack a connection to current business needs. Focus is certainly key as PG has proven with "…more than 35 percent of new products in market have elements that originated from outside P&G".

Although open innovation was not a new concept at Kraft Foods, the company was looking to focus their open innovation efforts. Moving from a single private submission form where the public could freely submit any idea on anything with Innovate with Kraft (IWK), to a focused platform, the Kraft Foods Collaboration Kitchen (KFCK) is a major shift in their open innovation strategy. The new portal manages ideas from the public on new products, solutions and technologies with specific topics in mind predetermined internally. With KFCK, the company's strategy focuses on solving specific needs or questions defined by Kraft employees, known as 'briefs', and inviting the public to contribute their ideas on those topics. KFCK is powered by Brightidea software which allows easy management and launch of numerous briefs while facilitating collaboration amongst users in an interactive online community. Kraft is expecting to release well over 70 different briefs over the next year across its different brands.

Big organizational changes have come to Kraft Foods over the past few years. In 2010 the company acquired the British confectionary company Cadbury and recently announced plans to split into two separate businesses, Kraft Foods Groceries and Mondelez International (a name crowdsourced internally in Kraft's Brightidea-powered Idea Kitchen). Kraft continues its commitment to innovation with the launch of KFCK, which essentially combines Innovate with Kraft (IWK) Open innovation portal together with Cadbury's Collaboration Factory under one roof.

With names like Oreo, Cadbury, and Jello-O, Kraft Foods houses some of the world's best-known food brands. Want to bring your own flavor to the products you love? Now is your chance to bring your ideas to Kraft. If you are university student, technology person, innovator, or just someone with great ideas and new products or patents check out the Collaboration Kitchen to get involved!

This post is part of the Innovation Management Practitioners Blog series.

United States may continue to be a dominant player adding to the global manufacturing output, but by smaller margins than in the past. The decline of US manufacturing compared with the rest of the world showcases the dominance of emerging economies such as China that are doubling total output (see stats here and here). The gap could become even larger as emerging market manufacturers around the world have demonstrated success through government support and focus on advanced manufacturing. In June 2011, the United States President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) released their Report to the President on Ensuring American Leadership in Advanced Manufacturing, which delineates the issues with the current state of manufacturing in the U.S. in comparison and that, “as U.S. leadership in manufacturing declines, other nations are investing heavily in advancing their manufacturing leadership, innovation systems, and R&D. As hopes to increase jobs and support the advancement of a robust manufacturing continue, private companies are exploring how innovation can spur growth, cost-savings, and efficiency through initiatives designed specifically to fuel innovation.

Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ) has long been using Brightidea software to drive innovation management at every level. The Garage, an internal innovation platform accessible to all 300,000 employees is designed to maximize the flow of new ideas on virtually anything and route them to where they are needed most in the organization. Employees can easily access The Garage and submit or collaborate on ideas, as well as stay up-to-date on innovation activities within the company. The name "The Garage" refers to the company's beginnings in a garage in 1939, which serves as a reminder of the where they started and history of innovation at HP.

HP's latest campaign is truly an evolution of the Garage and represents a new leap forward. InnoStream is an "organizational stream of consciousness" campaign where employees can submit ideas about anything related to HP software, such as new services and product enhancements.

Employees can collaborate and vote on submissions to indentify top ideas in hopes of winning the popular vote and getting a chance to create a business proposal for the idea's further development. Development teams will be built around ideas chosen by a review team and will have an opportunity to utilize customers as design partners, and showcase them to a design council for possible funding and implementation. Finalized ideas could become a part of HP's software portfolio or incorporated in existing products.

InnoStream is also introducing a host of new opportunities for innovation including 'InnoBlast', an event where people can present ideas or cool things they have created, and 'InnoMiles', a point system where users can win prizes and privileges as they build up to silver, gold, and platinum account status. Top winners with the most InnoMiles will receive 'InnoStar' ranking, designated to recognize outstanding contributors. These types of rewards and recognition are the some of the most common ways companies are engaging employees and encouraging participation while maintaining a thriving innovation community. Innovation is at work!

