As a global company, Bayer seeks to leverage external innovation opportunities as a complement to its internal assets and capabilities. Many excellent technologies from various innovation sources (start-ups, academia and companies) are identified in existing technology ecosystems and assessed for a potential fit to Bayer’s programs.
An appropriate knowledge management system provides a great opportunity to crowdsource external innovation from all over the world.
But to really use the full potential of this global scouting capabilities, some challenging questions must be tackled (a situation most large and decentralized firms are facing) including:
1. How to achieve full transparency on external innovation opportunities throughout the organization?
2. How to break down internal silos and facilitate cross-functional fertilization on partnering opportunities?
3. How to operate with one face to the external world?