The European Business Review 05.06 2021

The
The Four Ways of

Organizing Innovation
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May - June 2021
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UNITED BY
SCIENCE
FOR A BETTER
TOMORROW BY ULRICH A.K. BETZ
VP OF INNOVATION, MERCK
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COVER STORY BUSINESS PROCESS

4 Six Business Processes you need to
United by Science for a Better Tomorrow 56
Ulrich A.K. Betz rethink for the Agile Age
Alessandro Di Fiore and Gabriele Rosani
INNOVATION
12 The Four ways of Organizing Innovation BRAND
Christoph Burger, Christoph Räthke, Bianca 61 *(+)4-)..0-+*. Ǳ-$1 )
Schmitz and Jens Weinmann Lived-Experience Ecosystems
Venkat Ramaswamy and Nicholas Ind
SUSTAINABILITY
21 TEAM MANAGEMENT
Lenzing sets a milestone towards
'$(/ ) 0/-'$/42$/#/# Ɵ-./Ʉ neutral 71 Aiming to nourish the more Human
TM-) '4* ''Ɵ - Organization
Michael Chaskalson, Helen Sieroda,
TOP EXECUTIVE EDUCATION PROGRAMMES Chris Nichols and Philippa Hardman
WITH THE BEST ROI
24 LUXURY STRATEGY
)'*&$)" -.#$+*/ )/$'/#-*0"#
Executive Education's Programmes 78 To Harness the Power of Purpose, Brands must
have a mission
f.$RrFчRrч¸M.ч }«¸Т}ÖR$ч×}£f$ Klaus Heine and Sabine Chretien-Ichikawa
30 Are you prepared to take the risk?
Interview with Iain Wright, CFIRM, Chair, SALES MANAGEMENT
86
Institute of Risk Management (IRM) //$)"0+/*.+ $)4*0-.' . Ƣ*-/.
Frank Cespedes and Zoran Latinovic
INNOVATION
37 $( / ) - '+.0-*+ )*(+)$ .!-*( STRATEGY
90 .$")$)"0./*( -'0 Ǳ )/-$-*2/#
Numerous Industries Manage Their Data
Strategy
ENERGY Thales Teixeira
42 Smart Moves for EuropeǨs
Energy-Intensive Industries ORGANISATION
99
Jean Marc Ollagnier, Sytze Dijkstra, People Assessment in the Digital Age
Lasse Kari and Gargi Chakrabarty Adrian Furnham
FUTURE OF BUSINESS 106 The Psychology of Start-Ups

50
FLP-IT Forward: A New Framework for Growth in Adrian Furnham
the Post-Pandemic Era
Olaf J. Groth, Mark Esposito and Terence Tse TECHNOLOGY
110 *2 -$)"*./$)"2$/#-/$Ɵ$'
)/ ''$" ) ǜ
The case of Vodaphone Procurement
Herve Legenvre, Gavin Hodgson, Govind
Khandelwal
Production & Design: Angela Lamcaster Print Strategy: Stefan Newhart Production Accounts: Lynn Moses Editors: Elenora Elroy, David Lean Group Managing Editor: Jane Liu Editor in
Chief: The European Business Review Publishing Oscar Daniel READERS PLEASE NOTE: The views expressed in articles are the authors' and not necessarily those of The European Business
Review. Authors may have consulting or other business relationships with the companies they discuss. The European Business Review: 3 - 7 Sunnyhill Road, London SW16 2UG, Tel +44
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empowering communication globally

COVER STORY
UNITED BY
SCIENCE
FOR A BETTER
TOMORROW
By Ulrich A.K. Betz
In an age of uncertainty, there is inarguably

a need for a cool and, above all, rational
approach to addressing the manifold issues
faced by humanity. Here, Ulrich Betz of science
and technology company Merck outlines the
&"-*0)/*) 3/4 -Ǩ.0-$*0.0/0-
).$"#/
conference: “solving the challenges of today and
enabling the dreams of a better tomorrow”.
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www.europeanbusinessreview.com 5
COVER STORY
I
t was a remarkable moment back in 2018 when Merck,
a vibrant science and technology company, celebrated
its 350th ))$1 -.-4ǚ / /# 0-$*0.ƨƦƧƮ ǲ 0/0-