When Kraft Foods (NYSE: KFT) announced its plan to split into a Kraft-named North American grocery business and separate global snack foods business, a new name was needed. Kraft already had the infrastructure in place to quickly tap the collective knowledge of all global employees to capture creative ideas. The Idea Kitchen online community, powered by Brightidea software, is an internal enterprise innovation platform that powers targeted campaigns across various business units at Kraft tied to strategic programs and the new product development process. To address the naming challenge then, it made perfect sense for Kraft to launch a campaign aptly named "Naming Our Global Snacks Company" on Brightidea. The campaign brought about 1,300+ ideas from over 2,600 users and was open to all global Kraft employees.

As often is the case with innovation, the final name chosen wasn't the result of a single idea. The new name, "Mondelez International" (pronounced mohn-dah-leez) is a combination of two employee suggestions and derives from the Latin words "monde" meaning "world," and "deliz" meaning "delicious". Irene Rosenfeld, Kraft CEO, said, "For the new global snacks company, we wanted to find a new name that could serve as an umbrella for our iconic brands, reinforce the truly global nature of this business and build on our higher purpose -- to 'make today delicious.'" Although no products will feature the name, Mondelez will be the label for the corporation managing brands such as Oreo, Nabisco, and Trident. The change is set to take effect at the end of the year, following shareholder approval.

Check out this in-depth video on Kraft's new name via Businessweek here.

Only six months after General Electric (GE) launched a new open innovation challenge, Healthymagination, looking for breakthrough ideas on early detection and treatment of breast cancer, innovation is fueling change like never before possible.

Powered by Brightidea software, the challenge was open to the public and targeted academic institutions and thousands of researchers around the world to come together to collaborate on breakthrough innovations. Following the underlying business strategy of GE to open the company up to external ideas to fuel innovation across several business units, Healthymagination follows the success of GE's other open innovation challenge, Ecomagination, which sought breakthrough ideas to improve our energy future.

After a relatively short but thorough evaluation, the five innovations challenge award winners from the first phase have been chosen. A panel of independent judges selected these five winners from over 500 submissions. The winning teams come from The University of Akron, the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, the Moffitt Cancer Center, and two teams from Vanderbilt University, with each group receiving $100,000 from GE to help develop thier ideas. GE is not stopping there as this summer additional venture capital funding will be awarded to participants and organizations to take their innovations to market.

Based on originality, feasibility, and impact, the following are the winning ideas:

• The University of Akron: a smart and safe breast implant that combines cancer diagnosis and treatment to promote healing.
• Vanderbilt University: creating more personalized chemotherapies for Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC)
• Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center: creating the first breast screening programs in Uganda to help fight Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC)
• Moffitt Cancer Center: detecting patients' risk for spreading cancer after onset through genetics
• Vanderbilt University: developing MyCancerGenome, an online database helping medical professionals stay up-to-date with research and therapies.

Brightidea is proud to offer the most comprehensive software platform to fuel continuous innovation which is changing lives and solving pressing challenges. For information on Healthymagination and the winners, please click here.

Our next Brightidea Innovation Leaders Birds of a Feather (BOF) event is approaching! June 6-7, Brightidea and innovation experts from across the world are heading to Schaumburg, Illinois, just outside of Chicago and home to the world headquarters of our host, Motorola Solutions.

Heidi Hattendorf Director, Innovation Development at Motorola Solutions states, "the BOF event is an excellent opportunity for industry leaders of global brands to compare best in class Innovation practices and exchange ideas. We're pleased to be hosting this year's BOF."

