IN: Inside Innovaton

IN: Inside Innovaton - Editor's Note

Exploring Innovation through Collaboration - by Bruce Nussbaum

Innovation through collaboration is a management philosophy that leading-edge corporations increasingly embrace. But it takes a highly sophisticated skill to manage networks that span the globe, and only 5% get it right, according to Forrester Research. In this issue of IN, we explore how IBM gets its innovation networks to work, generating new ideas and products while sharing costs with partners. We profile 10 top innovators—call them cross-pollinators—who draw inspiration by crossing boundaries. We show how companies must collaborate with consumers or risk the hijacking of their brand messages. And we look at how job-hunting twentysomethings are transforming social sites into business networks.

Nussbaum is an assistant managing editor in charge of BusinessWeek's innovation and design coverage. In 2005, he was named one of the 40 most powerful people in design by I.D. Magazine.