However, in these increasingly diverse times, this approach is not sufficient to achieve innovation. The key point is how to define the research issues and themes. To properly fulfill this role, research organizations need to be aware of what's happening outside the company and create systems that facilitate coordination with other departments and external parties. The quality and size of such networks greatly influences results. We have gone beyond the era where those responsible for technological innovation could simply lock themselves into their own field and work on the themes provided to them. Researchers need to be aware that they are producers of the product or service, and that their job also involves marketing. Looking at examples from around the world showed just how important it is to gather ideas from across the world and establish solid themes in all aspects of product development and R&D. Industry players across the globe are searching for ways to develop such organizations.
One example of such action is a major IT corporation which has lent its own servers free of charge to a venture company for use in various experimental initiatives in the hope to receive some hints for their own business. Pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly were able using a system to collect ideas from outside the company to resolve an issue that they had been unable to solve for many years using their usual toxicology approach.
Jim Brayer who made early investments in Facebook and Groupon says "social media will soon produce new businesses at the intersection of entertainment and commerce". Brayer has relocated himself to New York where it is easier to gather information on those industries.
Managing global technology-based companies is also about how to hone your senses to the emergence of various ideas and know-how around the world. There are limits to how companies can identify R&D themes through their in-house efforts alone. Companies need to develop frameworks that help them to come into natural contact with good ideas. Individuals and companies must gain a deep understanding of the market's needs, and have the ability to establish their future direction as they repeat the process of hypothesis generation and testing.