Alcatel-Lucent introduced an initiative to accelerate innovation by empowering employees. They created an Innovation Board and Task Force to connect talent and ideas across the company. An Entrepreneurial Boot Camp was launched to support innovative ideas and business plans from employees. The best plans receive funding and support. The program has expanded globally while accounting for cultural differences. It has successfully broken down silos and created new networks to foster collaboration and innovation.

1. SPRING 2010
Current Issues in
HSATM
VOLUME 14,
ISSUE 1
Technology Management
HOWE SCHOOL ALLIANCE FOR TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT
Transformational Strategy:
Leading Innovation in a Fast-Changing
Global Organization John Bobb
This article describes an initiative by Alcatel-Lucent, a company with a long and admired history of innovation, to accelerate its pace of
innovation during a period of rapid and disruptive industry change. I have a particular interest in Alcatel-Lucent as I became part of one of
its forerunner organizations, Lucent Technologies, when my company, Ascend Communications, was acquired by Lucent in 1999. In their
quest for growth, Lucent acquired Ascend, along with 37 other companies, within a four year time span during the mid to late 1990’s. It
was a fantastic time to be in technology, as growth seemed boundless. However, the acquisition and integration of companies is risky and
difficult during even the best of times. Undertaken at this scale at the brink of the telecom bubble collapse, the challenges to successful inte-
gration of 38 companies and their innovative ideas were nearly insurmountable.
In the face of a radically changed global would have to occur in the company in order tion process had to be owned by every
business environment, Alcatel-Lucent’s sub- to create an environment that encouraged employee, going beyond the research labs,
sidiary in Belgium has taken the lessons involvement from all levels, provided the abil- pulling all individuals in the company in the
learned and moved forward, introducing a ity to work effectively across functional same direction from innovation to implemen-
new approach that emphasizes capitalizing boundaries, and fostered the re-emergence tation. It was important to create a sense of
on the innovative ideas of individuals in the of the entrepreneurial spirit it once had. urgency, to bring people out of their comfort
company. The idea was to give individual zones and be motivated to collaborate.
Many ideas that were not being capitalized
contributors the tools to foster their entrepre-
on were “under the radar” of company A key element of Alcatel-Lucent’s change
neurial spirit and break down the silos and
decision-makers, as there were few if any process was to create an environment that
managerial boundaries that so often stifle
channels through which an individual could would encourage risk-taking. They wanted
innovation. Alcatel-Lucent provided their
relay a new concept or business idea up to to find hidden talents within the company
individuals with guidance and the right con-
the management team. Silos within the and redeploy them into new areas of the
nections to successfully exploit their ideas, at
organization often prevented communication company, encouraging entrepreneurship
the same time creating business opportuni-
ties that would benefit the company.
It has long been recognized that innovation ...it takes more than a creative laboratory to make innovation
is key to the success of Alcatel-Lucent.
Alcatel-Lucent’s Bell Labs has been in the
successful. It takes the diversity of thought and action from
forefront of innovation for decades, with individuals in the company as a whole,
many leading minds in technology innova-
tion. However, it takes more than a creative to move ideas and concepts to commercial reality...
laboratory to make innovation successful. It
takes the diversity of thought and action from and collaboration between groups, hinder- along the way. Alcatel-Lucent wanted to con-
individuals in the company as a whole, to ing a team effort in formulating new ideas. stantly move the borders, creating new net-
move ideas and concepts to commercial real- Alcatel-Lucent was a powerhouse for tech- works of people and relationships.
ity, through business planning, engineering, nology innovation, but with large competi-
The change process began with the creation
manufacturing, marketing and distribution in tors like Cisco Systems and Ericsson they
of an Innovation Board, consisting of the
a global market place. Alcatel-Lucent had to find new ways to create and develop
CEO and the leaders of all the business
Belgium recognized that major changes ideas to stay ahead. Somehow the innova-
units in Alcatel-Lucent Belgium. It was recog-

2. nized that a powerful guiding coalition of involvement without dangling a prize in level. Coaches from the executive manage-
leaders was necessary in order to achieve front of them, and they had to establish bet- ment level were provided to the teams to
the level of buy-in required of employees. ter criteria for project selection. The ideas mentor them and help form connections to
Alcatel-Lucent knew that to be successful, the had to become more than just ideas. The the right internal and external resources and
leaders had to be involved throughout the ideas had to be of significant value, and it encourage collaboration. Alcatel-Lucent also
change process, and they had to champion had to be demonstrated that they had the incorporated business school professors into
the change with enthusiasm. potential to be developed into meaningful, the Innovation Boot Camp process, to teach
business plan development principles and to
share personal wisdom from their own past
... to be successful, the leaders had to be involved throughout experiences.