The 2-day event will kickoff with an insider look at the Motorola Solutions Innovation Center for a hands-on experience with many of today's most advanced products and solutions. The following day, participants will enjoy several TED-style presentations and interactive sessions at Motorola Solutions. Speakers include Heidi Hattendorf, Director of Innovation Development at Motorola Solutions and Jeffrey Philips, author of 'Relentless Innovation'. Similar to previous BOFs, attendees with have a chance to participate in interactive breakout sessions on important topics in innovation management and connect with peers throughout the day.

Paul Tran, Director of Business Development and Strategic Partnerships, says, "I am proud to announce that Motorola Solutions is hosting our BOF AMERICAS Innovation Leaders Conference this year. They have been a pioneer of technological innovation for over 80 years. What makes this event unique is that attendees will have the great opportunity to tour their Innovation Center and learn how their innovation programs help drive an effective and sustainable company's culture. This is a tremendous opportunity for Innovation Executives to get first hand knowledge from globally recognized brand."

Register today, spots are limited for this exclusive event. Please note, while we try to accommodate all requests, Brightidea customers are given priority access to all BOF events.Want to know more? Check out this video on BOF below!

Did you know that March 6th the Oreo cookie turned 100? For the last century, the Oreo has grabbed the attention of the always picky and imaginative taste buds of children. Beyond just the US, now the Oreo has been re-imagined to connect with children across the world, and most recently China. Let’s dig into this story a bit further to see how Kraft foods innovated this classic, fun, and delightful cookie.

Lorna Davis, SVP at Kraft foods, recently spoke with NPR's Planet Money in the 'Genius Ideas' podcast about launching the popular Oreo cookie in China. Kraft foods initially released the cookie with its original ingredients, but found that Chinese consumers were not very receptive to its taste, as they said it is "a little bit too sweet and it's a little bit too bitter," Davis said.

So it was back to the drawing board to re-imagine the Oreo cookie for the Chinese market. Davis sought ideas on how to modify the cookie. Kraft food's already-established online innovation community of global employees, the 'Idea Kitchen', powered by Brightidea software to was ready to provide suggestions and new ideas.

The result of these efforts was a new, more chocolaty and less sweet Oreo cookie that appealed to Chinese taste buds. An advertising campaign that promoted the 'twist, lick, dunk,' of eating an Oreo reached out to the unaccustomed Chinese consumers to acquaint them with an experience that is uniquely common knowledge in American culture.

Consequently "they saw sales of Oreos double in China, then double again and again. It's now the bestselling cookie there." The company has even gone as far as creating completely new Oreos, such as a green tea ice-cream flavored cookie. Kraft foods continues to innovate smarter and address new challenges through creative, purposed collaboration. We continue to relish seeing innovation at work, Kraft foods style.

Listen to the full segment and interview with Lorna Davis on NPR here.

This is Part Two in the series discussing Brightidea's Limitless innovation campaign looking to Brightidea employees for the latest technology and social application ideas. In the first post, we sat down to speak with VP of Product, Jason Hardy-Smith. This time we bring you Paul Tran, Director of Strategic Initiatives at Brightidea, who delves into the experiences of using Brightidea software and the methods utilized to achieve dynamic participation at all levels of the company.

Paul brings years of expertise helping customers use Brightidea software to deliver continuous results. However, using it for an internal campaign at Brightidea has surfaced new insights for Paul such as, "it allows us to firsthand experience what it's like for customers to use our software and that allows us to make the user experience better by actually putting it through our own internal processes." Using Brightidea internally makes it possible to take advantage of countless features and workflows. A few utilized include automated point-scoring for participation and campaign leaderboards, as well as advanced concept clustering to identify themes to inform proposal collaboration and scorecarding needed for proper decision-making.

Just like most campaigns, challenges and key insights emerge, such as learning how to formulate and present a concept clearly. Paul emphasizes the importance of how an idea is communicated because "not everybody knows how to pitch, not everybody knows how to communicate their idea very well." Through this campaign Brightidea employees gain knowledge on how to effectively present an interesting idea so that the idea itself is exciting with illustrations, clear presentations, pictures, and more.