).$"#/*)! - ) $)0'4ƨƦƧƮǛ -&))*0) ) 2
research prize comprising up to €1 million per year, which
is planned to be awarded for the next 35 years to honour
and enable groundbreaking research in areas of high need
for humanity, such as health, nutrition and energy. And
*)/#/4Ǜ0 .4ǛƧƭ0'4ƨƦƧƮǛ$/2.))*0) /#/
/# /# ( *!/# Ɵ-./+-$5 2.$)#$"#Ǳ) - ''
“pandemic preparedness”. Who would have known that
only 17 months later, a coronavirus would jump species
barriers and form the worst pandemic that humanity
has experienced since the flu pandemic a hundred
4 -. -'$ -Ǜ$)ƧƯƧƮǚ# 0-$*0.ƨƦƧƮǱ0/0-
).$"#/
*)! - ) ǹ+-$)" -Ǜ
ƩƦƩƦƧƬƦƬƦƨǺ'.*! /0-
panel discussion on the topic of pandemic preparedness
that further highlighted the urgent need to progress
research in this area. It assembled more than 1,300
international participants and top speakers, including
many Nobel laureates, and covered many topics from
health, life sciences, material sciences and digitalisa-
tion to new ways of working together.
For its 350th anniversary, Merck clearly showed what
it stands for. Science is at the heart of everything we do
at Merck. It drives the discoveries we make and the tech-
)*'*"$ . 2 - / ǲ !-*( 1)$)" " )*( $/$)"
Celebratory address given by the Chancellor technologies and discovering unique ways to treat the
of the Federal Republic of Germany most challenging diseases to enabling the intelligence of
devices. As a leading science and technology company, we
-2*)*0-0)$,0 .$ )/$Ɵ 3+ -/$. /* 1 '*+- &-
/#-*0"#./#/ )-$#+ *+' Ǩ.'$1 .ǚ
Our approach to technology paves the way for discov-
ering and scaling the most exciting technologies. The
majority of our innovations come from our healthcare,
life science and electronics business sectors, with approx-
imately 7,800 scientists and researchers collaborating for
*0-*(+)4ǚ*(+' ( )/-4/**0-0.$) ... /*-.Ǜ2
also create and foster an innovation ecosystem, bolstering
our overall innovative power across emerging tech areas.
'$ 1 /#/.$ )/$Ɵ 3+'*-/$*))*''*-/$*)-
key to technological advances that benefit us all. Annually, the company’s core business areas. Since its inception
Merck offers the Merck Research Grants to stimulate inno- in 2009, M Ventures has established itself as a major
vative research in challenging areas of future importance. corporate venture fund, focusing on investments in the
For more information, please visit http://researchgrants. fields of biopharma, life science tools and technologies,
merckgroup.com (for the world, excluding the US and semiconductor and display technologies, and deep-tech
Canada) and at http://research- and sustainability. Always on the
grants.emdgroup.com (for the US lookout for cutting-edge tech-
and Canada). nologies, M Ventures invests in
We also drive innovation and Annually, Merck offers approximately 10 new companies
back entrepreneurs through the Merck Research per year. These investments range
equity investments and hands-on from early-stage deals to later-
support in fields that could impact Grants to stimulate stage investments.
our current and future business. innovative research in In addition, Merck offers one of
M Ventures, the strategic, corpo- challenging areas of the most renowned programmes
rate venture-capital arm of Merck, aiming to support talented young
invests in innovative technolo- future importance. people in the development of new,
gies and products that have the fresh ideas, advancing them with
potential to significantly impact the help of professionals to a full
M lab at Burlington site, USA
COVER STORY
+-*% / +') ) /#0. 2$) /# ʧƨƦ& -&

))*1/$*) 0+ the nutrition of a growing world population. The laureate
with their teams. Participation in the programme can ulti- for this year will be announced at the 2021 Future Insight
mately result in project implementation funded by Merck 4.Ǜ2#$#2$''/& +' *)'$) !-*(ƧƨǱƧƪ0'4ƨƦƨƧǚ
and a permanent employment position. Applications can Participation is open to all those interested around the
be made at http://innovationcup.merckgroup.com ǹ!*- world. You can register free of charge at http://curiousfu-
/# 2*-' 3'0$)" /# ) )Ǻ ) / http:// tureinsight.com. The Future Insight Days will also feature
innovationcup.emdgroup.com ǹ!*- /# ) /# 2-$)" *! /# /0- +$)*Ƣ +-$5 ǹhttps://www.
)Ǻǚ )/0- ǚ*(ȍ)/0- ȍ2-.ȍ.+$)*Ƣ+-$5 Ǻ ) /# *#))
Merck will continue to honour and enable )/*) -& 2- ǹhttps://www.merckgroup.com/en/
innovative research with its Future Insight research/grants-and-awards/johann-anton-merck-award.
Prize. In 2020, it was in the area of antimi- htmlǺǛ '*)" 2$/# . 1 -' ./$(0'/$)" & 4)*/ +- . )/-
crobial resistance, and in 2021 it is going to tions and panel discussions.
$) /# - *! !** ǲ '**&$)" '*. - / /# *- 0'4 ƨƦƨƨǛ /# $" .$ ) Ơ".#$+ *)! - )
science and technology needed to secure 0-$*0. 0/0-
).$"#/ $. +')) "$)Ǜ /#$. /$( .
hybrid event allowing for on-site and online participa-
tion. The motto of the event will be “United by science for
a better tomorrow”. The conference will bring together
renowned scientists and accomplished entrepreneurs to
present their work, discuss the future of science and tech-
nology, and work together to solve the challenges of today
and enable the dreams of a better tomorrow. Abstracts for
presentation can now be submitted at http://curious2022.
com. Tickets are available at the site, too. The event is
supported by several co-sponsors and has developed
into a global endeavour to support science and tech-
nology. All innovative organisations are cordially invited
to apply to become a partner of the event. Many Nobel
laureates have already agreed to speak, along with some
one hundred additional speakers in total.
In the remainder of this article, let me add some
personal opinion and thoughts that manifested them-
selves over the last couple of years of thinking diligently
*)/# (// -*!$))*1/$*)ǲ+-/$0'-'4*($)"&/*
/# "'*'
ǱƧƯ+) ($Ǜ2#$#$.)*/4 /*1 -ǚ#
story of the coronavirus pandemic in relation to science
and technology holds light and shadow. On the one hand,
it clearly showed that progress was not as fast as required
to protect humanity in a densely populated world. At
the beginning of the pandemic, the pictures from 1918
and 2019 looked almost identical, including the counter-
measures taken, such as face masks and social distancing
ǲƧƦƦ4 -.2$/#*0/)4+-*"- ..Ǣ0//# )$//0-) $)/*
a triumph of science, technology and innovation with a
) 2Ǳ/ #)*'*"4(1$)/$*) )/ -$)"/# - )
pчƧŀśчŀǷчǿǢƧƐƲƄǷƼƲчǪƐǷūϰч¿«ϯчpчfŀśчŜƼƲŜūǟǷчƃūŀǷǿǢūǪч leading to the best-performing vaccine in clinical studies,
a simulated manufacturing environment that fosters with advantages over older but more validated vaccina-
hands-on training and complete end-to-end process
development support. tion technologies. It is also a clear story emphasising
the innovation potential of Germany, with two German the digital networks all around the world is not beyond
biotech companies, BioNTech (together with its US devel- the bounds of possibility), climate change (already well
opment partner Pfizer) and CureVac, pioneering this field, publicised, but not yet sufficiently acted upon), geomag-
along with Moderna in the US. The scientific groundwork netic disruption (a reversal of the magnetic north and
had been done earlier by scientists relentlessly pursuing south pole are overdue, looking at history records), a
advances in this field, despite many drawbacks and nega- solar flare potentially wiping out computer memories
tive feedback, believing in the way forward and deserving all around the world (it has happened in pre-digital
all honour and applause for this grand achievement – times and could happen any day again), disruption of
scientists such as Ingmar Hoerr, Drew Weissman and the global ecosystems due to increased pollution (e.g.,
Katalin Kariko. microplastics), a return of
The latter has recently also the financial crisis and, last
signed the Darmstadt Science but not least, a global food
Declaration, a global call to all For July 2022, the big crisis with rising costs of food,
nations, societies and organisa- science flagship confer- including all the associated
tions to invest more resources problems of starvation, malnu-
in the advancement of science ence Curious Future trition, political instability and
and technology for the benefit of Insight is planned again, global migration on a large
humanity. Everybody is cordially this time as a hybrid scale. With the current state of
invited to join this call and to sign science and technology, these
the declaration at http://make-sci- event allowing for on-site problems cannot be suffi-
ence-not-war.org (Angewandte and online participation. ciently solved and we need
Chemie International Edition more resources and more-ef-
2018, 57, 2-4). ficient advances towards new
And additional challenges technologies enabled by new
are on the horizon, such as, for example, those regularly scientific discoveries, and it needs to happen quickly,
analysed and published by the World Economic Forum as drastically laid down in “The Limits to Growth: The
in its World Risk Report. Threats that need attention in 30-Year Update” (ISBN-10: 193149858X).
my personal opinion are bioterrorism (inspired by the Needless to say, science and technology alone will
coronavirus pandemic), accidental nuclear war (more not solve the problems, as acceptance and global distri-
widespread availability of nuclear weapons all around the bution are important issues. In addition, science itself is
world), cyber-threats (a big hack damaging large parts of neutral and can be used for good and bad. That is why
COVER STORY
«ƐƄƲЙǿǟчƃƼǢчŀчƃǢūūчǷƐŜƤūǷчƃƼǢчǷƋū
ͶʹͶ͵чEǿǷǿǢūчRƲǪƐƄƋǷч$ŀȝǪчŀǷ
ƋǷǷǟϱϼϼŜǿǢƐƼǿǪƃǿǷǿǢūƐƲǪƐƄƋǷϯƼǢƄ
a stable super-heavy element? What is dark matter

