Turn R&D upside down

Many companies attempt to manage through an R&D shortfall by poring over success ratios, intensifying stage-gate reviews, and tightly controlling overall budgets from headquarters. Instead, they should build on examples of successful innovations facilitated by three dynamic structures: the motivating power of inspirational causes, the efficient resource allocation of free markets, and the unpredictable but powerful inventiveness facilitated by university environments. By incorporating elements of each of these structures, companies can move beyond management systems that have delivered disappointing levels of incremental innovation, and inspire their employees to fill the pipeline with big new ideas that can drive significant growth.