| General Mills/Headquarters #2 (Photo credit: GeneralMills) |
This morning's panel on New Rules for Innovation Partnerships in Emerging Markets brought Gary Gerber, Former Vice President, Product Innovation at Visa
Dan Malina, Former Senior Vice President, Corporate Development at General Mills, Nick Reilly, Former President at GM Europe, and moderated by Nat Milburn, Former Vice President of Global Business Development at Newell Rubbermaid to the stage at the PARTNERING & CO-CREATION SUMMIT at Front End of Innovation.
Rules to go by:
- Know your purpose
- Look beyond the usual suspects
- Ensure win-win
- Assess cultural fit
- Cover your assets - early
- Establish relationship model & follow
- Proactively manage internal expectations
Tips from the panel:
- Start slow, do the front work then go fast
- Look for companies that have a similar customer base
- Give back to your partners
- Look beyond your blinders
- Be flexible
- Put the CEOs in a room together to find resolutions
Valerie M. Russo is a Senior Social Media Strategist at IIR USA with a technology, anthropology, marketing and publishing business acumen. She is a published poet and also maintains a literary blog. She may be reached at vrusso@iirusa.com. Follow her @Literanista.