What part of the enterprise has not been outsourced? From a Product Lifecycle Management perspective, manufacturing and product design development have been outsourced with largely positive results. In broad strokes, these services have become commoditized - which leaves innovation as the last competitive differentiator. So far so good.
Now fast-forward to today. Only 15% of Global CEOs expect ideas for tomorrow’s winning products to originate from internal R&D organizations. Industry movements, such as customer-centric innovation and open innovation, actually serve to outsource the very aspect of your business upon which your market survival hinges – your ability to innovate!
Now that’s ironic. What’s next? Is the “next” last competitive differentiator not what you innovate, but how you innovate?