Are New Organizational Structures Needed for Companies to Innovate?
“Today,” Professor Wilding says, “everything is very much network-based, so we can no longer afford to have people stuck in their individual silos.” We need new ways of working that allow for broader views of our processes. It’s okay to work within an individual silo as long as there are mechanisms in place to give people a view of what is going on outside of their silos. When asked for his views on open innovation, not only within the walls of an organization, but with suppliers and customer as well, Richard Wilding said he believes it is “absolutely critical.” When you apply the concept of open innovation to supply chain, you can clearly see the importance of tapping into ideas that can come from virtually any link in the chain — and beyond. To illustrate the point that innovative ideas can come from anywhere, Professor Wilding used the example of benchmarking in the pharmaceutical industry. Once the decision is made, he says, generally everyone will rush off to benchmark businesses
