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Article originally published in P\u00e9trole & Gaz Informations #1837 (July \/ August 2015)<\/i><\/span><\/pre>\nWe\u2019ve conducted interviews with several tens of innovation managers, from R&D, strategy, and marketing of big corporations for our recent book Innovation Intelligence. The verdict is clear: innovation requires creating a cognitive relation between a multitude of very distant knowledge domains at an ever increasing pace. In the digital era, access to the best state of knowledge and the best talents has never been easier. When searching for the proverbial needle in the haystack, the speed of the search is increasing, as well as the number and size of the haystacks. Intelligence is critical. Large corporate Oil & Gas players are organizing their response. <\/span><\/p>\nThree trends destabilizing large organizations<\/span><\/h3>\nTo avoid ambiguity, let\u2019s first review what we mean by innovation<\/i>. Marc Giget often gives the following definition: \u201cAn innovation consists of integrating the best state of knowledge into a creative product to improve the satisfaction of individuals.\u201d This definition is quite good, because it features the three important points: knowledge, creative synthesis, and satisfaction of individuals. It is this task of creative synthesis that is becoming more and more complex to accomplish because of three key factors.<\/span><\/p>\nTrend #1: An inflation and fragmentation of knowledge:<\/strong> new knowledge is being generated at an accelerated rhythm (for instance, five million scientific papers are published every year). In addition to this, this new knowledge is created in a multitude of entities of which the average size is decreasing. Thus, it is faster today to pick from this knowledge that has already been created by others than to produce it yourself \u2014 it is the era of open innovation.<\/span><\/p>\nTrend #2: Increasing absorption of products into the sphere of commodities:<\/strong> as analyzed by the Japanese scholar Noriaki Kano, any innovative functionality that pleases customers will inevitably become a commodity. To maintain customer satisfaction, every company attempts to include complementary functionalities into their products. Products become more complex and even converge towards full service oriented packages: Michelin, as well as Rolls Royce don\u2019t sell tires or reactors, but travelled kilometers and flown miles.<\/span><\/p>\nTrend #3: Increasing digitalization:<\/strong> the \u201cWeb barbarians\u201d [2] (digital players such as Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon, sometimes dubbed \u201cDigital Barbarians\u201d or \u201cWeb Barbarians\u201d by analogy to the migrating people who, over several centuries, searched for the resources and lands they had lost in their regions of origin) analyze each industry, identify where the margins are located and the sources of inefficiency in the value chain. Thanks to digital, they bring order in this chain, they insert themselves in the client relationship and capture potential margins. These new players, who move with great speed, often overtake established players.<\/span><\/p>\nInnovation is today essentially an activity that consists in examining a multitude of knowledge components that are available in the outside world, to analyze them, to select a few and to combine them with elegance and effectiveness to answer the needs of customers. The act of innovation, in its most creative aspect, belongs more to art than to technology.<\/span><\/p>\nLet us see how an Oil & Gas multinational corporation reacts to this.<\/span><\/p>\nThe Enco Dilemma: Organization Vs. Agility<\/span><\/h3>\nThis case study discusses an actual multinational from Oil & Gas. It is based on numerous interviews of various people involved in the group\u2019s innovation activities, R&D and digital transition. In order to preserve the confidentiality of certain organizational and methodological aspects, we\u2019ll name this multinational Enco.<\/span><\/p>\nAmong the companies that we have met in various industrial sectors, Enco is a very interesting case. Over the past few years, among numerous initiatives to improve the company\u2019s innovation performance, Enco created a Scientific Directorate at the corporate level and an Innovation Directorate in the its Marketing & Services branch. Enco has also reorganized its entire R&D organization. This multinational company is a prime example of a company in perpetual transformation and that, despite its large size (more than 100,000 employees around the world) has managed to be agile and cope with the diversity of its activities, the maturity of certain parts of its industry, and disruptions that can come from anywhere.