and dark energy? Will there be a universal theory of
everything, combining quantum mechanics and rela-
tivity? What does quantum entanglement mean for our
understanding of reality? Are we alone in the universe?
How did it all start? How will it all end?
Then it must be clear that there are limits to science,
areas that lie beyond its methodology. We cannot research,
for example, the most important question in life: Why do
we live and what should we do?
These answers need to come from
it always needs to be accompa- somewhere else and we need to
nied by a strong code of ethics and ǪчŀǢƧч«ŀƄŀƲчƼƲŜūчǟǿǷч Ɵ) /# - .+ /$1 ).2 -. /*
clear moral values, such as truth ƐǷϰчШ«ƼưūȗƋūǢūϰчǪƼưū- these questions ourselves.
and love and courage and liberty, This is an invitation to join
. '.* - Ơ / $) /# -& ǷƋƐƲƄчƐƲŜǢūţƐśƧūчƐǪч the global movement for a
values: integrity, achievement, ȗŀƐǷƐƲƄчǷƼчśūчƤƲƼȗƲϯЩ -$"#/ !0/0- ǲ )$/ 4 $ )
respect, courage, transparency ǹhttp://unitedby.scienceǺǚ
and responsibility.
Along with the challenges
and global problems described above, also come
tremendous opportunities for a bright future. The }¿¸ч¸M.ч¿¸M}£
advancements in artificial intelligence and machine
learning are breathtaking, progress in quantum ¿ƧǢƐŜƋчϯdϯчūǷȧϰ Vice
computing leading to ever-more-powerful electronic President of Innovation
brains, new therapeutic options with gene and cell Merck, is responsible for
therapy, the molecular understanding of the ageing innovation management
process opening new avenues for medicine to increase and strategic academic
life expectancy, advancements in synthetic biology, collaborations at Merck. He
the understanding of the effects of the microbiome, as is an accomplished R&D
well as impressive advances in fusion technology and ưŀƲŀƄūǢчȗƐǷƋч҄ͶʹчȝūŀǢǪчƼƃчūȜǟūǢƐūƲŜūчƐƲч
robotics, and a revival of space travel. the pharmaceutical and chemical industry,
.-'")*) +0/$/Ǜǩ*( 2# - Ǜ.*( - ƐƲŜƧǿţƐƲƄчǟƼǪƐǷƐƼƲǪчƐƲчǷƋūч ǢūǪƐţūƲǷЫǪч}ɭŜūч
thing incredible is waiting to be known.” Merck Biopharma and positions reporting
Science is one of the noblest endeavours directly to the Heads of Research and
of humankind, exploring with curiosity Development at Bayer and Merck. In his
the world and striving for truth, and ŜǿǢǢūƲǷчǢƼƧūчƃƼǢчūȜŀưǟƧūчƋūчţūǪƐƄƲūţчŀƲţч
there are still many unsolved ques- implemented the Merck Innovation Cup,
tions of science, such as, for example: the Curious-Future Insight Conference, the
How does the human brain work? Is Merck Future Insight Prize, the Darmstadt
the brain a computer or an antenna? «ŜƐūƲŜūч$ūŜƧŀǢŀǷƐƼƲϰчǷƋūчƐţūŀчŜƼưǟūǷƐǷƐƼƲч
What is consciousness? Will there be innospire and the BioMed X Outcubator.
a singularity with AI? Will we find
.rч¿«Rr.««ч£.ÖR.×чччччччpÝчТчb¿r.чͶʹͶ͵
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INNOVATION
THE FOUR WAYS

