A recent Economist Intelligence Unit survey talks about how Outsourcing and offshoring of innovation are set to increase despite concerns about loss of control. A recent article quotes the report stating "Increased competition, the cost and complexity of innovation and a surplus of ideas are encouraging many companies to restructure their approach to research and development,".Our survey shows a considerable shift towards greater outsourcing and offshoring of R&D in what we term a global innovation network model, despite concerns about loss of control over a function that is often considered core to a company's identity."

It was interesting to read about Ann's views on this report stating "The EIU expects the number of companies with at least some R&D activity occurring overseas to increase from the current 65 percent to 84 percent by 2010. The number of companies outsourcing R&D to third parties is also expected to grow from 64 percent to 75 percent."

Agreed, Organizations and executives are certainly looking to leverage external skills and talents when it comes to innovation; and the idea here is not very radical. Even a couple of years ago, the business press had begun talking up "Outsourcing Innovation" For instance Business Week ran an interesting article stating "First came manufacturing. Now companies are farming out R&D to cut costs and get new products to market faster.

Researchers are certainly looking at different aspects of outsourcing Innovation.Most organizations have realized that they cannot reach business goals by conducting all activities internally. Cooperating with business partners and leveraging the know-how found in an organization's midst is a salient determinant of competitive successes. Many organizations struggle to increase the intensity and success of partnerships."