BusinessWeek Online Extra - October 11 2004 - At P&G, It's "360-Degree Innovation" an interesting interview with P&G's Chief Technology Officer, Gilbert Cloyd, discusses the ways that P&G's innovation efforts are changing to match the changes in society and industry such as the ever increasing pace of innovation in consumer-driven markets (and not just there!), increasing competition from an increasing number of established brands, and more a more informed consumer base.

In response, P&G has had to look beyond their own backyard and blend their own internal innovation efforts with efforts aimed at soliciting ideas from outside the company. Internally, this means encouraging the cross-fertilisation of ideas and concepts internally to take advantage of the innovative power of intersections between differing concepts. Externally, the internet has proven a powerful tool to allow them to exploit the entrepreneurial spirit and the tremendous intellectual capability that exists outside the company.

An interesting article, worth the quick read.