Harnessing customer innovation requires different methods, says Mr Von Hippel.

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Koch tends to invest in industries that convert raw materials into higher-value products, with complicated operations that require a lot of engineering talent and constant innovation in production methods.

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Yet as long as these subsidies and tax credits exist, clean-energy executives will likely spend most of their time pursuing advanced legal and accounting methods rather than investing in studies, innovation, new transmission technology and turbine development.

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Innovation can take place in business models, culture, delivery methods or support.

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But we did get a good idea of where to look for innovation--and a good idea of just how many methods of fostering it have been tried.

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Innovation comes from encounters with difference, in the form of new technologies, social organizations, products, markets and methods, to name a few influences.

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