the change process, and they had to The Entrepreneurial Boot Camp was not for
the faint of heart; there had to be passion
champion the change with enthusiasm. for the idea and a commitment to see the
idea through the review and development
Next to be launched was the Alcatel-Lucent process. Participants had to commit to a
profitable ventures for the company. Ideas
Innovation Task Force. Its mission was to three-weekend experience. During the first
had to align with the core market of the
create new opportunities for the company weekend they were trained in developing a
company, or align with a market segment
by connecting the talent and ideas of peo- successful business plan, new venture cre-
that the company envisioned pursuing. The
ple throughout the company. This team ation, and opportunity development. In the
idea needed to be achievable as a business
helped to communicate the new company second weekend the training covered entre-
venture within a reasonable timeframe.
vision. The Innovation Task Force promoted preneurial marketing and new product
Since an idea that becomes a successful
the program through company meetings, growth. The final weekend moved into
venture has to have the inputs of many dif-
brochures and the Intranet. They created a legal, finance and intellectual property
ferent talented people along the way to
website where ideas could be posted and rights. The goal was to give participants
commercial reality, ideas had to be accom-
opinions expressed about the ideas. The
website was open to everyone, creating an
environment that transcended traditional Silos within the organization have been successfully breached, and
organizational boundaries, allowing every-
one to speak freely about their innovative this has created new networks of employees that can do more.
ideas. By widening the circle of involve-
ment, connecting people and ideas, creat-
panied by full business plans that the com-
ing communities for action and embracing the tools required to create a business case
pany could implement.
democratic principles, Alcatel-Lucent was for their idea, through 80% coaching and
embarking upon a new paradigm to help What came out of this re-evaluation was the 20% theory.
them be more successful in today’s complex Entrepreneurial Boot Camp, a program that
As ideas moved through development in the
business environment. consolidated the resources needed to
Entrepreneurial Boot Camp, the participant
support the pursuit of innovative ideas and
Alcatel-Lucent’s first attempt at fostering inno- teams had to present their new business
to create business opportunity plans from
vation through this system tried to promote plans to a jury. The team’s speaker had just
those ideas. Through proposal development,
the collective effort of individuals in express- 15 minutes to present the case to the CEO,
selection of plans, funding and securing
ing their ideas. The Innovation Board CTO, and CFO of Alcatel-Lucent Belgium,
of venture capital, people now had the
encouraged ideas by conducting a contest five venture capitalists, and approximately
opportunity to express their ideas on a level
in which the prize was a car. Through the 150 employees. Being fully prepared and
playing field and, potentially, see them
website 150 ideas were presented in five passionate about their ideas was critical. In
become a new business within the company
months. All ideas were reviewed and one this stage, the teams presenting the new
or with external partners.
was selected as the winner. At first this ini- business opportunity received high exposure
tiative was deemed a success, but ultimately The Entrepreneurial Boot Camp addressed to top management, and were able to con-
the leadership team discovered that using a the shortcomings of the first attempt. Clearly nect with them and share information.
prize in this manner was a bad practice. defined criteria were established for ideas This is important in order to develop trust
There was one winner and 149 unhappy to be considered. Teams were encouraged between employees of the company and
losers, the program was not sustainable, to be formed through what was termed a the management team, and to break down
and none of the top 11 ideas made it to “dating event:” a five minute presentation the walls that inhibit innovation and entre-
market. by each person with a new idea and a preneurship.