OF ORGANIZING
INNOVATION
By Christoph Burger,
Christoph Räthke,
Bianca Schmitz,
and Jens Weinmann
How have innovation practices

changed in the last years? We
conducted around 20 semi-
structured interviews with senior
managers of companies ranging
from multinationals to startups.
From our findings, we derive a
guiding framework, which we call
the Corporate Entrepreneurship
Matrix, that helps executives
organize their innovation activities.
B
roadly described, innovation
comes from within an organ-
ization – internal – or from
sources outside – external. Besides, in
terms of its nature and effects, inno-
vating can be targeted or disruptive.
Targeted innovation, often also called
incremental innovation, means that
there is a clear and stated aim of the
innovative process, for example, the
development of a more energy-effi-
cient washing machine. Disruptive
12 THE EUROPEAN BUSINESS REVIEW MAY - JUNE 2021

innovation does not have a clear direction; it is a search
process based on experimentation and trials. Starting from the top left quadrant,
Certain types of industries may have traditionally we will present our findings on
tended to one side or the other. For example, gas turbine targeted innovation, and then switch
manufacturers have gradually become more efficient to disruptive innovation.
1
over the last fifty years, while producers of fast-moving
consumer goods such as vegan food alternatives, elec-
tronic gadgets, or computer games with new versions
and Blockchain-based platforms, are exposed to a higher
degree of danger of disruption and have to experiment
with new products and services. However, even compa- TARGETED AND INTERNAL
nies in high-reliability infrastructure industries now face
the necessity of becoming more disruptive due to digitali- The classical stage-gate process is an
zation, lower barriers to entry, and climate change. example of targeted and internalized
innovation. It is a project management
technique that emerged in the late ’80s,
was formalized by Cooper (1990), and
THE CORPORATE ENTREPRENEURSHIP is used to steer a new product from
MATRIX product ideation to market rollout.
In the initial setting, the stage-gate
Based on our research and qualitative interviews with process comprises five major inter-
corporate decision-makers and executives working in related stages, separated by four
innovation management in large, medium, and small decision points (gates). At each gate,
companies, we have identified the main tools and mech- internal experts carefully decide
anisms of how executives can organize innovation. whether or not it makes business
Using the two dichotomies described above, we suggest sense to proceed to the next stage.
a “Corporate Entrepreneurship Matrix” that helps to Most companies adapt the stage-
categorize and balance innovation efforts along the two gate process to their innovation
dimensions “internal/external” and “targeted/disruptive.” management practices. For example,
a large European player in the chem-
ical industry has successfully used
FIGURE 1: THE CORPORATE ENTREPRENEURSHIP MATRIX the stage-gate process in its product
development by reducing it to three
Internal gates. While only six to seven projects
1 3
pass the second gate each year,
getting beyond the third and last gate
Targeted Disruptive requires a revenue prospect of €500
and internal and internal million within ten years.
Few companies have the luxury
Targeted Disruptive to operate in this time frame, and
even this company went from “tech-
2 4 nology push” (the creation of superior
products that create new markets)
Targeted Disruptive
and external and external to “market pull” based on customer
needs. To observe user preferences
External far from the corporate headquar-
ters, the company sends so-called
INNOVATION
trend scouts to different continents cultural gathering capable of fostering team spirit and
and major foreign markets to obtain augmenting internal networks – creating a more vibrant
detailed trends on market segments company culture. A multinational social media network,
and develop scenarios for potential for instance, has organized hackathons to produce some
product and service innovations. of its most popular user features, such as the link button,
A European online retail company live chat functions, and the rainbow “Pride” emoji.
continuously screens the market and Open innovation as a model for
develops a short list of around 100 creating products, methods, and
ideas and technologies, which they Our interviews ideas has been around for several
publish internally twice per year. They revealed that years. Its overarching objective is to
call it the “Innovation Radar” and receive new ideas from the outside
reduce the ideas to a few dozen via open innovation and get access to know-how, while
an internal voting process, and even- platforms may keeping risks associated with inno-
tually select a single-digit number of not be the vation to a minimum. Via digital
ideas for piloting. Then they system- platform providers, it taps into a
atically organize innovation clubs, optimal path global pool of talent and expertise.
events, and roundtables with their to company- Similarly, crowdsourcing involves
subsidiaries to convince them to test
specific seeking inputs from a large pool of
the ideas. people and leveraging that wisdom
2
problem to an organization’s advantage.
solving. Crowdsourcing is external – albeit
Commercial targeted – innovation. A task or
project is offered to a relatively
platforms might large group of people outside of the
TARGETED AND EXTERNAL not attract the company. For example, a Danish
The field of targeted innovations

right experts. producer of plastic construction toys
actively seeks proposals for new toys
bears many more possibilities in from customers and simultaneously
the digitalization age. For example, encourages them to vote on the toy submissions sent in
hackathons can be used both as by fellow consumers.
internal or external sources of inno- However, our interviews revealed that open innovation
vation. They have evolved from platforms may not be the optimal path to company-specific
being a social coding event driven problem solving. Commercial platforms might not attract
by the open-source community to the right experts. A representative of a specialty chemicals