<\/span><\/p>\nDespite its size and scope, Enco is under pressure from a number of recent trends, including the rise of China, new sources of energy, shale oil and gas, and the current oil crisis. In chapter four, we described three important trends that have affected companies: growth and fragmentation of knowledge, risk of product commoditization, and digital transformation. Enco is facing all of these trends. Like other companies, Enco must adjust the way it creates and accesses knowledge, as well as the way it integrates that knowledge. The company also needs to become more flexible, more agile, to meet increasingly volatile demand.<\/span><\/p>\nChallenge #1: Non-core technological renewal<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\nEven if certain branches of Enco\u2019s operate in a mature industry, there is a strong need for innovation to differentiate its products from the competition and thus sustain profits. New technological bricks must be continually introduced. The main challenge lies in the fact that some of these bricks of knowledge (digital technologies, biotechnologies, high-performance computing, nanotechnologies, drones, and others) are historically very far from Enco\u2019s core business. Even if Enco does not develop most of these new technologies in-house, the company must know them well enough to select and guide their suppliers and partners.<\/span><\/p>\nChallenge #2: Acceleration of innovation cycles and real-time evolution of needs<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\nAccording to the R&D Director of one of Enco\u2019s branches, the main challenge that he is facing is not only the accelerating innovation cycles but also real-time evolution of the specifications. The following is a typical situation that he now encounters regularly but that did not exist ten years ago: The R&D department receives a request from the Marketing or Strategy department, an R&D team begins working on the request, and then before they reach the objective, the specifications of the request change!<\/span><\/p>\nIn order to overcome these disruptive trends, Enco cannot take a one-size-fits-all approach to innovation. Let\u2019s review briefly a number of initiatives that the company has put in place during the past few years.<\/span><\/p>\nInitiative #1: Corporate scientific direction<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\nIn 2006, Enco created the Scientific Directorate (DS) at the corporate level. One of the roles of the DS is to build medium- and long-term what-if scenarios predicting the effect on Enco of various potential disruptions. The following might be a what-if scenario: What would happen if Chinese growth fell from 7% to 3%? The DS is composed of a small team of Deputy Scientific Directors who each have a broad understanding of both the science and technology and the potential business applications. The DS has close interactions with the company\u2019s branches, in terms of both technology and business. The DS is also focused on acquiring knowledge from outside the company: each year members of the DS team visit approximately 150 laboratories around the world. They also cultivate a network of external scientific advisors who act like small antennas deployed outside of the company \u2014 a sort of scout network. Real time access to new knowledge requires boots on the ground.<\/span><\/p>\nInitiative #2: Corporate expert network<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\nOver the past few years, Enco has made significant progress in expert management. The leaders of Enco, like those in many other companies, felt that experts were the source of the problems. The vast majority of companies define an expert based on the recognition of the superior knowledge an expert holds compared to a non-expert. This definition is limiting, because it does not emphasize what the company can expect from the expert, and it does not provide criteria to evaluate the expert (since, by definition, the expert knows that field best). To avoid this “Guru effect”, at Enco, experts are now managed according to their defined role:<\/span><\/p>\n\u2022<\/span> Develop knowledge: experts must develop new knowledge.<\/span><\/p>\n\u2022<\/span> Transfer knowledge: experts are not guardians of their own knowledge temple; they must transfer the knowledge to others in the company.<\/span><\/p>\n\u2022<\/span> Apply knowledge: experts are at the service of the company and must apply their expertise to support troubleshooting, strategic thinking, detection of opportunities, and other projects assigned by their managers<\/span><\/p>\nInitiative #3: Towards more open R&D and platforms?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\nThe Management Committee of one of Enco\u2019s branches has set the goal that the branch put ten disruptive products on the market by 2017. Ten new products is a lot, and 2017 is almost here. The R&D Manager of the branch is well aware that, given the tight timeframe and limited resources, the branch cannot do everything in-house. In 2014, the branch\u2019s R&D department began a comprehensive review of the knowledge and technologies the team needs to master in order to succeed. The goal of this ongoing review is to decide which technologies can be safely outsourced and which ones are core so should remain in-house. There is also an ongoing strategic initiative to develop strong international partnerships with leading academic researchers.