These are some of the core topics for the best practice research:

How to manage breakthrough innovation in large corporations?

There are many obstacles and antibodies to breakthrough innovation in established firms, whether from the strategic, organizational, process or external perspectives. Yet, it is possible to improve the odds for such projects and enhance capabilities for breakthrough innovation. What are the leading practices to this end?

How to conduct exploratory market learning to create customer breakthrough value?

Identifying latent customer needs and user obejctives is a useful first step in breakthrough innovation. The challenge can be met by understanding the plaette of exploratory market learning methods. Dr. Axel Roseno, CEO of the Innovation Roundtable, is currently finalizing a book on this topic. The Innovation Roundtable continues to gather insights about how large companies can use market learning methods to inspire and inform the development of breakthrough, customer-centric products and services.

How to open up the innovation process?

It is not always easy for large firms to embrace a more open innovation approach. Yet, different initiatives can be taken to that end. How to open up the innovation process and what initiatives are most effective for benefiting from open innovation?

How to evaluate breakthrough projects?

Since NPV calculations typically fall short when uncertainty is high, the question emerges how to evaluate breakthrough projects? The Innovation Roundtable has developed a framework for this, which is currently being tested in large corporations.

How to use learning-based planning for high uncertainty projects that do not fit the stage gate system?

The stage gate can be an effective process for incremental innovation but it embodies a somewhat linear, plan-and-control oriented mind-set which is generally not conducive to unpredictable and uncertain breakthrough innovation projects. The question therefore is, what the most effective innovation process is for breakthrough innovatoin? The Innovation Roundtable is currently researching a learning-based planning (or assumption-based) alternative to the stage gate process for high-uncertainty projects.

How to engender a climate of creativity and innovation?

A core issue is to engender a climate conducive to innovation. The Innovation Roundtable has created a method for measuring and enhancing innovation climate and is continuously engaged in learning more about what the key issues are for intrapreneurship to flourish in established firms, and what leadership initiatives can nurture the creative parts of a corporation.

Access to Best Practice Research From the Innovation Roundtable:

The Innovation Roundtable research staff continuously builds up a knowledge base on innovation practices, which is available to members in different forms.

The Innovation Roundtable® is currently conducting a case study of new business creation in 100 large firms. If you are interested in participating in this study, or in the workshops that will be based on the results, please contact us.