Establishing an effective corporate innovation system from scratch

Driving Sustainable Growth Through Strategic Innovation

When David Bravo took over as Director of Innovation and Technology Scouting at Land O’Lakes Inc.’s Animal Nutrition business, he found a traditional organization relying on internal R&D to drive innovation. Even with a team of talented scientists and promising tech targets, the function lacked an innovation strategy to drive sustainable growth. This launched a two year effort to overhaul the division’s innovation system to one that capitalized on their internal R&D but also incorporated external opportunities.

This paper explores how Land O’Lakes transformed their strategy and approach to become an innovation powerhouse. It contains lessons for other organizations seeking to create a well-oiled innovation machine.