Community Forum – Open Innovation Metrics

Resource Type
Survey (Community Forum)
Author
Innovation Research Interchange
Topics
Open Innovation and Contests, Innovation Metrics
Associated Event
Publication

What Metrics Do You Use for Open Innovation?

How does your organization specify Open Innovation metrics and measure key performance indicators?  Do you relate the OI Metric as percentage of net sales value?  If so, what are the guidelines you choose to do this?   If not, what are the other measures? Do you have any good practices or recommendations? – Joseph George, Kellogg Company

Community Responses

Kim Tutin, Technology Scout, Georgia-Pacific Chemicals LLC
We use the following official metrics for my role as Technology Scout (responsible for Open Innovation):

  • Number of prioritized technologies screened
  • Number of projects closed or transferred to a business team
  • Project cycle time
  • Project quality
  • Net Present Value of Projects

I am also trying to use some metrics around activities.  These include:

  • Number of new contacts made
  • Number of informational bulletins sent out about new external technologies
  • Number of external technologies identified
  • Number of external technology samples acquired/evaluated

Becky Parker, Sr. Manager R&D Finance, H.J. Heinz
We measure % of our portfolio spent on breakthrough innovation but do not currently maintain organization-wide metrics on open innovation.  

John Tao, Vice President, Open Innovation, Weyerhaeuser
I assume you are referring to the inbound innovation because the outbound is easy using traditional financial measures to get at the revenues for licensing, divested intellectual assets and valuations used in JV’s etc. For inbound, look the article I published: “You Can Measure External Research Programs,” Research and Technology Management ,Vol 44, Number 3, May/June 2001. 

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