<\/span><\/p>\nOutsourcing some R&D would address the acceleration aspect; however, is would not address flexibility: Enco\u2019s R&D Director admits that it needs to set up robust product platforms, like has been done in the automobile industry. Easier said than done.<\/span><\/p>\nInitiative #4: Toward a Chief Innovation Office?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\nEnco has created Innovation Offices in several of its branches. The main motivation for creating such teams was to accelerate time to market. The silos of a traditional company are at the root of inefficiencies, posing a mismatch between the organization\u2019s structure and the fast-paced environment, and they are no longer sufficient to enable the company to compete with the faster and more agile newcomers. An Enco innovation team, composed of just a few individuals, plays the role of internal consultant: the team members benchmark existing innovation practices and make the results available to other entities (countries and business functions) within the branch. Aware that innovation is not a question of only technology but rather should pervade all functions of the company, the General Secretariat of the branch oversees the innovation team. Ideally, the innovation team would like each entity within the branch to develop its own innovation roadmap. To this end, the small innovation team has created a network of 170 correspondents in all areas of the branch. The ideal traits of these correspondents are curiosity and entrepreneurship. Their role is to animate and develop a culture of innovation deep inside the branch. This networking approach allows the innovation team to have an efficient and well-structured presence in all areas of the branch.<\/span><\/p>\nInitiative #5: Embracing and leveraging the digital revolution<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\nThe digital wave is both a disruptive factor and a powerful toolbox. To contain disruption, one of Enco\u2019s branches created the Chief Digital Officer function in early 2012. Considering the pace at which things evolve these days, three years was a long time ago! Exploring this area early enough could, perhaps, prevent Enco from being disintermediated by digital barbarians.<\/span><\/p>\nOn the toolbox side, let\u2019s discuss Big Data. As we explained previously, one of the main challenges for the Enco branch was to put on the market new products (new mixtures of molecules) faster and faster. Today, experience and intuition enable Enco\u2019s chemists to discover the right \u201crecipe\u201d of molecules for the company to obtain certain properties with its products. A large volume of data is generated at each step in the conception of a new recipe, but the data is not yet being analyzed systematically. Big Data could be used to accelerate the conception of new recipes: if the researchers could use models based on this data predict the performance of molecules, a lot of time would be saved. <\/span><\/p>\nDespite Enco\u2019s many initiatives, its approach is still not optimal. Next we give a few examples for areas of improvement that will most likely be addressed by Enco in the future.<\/span><\/p>\nImprovement #1: Cultural change<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\nThe Innovation Director of one of Enco\u2019s branches explained to us that it is still very hard for her innovation team to make the voice of innovation heard throughout the branch. Engineers still tend to think about technology and product before thinking about value for the client. This attitude probably results from the lack of a strong mandate from top management. The tone is always set by the top. You can be asked to think outside the box (for example, the head of the bitumen department thinking about connected roads), but if it is not part of the company\u2019s culture, if it is not part of yours and your annual bonus does not depend on it, why bother?<\/span><\/p>\nImprovement #2: Adapting the pace of research to the fast pace of the market: toward product platforms?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\nWe mentioned above the potential benefit from developing product platforms. However, the notion of a product platform fits complex systems such as planes and cars probably better than simple ones such as the chemical recipes of a lubricant. In the latter case, development is complex, but the result is simple. One approach may be to blend the fast screening techniques used in the pharmaceutical industry with platform-like shortcuts (perhaps pre-mixing of compounds), and then to incorporate a massive effort in data acquisition and modeling.