From Starting Up to Standing Out: 4 Proven Ways that Partnering with Start-ups Accelerates Innovation

Jeroen Diderich, Avery Dennison Senior Vice President and General Manager, Materials Group North America, discusses the symbiotic nature of large companies and start-ups, highlighting the need for collaboration to solve some of the industry’s biggest challenges.

Broad oversight and targeted expertise often exist in industry silos. To better understand and address unmet needs in the market, integration from both industry leaders and nimble innovators is critical. The combined power of breadth plus granularity serves progress well. It’s something that, as a larger organization, Avery Dennison has recognized and responded to with the launch of new programs such as AD Stretch. This first-of-its-kind global accelerator program works in tandem with startup companies to drive solutions to some of the most pressing challenges facing the manufacturing industry today.

As we seek to address the challenges of brand engagement, of consumer experience and, crucially, sustainability, we do so with a clear acknowledgement that the solution won’t be found in isolation. It’s through this collaboration between large and small, between established and entrepreneurial, that innovation can find another gear.

The symbiotic relationship between established businesses and their smaller counterparts means that we all collectively benefit. While the larger entity gains from the smaller’s agility, risk aversion and entrepreneurial mindset, the smaller gains from the larger’s scale, established processes, access to the supply chain and to customers. The challenge of bringing innovative products and services to market is lessened and the opportunity for solving bigger problems increases.

While tangible innovation is the short-term goal, what the industry needs to deliver doesn’t ultimately lie in a new product, process or service. Yes, these are instrumental to delivering a successful outcome, but the difference needs to happen at a much deeper level.

Going that lever deeper brings about proven advantages. Here are 4 benefits of long-term partnerships between large companies and small start-ups.

1. Help Innovators Flourish: Throughout history we’ve watched as innovations progressed yet the innovators themselves were left behind. Today, we want to ensure that not only do the ideas flourish, but so do the ideators.
2. Influence Behavior: As history has demonstrated, inviting talented people to the table and supporting their concepts is one of the quickest ways to deliver solutions at scale and solve some of our industry’s most urgent challenges.
3. Trigger Change: Partnering outside your company gives you access to a much broader pool of insights, ideas, and solutions from different sources that enables you to transform your business faster as you nurture and support innovative talents and ideas.
4. Boost Employee Engagement: When organizations are collectively involved in solving the most challenging problems and implementing the best ideas, it fosters strong engagement and ownership and a stake in the company’s goals. Employees feel more connected to the strategy and invested in contributing to the company's overall success.

As consumer expectations continue to evolve and grow more demanding, bold ideas and collaboration are what will propel us to innovate and connect with consumers in new ways.

Article originally published on Forbes Council forum.