Making use of the unused: shelf warmer technologies in research and development

The fruits from research and development activities (R&D) do not always necessarily follow a company's technology strategy. Sometimes, sales blockbusters result from explicitly prohibited bootlegging activities which are supposed to consume about 20% of the overall research budget. Another group of R&D outcomes are those planned technologies which collect dust at the R&D unit because strategy has changed, business units do not see chances for applicability or because of risk considerations. Those 'shelf warmers' are possible 'goldmines' that are waiting for being exploited. An innovative organization structure is needed to deal with such kind of technologies. The article reports from an internal Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) unit at a large German industrial conglomerate that is dedicated to promoting innovative shelf warmer technologies. It is shown that successful innovations 'off the beaten track' require more than simple start-up financing but a solid organizational commitment to such 'irregular' projects.