This document is a Request for Comment. By way of background, the document came about as I was preparing to teach a course on “Organizing for Innovation” in an MBA class called “Technological Innovation.” As I was reading through the material, it occurred to me that I was having a hard time finding practical advice on how one would realistically setup a holistic Innovation Program. There was lots of, “best practice advice”, but little concrete models. In the field, I’d seen several companies try to roll out Innovation Programs, but because they only focused on one small part (such as Ideation), the programs ultimately failed to deliver real business results. My hypothesis was that you cannot run a Corporate Entrepreneurship program piecemeal, it needs to be holistic. So the basic question is: Suppose you had to build the ideal holistic innovation program from the ground up for a large company / MNC. At some point, you would need to define a tangible operating model with specific streams of work against which, you would staff actual people. The Operating Model would need to cover the scope of the functions and a set of activities to deliver against goals over Period X. So what would the Operating Model look like? This deck is a strawman. PS: I also happen to be in Asia Pacific, so my context is a regional organization in a global MNC.

1. EXAMPLE REGIONAL
INNOVATION PROGRAM
CHARTER
Selena Sol presents…..
selena@selenasol.com
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/eric-tachibana/0/33/b53
http://www.slideshare.net/selenasol
because doing it haphazardly sucks

2. This document is a Request for Comment.
By way of background, the document came about as I was preparing to teach a course on “Organizing
for Innovation” in an MBA class called “Technological Innovation.”
As I was reading through the material, it occurred to me that I was having a hard time finding practical
advice on how one would realistically setup a holistic Innovation Program. There was lots of, “best
practice advice”, but little concrete models.
In the field, I’d seen several companies try to roll out Innovation Programs, but because they only
focused on one small part (such as Ideation), the programs ultimately failed to deliver real business
results. My hypothesis was that you cannot run a Corporate Entrepreneurship program piecemeal, it
needs to be holistic.
So the basic question is: Suppose you had to build the ideal holistic innovation program from the
ground up for a large company / MNC. At some point, you would need to define a tangible operating
model with specific streams of work against which, you would staff actual people. The Operating Model
would need to cover the scope of the functions and a set of activities to deliver against goals over
Period X. So what would the Operating Model look like?
This deck is a strawman.
PS: I also happen to be in Asia Pacific, so my context is a regional organization in a global MNC.

3. 2012 STRATEGIC INTENT
VISION
Start-up the Applied Innovation function in Asia
MISSION
• Agree on a clear plan and operating model to facilitate and govern the launch of the process
• Make a real, visible commitment – marketing messages and budget/resource allocation
• Develop and launch a controlled Ideation program
• Select 3-5 internal ventures to back
• Make it a priority of stakeholders to deliver results (incentives to invest and protected spaces to fail)
VALUES
Excitement, Vision, Commercial, Disciplined
While it may be shepherded by a small group of designated evangelists, innovation must be owned by everyone at all
levels or it will not become part of the firm’s DNA.
WHERE WE WANT TO
GO
HOW WE GET THERE
OUR COMPASS
Leverage both incremental and disruptive innovation to drive client delight, excite our brand, develop new revenue streams, slash the cost
base, and inspire and engage employees
Why we exist - Innovation Program Strategic Intent
3
Innovation is the successful commercialization of ideas. Innovation may be small and incremental or large and game changing

4. What we do - Ensuring a fertile landscape for innovation
4
STRATEGY INFRASTRUCTURE CULTURE STAFFING
GOALS
Define and communicate a clear vision of
why innovation matters, where we aspire to
be because of innovation, and what success
means tangibly. Agree on, indoctrinate, and
live out the values that will help us achieve
our vision. Agree on, rollout, and monitor a
practical tactical mission and plan that will
help us deliver the vision.
ACTIVITIES
• Define Strategic Intent (Vision,
Mission, Values) aligned to platform
and business goals
• Define and execute Communications
Plan
• Align operational tactical plans to
strategy
• Measure and monitor execution of
strategy
IMMEDIATE WORKPLAN
GOALS
Ensure that the environment is as
conducive to innovation as possible.
ACTIVITIES
• Budget and resourcing allocation
• Applied Innovation Labs
• Ideation & Collaboration Tools
• Incentives & other policies
• Physical environment
IMMEDIATE WORKPLAN
GOALS
Create a culture that encourages innovative
behavior.
ACTIVITIES
• Identifying and coaching out derailing
behaviors
• Formally celebrating / communicating
success & failures
• Propagating stories/legends
IMMEDIATE WORKPLAN
GOALS
Ensure that we have enough intrapreneurs
with the right diversity of capabilities and in
the right organizational roles (seniority &
coverage) to instigate and drive change and
that we remove staff who would derail the
program.
ACTIVITIES
• Organizational Design, role definition,
and diversity strategy
• Sourcing
• Screening
• Induction
• Training
• Mobility
• Pruning
IMMEDIATE WORKPLAN
INITIATIVES
Incorporate wording
around innovation into
Vision statement
Q3 LL
Syndicate new
Strategic Intent
through skip-levels
Q3 AR
Write & Execute
Comms Plan
Q3 AR
Agree on
departmental metrics
and targets
Q3 LL
End-of-year Townhall Q4 LL
INITIATIVES
Allocate 2013
budget to incubate
2-3 projects
Q4 LL
Complete setup of
Tokyo R&D Lab
Q3 GT
Create Innovation
Space on intranet
collaboration tool
Q3 GT
INITIATIVES
Start publishing
Innovation Newsletter
Q3 AR
Kickoff Innovation
Awards program
Q4 AR
Develop training
program on Failure-
Friendly Leadership
Q4 GT
INITIATIVES
Define Innovation Core
Capabilities and
Derailers
Q3 TM
Develop Training
program for
Interviewers
Q3 TM
Propose 2013 Personal
Objectives ladder for
innovators
Q4 Tm

