Can big firms innovate?

The short answer is yes, but the ‘how’ is much more challenging, writes Nathan Furr

Nathan Furr, professor of innovation and strategy at INSEAD Picture: Robbie Reynolds

In an era where many big companies have farmed out their innovation ventures to their merger and acquisitions department, has the complex and bureaucratic environment they operate in stifled any internal innovation?

Senior leaders in these multinational organisations recognise this problem and are looking to become faster and more agile to keep at the forefront of change. The issue they face is that, naturally, their systems and processes are not like that of ...