company argues that they have to build their units, inorganically expand their portfolio of
own network. They do open innovation for products, and enhance their knowledge assets
ideas, but as global competitions. If open inno- and technical prowess. Obviously, acquiring an
vation is defined as integrating external parties, organization with specialized capabilities works
then collaborations with universities for basic out faster than building know-how internally
science questions or classical joint ventures from the ground up.
3
(JVs) are more promising, according to our
interviewee. They prefer to build JVs with part-
ners that are geographically nearby to reduce A key aspect of
transaction costs. intrapreneurship
Such long-term business relationships
have proliferated of late. In the automotive and corporate DISRUPTIVE AND INTERNAL
industry, a 50:50 joint venture between a fami- incubators is to
ly-owned automotive supplier and a subsidiary lead to a more Moving from targeted to disruptive
of large automotive manufacturer was set up to innovation methods (from the left
make complete seats, seat structures, and seat entrepreneurial to the right side of the matrix), we
components. A joint venture in the smart home mindset of enter the world of uncertainty and
industry includes partners such as Germany’s
employees and complexity, where waterfall project
former telecommunications incumbent, a home management often fails and agile
sound systems provider, a domestic appliances gradual changes ways of innovating dominate.
and a lighting products manufacturer, and a in the corporate Intrapreneurship (internal entre-
U.S. search engine company. This cross-vendor
culture. preneurship) is a system by which a
home automation solution bundles multiple company lets its talented employees
brand experiences on a single application. take charge of individual projects
As the most external form of targeted while still operating within the company. The
innovations, acquisitions have become an employee wears the entrepreneur’s hat and
increasingly popular tool. This helps them to can perform more or less like an entrepreneur
complement the activities of the classical R&D while enjoying the relative security of a salaried
job. This can happen, for example, by allowing
staff to devote 10 to 15 percent of their time on
their pet projects – in the hope that these might
benefit the company at some future date. This
innovation practice, dubbed “permitted boot-
legging” by experts, smartly mines workforce
talent. Oft-cited examples of successful intra-
preneurship include 3M’s Scotch Tape, the
world’s first-ever transparent adhesive tape,
which was famously developed by an in-house
engineer in 1930. Likewise, its Post-it sticky
notes is a product that figures in most conversa-
tions on classic intrapreneurship. 3M allows its
staff to devote up to 15 percent of their time on
intrapreneurial projects.
Especially critical for fostering intra-
preneurial thinking is the creation of an
environment that enables learning, a context
that exhibits high tolerance for mistakes.
INNOVATION
Therein, employees have near- absolute

freedom to innovate, go beyond the known, and
push the frontiers of knowledge and its appli-
cation without having to worry about punitive
actions in case of failure. Corporate incubators,
such as “innovation labs,” are similarly used to
drive internal projects proposed by employees.
They offer opportunities to explore and incu-
bate innovations within a safe environment
that allows employees to return to their depart-
ments – so the risk for the individual innovator
is limited. The employees take ownership of the
innovation project, at least in the first phases
with early prototypes. facilitates implementation and narrows the
A German energy utility, for example, has gap to commercialization.
set up an “innovation campus” right outside When taking innovations to market, compa-
an existing power plant, far away from corpo- nies might choose to completely spin off the
rate headquarters. One idea that was developed innovation, that is, separate the innovation into
across various prototypes was an intelligent an independent strategic unit with the mandate
street lamp, equipped with two plugs for elec- to go to market with the new product or service.
tric vehicles, a motion sensor, Wi-Fi, etc., which Instead of keeping all innovations under the
was sold successfully to numerous other grid roof of the mother company, a leading energy
operators and municipal utilities. services provider in the German market sets up
A world market leader in specialty chem- an independent business for every niche they
icals uses so-called project houses, with half have identified as lucrative and want to occupy.
of the money coming from the central budget The COO of the company states, “If we close a
and the other half from the respective opera- niche, we try to keep the people and look what
tional units of the intrapreneurs. The steering we can do with our own employees. This reduces
committee is located just under the manage- the risk that – if you say it does not work – you get
ment board, but the employees in project fired; employees are then deployed differently.”
4
houses come from their operational units
and provide their experience with existing
processes. A project house is operational for
three years, then dissolved, and the employees
return to their operational units. This transfer
DISRUPTIVE AND EXTERNAL
Some companies focus on nurturing internal

company ideas and approaches, while others
Similar to hackathons, partner with external entities – such as startups,
corporate accelerators serve as enterprises, or entrepreneurs – to spawn
non-core ideas with an outsider’s perspective.
a pool for talent recruitment in If companies want to tap into completely
addition to fulfilling marketing new ideas, one popular tool is to establish or
and public relations tasks. participate in corporate accelerators. They run
fixed-term programs lasting around 90 or 100
days and provide startups and entrepreneurs

