Nike is a big corporation, with many products in many categories, but there are limits to its reach. Some of its innovations might well turn out to be advantageous to industries or markets where it has no competitive involvement whatsoever. By keeping its eco-friendly ideas behind a veil of secrecy, Nike was holding back—without any real commercial justification—ideas that might, in another context, contribute to a sustainable future.
Open networks of connections among innovations can be just as generative as vigorous competition. Free markets have greatly spurred innovation, but so has the collaborative, open way of sharing knowledge in networks.