<\/span><\/p>\nImprovement #3: Obtaining an integrated overview of knowledge in real-time<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\nThe main challenge concerns the gathering of integrated knowledge, ie of intelligence. We use the term \u201cintelligence\u201d in its Anglo-Saxon sense : the set of activities that collect, analyze and cross a large spectre of informations from a multitude of sources to extract guiding elements in view of a strategic decision or an operational action.Intelligence constitutes the vital fuel of innovation. It has always been an essential activity of a business, however it is practiced today in an increasingly complex environment. Most of our interviewees admitted that they and their teams are not yet very good at that game. They analyze patents, read scientific publications, watch for technology trends, analyze markets, analyze megatrends, and so forth. There are three main issues with their current approach to knowledge gathering. First, all of these tasks are led and conducted by separate teams in the company. The various knowledge-acquisition activities are not coordinated or integrated, therefore they do not feed innovation. Second, knowledge acquisition intrinsically suffers some loss in translation. For example, a request from the Innovation Director is summarized into keywords by the person in charge of the search. This person will most likely not have a full understanding of the question and what is really at stake. This person will not think about who the client is or who ultimately will benefit if the search is successful. Keyword searches return results that are then filtered and interpreted by the person in charge of the search. And last but not least, traditional knowledge searches rely on published data, which by definition is outdated; the outdated information is no longer sufficient, given the fast pace of knowledge renewal. The knowledge \u201cmarket\u201d is similar to a financial market: it is efficient, meaning that everybody has access to the same data. An anticipative and creative examination of all data is needed.<\/span><\/p>\nConclusion<\/span><\/h3>\nEnco was chosen as the introductory example for this chapter, because in some ways its approach to adapting its innovation process is mature, and yet it still has many challenges to address. It is interesting to note that despite Enco\u2019s maturity regarding innovation organization, process, and tools, it has decided not to have a corporate-level Chief Innovation Office. Such a move could be a way to accelerate the change of culture. We have reported here the synthesis of the numerous case studies done across various industries for our book Innovation Intelligence (2015). The present study is representative of an Oil & Gas company with a good level of maturity in the management of innovation. In our book we discuss many other industries. Some are ahead of Oil & Gas in their development, and thus, rich with lessons.<\/span><\/p>\nArticle originally published in P\u00e9trole & Gaz Informations #1837 (July \/ August 2015)<\/i><\/span><\/p>\nNotes<\/span><\/h3>\n[1] Innovation Intelligence; Albert Meige and Jacques P. M. Schmitt; prefaced by Marc Giget (President of the European Institute for Creative Strategies and Innovation), and by Jean-Fran\u00e7ois Minster (SVP Scientific Development, Total). <\/span>In this book, the authors provide an up-to-date overview of recent, disruptive trends that induce changes in the way large companies deal with innovation.<\/span><\/p>\n[2] The digital main players (Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, Uber, etc) are sometimes referred to as \u201cDigital Barbarians\u201d or \u201cBarbarians of the Web\u201d, by analogy to the migrating people who over several centuries, ie during the \u201cBarbarian Invasions\u201d, sought out resources and land they they lacked in their regions of origin.<\/span><\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_cta admin_label=”CFE Appel d’action” _builder_version=”3.14″ title=”Calls for Expertise & Innovation Contests” button_text=”GET STARTED” button_url=”https:\/\/presans.com\/contact\/” background_image=”\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/cfe-1.jpg” body_font=”|800|||||||” custom_button=”on” button_bg_color=”#ffffff” button_icon=”%%40%%” button_font=”|800||on|||||” header_font=”|700||on|||||” header_font_size=”25″ button_text_color=”#182954″ button_border_color=”#ffffff” button_text_size=”17″ custom_padding=”|60px||60px” saved_tabs=”all” global_module=”7257″]<\/p>\n
Inject on-demand expertise into industrial innovation projects to accelerate decision making and overcome technical and scientific obstacles<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_cta][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div> Article originally published in P\u00e9trole & Gaz Informations #1837 (July \/ August 2015) We\u2019ve conducted interviews with several tens of innovation managers, from R&D, strategy, and marketing of big corporations for our recent book Innovation Intelligence. The verdict is clear: innovation requires creating a cognitive relation between a multitude of very distant knowledge domains […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2576,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"Article initialement publi\u00e9 dans le revue P\u00e9trole & Gaz Informations<\/em> n\u00b0 1837 (Juillet\/Ao\u00fbt 2015).