opportunities to acquire essential business skills – Thus, a company-building investor
including marketing, finance, sales, or product design – in (unlike a casual investor) is proac-
a very condensed way. Participants benefit from sessions tively involved with the birthing of
with experienced mentors and coaches, for example, on the company and in driving business
how to pitch their business ideas to investors. Typically, growth. Such investors also support
the startup yields a certain percentage of its equity to the the fledgling startups for a relatively
accelerator in return. Similar to corporate hackathons, longer period, often helping them
corporate accelerators may serve as a pool for talent attain scale. A German manufacturer
recruitment in addition to fulfilling marketing and public of heating, industrial, and refriger-
relations tasks. Some of the more famous accelerators ation systems founded its venture
include TechStars – which, in 2019, boasted a client base builder five years ago to “create deep
exceeding 1,600 – and Plug&Play, which accelerated 1,107 tech products and companies that
startups in 2018. solve industrial problems.” The rela-
tionship between a startup and a
company builder is a two-way street
FIGURE 2: THE CORPORATE TOOLKIT FOR INNOVATION – both parties stand to benefit.
Since the actual success of corpo-
rate accelerators is rather mixed
Internal (GALI, 2018), many companies that
want to avoid the financial risk of
the early-stage development process
Corporate establish venture capital units (VCs),
Status Quo incubator which allocate financial resources
(e.g. "Stage Project houses to later-stage startups or already
Gate") Permitted established companies to scale their
bootlegging existing products or services. As they
Trend scouts are completely detached from the
Targeted Disruptive
Hackathons Corporate investing company, a challenge is
accelerator how to merge and integrate the capa-
Open
Innovation Venture capital bilities and resources of the startups.
A large European energy utility, for
JVs & strategic Company example, does so-called strategic
alliances builder co-investments, in which individual
Acquisitions business units own the integration of
the existing business. For the part-
nering startups, this opportunity is
External attractive, because it allows them to
tap into the large existing customer
base of the utility without having to
enter the time-consuming process of
Company builders are yet another innovation catalyzer acquiring customers by themselves.
that have come into vogue. In this model, the investor VC investments typically seek disrup-
is involved from the outset in the startup creation stage. tive products or services, but they can
The company builder has an abiding interest in creating a also be targeted. Depending on their
well-organized and smooth-running startup on as frugal objective, they might have different
an investment as possible. The investor might also chip KPIs and objectives. A traditional,
in with ideas, resources, and operational involvement. family-owned boiler manufacturer
INNOVATION
wants to become a smart home integrated into the prevailing company beyond daily tasks. According to a
company and, for instance, invests ./-0/0- .ǚ *- ƣ$ )/ +-* .. . representative of a large energy utility,
into or picks up stakes in prom- lead to cost reductions and better KPIs. incubators are also a great tool to
ising deep tech and has set up two While this approach promises secure enhance employee motivation and
-)# .ǜ ) *! /# ( !*0. . short-term returns, concentrating on attract internal entrepreneurs. As a
on extensions and enhancement of targeted innovation might reduce the cultural tool, by being just inwardly
existing business lines, such as prop- *(+)4Ǩ.#) .*!Ɵ)$)"/# ) 3/ !*0. Ǜ*(+)4($"#/ ' ơ-0$)"
tech and constructiontech companies, "( Ǳ#)" - ǲ /# ) 2 +$''-. *! many missed opportunities, though.
while the second one deals with the growth. It may hamper the long-term If innovation is largely coming from
disruptive business models predi- prospects of the company. the outside, for example via startups
cated on next-gen technologies. Meanwhile, adopting a totally in corporate accelerators or venture
disruptive approach to innovation capital investments, the potential of
might also have its share of hits and the mother company to spark innova-
misses. The company might well /$*)$.' ơ0)/++ ǚ
frRrFч¸M.чE}¿£ч turn into the next big thing but have The pace of digital transforma-
×Ý«ч¸}ч}£FrRç.ч moved so far from its core business tion forces companies to accelerate
Rrr}Ö¸R}r /#/ $/ 2$'' $ƣ0'/ /* '0)# *- their innovation cycles, if they want
inlay these transformational changes to remain competitive in the market-
# - $. )* *) Ǳ.$5 ǱƟ/.Ǳ'' ++-*# within the existing organizational place. But innovation comes at the
in the world of business innovation. structure. A major part of the work- price of experimentation and fail-
Each approach promises to open up force would have to be replaced or 0- .ǚ *(+)$ . #1 /* *(
new possibilities and appeals to a /-$) $)*(+' / '4$Ƣ - )/Ɵ ' more experimental and daring in
certain type of company. No matter of expertise. their innovations, but that might
what road to innovation a company If innovation occurs only from create a cultural clash between those
chooses to take, there are bound to be within, changes in the corporate parts of the company that exploit
pros and cons along the way. culture may lead to a more entrepre- and improve existing business lines
A company can, say, innovate in a neurial mindset of employees, for and those that explore and venture
very targeted manner, limiting itself to example, by providing a safe envi- into new products and services.
innovations that strictly map to its core ronment for internal innovation ')$)" $))*1/$*). Ƣ*-/. /# - -
competencies. The upside is that the in incubators or by fostering intra- fore becomes a key priority for
resulting innovations will be those easily +- ) 0-.#$+ 2$/# - "0'- /$( Ǳ*Ƣ growing also in the future.
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ǷƼчŀчǢƼśǿǪǷчśŀƧŀƲŜūч
śūǷȗūūƲчūŀŜƋчǡǿŀţǢŀƲǷч
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.ƲǷǢūǟǢūƲūǿǢǪƋƐǟчpŀǷǢƐȜϯ
FIGURE 3: SUMMARY OF FINDINGS
Internal
Create products or services that May trigger cultural change

+ are very close to your company
and may be easy to integrate
+ and adoption of entrepreneurial
skills inside an organisation
REFERENCES
Often an HR management tool • Cooper, R. G. 1990. Stage-
- This way, you don't find
game changers! - with very low output of truly
innovative or market-ready
gate systems: A new tool
for managing new prod-
product ideas ucts. Business Horizons,
33(3), 44–54.
Targeted Disruptive • Global Accelerator
Learning Initiative (GALI).
Very few employees of the A chance to discover and
+
2018. Entrepreneurship &
mother company involved;
normally faster results + build true game changers
that may reach beyond Acceleration: Questions
from the Field. Return
industry boundaries
This approach leaves the on Investment for
- mother organisation They may be far from what your
Accelerators. April
mostly untouched - core organisation is about or
good at!
2018. Retrieved from
https://www.gali-
data.org/publications/
entrepreneurship-and-ac-
External celeration-ques-
tions-from-the-field-roti/
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Christoph Burger is a senior lecturer at ESMT Berlin. Before joining in 2003, he worked in industry at
Otto Versand and as vice president at Bertelsmann Buch AG, in consulting practice at Arthur D. Little,
and as an independent consultant focusing on private equity financing of SMEs. His research focus is
in innovation/blockchain and energy markets. Burger studied business administration at the University
of Saarbrücken (Germany), the Hochschule St. Gallen (Switzerland), and economics at the University of
Michigan, Ann Arbor (US).
As a founder, investor, author, and lecturer, Christoph Räthke has been a driving force in the German
startup ecosystem since 1999. With his podcast angelsofdeutschland.de, he sttives to get more people
excited about startup investing, while his methods, articles, university lectures, and events aim to give
aspiring founders a better chance of success. Since 2012, he has been developing and implementing
entrepreneurship programs for some of Germany's largest companies and providing executives with
structured practical experience in executive education workshops.
Bianca Schmitz is a director of leadership development programs and affiliate member of the Bringing
Technology to Market Center at ESMT Berlin. Her research has been published in journals such as
Industrial Marketing Management and Journal of Family Business Management. Beyond academic
research, Bianca has published a number of case studies and managerial articles on hidden champions
and digital transformation.
Jens Weinmann is a program director at ESMT Berlin. Weinmann’s research focuses on the analysis of
decision-making in regulation, competition policy, and innovation, with a special interest in energy and
transport. His academic experience includes fellowships at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard
University, and the Florence School of Regulation, European University Institute.
1194101220 - © Romain Gaillard/Rea
UNVEIL
YOUR TALENT
ESSEC EXECUTIVE EDUCATION
PART-TIME EXECUTIVE FULL-TIME

