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Corporate
Culture for Innovation
Corning, a Fortune 50 company, has a long
heritage of inventing new technologies and creating new businesses. It presents an excellent example
of harnessing the benefits of the
in-company ventures and the
business systems approach
to new product development and project management. Research, development,
and the innovation process are the lifeblood of Corning. It is an integral
part of its culture and
values-driven tradition. Corning is oriented around
innovation, built on constant reinvention "Discovering Beyond
Imagination" is a corporate slogan that embodies literal truth.
Project Leadership
Corning realized that having a sound innovation
process is not enough. What is important is how you practice it. Thus, it's
all comes down to leadership.
It's project leadership, not control by top management, that makes the
process work. To maintain the rigor of the innovation process, Corning
selects project managers on the basis of their
innovation leadership skills and their
cross-functional understanding of technology, marketing and manufacturing.
Corning gives project leaders an autonomy to decide when to go fast, call
for a formal review, or to blow through a prototype review gate that
combines prototype and product development steps in order to accelerate time
to market.
Two or three times a year, Corning stages a companywide
"Growth Day" at which it show-cases its emerging products and businesses.
The process is very informal. At the end of presentation, top managers
usually ask the project leader: 'What are you worried about? What can we do
to help you? We're not here to review you. The only thing we require is that
you make your milestones. What do you need?'
Internal Venture Capabilities: Key Features
Compared with many corporate innovation
processes, Corning's internal venture capabilities differ in three ways:
Managers have a shared view of trends
discontinuities and future events that could have an impact on industry and
shape the future; they develop industry, systems, and technology
roadmaps to
develop the
innovation strategy
Respect for company's researchers, who are linked to the company's business
objectives
New business creation is central to achieving corporate strategic and
financial objectives;
cross-functional teams are involved at every stage of
the innovation process; employees recognize the innovation process as the
creative source of next-generation systems and products.
8 Best Practices of Successful Companies
Corning keeps it's customers, such
as Nortel Networks, end-users, such as AT&T, as well as OEM suppliers well
informed of its product development plans. It uses road-mapping as a
co-innovation tool that allows customers and suppliers to work together to
build products...
More
Corporate Vision and Core Technological
Competence...
Disciplined Approach to Managing Innovation...
Five Steps to Turning an Idea into a
Successful New Product...
Employee Motivation...
Developing Technological Strategy together
with Suppliers and Customers...
Developing and Managing Project Portfolio...
Involving Cross-Functional Teams...
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