5. What we do - Ensuring a fertile landscape for innovation
5
INCULCATE IDEATE INCUBATE INNOVATE
GOALS
Use Culture, Staffing, Communications,
Environment, and Infrastructure to drive
day-to-day innovative thinking and behavior
by empowering employees.
They can do it. They have authority to do it.
They have the space and time to do it. They
have the tools and training to do it. They
have the organizational tolerance of failure
to do it.
ACTIVITIES
• Innovation Culture stewardship
• Coordination with staffing &
leadership development
• Innovation & collaboration tools
identification & deployment
• Reporting & other communications
• Intrapreneurial coaching &
mentorship support
GOALS
Ensure a fluid, rapid flow of ideas from inside
and outside, from top to bottom, and across
the organization’s business lines and
functions.
Make it easy for anyone to find out to whom
new ideas should go. Provide an
infrastructure that allows the organization to
ponder, capture, share, filter & qualify good
ideas and to save ideas that are good, but not
ready to incubate.
ACTIVITIES
• Manage ideation & collaboration tools
& programs (and archive)
• Problem statement definition &
qualification
• Drive External Innovation (competitors,
customers, universities, wild cards, etc)
program, linkages, and agreements
GOALS
Create space, budget, and project
management support to convert good
ideas into practical prototypes and pilots.
Track, measure, and monitor projects and
spend to ensure efficient and effective
deliverables.
ACTIVITIES
• Manage R&D Labs
• Manage skunk works projects &
internal ventures
• Lobby for and manage venture
budget
• Execute stage-gate and governance
processes to qualify and monitor
venture projects
GOALS
Transform the right set of prototypes into
commercial change. Launch new products
to market or implement organizational
change on a wide scale.
ACTIVITIES
• Facilitate front-to-back business
sponsorship from ideation stage
through commercialization)
• Oversee productionization /
commercialization and change
management
• Internal sales and marketing
• Track business benefits
INITIATIVES
Blah
blah
blah
blah
blah
INITIATIVES
Project A
Project B
Project C
INITIATIVES
Project A
Project B
Project C
INITIATIVES
blah
blah
blah

6. How we are organized - Org structure
6
Nomineer
from BU 1
Nomineer
from BU 1
Nomineer
from BU 2
Nomineer
from BU 2
Incubation
Manager
Incubation
Manager
Change
Manager
Change
Manager
BU 1 CTOBU 1 CTO BU 2 CTOBU 2 CTO BU 3 CTOBU 3 CTO BU 4 CTOBU 4 CTO
Technology Leadership Team
Inculcate
WG
Inculcate
WG
Ideation
WG
Ideation
WG
Incubation
WG
Incubation
WG
Innovation
WG
Innovation
WG
Innovation Organization
CTOCTO
BU = Business Unit
WG = Working Group of volunteers
RM = Relationship Manager
= Hardline
= Matrix reporting
Or is it better to organize
by themes like cloud
computing or mobility
rather than the 4 from slide
4 ???
HR RMHR RM Finance RMFinance RM
Strategic
Innovation
Evangelist
Strategic
Innovation
Evangelist
BU CEOBU CEOBU CEOBU CEO BU CEOBU CEOBU CEOBU CEO
Product Management Team

7. How we are organized - Org structure
6
Nomineer
from BU 1
Nomineer
from BU 1
Nomineer
from BU 2
Nomineer
from BU 2
Incubation
Manager
Incubation
Manager
Change
Manager
Change
Manager
BU 1 CTOBU 1 CTO BU 2 CTOBU 2 CTO BU 3 CTOBU 3 CTO BU 4 CTOBU 4 CTO
Technology Leadership Team
Inculcate
WG
Inculcate
WG
Ideation
WG
Ideation
WG
Incubation
WG
Incubation
WG
Innovation
WG
Innovation
WG
Innovation Organization
CTOCTO
BU = Business Unit
WG = Working Group of volunteers
RM = Relationship Manager
= Hardline
= Matrix reporting
Or is it better to organize
by themes like cloud
computing or mobility
rather than the 4 from slide
4 ???
HR RMHR RM Finance RMFinance RM
Strategic
Innovation
Evangelist
Strategic
Innovation
Evangelist
BU CEOBU CEOBU CEOBU CEO BU CEOBU CEOBU CEOBU CEO
Product Management Team