Paul also helps Jason moderate the campaign and facilitate continuous communication internally. By actively engaging the community through spurring discussions around concept submissions via comments, as well as sending company-wide emails and directly speaking with employees around the office. "We made a formal announcement from the CEO in a town hall, subsequently we've pinned up metrics. For example I print out what the current stats are and put them on the office walls so when people walk down the halls they can see how many ideas have been submitted today, what the most recent ones are, and what the most popular are."

Paul believes that the ownership of the Limitless campaign at a VP level helps drive the success of the entire campaign. "What's really inspired the employees on Limitless versus different campaigns is that there's a true owner," says Paul. "No doubt we've run countless employee-facing campaigns in the past. It is not that nobody's listening to them, and ideas aren't being implemented, but partially these campaigns act as a system of record too. With Limitless, we have an owner at a department level driving it who is extracting enormous value from the collaboration with a vested interest in the findings and insights being surfaced." Giving employees from every area of the business one space for collaboration around new technology, as Paul passionately notes is "extremely valuable".

Be sure to follow Paul on Twitter at @paultran888.

Congratulations to Brightidea customer Recyclebank on being featured as one of The World's 50 Most Innovative Companies by FastCompany. We celebrated last night with the great folks behind what makes innovation work at the company. With its groundbreaking and innovative eco-friendly service, Recyclebank definitely deserves the recognition for motivating poeple towards greener lives. The company is committed to reducing waste and has taken the structure of popular rewards programs to encourage participation. Free to join, members earn points for taking simple green actions – for example home recycling or getting postal mail online – redeemable at leading retailers. Recyclebank's success has been booming and has even brought some of the world's largest companies, such as The Coca-Cola Company and Barnes & Noble, to offer point-earning opportunities through its program.

Learn more about how Recyclebank create innovation through green actions in the video below!

Brightidea is a company built on the principles of making innovation practical. It's not surprising, then, that we use our own software as a system of record for internal communications on everything from process improvements to customer enhancement requests via our public IdeaSpace. Targeted campaigns are also common, from the Marketing Department seeking ideas for our innovation newsletter to our most recent annual internal campaign called Limitless, inspired by the feature film, looking for the latest breakthrough ideas for Brightidea technology.

We recently chatted with Jason Hardy-Smith, Vice President of Product Management at Brightidea, about spearheading Limitless. The reason for the annual campaign, "we weren't sure we had the right ideas and we thought that if we opened it up to the company we'd get a greater variety of ideas from different perspectives." The entire process of tapping the wealth of knowledge and expertise spread across the organization is proving to have a powerful impact on the Product team's work and vision for the future. "I think it's quite enlightening. The different perspectives that people bring to the table are what is going to make our solution really unique. I'm really proud of it. I'm really proud that across the country everybody has taken the time to participate."

And people did participate. In the first few days 80% of the company logged-in to the campaign, and there has since been 100% login rate. The quality of participation and the collaboration post-submission has been truly impressive. "People aren't just sitting there for 10 minutes and thinking about an idea, they're actually hours and days putting together complex diagrams, long explanations and doing research on technologies to bring things to be really well thought out and polished," says Jason.

Limitless is also representative of the Brightidea philosophy and "this company belongs to everybody that works in it," said Jason, meaning that employees are encouraged to be active contributors in deciding what the roadmap for the company should be. He also added, "in running a company in that way I think you get more buy-in and collaboration and you have happier employees, it's just generally a better place to work."

When asked what it was like using Brightidea's own software, Jason responded that it's "humbling in a way because you think you know everything about your product and you think you know what's best for it all the time, but when you're actually using your product in a real-life scenario you realize that you're missing something and you come up with things that you never would have imagined would be in the product."

Overall, as a VP of Product, sourcing ideas and developing concepts that truly are unique and make a difference is paying off as Jason signs off saying, "I don't think there's another software that meet the product manager's needs as much as this does."

You can follow Jason on Twitter at @JasonHardySmith