2014 Global SRM Research Report - Customer of choice

STATE OF FLUX

2014 GLOBAL SRM RESEARCH REPORT

RELATIONSHIP DEVELOPMENT & CULTURE 179

SRM essentials

GUIDED INNOVATION

Co-creation allows companies to expand their technology or product and service offering quickly without excessive investment in R&D. While keeping trade secrets confidential, companies can provide guidance about problems they are trying to solve or opportunities they want to realise the appropriate suppliers* to solicit new ideas. By drawing on a larger pool of ideas, they get insight from a rich diversity of people and in the case of suppliers often the real experts.

Guided innovation can be directed towards a single supplier with particular expertise, but in most cases engaging a wider group is going to provide a richer and more diverse perspective on the problem or opportunity you are looking to address. This approach, often referred to as crowdsourcing or co-creation, is a way for companies to harness the ideas and strength of people outside their organisation, in particular suppliers to make improvements to internal processes, products or services. Many companies, from automobile manufacturers to technology companies, seek input from suppliers to overcome some of their toughest challenges. Crowdsourcing is also a way for companies to avoid the stale, repetitive thinking that can happen when employees are accustomed to their internal ways of solving problems. By including more outside ideas, companies can ensure their ideas stay fresh and new while providing opportunities for those outside their organisation to participate in technology, product or service development.