ABSTRACT
This chapter invites readers to explore the power of crowdsourcing and open innovation as a strategy for engaging employees, driving business performance, improving business sustainabiity, and creating positive impact in the world. We look at examples like AT&T’s The Innovation Pipeline (TIP) program soliciting employee improvement ideas, Brazilian energy company EDP’s Idea market, Unilever’s Sustainable Living Lab, IBM’s internally focused Jams, and Cisco’s new business development initiative.
The contextual rationale for engaging employees in sustainability solutions is outlined as follows:
The level of employee engagement in US companies, and globally, is abysmally low;
Extensive research indicates that low engagement has a significant impact on many key factors of business performance: productivity, operating income, return on equity and financial performance growth rates, retail sales, customer satisfaction and loyalty, absenteeism, retention and innovation, as well as safety incidents and cost of accidents;
Organizational leaders increasingly recognize the importance of working vigorously to improve employee engagement; and
The magic cure for the low engagement everyone is looking for may be open innovation/crowdsourcing to engage employees in advancing sustainability and social innovation, helping both the firm and employees contribute to a better world.
This chapter covers in-depth case studies:
1. AT&T: The Innovation Pipeline (TIP) Program
2. EDP Brazil: Crowdsourcing employee ideas for improvement
3. UK Government Idea Street: Moving from a suggestion box to virtual idea marketplace
4. Unilever Sustainable Living Lab: Employees and the public meeting online regarding ways to achieve a sustainable future
Additionally, over ten annotated examples are described.
