BP's Office of the Chief Technology Officer: Driving Open Innovation through an Advocate Team

Robert C. Wolcott, Michael J. Lippitz

The case describes the evolution between 1999 and 2005 of an unusual innovation team within the office of the Chief Information Officer of BP. The team leader, Vice President and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Phiroz Darukhanavala ("Daru"), eschewed a large group and a venture budget in favor of a small, lean team intimately engaged with BP's business units. The case described several mechanisms created by the CTO office during its early evolution, aimed at expanding executives' appreciation of emerging technology capabilities, building a network of relationships through which emerging technologies are scouted and vetted, and providing structured mechanisms for technology transfer. In late 2005 the CIO's Advisory Group challenged the CTO office to "keep reinventing yourselves." Students are asked to assume Daru's role and suggest new processes and structures to continue the evolution of the CTO office. The teaching note describes what the team actually did, and addresses questions raised at the end of the case.

Learning Objective

The case highlights the "Advocate Model" of innovation promotion as described in the article "The Four Models of Corporate Entrepreneurship" (Wolcott & Lippitz, MIT Sloan Management Review, Fall 2007). The case also illustrates the intricacies of implementing "open innovation" approaches to discovering and realizing the business value of new technologies.

Details

Pub Date: Jan 1, 2007(Revised: Feb 4, 2015)

Discipline: Operations Management

Subjects: Energy, Entrepreneurship, Innovation, International business, Organizational behavior, Suppliers, Technology

Source: Kellogg School of Management

Product #: KEL366-PDF-ENG

Teaching note: Not available

Supplementary case (B) – KEM892-PDF_ENG

Supplementary materials:

Geography: United Kingdom; United States

Length: 14 page(s)

BP's Office of the Chief Technology Officer (B): Driving Open Innovation through an Advocate Team

Robert C. Wolcott, Michael J. Lippitz