Collaboration experiences between social and economic agents in the world proliferate. Co-society® compiles and documents these examples, especially those from businesses, to discover the conditions under which collaboration brings advantages other than simply competition. The focus is on revealing the rules of the collaborative advantage in the face of the competitive advantage.
The results of our observations of co-experiences can be accessed on our blog, in our books and also at our conferences and workshops.
See a summary of the advantage of business collaboration in this article we wrote for the Spanish edition of Harvard Business Review.
OUR BLOG
On our blog, you can see hundreds of examples of collaboration, co-innovation and co-businesses that are popping up around the world. Aside from our team’s systematic exploration, fellows and partners all over the world contribute examples of co-businesses that are emerging in different sectors.
GO TO BLOG
OUR BOOKS
THE SOLUTION BEGINS WITH CO-
This book gathers 50 ideas and examples of why the world is becoming a co-world. As a species, we either collaborate or perish, and the same is true for societies. Let’s prepare to witness a revolution in which we are the protagonists. The road to a collaborative society and economy is inevitable. The alternative is failure.
A powerful, yet hardly perceptible change is leading us from the unproductive dead end of individualistic consumer culture to the power of group collaboration. Twenty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, as we wade through the depths of a financial crisis, collaborative, cross-sector projects are making an impact and standing out.
The power of multiplying assets that already coexist in our system is evident personally (collaborative consumption), organizationally (business intersections) and socially (activism). In an era of fascination with networks (the Internet, social networking, globalization), the key is realizing that connections matter more than the connector.
CO-BUSINESS: 50 EXAMPLES OF BUSINESS COLLABORATION
During the last four years Co-society® has actively searched and shared the best examples of business collaboration from all over the globe. Companies of seemingly unrelated industries are asking themselves new questions and developing new products and services. These companies are seeing first-hand the innovation that is created when two heads come together. As it is clear that innovative ideas arise from chance meetings between companies, there is a need for a system to facilitate these connections.
We have taken the model to other countries, many of which are already starting their own co-societies. An array of businesses, from start-ups to well-established companies have chosen to collaborate because two heads are better than one. This adventure is not free of difficulty, but when working together the possibilities of a project are magnified; sharing resources and expertise multiplies innovative potential. The most adventurous, and tenacious individuals are combining their talent and resources to bring innovation to all facets of business. The audacity to collaborate is becoming a decisive factor in the prospects of all companies. We focus on 50 companies who have already taken the leap towards a co-future.
35 REASONS FOR BUSINESS COLLABORATION
35 Reasons for Business Collaboration (and almost 100 case studies to show you how) summarises the topics from the Co-Society blog (www.co-society.com), where dozens of examples of innovative collaboration from all over the world have been documented in nearly 150 entries over the last three years. The 35 most compelling case studies have been chosen to show how and why to use collaborative innovation in five different points of engagement: Innovation, Marketing, Operations,R&D and Public Administration.
- Spanish version
THE ADVANTAGE OF COLLABORATIVE INNOVATION
The experience of combining the strengths of businesses from different sectors with the goal of collaborative innovation shows the potential of this approach to innovation. The context seems to indicate that the main reason to co-innovate is that market demands are too complex to be resolved without collaborating. So, the competitive advantage in businesses would complement the collaborative advantage in innovation. On the other hand, this collaborative innovation might help generate the employment that the economy will need to create over the next few decades. But to innovate collaboratively a system, tools and the decided participation of organizations’ CEOs is required. We must train for this possible future and that is the aim of Co-society.
- English version
OUR TALKS
CO-BUSINESS
In the last century, the business world has been dominated by the need for a competitive advantage; however, in recent years collaborative advantage has emerged as a powerful resource. Companies are creating hybrid products and benefiting from the collaborative experience.
The future of business is in co-: collaboration, co-creation and coordination. Companies are combining their abilities to generate new products and services. Co-society® is the network aimed to maximize these co-opportunities. We’re creating the conditions under which teams of passionate innovation professionals in different sectors can combine their assets and skills to create projects that were impossible in the marketplace of the past. This seminar gives dozens of examples of the how, what and why of collaborative innovation in business.
