LEGO has successfully used open innovation to survive changes in the market. It removed unrelated activities, revised its innovation policy to involve users, partners and competitors through crowdsourcing, user-driven innovation and co-creation. This helped LEGO focus on profitability and competitiveness. It launched programs like Mindstorms with MIT and LEGO Ambassador and CUUSOO to involve users in innovation. Nokia invested heavily in R&D but failed to regain the smartphone market leadership. It collaborated with universities but its internal innovation through the Nokia Research Center and business units was not adequate. Xerox PARC created many innovations but they did not benefit Xerox and instead spun off or were commercialized by employees

1. CASE STUDIES OF
OPEN INNOVATION
Good and bad experiences
Emanuela Del Dottore
Elisa Donati
Luca Nucara
Carlo Peccia
Chiara Salerno
Massimiliano Simi

2. LEGO
 1932 LEGO foundation
 1949 first package with four colours of bricks
 In 1990s changes in market requests

3. LEGO
 How do LEGO managed to survive?
 Removal of activities not related to the core-business
 Revision of its innovation policy and its relationship with
the user, partners and competitors
 the group now focuses on profitability and competitiveness
 New words were added to LEGO glossary:
CROWDSOURCING
USER DRIVEN INNOVATION
CO-CREATION
CO-DESIGN
CO-DEVELOPMENT
INNOVATION ECO-SYSTEM

4. LEGO
 In 1998 launched «Mindstorms»
 Developed with MIT
 People started to be interested in it and to develop new
software, sensors and tools to improve the product

5. LEGO
 2005 Program «LEGO Ambassador»
 2008 LEGO CUUSOO
LEGO mission:
‘To inspire and develop the builders of tomorrow’
http://lego.cuusoo.com/

6. NOKIA
 Can Nokia optimize its use of open innovation
to regain the industry leadership within the
smartphone market?
 Nokia’s internal innovation processes
 Two R&D departments:
1. long term: is done by Nokia Research Center (NRC) which
in 2010 had 400 researchers employed all over the world.
2. short term: the units can master the new technologies.

7. NOKIA
 $60 billion invested in R&D during the last two
decades
 11,000 patents

8. NOKIA

9. NOKIA
 “Connecting people”
 High diversification in smartphone models and prices
 Market research
 Use of researches and surveys
Nokia’s vision :
“To be recognized as the most consumer-focused,
customer-centric organization on the planet”

10. NOKIA
Aalto University
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Stanford University
University of California, Berkeley
 University collaborations

11. XEROX
 Many of the innovation created inside Xerox PARC
(Palo Alto Research Center) were not usefull for
Xerox itself.
 A big part of the R&D gives results outside
company core business:
• Most of researchers left Xerox
• Spin-off outside Xerox PARC market value higher than
Xerox itself.
• Since 2002, PARC is an indipendent company

12. BOEING
 Dreamliner plane innovations:
 lighter material for body and wings
 new engines from Rolls-Royce and General Electric
 rechargeable lithium-ion batteries
 replacement of the traditional pneumatic system with an
electrical one

13. BOEING

14. REASONS FOR OPEN INNOVATION FAILURE
 Difficulties making innovation happen internally
 False expectations about external contributions
 Companies copy competitor’s initiatives rather than
creating
Some Rules:
 DO NOT allow access to an Open Innovation system without
appropriate legal conditions
 DO NOT let your competitors get access to confidential
information (or do not license to competitors)