MBA PROGRAMS MBA PROGRAM
ESSEC & Mannheim EMBA ESSEC Global MBA
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in Paris, Mannheim and Singapore in France and Singapore
ESSEC EMBA 2 majors:
18-month part-time program Luxury Brand Management
in France and Singapore Strategy & Digital Leadership
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EXECUTIVE EUROPEAN
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SUSTAINABILITY
Lenzing sets a milestone

towards climate neutrality
with the first CO2 neutral
VEOCEL™ branded lyocell fiber
VEOCEL™ Lyocell fibers

are available as certified
CarbonNeutral® products
with a net-zero carbon
footprint in accordance with
The CarbonNeutral Protocol
New carbon neutral offering

enables Lenzing’s VEOCEL™
brand to be a leader in
the transformation of the
nonwovens industry
towards decarbonization
A
lmost two years ago Lenzing offering for VEOCEL™ branded lyocell
CEO Stefan Doboczky an- fiber, delivering a product that is more
nounced the company’s goal representative of its overall strategy
to reduce its CO2 emissions by 50 per- than any other: it will be the industry's
cent till 2030 and be completely CO2 first carbon neutral fiber. With the
neutral in 2050. An ambitius target, new range of VEOCEL™ Lyocell fibres,
which can only be achieved through it enables its partners in the nonwo-
a clear reduction readmap, innova- vens and branded goods industries
tions, collaborations along the supply to reduce their own impact on the
chain and measures which go beyond climate by using fibres with net-zero
legal requirements. reduced carbon footprint.
Now Lenzing is setting a new As a brand that has been dedi-
benchmark with a completely new cated to offering products based on
SUSTAINABILITY
renewable material wood, derived an external nature-based carbon

from sustainably managed forests, CERTIFIED CARBON- removal project. These VEOCEL™
VEOCEL™ is leading by example, NEUTRAL® PRODUCT FOR branded fibers reinforce Lenzing’s
making significant strides in CLIMATE PROTECTION commitment to the Science Based
achieving new certification standards Targets initiative around reduction of
and now also reinforcing Lenzing’s As of June 2021, VEOCEL™ Lyocell total global carbon emissions, a quest
commitments to carbon neutrality. fibers are available as certified driven by the UN Paris Agreement.
“At Lenzing, we are very proud of CarbonNeutral® products with “The first step in taking action, is
the progress we have been making to a carbon footprint reduced to understanding the problem at hand,”
address climate change,” said Robert net-zero in accordance with The said Jürgen Eizinger, Vice President
van de Kerkhof, Member of the CarbonNeutral Protocol. Achieving of Global Management Nonwovens
Board of Lenzing. “The new carbon certified carbon neutrality was at Lenzing. “The VEOCEL™ brand
neutral VEOCEL™ Lyocell fibers will the result of Lenzing’s ambitious is committed to making the shift to
play a big role in contributing to our carbon reduction efforts over the carbon neutrality an ongoing effort.
goal to become a net-zero company by last years and the collaboration with Emission from raw materials is often
2050. At Lenzing, we understand that Natural Capital Partners, a recog- the biggest part of a product or corpo-
caring for the environment isn’t just nized global leader in the design, rate footprint. To reduce these indirect
good business, but good for the busi- development and delivery of corpo- emissions, a company can either
ness. That is why we are becoming rate climate action programmes. avoid such a material or depend on
even more dedicated to effecting real Together it was possible to reduce its value chain to deliver new climate
change to the industry as we come carbon emissions to net-zero friendly solutions. With our new offer
out of the COVID-19 pandemic, and through a mix of higher produc- of carbon neutral VEOCEL™ Lyocell
embrace climate protection through tion efficiencies, use of renewable fibers, we can certainly help our
our zero carbon commitments and energy sources, low-carbon mate- partners and customers reduce their
ongoing innovations.” rials and the dedicated support of emission impact.”

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ŜƧƐưŀǷūϯч ǩ'$(/ - Ǫ '*"*ǚ # ș $. ( *! ș 4* '' Ɵ -.
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and engage with partners along the decisions, but also reassure that they
supply chain to provide more sustain- are taking a proactive step to tackle
able nonwovens solutions. climate change,” added Eizinger.
www.europeanbusinessreview.com ччͶͷ
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In a turbulent business landscape where the danger of becoming unsuitable
to deal with sudden changes is ever-present, business leaders are confronted
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n the midst of all the uncertainty, business educators
have been hard at work to arm these professional exec-
utives with the intellectual arsenal and expertise they ESSEC Business School
will need to robustly handle such challenges.
aims to infuse executive
With French roots dating back to 1907, ESSEC Business
School has fashioned itself as a titular academic institu- education participants with
tion with the goal of passing on cutting-edge knowledge new business and economic
to new generations of curious minds with a passion to
lead and influence.
models that are impactful
In order to prepare tomorrow’s leaders for the trans- in result as well as mindful
formative changes of today, be it in technological, of the environment at large.
industrial, managerial or social spaces, ESSEC developed
an educational model that has successfully kept pace with
a rapidly changing world.
centred on humanist goals, the univer-

RISE STRATEGY sity is committed to enlighten, lead, and
change the world by instilling a sense
With the values of the institution rooted in its heritage, of responsibility and direction to the
ESSEC inspires new forms of leadership through their leaders of tomorrow.
symbolic RISE strategy. As a higher education institution ESSEC Business School aims to
infuse executive education partici-
pants with new business and economic
models that are impactful in result as
well as mindful of the environment at
large. Through meaningful and econom-
ically-conscious projects, future leaders
will be prepared to run companies and
organizations that are more inclusive,
innovative, sustainable and fair – all
with the goal of bringing value and posi-
tive impact to the world.
THE GOLDEN STANDARD

