The father of "open innovation" is back with his most significant book yet. Henry Chesbrough's acclaimed book "Open Innovation" described a new paradigm for management in the 21st century. "Open Services Innovation" offers a new approach that demonstrates how open innovation combined with a services approach to business is an effective and powerful way to grow and compete in our increasingly services-driven economy. Chesbrough shows how companies in any industry can make the critical shift from product- to service-centric thinking, from closed to open innovation where co-creating with customers enables sustainable business models that drive continuous value creation for customers. He maps out a strategic approach and proven framework that any individual, business unit, company, or industry can put to work for renewed growth and profits. The book includes guidance and compelling examples for small and large companies, services businesses, and emerging economies, as well as a path forward for the innovation industry."Whether you are managing a product or a service, your business needs to become more open and more inclusive in order to be more innovative. Open Services Innovation will be an invaluable guide to intrepid managers who commit to making that journey."
This book provides a good overview of a change in the mindset from a product-focused to service-focused approach and the value of open your platform and co-create with your customers and suppliers.
But I think the book is not well structured. The author tries to separate the book in theory (Part 1) and practice (Part 2) but there is a lot of practice in theory part and vice-versa. In my opinion, gathering the two parts in one could improve the reader understanding and almost certainly reduce the number of pages.
I am not sure if it is because I was annoyed in the end, but I see almost no value in the last 4 chapters.
In summary, I learned a lot from this book, but I think it could be cut by half and the content could be more organized.
So, you have this book that is how many years old? It has definitely shown applicability but it hasn't been widely adapted. Does this mean that it doesn't work? Are businesses slow to adapt? Or is there something else at work?
I must admit that examining my success where I work that it seems that the service and adaptability parts work best. I think I will try seeing myself in this way and see where it leads. It can't be any worse than it is now.
The only thing that gives me some pause is that I recently watched Parasite. It shows a service approach that ends up going wrong. So, there is that.
This is an excellent read for anyone widening their service design perspectives. Chesbrough sees the defining problem of current businesses as being the commodity trap - as knowledge and expertise spread into the public domain, global competition rises and the useful lifecycle of products to their manufacturers shrinks.
This diagnosis is not exactly controversial, but his remedy is interesting. He advocates creating sustainable value (and profit margins) by: - thinking of your business as a service, so that deliverables can be customised to user needs - encouraging co-creation by treating clients as partners with privileged knowledge rather than as simple consumers - open innovation by sharing unused research and incorporating partner research to create economies of scale and scope - transforming business models, so that they can enable the process of innovation rather than leaving the models unexamined and unchanged, thus hindering innovation
All this is backed up by a good set of case studies, including some from China and India.
There is some overlap with the world of Service Design - he discusses Business Model Generation: A Handbook For Visionaries, Game Changers, And Challengers (which has become a service design text by adoption if not by intent) and "co-creation" has 17 separate entries in the index, but on the whole this book is written at a much more Business School / Corporate Strategy level. Yet many of the case studies and specific tactics for creating open service platforms, such as open innovation, co-creation and thinking of your product as a service, form sophisticated and persuasive rationales for the more design-level activities discussed in, for example, This is Service Design Thinking.
I guess I've read too many similar books these days, but it feels this book does more to reinforce some ideas, than to add much to what I've already seen. The premise is good, and there's plenty to mull over. On the other hand, not sure how much to learn from specific examples of companies having done such innovation that the author suggests. I would be there's a big part of survivorship bias in it, just learning from the companies that made it through the tough times, and seeing what did they do different compared to their former selves, instead of what did they do compared to others who did not survive. It's also interesting to see how the business cases of some of the same companies are shown in different light in this book than in others, definitely every author picks and chooses the parts that fits them more. All in all added, but not much, to my toolkit.
Chesbrough's four main recommendations: think your business as service business, co-create with your customers, extend services innovation outside your organization and transform your business model with services.
Good book about importance of services. Companies should not think only about products, but also associated services. Products are only a means to a customers desired end leaving it up to the customer to reach it. Services are not done until the customer's need is fulfilled.