In 2000, Siemens was a company with a lot of divisions in Belgium. To overcome the boundaries between the different organisations, a centralized innovation center was needed.

Project description

Several strategic business development managers from different divisions got together to compare their approach to innovation. The focus was innovation towards the market, not internal processes or technological research.
Different area's were covered: stimulating innovation culture, aligning processes for innovation project selection and bringing innovation projects to the market (as either product, business model or channel innovation).

Project result

By the end of the 2 years, several instruments were in place. A change management program using "change agents" was deployed over all divisions. The change agents did not report to their hierarchical superior for their job, but instead had a percentage of their time that they could use to help colleagues that wanted to introduce a change. It spread like a viral movement.
Another achievement was the installation of a centralized idea funneling system with clear milestones and criteria. This made it easier for employees to know how to pitch their project.
When major reorganizations took place, the project proofed its value by demonstrating that ideas that could no longer be funded inside of the company had the potential to make it as a spin-off. Sinfilo, Metavector and Minifizz are examples of such projects.