How Whirlpool Defines Innovation - I have just finished reading this facinating and insightful view on how Whirlpool do Innovation. This article highlights so many of the important things a company should do to innovate:

Soliciting ideas from everywhere and everyone (some 61,000-employees in total).
Estabishing a seed fund for innovation
Having a team of seasoned and trained innovators.
Setting an innovation goal and acheiving it!
Building an innovation pipeline and knowing how big it is/needs to be/what's in it etc...
Defining innovation metrics/innovation criteria for projects
Keeping senior management and employees engaged and rewarded

Still the process is always being improved, as they highlighted , the issue of killing ideas that aren't going to work early enough is something they struggle with..

And the rewards? They have netted $422 m on sales of $14.3 billion, share prices at an all time high. Excited and engaged employees. This is a must read.