gathering in the lunch room to talk and
The process clearly had to be re-evaluated. Once a business opportunity is selected, it
collaborate, leading to the formation of
The Innovation Board had to get people’s must go through an incubation period dur-
diverse teams to carry the ideas to the next

3. ing which a fast prototype is developed so other countries, they are taking into account breached, and this has created new networks
that something can be shown to potential cus- local and cultural differences and reflecting of employees that can do more. They have
tomers and where the opportunity is further those differences in the program, customizing successfully crossed difficult global bound-
validated within the targeted market segment. the program for each country to insure aries in their quest for innovative ideas and
As a result, the plan may be acceptance of the program and to capitalize have been able to apply globally an
modified to increase the probability of its suc- on the wealth of knowledge that others from approach that is sensitive to the cultural and
cess. different cultures have to offer. They also market aspects of each region.
have to determine market differences, as
Not every idea brought into the If the passion of Dr. Guido Petit, Director of
every country has unique market opportuni-
Entrepreneurial Boot Camp is accepted -- in the Alcatel-Lucent Technical Academy in
ties that Alcatel-Lucent can capitalize on or
fact only one out of five is. There thus had to Belgium is any indication of how people
must be sensitive to. It is also important to
be a post-boot camp feedback process, to within the company feel, Alcatel-Lucent’s strat-
know what the scale of the program should
help the teams understand that it is the jour- egy will be successful. Their initiative will
be and the cost of the program for each of
ney -- the learning experience -- that is most offer a new model of organizational change
the new areas they move into in order to
important. Being prepared for the high prob- for other companies. Dr. Petit said you must
insure successful implementation.
ability of not making it to market is tough, be an evangelist when creating change with-
and Alcatel-Lucent does not want to see their In addition to spreading the program internal- in a company. You can get a feeling for Dr.
people discouraged from the results. Hence, ly, Alcatel-Lucent has promoted the best prac- Petit’s passion by watching the videotape of
feedback is provided to each team as to why tices of the program to some other companies his presentation, Innovation Leadership in a
their business plan did not make it. They are in order to explore the possible setup of joint Fast-Changing Global Organization, given at
encouraged to improve the plan on their Boot Camps in the framework of collaborative the Eighteenth Annual Conference of the
own. This process helps to insure that they innovation. Currently Johnson & Johnson, the Howe School Alliance for Technology
will try again, and that others will follow. Picanol Group, Merck Serono, Swift and oth- Management, Leading in a Changing
ers have adopted similar practices. Environment, at
The program is still young, but the results so
http://howe.stevens.edu/video/
far are encouraging. In the first two years There are many theories about organization-
petit-hsatm-2009/
since inception, two projects have been al change and how it should be done, and
developed into new market opportunities and there are many pitfalls along the way that
several others were transferred directly to can destroy even the most sincere attempts to
*****
existing product groups. Expansion of the change an organization. Alcatel-Lucent in This overview description of one of Alcatel-
program is considered critical to the success Belgium, in an effort to change the culture Lucent’s innovation initiatives is based upon
of Alcatel-Lucent, and they have decided to and business strategy of the global Alcatel- an interview with Dr. Guido Petit, Director of
expand the Entrepreneurial Boot Camp con- Lucent, has created an incredible innovation the Alcatel-Lucent Technical Academy, August
cept from Belgium into other locations. The program. Management has fully bought into 6th 2009. The author is grateful to Dr. Petit
Entrepreneurial Boot Camp is now also run in the program and is intimately involved in for permission to publish this description of
Paris, France, where they have teamed up every step of the process, showing full com- the process and to use it to formulate his own
with local business schools to help create the mitment to the employees of the company. views of the program. ■
same type of environment that has been so They have been able to bring to light innova-
successful in Antwerp, Belgium. In September tive ideas of everyday folks in the company,
of 2009, the first Boot Camp was conducted they have created synergies through collabo-
in North America. The next countries slated rative meetings, and ideas are becoming
for Boot Camps are China and India. business plans that can be evaluated for their
potential to grow the company. Silos within
As Alcatel-Lucent expands the program into
the organization have been successfully
About the Author:
John Bobb (jbobb@syncns.com) is Vice President of Operations for Synchronized Networking Solutions,
a Native American-owned company dedicated to providing integrated telecommunications and information
network products and services. He has been in various roles in network engineering and operations for over
18 years, with responsibility for network operation centers and on-site engineering services. Prior to joining
Synchronized Networking Solutions, John was with Lucent Technologies, which acquired his previous organiza-
tion, Ascend Communications, in 1999. John has a special interest in fostering entrepreneurial ideas and inno-
vation through collaboration with personnel and through partnerships with other companies.