Open innovation in a quality-oriented organization

Industrial companies have traditionally looked at quality management as a valuable capability to improve their competitive skills in the market (Powell 1995). The quality focused strategy has been under pressure with the emergence of dynamic low-cost competitors that have risen up to challenge incumbents’ market position. As companies were pushed to rethink the way they were conducting business, innovation-driven strategies became the new mantra. But, how do “quality oriented” industrial companies open up their processes and stimulate innovation? Is it possible for a process-oriented industrial company to embrace open innovation?

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A recent work (Alcalde 2010) by La Salle Innova Institute has explored this apparently unmanageable challenge doing a case-study of a major supplier of beverage cans. The in-depth analysis of the interviews and on-site observation support the idea that despite quality management remains a top priority in the strategy of the company, there is an increasing focus in internal knowledge management oriented at manufacturing process improvement, in line with a recent discussion article (Billington & Davidson 2010).

The study portrays how "quality management culture" fosters the successful implementation of innovation methods such as local and international idea generation workshops. Nevertheless, the study also uncovers that organizations face relevant barriers as they aim to open-up their innovation processes.

Do you have experiences of industrial companies embracing an “innovation culture”? What challenges do you see to industrial companies moving towards open innovation approaches?

References:

• Alcalde, R., 2010. De la Calidad Total a la Open Innovation. Master Thesis. La Salle, Ramon Llull University.
• Billington, C. & Davidson, R., 2010. Using Knowledge brokering to improve business processes. McKinsey Quarterly. Available at: McKinsey Quarterly.
• Powell, T.C., 1995. Total quality management as competitive advantage: A review and empirical study. Strategic Management Journal, 16(1), pp.15-37.