It is one of the great paradoxes of business: All too often, the companies that boast market-leading positions, huge number of "touch points" with their consumers and all kinds of other advantages often are the least likely to innovate. They are the ones that say, "Oh, that market is too small for me to address," or, "That's not how we do business."

Ever heard of Choglit? How about OK Soda or Surge? Long after "New Coke" became nearly synonymous with innovation failure, these products joined Coca-Colas graveyard of beverage busts.

Great management formulas aren't handed down on stone tablets. At even the smartest companies, they emerge from years of trial and error. Here are some of the best practices you've probably never heard of — and might want to start implementing tomorrow.

Chief technology officers (CTOs) in big high-tech companies increasingly view "open innovation" as a way to get more bang from the billions of bucks they spend annually on researching and developing new products, according to a venture capitalist focused on large manufacturers of IT and telecommunications equipment.