[Question 4] Inside Out vs. Outside In

In order to be clearer, let's remind that, in the case, outside-in refers to the change of customer's role (buyer, payer and user). Inside-out refers to changing the company's own value creation through smart offerings, value integration or value constellation.

I think media industry is one of the best example of inside-out or outside-in innovations victim and beneficiary.

Inside-out:
For example, in the past, news programs were well-prepared, edited, screened by the professional news works. Nowadays, newspaper or TV News all need to borrow the efforts of general publics to deliver the "real time" news, such as tsunami footage taken by individual's cell phone.

Outside-in:
For instance, professional news works also browse blogs, forums to see if there is anything worth reporting or how people react to a certain issue. Then reporter can write a story out from them or know who he should talk to. By doing so, it may reduce extra cost of paying the reporter to work in the field.

A more clear example for outside-in, let's say XTV wants to publish a "Best 10 secret place to spend a night in TW". Then the reporter who is responsible for this project doesn't have to drive his car all around TW to find out the secret place. He just needs to, you know, google it, make some phone calls and persuade his boss that he really needs to experience how good the secret place is to make a great article, then off he goes.

I think this might be the "integration of Value" method.

Outside-in: maybe in the situation when we feel that we have already took everything that was possible from the market and there is no other option to make our clients to pay more, so we have to find new clients/new niche.

Outside-in: finding your own place in the market and making yourself unique. Maybe like Ben & Jerry's - different approach, different message, more attractive and original for the costumers? I know that that was their idea from the beginning, but it seems to me like a good example.

I think inside-out innovation is more appropriate when a company has very strong strategic resources that would allow it to maximize the value created through synergies in its smart offerings, value integration and/or value constellation.

Small or middle size companies had better use outside-in innovations. Because they usually don't have as many resources as big companies do. They can focus on changing one of the users' bahaviors, that is, using, buying or paying rather than do them all at the same time. To develop smart offerings is also possible.
This methods are much easier than to integrate something or form a so-called value constellation.

I agree with Yann and TA Max concerning the size of the company. I think that the bigger you are, the more you can rely on your assets to develop an inside-out innovation strategy.

When it comes to the idea of inside out and outside in, and typically depends on the size of your company.
Mentioned by several others, the idea of this could potentially be more of a financial issue, where as if you have the financial assets and/or raw materials, you can participate in an inside out strategy.

size matters.

I agree but in fact, I found an example that could contradict this theory. In the mid 90's, Procter and Gamble opened a research center where all their engineers and researchers were gathered to develop new products for the group. They could live on-site to stimulate creation process. But this experiment was a failure.
In 2000, they decided to change their strategy and have a large part of their product innovation come from outsiders which made their productivity increase by 60%.

Isn't that an example that big companies may tend to over-rely on their own capabilities and lose track of what the customer really wants?

Out-in can be helpfull for companies who are new business and before they provide own ready solutions they can first check reaction on value propositions. While others exinsting already on market can focuse more on in-out to adjust existing solution for current situation on market.

I think to realize an Out-In can be very difficult. How to change the costumer? I think in most cases, the costumer is the buyer, payer and user at the same time.