Innovation at Procter & Gamble

To innovate is to create something; it is necessary to distinguish innovation from invention because an innovation need not necessarily always be an invention.

Innovation can assume four forms:
•Marketing plan for a new product launch or the improvement of a product that already exists
•A new method of production
•A new outlet for the industry
•The conquest of a new source of raw materials

Innovation can be radical or incremental:
Radical innovation - Innovation is radical when it deeply modifies the conditions of use of a product by the customers. Eg: from the steam engine to the gas engine.

Incremental innovation
Incremental innovation does not upset the usual terms but facilitates a noticeable improvement. It often arises from the will of the company to preserve its technological projection from its competitors. Eg: the transition from the ball computer mouse to an optical mouse.

P&G caters to a broad definition of innovation: what it is, from whom it originates, the person responsible for it. Innovation comes into play when companies like P&G set out to improve the quality/price ratio perceived by the consumers when they consume P&G products. Innovation includes the creation of the products, packaging, and communication campaigns to reach both consumers and suppliers.

[...] Lafley, Chairman of the Board and CEO at in the business world, every Chief Executive Officier is supposed to be a Chief Innovation Officer as a good CEO needs to possess strong CIO skills to move his business forward. Here are the skills a CEO/CIO needs to get: CIOs should become business people He has to learn about general management, to demonstrate enthusiasm for business matters and acquire knowledge of his industry sector. CIOs need a vision A good CIO has to find out what is going on in the outside world, read, talk to suppliers and peers in other organizations, and to know how technology is shaping the world. [...]

[...] Moreover, due to the sale and licensing of its technologies or patents to companies that are not in competition with the company benefits from additional finance. This program is thus the base of P&G’s strategy to apply the Open Innovation and to optimize its intellectual property The innovation process a. To Seek and Discover Strong innovative ideas have multiple origins: external consumers, customers, partners and P&G research. P&G undertakes numerous modest investments to test the reliability of the new ideas. b. [...]