Companies have been forced to make cutbacks in various departments and sectors due to the economic crisis, but this article in Business Week highlights how companies and Sepracor and Boeing are actually investing more money in retaining innovation consultants. Dev Patnaik, who spoke at this year's Front End of Innovation Conference in Boston, mentioned "Some [clients] were hit hard and are hunkering down. But crisis is a great opportunity. If it will take years to show results, [they] might as well start now."
Outsourced innovation provides companies with fresh perspectives and allows them to save countless time, energy, and money in industry research. What are some other examples of companies that decided to invest instead of cutback on outsourced innovation?