*3.2.5. Semidetached innovation*

Under the semidetached model (**Figure 3**), there is an explicit recognition that innovation is different from operations, needs proper resourcing, and should be a discrete unit. There is a team in a purpose-built location (often on the main business site) that enjoys the benefits of corporate resources but is not subject to the usual rigors of corporate governance.

**Figure 3.** Semidetached innovation.

Innovation thus has time and space to flourish, within an environment that has at least an eye on migration of new ideas into the main business.

Unilever Ventures currently has 46 investments and 15 lead investments and has made 6 suc-

Innovation Inside

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http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.74090

Founded in 2014, Unilever Foundry is Unilever's platform for start-ups and innovators to engage, collaborate, and explore business opportunities with Unilever and its 400+ brands. Start-ups can apply to address new briefs from Unilever and if successful will be provided with:

• Financial support for pilots and test models, with a focus on start-ups who are ready to

• Access to one of Unilever's 7000 marketers to help with development of brand positioning,

The platform has launched over 100 pilots with start-ups, roughly 50 of which have been

Unilever Ventures works closely with the Unilever Foundry to provide technology innovators

VEB wears four different hats. First, VEB focuses on the future, identifying longer-term consumer opportunities. Then, they put on a venture capital hat, which means deciding where to make investments. Third, VEB acts as an incubator, bringing brands to market—or to a wider market. Finally, in the integrator role, VEB aims to "graduate" successful brands out of VEB

In the 10 years since VEB launched, the unit has either built or invested in 42 brands. Honest Tea is one of the top success stories. VEB recognized that health and wellness were a growing trend and understood that consumers were looking for drinks that would align with healthier lifestyles. With Coca Cola's help, the brand has expanded to more than 100,000 locations in

We have established that the performance cycle and the innovation cycle are very different in

We have examined the types of responses from organizations to managing the innovation

Where should we go next in pursuit of a solution? First, let us examine the prescriptions from

cycle alongside the performance cycle and found them to be less than ideal.

• Opportunities to participate in networking events, hacks, and competitions

scaled based on metrics around effectiveness, efficiency, and sustainability.

Founded in 2007, Coca Cola set up the Venturing & Emerging Brands (VEB) team.

with access to paid pilot projects, mentorship, and growth financing.

cessful exits.

scale up across geographies and brands

*3.2.6.2. Case study: Coca Cola*

into Coca Cola's larger portfolio.

**4. Unlocking innovation inside**

other leading management thinkers.

terms of objectives, capabilities, and processes.

the United States and debuted in Great Britain in 2016.

marketing strategy, and a product roadmap

One of the biggest challenges to making this model work is finding the right team. Those who have risen up through the internal hierarchy will have done so because of their expertise in incremental performance improvement rather than disruptive innovation, and their corporatereceived wisdom may in fact be a liability in this context. Conversely, those more unconventional types that fancy themselves as "intrapreneurs" or "creovator" in the spirit of Martin Lukes [3] might be good at getting new thinking off the ground but struggle to achieve traction because they are not taken seriously by their colleagues.

A manufacturer in the automotive industry set up a semidetached innovation unit with the task of plotting the course toward an electric-based, multichannel, mobility-driven future that looked very different to the current business model and infrastructure. The team leaders were high-potential managers picked from the existing business. They were given 6 months to develop their plans, with the expectation of presenting challenging and expansive new initiatives for the main board to consider.

Within a few months, it became clear that they had not escaped the gravitational pull of the mother ship. A more relaxed dress code could not prevent the building of new, insular siloes to match the old, insular siloes, and senior management soon reverted to type as "demanding, critical parents," firmly grounded in the performance cycle, and behaving as if their brief dalliance with innovative thinking had never happened.

#### *3.2.6. Detached innovation*

The detached model creates a separate innovation/ventures/incubator unit that is free from most of the governance constraints of the main organization and is often led by a real entrepreneur who might also be a shareholder in the new venture.

The unit may be sited on the campus of a leading-edge university, or in an edgy part of town, surrounded by an ambitious, creative, and mobile workforce.

There are numerous permutations of these "open innovation" models, with the role of the main organization varying from the minimum (provider of seed capital) through a full commercialization model (e.g., people, finance, brand, route to market).

The detached model is likely to attract more ambitious and creative people and to create a flow of genuinely innovative ideas. The downside risks of "detachment" are a dilution of shareholding and control, and the risk of new business ideas that have a limited fit with the core.

#### *3.2.6.1. Case study: Unilever*

Unilever is a multinational consumer goods firm with more than 400 brands focused on health and well-being.

Founded in 2002, Unilever Ventures is the venture capital and private equity arm of Unilever, investing in young, promising companies and accelerating their growth through access to Unilever's global ecosystem, assets, and expertise.

Unilever Ventures currently has 46 investments and 15 lead investments and has made 6 successful exits.

Founded in 2014, Unilever Foundry is Unilever's platform for start-ups and innovators to engage, collaborate, and explore business opportunities with Unilever and its 400+ brands. Start-ups can apply to address new briefs from Unilever and if successful will be provided with:


The platform has launched over 100 pilots with start-ups, roughly 50 of which have been scaled based on metrics around effectiveness, efficiency, and sustainability.

Unilever Ventures works closely with the Unilever Foundry to provide technology innovators with access to paid pilot projects, mentorship, and growth financing.
