Open Innovation & Best Buy
Christine Webster Moore, Strategy and Networking, New Business Solutions for Best Buy Company, Inc. will be a speaker at the marcus evans 5th Annual Open Innovation Conference being held on April 11-13, 2011 in Philadelphia, PA. She was kind enough to answer some questions regarding the innovation efforts of Best Buy.
What is driving open innovation at Best Buy?
CWM: In very simple terms, we realize we that it is impossible for us to have all the answers come from our corporate offices in Minneapolis. While we work with very smart, committed people, we realize that we need to broaden our networks, partner differently and work differently in order to create new pools of value for our customers, our employees and our shareholders.
What are some of the business issues surrounding open innovation?
CWM: We know that in order for Best Buy to continue to grow and thrive as an organization, we need to move beyond our current lines of businesses and bring the things we are great at – our stores and store teams, our online experience, our services engine, our brand – to new industries and spaces like health and wellness, home and energy management and transportation. Each of these spaces is undergoing significant change such technology is becoming more and more prevalent and that consumers will be responsible for making choices about how to use this technology. We recognize we will be successful only if we tap into outside networks, ways of thinking and business models to help us chart the course.
How best can firms set goals or metrics to evaluate the success of innovation efforts?
CWM: In order to assess the effectiveness of our innovation efforts, we use a growth portfolio, or funnel, to track initiatives. Our initiatives are categorized as ideas/concepts, experiments, ventures, and businesses. We have different measures of success for each stage of the funnel moving from questions like, “Does the customer care and like this effort?” in the concept phase to “Are we sure this will make money at scale?” in the venture stage. This approach gives us flexibility to try a range of things in our efforts to drive growth, quickly accelerate the things that are working, and decommission the things that aren’t.
In terms of our portfolio as a whole, we have five questions we ask ourselves to determine our overall success and contribution.
- Are we actively and effectively managing our efforts to create a healthy growth funnel?
Metric: Active and effective funnel management
- Velocity of initiatives/investments moving through funnel -- forward, backward, decommissioned, and into other business teams
- How are we progressing against developing concrete opportunities and shaping value pools in emerging spaces?
Metric: For emerging spaces and shaping of new value pools, execution of stepping stones to meaningful participation
- Establishment of key partnerships, in-ground experiments, captured learnings
- Visible track record of efforts toward adjacent and transformational growth
- What value are we delivering in the short term?
Metric: As measurement of short-term progress toward longer-term goals, execution against financial targets in the current fiscal year
- Focused on revenue and gross profit
- What is our progress against large, long-term enterprise value creation?
Metric: For longer term view, tracking against 5-year Discounted Revenue metric
- Where are we generating new growth?
Metric: From portfolio perspective, tracking of new business revenues generated across new channels and new categories
How can collaboration be transformed into a core competency within organizations?
CWM: A core foundational element of an organization that fosters collaboration is a set of core values that sets expectations for ‘how’ work gets done and ‘how’ we engage with each other in the context of our work. Best Buy’s core values of ‘Having Fun While Being the Best’, ‘Learn from Challenge and Change’, ‘Acting with Respect, Humility and Integrity’, and ‘Unleash the Power of People’ create an environment that is more conducive and reinforcing of collaboration.
What are some of the best practices you would recommend to ensure collaborative engagement is successful?
CWM: Focus on creating a culture and leadership expectations that reward innovation, collaboration and reaching outside of what is known, comfortable and expected. Hold up people and stories that illustrate these characteristics as ‘bright spots’. Keep recognizing and rewarding until it becomes more of an expectation.
What effect has the economic crisis had on open innovation?
CWM: The current economic climate has solidified and accelerated our efforts toward new growth and innovation. We know that our future as a healthy, sustainable enterprise depends on it.
The marcus evans 5th Annual Open Innovation Conference will be held on April 11-13, 2011 at The Ritz Carlton, Philadelphia, PA
Contact:
David Drey,
Marketing Coordinator
marcusevans
The NBC Tower
455 N. CityFront Plaza Drive, Chicago, IL
(T) 1-312-540-3000 ext 6583
(F) 1-312-552-2155
Email: ddrey@marcusevansch.com
Phone: 312-540-3000 Ext. 6583
marcus evans conferences annually produce over 2,000 high quality events designed to provide key strategic business information, best practice and networking opportunities for senior industry decision-makers.
With offices in 32 key business locations throughout the world, marcus evans conferences provides clients with business information and knowledge which enables them to sustain a valuable competitive advantage and makes a positive contribution to their success.
Our global reach is utilised to attract over 30,000 speakers annually, ensuring niche focused subject matter presented directly by practitioners and a diversity of information to assist our clients in adopting best practice in all business disciplines.
marcus evans conferences offers global coverage of all major business sectors including: Capital Markets, Life Sciences, Defence, Healthcare, Information technology and Legal.
Tags: