Proctor and Gamble (P&G) was founded by William Procter, a candle manufacturer, and James Gamble, a soap manufacturer. William and James joined forces and created P&G, a Fortune 500 company in 1837. Proctor and Gamble's headquarters are located in Cincinnati, Ohio. P&G produces a wide variety of consumer goods that include beauty products, household products, and health and wellness products. P&G has a long history of providing an ethical and values-based workplace culture. The globalization of products posed threatening problems to their success during the early 1990s. The company's leadership determined that it needed to change the product development model in the workplace to remain highly competitive in the global marketplace. P&G already had a reputation for treating employees fairly, having been one of the first companies to introduce profit sharing, employee ownership, proactive employee retention, and preferred internal promotions. The company also had a reputation for being innovative in product research and development, using the latest technologies and focusing on consumer demands. However, the business was structured by brands and the information and technology associated with them were organized individually, creating information silos. Information was not shared openly between brands due to internal competition fostered between them and to protect information from competitors. P&G's new products were not meeting expected sales goals. They had focused on incremental innovations with existing products and not on innovative new products. Company leaders began to realize that maintaining current product innovation/creation goals would not be a product process… middle of paper… g. This risk-taking has allowed creative opportunities to flourish and created an environment where innovation can thrive. The prospect of employees developing standards, guidelines and priorities seemed to instill greater confidence to move forward and build greater capabilities for robust research and development of quality products. This is a positive example of how innovation, such as allowing experimentation and creativity to develop from the bottom up in an organization, can have a big impact on a company. It can be difficult for a manager to trust that all employees are focused and motivated to succeed in a cooperative environment, but the results can also matter. It can also be difficult to lead the creative process without trying to lead, but if employees are motivated to play to their strengths, it can be a win-win situation.