Nike’s latest innovation certainly looks bold. Putting $6 million of intellectual capital into the public domain might encourage competitors to poach their ideas. But Nike will have calculated that the rewards of open innovation exceed the risks.
The Environmental Apparel Design Toolis a neat innovation for two reasons. Firstly, designers can make real-time adjustments to a product and see the impacts before production begins – using safer materials, creating less waste, minimising energy. But Nike goes beyond just tinkering at the margins: users are invited to submit new ideas to improve the toolkit.
This type of collaborative innovation is increasingly popular. Companies are realising that they cannot tackle the big issues – like climate change and resource shortages – on their own. Solving these challenges requires new ways of doing things. Nike’s offering comes hot on the heels of a decision to share its green intellectual property on a web-based exchange (see CCB 110). Further tools covering footwear, water and waste are promised for later this year.
Effective innovation is a process. The idea of “co-opetition” brings together different “collaborators” – customers, suppliers, competitors – to explore, adapt and improve. Companies like Google are masters at publishing a prototype, gathering new ideas and pooling the insights to develop better solutions. Proctor & Gamble have a target for 60% of new products to be developed with an outside partner.
Social media can drive this exchange, providing a platform to talk to willing collaborators. Consumers, rivals, universities, governments, communities – who knows where the next idea will come from? Sustainability is an inspiring goal to mobilise innovation. With effective use of social media, the best news is that companies can access many new ideas for free. It’s not yet time to shut down the R&D department, but businesses may increasingly find that with open innovation, boldness is rewarded.
Richard Hardyment is a senior consultant at Corporate Citizenship and recently joined from Forum for the Future.
Unilever is celebrating a successful end to 2010 with the launch of its innovative Sustainable Living Plan and the award of ‘Most Admired Company’ by Management Today, as voted for by senior business leaders. Management Today noted Unilever’s “consistency of performance combined with a grown up and responsible attitude to sustainability” in achieving the accolade. Targets of the Sustainable Living Plan, which decouples business growth from environmental impact, include halving the environmental footprint of Unilever products, helping 1 billion people across the world improve their health and wellbeing and sourcing 100% of agricultural raw materials sustainably. Unilever’s innovative approach considers the full life cycle of products from suppliers to consumers. The launch of the Sustainable Living Plan consisted of a unique public webcast event, live commentary and debates via Twitter.
Irish ‘Business Working Responsibly’ Mark launched
The Republic of Ireland’s first certification for responsible business has been launched by Business in the Community Ireland (BITCI). The Business Working Responsibly Mark provides Irish business with the opportunity to benchmark, certify and develop corporate responsibility and sustainability policies and practices. The launch compliments the results of an Ipsos MRBI survey for BITCI in December which found that 86% of Irish CEOs believe that “corporate responsibility has a role to play in rebuilding Ireland’s corporate reputation”, following a difficult period for Ireland’s economy. The Mark will be independently audited by the National Standards Authority of Ireland.
NIKE commits to open innovation and sustainability
Nike released its new software-based Environmental Apparel Design Tool at the end of November, designed to rate how apparel designs score in reducing negative environmental impact. Nike has demonstrated a commitment to open innovation and sustainably by making the Tool openly available in a bid to accelerate collaboration and developments in this area. The Tool helps designers to make real time sustainability choices at the beginning of the product creation process by rating designs on whether they reduce waste, use environmentally preferred materials and avoid natural resources such as oil and water. Developed by Nike over seven years with a $6 million investment, the tool has been used successfully by the company for the past four years.
Businesses see tangible benefit from sustainability
The ‘ Review of Corporate Sustainability in 2010’, commissioned by KPMG International and carried out by the Economist Intelligence Unit, highlights rising business support for sustainability as a result of practical operational and commercial benefits it brings. The report found that 61% of large and medium sized companies with sustainability strategies reported that the benefits of sustainability programmes clearly outweighed the costs. For companies with revenues above $5 billion, this figure rose to 72%. Benefits included reductions in energy costs, more efficient use of resources, particularly water, and improved relationships with customers and suppliers.
GRI and OECD encourage global corporate responsibility
The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have formed a new partnership in order to assist global companies to operate responsibly. The partnership, announced in December, aims to encourage companies to use both the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and the GRI Sustainability Reporting Framework. While the former focuses on responsible business standards and the latter on transparent and effective reporting, the recent Memorandum of Understanding aims to utilise the synergies and complementarities of the two instruments to strengthen support for business.
The UN Global Compact LEAD is a new initiative launched in January to support and encourage corporate sustainability leadership. Participant companies, already highly engaged, will be challenged to push their corporate responsibility performance further by implementing the newly devised Blueprint for Corporate Sustainability Leadership. The Blueprint was developed in close consultation with businesses and stakeholders and encourages innovation and collaboration between leaders. The LEAD platform also aims to give committed and exceptional companies proper recognition for their corporate sustainability performance and to help other Compact participants by providing knowledge, experience and inspiration.
Pernod Ricard UK ran a new advertising campaign throughout December promoting a responsible drinking message to its young target audience. ITV2, E4 and 4Music ran Pernod’s new advert for rum brand Malibu to encourage responsible alcohol use during the festive period, a time notorious for excessive consumption. Two radio DJs from previous Malibu adverts promoted the advertising strapline: “One too many always mess up your head. Always drink responsibly”. The campaign is part of Pernod’s ‘Accept Responsibility’ campaign, addressing underage and binge drinking. Now in its third year, this is the first time the company has utilised the appeal of one of its brands to convey a responsibility message to consumers.
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