<\/pre>Nous avons interview\u00e9 plusieurs dizaines de patrons de l\u2019innovation, de la R&D, de la strat\u00e9gie, du marketing de grands groupes pour l\u2019\u00e9criture de notre dernier livre Innovation Intelligence (2015)[1].\u00a0 Le verdict est sans \u00e9quivoque\u00a0: l\u2019innovation passe par la mise en relation cognitive d\u2019une multitude de domaines de connaissance tr\u00e8s distants, et cela de plus en plus vite. Paradoxalement, \u00e0 l\u2019\u00e8re du num\u00e9rique, l\u2019acc\u00e8s au meilleur \u00e9tat du savoir et aux meilleurs talents n\u2019a jamais \u00e9t\u00e9 si ais\u00e9. La difficult\u00e9 est dans la profusion et la n\u00e9cessit\u00e9 d\u2019analyse et d\u2019interpr\u00e9tation. Chercher toujours plus vite\u00a0 la fameuse aiguille (ou le d\u00e9 \u00e0 coudre, ou la machine \u00e0 coudre, ou ce qui remplacerait avantageusement l\u2019aiguille ou la couture) dans des bottes de foin toujours plus grandes, nombreuses, \u00e9parses et compactes. Les grands groupes de l\u2019Oil & Gas s\u2019organisent.<\/p>
\u00a0<\/p>
Trois tendances qui bousculent les grandes organisations<\/h3>
Pour \u00e9viter toute ambigu\u00eft\u00e9, revenons rapidement sur la notion m\u00eame d\u2019innovation. Marc Giget donne souvent la d\u00e9finition suivante\u00a0: \u00ab\u00a0une innovation consiste \u00e0 int\u00e9grer le meilleur \u00e9tat des connaissances dans un produit cr\u00e9atif pour am\u00e9liorer la satisfaction des individus\u00a0\u00bb. Cette d\u00e9finition est excellente car elle souligne trois points importants\u00a0: connaissance, synth\u00e8se cr\u00e9ative et cr\u00e9ation de valeur soci\u00e9tale. C\u2019est cette synth\u00e8se cr\u00e9ative qui est de plus en plus complexe \u00e0 effectuer\u00a0\u00e0 cause de trois facteurs principaux.<\/p>
Tendance #1\u00a0: Inflation et fragmentation des connaissances\u00a0:<\/strong> les nouvelles connaissances sont g\u00e9n\u00e9r\u00e9es \u00e0 un rythme qui va croissant. On parle de 5 millions de publications scientifiques et de 1 million de brevets par an! Par ailleurs, ce nouveau savoir est cr\u00e9\u00e9 dans une multitude d\u2019entit\u00e9s dont la taille moyenne d\u00e9croit. Ainsi, il est aujourd\u2019hui plus rapide de puiser dans les connaissances qui ont d\u00e9j\u00e0 \u00e9t\u00e9 cr\u00e9\u00e9es par d\u2019autres que de la fabriquer \u2013 c\u2019est l\u2019\u00e8re de l\u2019Open Innovation.<\/p>Tendance #2\u00a0: Acc\u00e9l\u00e9ration de la commoditisation\u00a0:<\/strong> comme analys\u00e9 par Noriaki Kano, toute fonctionnalit\u00e9 innovante qui plait aux clients finit in\u00e9vitablement par devenir une commodit\u00e9. Pour entretenir la satisfaction de ses clients, chaque entreprise tente d\u2019ajouter des fonctions compl\u00e9mentaires \u00e0 ses produits. Les produits deviennent plus complexes et convergent m\u00eame vers des packages complets orient\u00e9s service : Michelin ou Rolls Royce ne vendent plus des pneus et des r\u00e9acteurs, mais des kilom\u00e8tres roul\u00e9s et des miles a\u00e9riens.<\/p>Tendance #3\u00a0: Digitalisation\u00a0: il s\u2019agit de la vague \u2013 du tsunami \u2013 du num\u00e9rique.<\/strong> Les \u00ab\u00a0barbares du web[2]\u00a0\u00bb analysent chaque secteur industriel, regardent o\u00f9 se trouvent les marges et les sources d\u2019inefficiences dans la chaine de valeur. Gr\u00e2ce au num\u00e9rique, ils mettent de l\u2019ordre dans celle-ci, ils s\u2019ins\u00e8rent dans la relation client et capturent les marges qui vont avec. Ces nouveaux acteurs, extr\u00eamement rapides, prennent souvent de vitesse les acteurs traditionnels, quand ils ne les prennent pas compl\u00e8tement \u00e0 contre-pieds\u00a0!<\/p>L\u2019innovation est aujourd\u2019hui essentiellement une activit\u00e9 qui consiste \u00e0 examiner la multitude de briques de savoir qui sont disponibles de par le monde, \u00e0 les analyser, \u00e0 en choisir quelques unes et \u00e0 les combiner pour r\u00e9pondre avec \u00e9l\u00e9gance et efficacit\u00e9 aux besoins des clients. L\u2019acte d\u2019innovation dans sa part la plus cr\u00e9ative rel\u00e8ve plus de l\u2019art que de la technologie.<\/p>
Voyons comment une multinationale dans le domaine de l\u2019Oil & Gas r\u00e9agit.<\/p>
Dilemme de la multinationale Enco\u00a0: organization vs. agility<\/h3>
Cette \u00e9tude de cas porte sur une multinationale r\u00e9elle dans le domaine de l\u2019Oil & Gas. Elle est bas\u00e9e sur de nombreux entretiens avec diverses personnes impliqu\u00e9es dans les activit\u00e9s d\u2019innovation, de R&D et de transition num\u00e9rique du groupe, au sein de ses diverses branches d\u2019activit\u00e9s. Afin de pr\u00e9server la confidentialit\u00e9 de certains aspects organisationnels et m\u00e9thodologiques, nous nommerons cette multinationale Enco.<\/p>
