Connect and develop: Inside Proctor & Gamble's new model for innovation

Huston, L., & Sakkab, N. (2006, March). Connect and develop: Inside Proctor & Gamble's new model for innovation. Harvard Business Review, 1-19.

Summary

This article talks about P&G's open innovation strategy that they term 'Connect and Develop'. The basic concept is that they reach out to their global networks for ideas and assets to help drive innovative products. Then they make a deal to utilize their own internal expertise in things like manufacturing or marketing to further development and bring new products to market faster than if they were fully developed internally.

Experience

The strategy the P&G employs is very similar to how business development works in the pharma industry. Large companies (Genentech, Merck, Pfizer, etc.) typically look outside their walls at smaller start-ups for innovative ideas, and then make deals to continue development and market using internal capabilities. That's not to say that all innovations in pharma are initiated externally, but this is how large companies keep their pipelines full.

KEYWORDS: connect, develop, internal capabilities, innovation, speed