Mind the Gap! New NineSigma Survey Shows Companies Missing Opportunities to Compete and Grow through Open Innovation

CLEVELAND, Oct. 27, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Today's successful organizations would never consider making an acquisition without a legal agreement, or hiring a new leader without a clear strategy. Yet, even as organizations embrace Open Innovation as a strategy for staying competitive, many move ahead without the people, processes and technologies necessary to accelerate their "race to the top."

So notes the 2011 Open Innovation Scorecard Survey Report from NineSigma, a leading worldwide provider of innovation services. Through Open Innovation, more organizations than ever are looking to the outside world for the best ideas for new products, as well as solutions to pressing global problems. Yet NineSigma's recent survey of more than 360 professionals from organizations across multiple industries, shows that while 62 percent are highly effective in tapping into the creative brainpower of their colleagues, only 10 percent have the systems and processes in place to single out the most promising ideas, and quickly bring them to market.

Overall, the survey assesses companies' ability to collaborate across three tiers— 1) within and across their organizations, 2) with their existing external networks, and 3) with the global innovation community.

"As the world continues to change at warp speed, Open Innovation is both a new frontier of inspiration, and a strategy that organizations must quickly master. Our report enables organizations to benchmark themselves against other innovators, and to identify new ways to improve their practices so they won't be left behind," said Dr. Matthew Heim, President, NineSigma, who oversaw the research. "For instance, many would benefit by collaborating on new products with external partners that they wouldn't typically consider, specifically, their suppliers and their customers."

The NineSigma report shows that the drive toward Open Innovation is not only strong among the largest enterprises; small and mid-size companies are climbing aboard, too. For example, 63 percent of those with revenues of $250,000 to $1 billion are adopting Open Innovation strategies. New social networking tools such as crowdsourcing are making it easier for these companies to "get in the game."

Addressing every aspect of Open Innovation—from technology to intellectual property agreements to choosing and rewarding the right innovation teams—the report provides a roadmap for companies, as well as governmental and nonprofit organizations across all industries. It provides actionable recommendations for identifying gaps and achieving leading-edge results from their Open Innovation programs.

Organizations that would like to learn more are invited to join a free NineSigma webinar at 10 am EDT Wednesday, November 2, 2011. Matthew Heim will lead the webinar, and will be joined by guest panelist Dick van Beelen, Director of Open Innovation, AkzoNobel. To register for the webinar, "Measuring Your Way to OI Success," please visit http://www.ninesigma.com/News/WebinarSeries.aspx. To download a copy of the report, please visit http://www.ninesigma.com/OIScorecardSurveyReport.aspx.

About NineSigma
NineSigma engages organizations with external innovation resources and enables them to share knowledge to accelerate the innovation cycle, whether they are in the private, public, or social sectors. Their proprietary and collaborative process has produced billions of dollars in tangible value. Companies such as Kraft, Philips, L'Oreal, Unilever, Denso and Suntory utilize NineSigma's Open Innovation services to solve immediate challenges, fill product pipelines, integrate new knowledge into their organizations, close development gaps, and improve financial performance. NineSigma has the largest open global network of solution providers and an extensive database of existing solutions that spans all industries and technical disciplines. Our team integrates professionals from a variety of fields, including business leaders, innovation consultants and Ph.D.-level scientists. Learn more at ninesigma.com .

Media Contact:
Dawn Ringel, Warner Communications, [email protected], (781) 449-8456

SOURCE NineSigma