Parmi l\u2019ensemble des entreprises que nous avons \u00e9tudi\u00e9es, Enco figure parmi les plus int\u00e9ressantes. En quelques ann\u00e9es, pour am\u00e9liorer la performance des activit\u00e9s d\u2019innovation, Enco a cr\u00e9\u00e9 une Direction Scientifique au niveau de sa holding, elle a cr\u00e9\u00e9 des Directions Innovation au sein de ses diverses branches et a compl\u00e8tement repens\u00e9 l\u2019organisation de sa R&D. Enco est l\u2019exemple par excellence de l\u2019entreprise qui a su garder une grande agilit\u00e9, malgr\u00e9 sa taille (100\u00a0000 collaborateurs dans le monde), malgr\u00e9 la diversit\u00e9 de ses activit\u00e9s, malgr\u00e9 le caract\u00e8re extr\u00eamement mature de certaines de ses activit\u00e9s, et malgr\u00e9 les disruptions pouvant surgir de n\u2019importe o\u00f9.<\/p>
En plus des trois tendances g\u00e9n\u00e9riques \u00e9voqu\u00e9es ci-dessus, Enco est aussi sous pression d\u2019autres tendances sp\u00e9cifiques, telles que la mont\u00e9e de la Chine, l\u2019apparition de nouvelles sources d'\u00e9nergie, l\u2019exploitation du gaz de schiste, et la crise actuelle du p\u00e9trole. La gestion des connaissances est critique. Par ailleurs, Enco doit \u00e9galement devenir de plus en plus flexible, plus agile, pour satisfaire une demande de plus en plus volatile.<\/p>
D\u00e9fi #1\u00a0: maitriser des technologies historiquement \u00e9loign\u00e9es du core-business<\/strong><\/p>M\u00eame si certaines branches d\u2019Enco op\u00e8rent dans une industrie mature, il est n\u00e9cessaire\u00a0 d'innover pour diff\u00e9rencier ses produits de ceux de la concurrence. De nouvelles briques technologiques doivent \u00eatre continuellement introduites. Le principal d\u00e9fi r\u00e9side dans le fait que certains de ces briques de connaissances (technologies num\u00e9riques, biotechnologies, nanotechnologies, drones etc.) sont historiquement tr\u00e8s loin de l'activit\u00e9 principale d\u2019Enco. M\u00eame si Enco ne d\u00e9veloppe pas la plupart de ces nouvelles technologies en interne, elle doit les conna\u00eetre suffisamment bien pour s\u00e9lectionner et guider les fournisseurs et les partenaires.<\/p>
D\u00e9fi #2\u00a0: acc\u00e9l\u00e9ration des cycles d'innovation et \u00e9volution en temps r\u00e9el des besoins<\/strong><\/p>Selon le directeur R&D de l\u2019une des branche d\u2019Enco, le principal d\u00e9fi auquel il est confront\u00e9 r\u00e9side non seulement dans l\u2019acc\u00e9l\u00e9ration des cycles d'innovation, mais aussi dans l'\u00e9volution en temps r\u00e9el du cahier des charges. Exemple d\u2019une situation typique qu'il rencontre maintenant r\u00e9guli\u00e8rement, mais qui \u00e9tait inconnu il y a dix ans: la R&D re\u00e7oit une demande du marketing\u00a0; une \u00e9quipe de R&D commence \u00e0 travailler sur la demande, puis avant d\u2019avoir atteint l'objectif, les sp\u00e9cifications de la demande ont chang\u00e9!<\/p>
Afin de faire face \u00e0 ces bouleversements rapides, \u00a0Enco ne peut pas adopter une approche \u00ab\u00a0one-size-fits-all\u00a0\u00bb de l'innovation. Nous examinons ci-dessous bri\u00e8vement quelques unes des initiatives mises en place par Enco au cours des derni\u00e8res ann\u00e9es.<\/p>
Initiative #1\u00a0: Direction Scientifique corporate et r\u00e9seau de scouts<\/strong><\/p>En 2006, Enco cr\u00e9\u00e9 la Direction Scientifique (DS), au niveau de sa holding. Un des r\u00f4les de la DS est de construire des scenarii \u00e0 moyen et \u00e0 long terme afin de pr\u00e9dire l'effet sur Enco de perturbations potentielles. Par exemple, qu'arriverait-il si la croissance chinoise passait de 7% \u00e0 3%? Les membres de l\u2019\u00e9quipe de La DS sont des scientifiques qui ont chacun \u00e0 la fois une large couverture scientifique et technologique et une bonne compr\u00e9hension des applications business. La DS tente de maintenir des relations \u00e9troites avec \u00e0 la fois les branches du groupe et avec le monde ext\u00e9rieur\u00a0; \u00a0chaque ann\u00e9e, la DS visite environ 150 laboratoires \u00e0 travers le monde et elle anime un r\u00e9seau de conseillers scientifiques externes qui agissent comme de petites antennes d\u00e9ploy\u00e9es\n\u00e0 l'ext\u00e9rieur de l'entreprise \u2013\u00a0un r\u00e9seau de scouts en quelque sorte. La pr\u00e9sence sur le terrain est n\u00e9cessaire pour l\u2019acc\u00e8s en temps r\u00e9el aux nouvelles connaissances.<\/p>
Initiative #2\u00a0: Fili\u00e8re expert et experts d\u00e9finis par rapport \u00e0 leur r\u00f4le<\/strong><\/p>En quelques ann\u00e9es, Enco a r\u00e9alis\u00e9 des progr\u00e8s majeurs dans la gestion de ses experts. Le management d\u2019Enco, comme celui de beaucoup d'autres entreprises, avait tendance \u00e0 consid\u00e9rer que les experts sont la source de divers probl\u00e8mes. La grande majorit\u00e9 des entreprises d\u00e9finissent l\u2019expert par rapport \u00e0 sa reconnaissance et au savoir sup\u00e9rieur qu\u2019il d\u00e9tient. Cette d\u00e9finition est limit\u00e9e car elle ne prend pas en compte ce que l'entreprise peut attendre de l'expert, et elle ne pr\u00e9voit pas de crit\u00e8res pour \u00e9valuer l'expert (puisque, par d\u00e9finition, l'expert incarne celui qui conna\u00eet le mieux le domaine). Afin d\u2019\u00e9viter \u00ab\u00a0l\u2019effet gourou\u00a0\u00bb, Enco g\u00e8re maintenant les experts en fonction de leurs r\u00f4les\u00a0:<\/p>
- D\u00e9velopper les connaissances: les experts doivent d\u00e9velopper de nouvelles connaissances.<\/li>
