Case Study: Li & Fung Limited achieves company-wide open innovation with Planview IdeaPlace

How Li & Fung Leveraged Its Entrepreneurial Dna To Create A Culture Of Open Innovation

Li & Fung is a 100+ year‑old Hong Kong–based supply‑chain powerhouse (3.6B market cap, 22,000+ employees, 230 offices in 40+ markets) that sought to preserve its entrepreneurial DNA as it scaled. Growth created silos—most notably a Design Community of 700 designers split into small teams—where collaboration was hampered by ad hoc methods like email lists and lacked a structured way to surface and develop ideas.

The company partnered with Spigit to launch a formal ideation program, beginning with the Design Community and then expanding company‑wide with multilingual challenges. In two years Li & Fung ran 11 challenges that generated 1,129 ideas; one transaction‑services challenge produced six ideas being implemented (two completed) and cut cost and process time by 50% for those workflows. The initiative transformed culture, making open innovation a daily habit and empowering employees across functions to contribute ideas.

Li & Fung Limited

Margot Brent

Manager, Innovation & Experimentation