IBM's corporate citizenship
activities used to be separate from its business functions.
Now, we treat our grant partners in the same way we treat our
best business customers, working closely with them to develop
new technologies that are solving serious social problems.
Stanley S. Litow
VP Corporate Community Relations and President, IBM International
Foundation
{ success stories }
{ other business challenges }
challenge:
solution:
Innovation is a core driver of performance
in today’s global economy. How can we leverage new sources
of knowledge to improve productivity and create marketable new
technologies, products, and services?
Companies have found that serving low-income
communities and minority populations has resulted in new forms
of knowledge and insights into opportunities and risks that
produce commercially rewarding innovations.
In today’s business climate, competitive
advantage is often tied to innovative technologies, products,
or services that generate or help sustain market leadership.
A recent survey by the Economic and Social Research Council
showed that businesses showing greater levels of innovation
also reported higher levels of performance.
Corporations across the United States are now learning what
companies in Europe have long known: activities with low-
and moderate-income groups can yield market intelligence that
inspires broadly applicable new products and services.
Working with national or local community-based organizations
in low-income communities can provide information – the
value of which is often misunderstood or unexploited by business.
Learn how to strengthen the value that ventures commonly thought
of as corporate citizenship activities can add to business
performance. Experts are documenting company success and linking
executives from different industries with experience in harnessing
innovation from community partnerships.
find
an expert that can help your company with innovation and
research & development