- Transf\u00e9rer des connaissances: les experts ne sont pas uniquement les gardiens de leur propre temple du savoir; ils doivent transf\u00e9rer ces connaissances au sein de l\u2019entreprise.<\/li>
- Appliquer les connaissances: les experts sont au service de l\u2019entreprise et doivent appliquer leur expertise pour la r\u00e9solution de probl\u00e8mes, la r\u00e9flexion strat\u00e9gique, ou la d\u00e9tection d'opportunit\u00e9s.<\/li><\/ul>
Initiative #3\u00a0: Vers une innovation ouverte et des plateformes d\u2019innovation\u00a0?<\/strong><\/p>Une des branches d\u2019Enco doit mettre sur le march\u00e9 dix produits en rupture d'ici 2017. Dix produits nouveaux, c\u2019est beaucoup, et 2017 c\u2019est demain. Pour le directeur R&D de cette branche, le d\u00e9fi est de taille. Un timing de plus en plus court avec des ressources limit\u00e9es. En 2014, il a entrepris un r\u00e9examen complet des connaissances et des technologies que la branche doit ma\u00eetriser pour atteindre ces objectifs ambitieux. Quelles sont les briques qui doivent \u00eatre maitris\u00e9es en interne\u00a0? En externe\u00a0? Quels sont les partenariats strat\u00e9giques internationaux \u00e0 mettre en place avec des acteurs universitaires de premier plan\u00a0? Et ainsi comment \u00eatre plus rapide en mettant en place une agilit\u00e9 organisationnelle\u00a0? Reste la question de la flexibilit\u00e9 \u00e9voqu\u00e9e plus haut \u2013 comment prendre en compte l\u2019\u00e9volution quasi-temps-r\u00e9elle des cahiers-des-charges\u00a0? Le directeur R&D d\u2019Enco admet que l\u2019entreprise a besoin de mettre en place des \u00ab\u00a0plateformes produits\u00a0\u00bb robustes, comme cela a \u00e9t\u00e9 fait dans l'industrie automobile. Le challenge reste entier.<\/p>
Initiative #4\u00a0: Vers une Direction Innovation\u00a0?<\/strong><\/p>Enco a cr\u00e9\u00e9 au sein de ses branches des Directions Innovation. La principale motivation pour la cr\u00e9ation de ces structures \u00e9tait d'acc\u00e9l\u00e9rer les d\u00e9lais de commercialisation. Les silos d'une entreprise traditionnelle sont \u00e0 l'origine d'inefficacit\u00e9s issues d\u2019une inad\u00e9quation entre la structure de l'organisation et de l'environnement en \u00e9volution rapide\u00a0; il devient alors difficile de rivaliser avec les nouveaux arrivants plus rapides et plus agiles. Chez Enco, la Direction Innovation, compos\u00e9e de quelques personnes, joue le r\u00f4le de consultant interne en diffusant nouvelles m\u00e9thodes et pratiques en termes de gestion de l\u2019innovation. Conscient que l'innovation n\u2019est pas une question de seule technologie, mais qu\u2019elle touche toutes les fonctions de l\u2019entreprise, la Direction Innovation, rattach\u00e9e au Secr\u00e9tariat G\u00e9n\u00e9ral, propose \u00e0 chaque entit\u00e9 au sein de la branche de d\u00e9velopper sa propre feuille de route d\u2019innovation. \u00c0 cette fin, la Direction Innovation a cr\u00e9\u00e9 un r\u00e9seau de 170 correspondants dans tous les domaines. Les traits id\u00e9aux de ces correspondants sont curiosit\u00e9 et esprit entrepreneurial. Leur r\u00f4le est d'animer et de d\u00e9velopper une culture de l'innovation en profondeur \u00e0 l'int\u00e9rieur de la branche.<\/p>
Initiative #5\u00a0: embrasser et tirer parti de la r\u00e9volution num\u00e9rique<\/strong><\/p>La vague num\u00e9rique est \u00e0 la fois un facteur perturbateur et une bo\u00eete \u00e0 outils puissante. Pour mitiger l\u2019aspect perturbateur, une des branches d\u2019Enco a cr\u00e9\u00e9 la fonction de Chief Digital Officer d\u00e9but 2012. Compte tenu de la vitesse \u00e0 laquelle les choses \u00e9voluent de nos jours, trois ans, c\u2019\u00e9tait il y a longtemps! En cr\u00e9ant cette fonction suffisamment t\u00f4t, Enco \u00e9chappera peut-\u00eatre \u00e0 la d\u00e9sinterm\u00e9diation par les barbares num\u00e9riques. Du c\u00f4t\u00e9 de la bo\u00eete \u00e0 outils, parlons par exemple du Big Data. Comme vu pr\u00e9c\u00e9demment, l'un des principaux d\u00e9fis pour Enco est de mettre sur le march\u00e9 de nouveaux produits de plus en plus rapidement. Aujourd\u2019hui, Enco se repose \u00a0sur l'exp\u00e9rience et l'intuition de ses chimistes pour d\u00e9couvrir \u00ab\u00a0le meilleur cocktail\u00a0\u00bb de mol\u00e9cules pour donner au produit certaines propri\u00e9t\u00e9s et certaines performances. Un grand volume de donn\u00e9es est g\u00e9n\u00e9r\u00e9 \u00e0 chaque \u00e9tape de la conception d'une nouvelle recette, mais ces donn\u00e9es ne sont pas analys\u00e9es syst\u00e9matiquement. Le Big Data pourrait \u00eatre utilis\u00e9es pour acc\u00e9l\u00e9rer la conception de nouvelles recettes: l\u2019enjeu est de construire des mod\u00e8les capables de pr\u00e9dire les relations structure-propri\u00e9t\u00e9s-performances.<\/p>
Malgr\u00e9 de nombreuses initiatives d\u2019Enco, son approche n\u2019est pas encore optimale. Des axes d\u2019am\u00e9lioration subsistent.<\/p>
Am\u00e9lioration #1\u00a0: Changement culturel<\/strong><\/p>Le Directeur Innovation d\u2019une des branches d\u2019Enco, nous a expliqu\u00e9 \u00a0qu\u2019il est encore tr\u00e8s difficile pour son \u00e9quipe de faire entendre la voix de l'innovation \u00e0 travers l\u2019ensemble de la branche. Les ing\u00e9nieurs ont encore trop tendance \u00e0 penser \u00e0 la technologie et au produit avant de penser \u00e0 la valeur pour le client. Cette attitude r\u00e9sulte probablement de l'absence d'un mandat fort de la Direction G\u00e9n\u00e9rale. La culture vient n\u00e9cessairement du haut. Vous pouvez \u00eatre invit\u00e9 \u00e0 penser out of the box, mais si cela ne fait pas partie de la culture de l'entreprise, si cette attitude n\u2019est plac\u00e9e tr\u00e8s haut dans la hi\u00e9rarchie des valeurs de l\u2019entreprise, et si enfin votre prime annuelle ne d\u00e9pend pas de cela, \u00e0 quoi bon?<\/p>
Am\u00e9lioration #2\u00a0: Adapter le rythme de la recherche au rythme rapide du march\u00e9: vers une strat\u00e9gie de plateformes produit?<\/strong><\/p>Nous avons mentionn\u00e9 plus haut le b\u00e9n\u00e9fice potentiel que pourraient induire la mise en place de plateformes produit. Cependant, la notion de plateforme produit est bien adapt\u00e9e \u00e0 des syst\u00e8mes complexes tels qu\u2019une voiture ou un avion, elle l\u2019est peut-\u00eatre moins pour des syst\u00e8mes \u00ab\u00a0simples\u00a0\u00bb tels qu\u2019une recette chimique d\u2019un lubrifiant. Dans ce cas, le d\u00e9veloppement est compliqu\u00e9, mais la r\u00e9sultante est simple. Une approche pourrait consister \u00e0 combiner les techniques de high throuput screening utilis\u00e9es dans l'industrie pharmaceutique, certaines m\u00e9thodes des plateformes, ainsi qu\u2019un effort massif pour l'acquisition de donn\u00e9es et de mod\u00e9lisation.<\/p>
Am\u00e9lioration #3\u00a0: Construire en temps r\u00e9el une vision int\u00e9gr\u00e9e des connaissances<\/strong><\/p>L\u2019axe d\u2019am\u00e9lioration majeur est celui de l\u2019intelligence. Nous utilisons le terme intelligence avec son acceptation anglo-saxonne\u00a0: l\u2019ensemble des activit\u00e9s qui rassemblent, analysent et recoupent un large spectre d\u2019informations d\u2019une multitude de sources pour en tirer des (r)enseignements pour une d\u00e9cision strat\u00e9gique ou une action op\u00e9rationnelle. L\u2019intelligence constitue le fuel vital de l\u2019innovation. Elle a toujours \u00e9t\u00e9 une activit\u00e9 essentielle de l\u2019entreprise, mais elle s\u2019exerce aujourd\u2019hui dans un contexte de plus en plus complexe. La plupart des personnes interrog\u00e9es ont admis qu'elles et leurs \u00e9quipes ne sont pas encore tr\u00e8s bonnes \u00e0 ce jeu. Ils analysent les brevets, lisent les publications scientifiques, surveillent les tendances technologiques, analysent les march\u00e9s, analysent les grandes tendances\netc. Cependant, il y a trois faiblesses dans leur approche d\u2019intelligence. Premi\u00e8rement, toutes les t\u00e2ches d\u2019intelligence sont men\u00e9es par des \u00e9quipes distinctes, elles ne sont pas coordonn\u00e9es ou int\u00e9gr\u00e9es, et ne viennent pas irriguer l'innovation. Deuxi\u00e8mement, l'acquisition de connaissances souffre intrins\u00e8quement d\u2019une perte en ligne\u00a0: une demande du Directeur Innovation est traduite en mots cl\u00e9s par la personne en charge de la recherche, qui n\u2019aura alors qu\u2019une compr\u00e9hension partielle de la demande. Par ailleurs, la requ\u00eate renvoie des r\u00e9sultats qui sont ensuite filtr\u00e9s et interpr\u00e9t\u00e9s par la personne en charge de la recherche. Et enfin, troisi\u00e8mement, les recherches de nouvelles connaissances reposent encore trop souvent sur une \u00ab\u00a0simple\u00a0\u00bb analyse des donn\u00e9es publi\u00e9es (publications scientifiques etc.). Qui dit publi\u00e9es dit pass\u00e9es, et \u00a0surtout accessibles \u00e0 la concurrence. Il est donc critique de mettre en place une activit\u00e9 anticipative d\u2019intelligence au service de l\u2019innovation.<\/p>
Conclusion<\/h3>
Enco est un cas tr\u00e8s int\u00e9ressant, parce que, \u00e0 certains \u00e9gards il d\u00e9montre une grande maturit\u00e9 dans son approche de l\u2019innovation, et pourtant il a encore de nombreux d\u00e9fis \u00e0 relever. Il est int\u00e9ressant de noter que, malgr\u00e9 cette maturit\u00e9, Enco ne poss\u00e8de pas de Direction Innovation au niveau corporate, ce qui pourrait \u00eatre une mani\u00e8re d\u2019acc\u00e9l\u00e9rer le changement de culture. \u00a0Nous avons rapport\u00e9 ici la synth\u00e8se d\u2019une des nombreuses \u00e9tudes de cas que nous avons r\u00e9alis\u00e9es dans divers secteurs industriels pour notre livre Innovation Intelligence (2015). La pr\u00e9sente \u00e9tude de cas est repr\u00e9sentative d\u2019une entreprise de l\u2019Oil & Gas avec un bon niveau de maturit\u00e9 dans la gestion de l\u2019innovation. Dans notre livre nous traitons de nombreux autres secteurs industriels. Certains sont en avance de phase par rapport \u00e0 l\u2019Oil & Gas, et ainsi, riches d\u2019enseignement.<\/p>
\u00a0<\/p>
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