OF INTERNATIONAL
EXCELLENCE
As the 5th provider for Executive

Education worldwide (Financial Times,
2020), ESSEC’s1 campuses in La Défense,
Paris and Singapore, have dedicated
many decades to nurturing the invigor-
ated spirits of executive professionals
and deepening their business acumen
and leadership development.
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name a few.
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in-depth knowledge backed by research and education places human individuality and
0/$*) $. /# *0' Ǳ " .2*- uniqueness at its fundamental core. The insti-
provides. Through the executive education tution has built its name on educating a wide
programme, this higher form of enlightenment range of professionals throughout the course of
will give executives the foresight to better under- their career: from high-potential individuals in
stand multicultural problems and address their early stages, mid-level associates steadily
them with the appropriate multidisciplinary making their way up, to experienced executive
approaches. leaders who need refresher courses.
1. https://executive-education.essec.edu/en/pages/introduction-en/1/
Ͷͺчччччч¸M.ч.¿£} .rч¿«Rr.««ч£.ÖR.×чччччччpÝчТчb¿r.чͶʹͶ͵ 2. https://executive-education.essec.edu/en/program/embas-en/essec-mannheim-emba-modular-track/
The executive educators for each systems, and more.
programme are more than equipped The part-time Executive MBA2,
to guide every participant towards the Having been in one of the school’s most respected
implementation of their life project, existence for more degree programmes, also ranked
encouraging them to embrace their 8th worldwide in the QS World
own individuality and nurture it in
than a century University ranking, is designed
such a way it becomes their edge in the as an academic for seasoned executives looking
real world. institution, ESSEC to build a stronger network in an
international collaborative environ-
prides itself ment. The full-time Global MBA3,
on providing on the other hand, can greatly
REVEAL YOUR TALENTS graduates with a benefit younger executives with 3
to 10 years of experience, leader-
ESSEC Business School’s programmes fully immersive ship potential and their eyes set on
not only develop participants’ manage- educational careers in consulting, digital leader-
ment qualities and expertise, but also experience. ship or luxury brand management.
give them the intuition to be able to call It is also the world’s MBA with the
on such skills when needed. largest representation of women
The learnings they will derive from (Financial Times, MBA ranking,
these sessions can be applied to different fields, 2020), a testament to the school’s ambition to
such as: purchase management and supply chain, promote diversity by encouraging female leaders
marketing, human resources, finance, information to accelerate their careers.
3. https://www.essec.edu/en/program/mbas/global-mba/ www.europeanbusinessreview.com 27
4. https://executive-education.essec.edu/en/program/executive-diplomas/luxury-management/
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LEADING IN THE
POST-C VID WORLD
ARE YOU
PREPARED
TO TAKE
THE RISK?
Interview with Iain
Wright, CFIRM, Outgoing
Chair, Institute of Risk
Management (IRM)
Risk is a fact of life for businesses

of all kinds – large and small.
If we’re lucky, we might see
it coming, so that we have an
opportunity to formulate a coping
strategy. But how can managers
and employees be best prepared
to deal with the unexpected? Iain
Wright, CFIRM, Outgoing Chair of
the Institute of Risk Management,
has some informed observations
on the subject.

Our aims were to find out how time but this period of crisis will focus
Thank you for your time today, Iain. risk management functions were attention on ensuring that organi-
To start with, can you share some in- responding to the crisis, whether their sations have the people and skills
formation with us about the IRM, and plans were working, what had proved to raise their game to what will be
how your members dealt with risk helpful to their response and what required in ‘the new normal’.
mitigation with regard to COVID-19? had not, how this situation might We mustn’t allow the magnitude of
The Institute of Risk Management affect the development of the profes- the current crisis to obscure the other
(IRM) is the leading international sion and what we should be learning major (and interconnected) risks that
professional body for risk manage- from it. we all face. We still need to tackle
ment. We are an independent, We found that, out of the 959 climate change, cyber-risk, supply
not-for-profit organisation that cham- respondents, 32% of organisations chain disruption, and economic and
pions excellence in had not consid- geopolitical volatility, to mention
managing risk to ered pandemic just a few. The IRM, the Institute of
improve organisa- We found that, risk or anything Operational Risk (IOR – part of the
tional performance. out of the 959 similar before it IRM group) and our wider global risk
We do this by happened. Only management community stand ready
providing interna- respondents, 32% one-fifth of those and confident to lead the response.
tionally recognised of organisations who had consid-
qualifications and had not considered ered pandemic
training, publishing risk hadn’t planned
research and guid- pandemic risk or what to do, should How does your professional back-
ance, and raising anything similar it hit. I think that ground in risk and investment indus-
professional stand-
before it happened. we will find that the tries help you navigate the complex
ards across the organisations that world of intelligent risk manage-
world. Our 8,000 coped best with the ment? How does this shape your vi-
members work in all industries, in all crisis were those which were able to sion for IRM as the organisation’s
risk disciplines and across the public, react quickly to unfolding uncertain chair?
private and not-for-profit sectors in circumstances and I think there will I am lucky that I have had a varied
more than 100 countries. be a high correlation between those career, giving me insight into a number
The role of risk management is to organisations and those that had of types of organisation, including
help organisations achieve their objec- prepared for similar eventualities. healthcare, charities, manufacturing,
tives in an uncertain world. In 2020, War-gaming unrelated scenarios can retail and financial services. And I
that world was turned upside down help get an organisation’s DNA into a have been lucky enough to work in
as a long-observed, although perhaps place where it improves its capability external audit, corporate finance, stock
not sufficiently managed, risk – global to respond to unforeseen events. exchange, financial service regulation
pandemic – became a live issue. The full survey and report(s) are
We were pleased that nearly one available on our website.
thousand of IRM’s members and For the future, we expect to see a
contacts around the world were able, sharper focus on resilience and on
at such a busy time, to contribute to strategic risk management. These
our pandemic response survey. topics have been around for some
LEADING IN THE
POST-C VID WORLD
In what ways does a small com-

pany’s risk profile differ from risks
faced by enterprise-level companies?
I’m not sure that the risks faced
by different-sized companies do
differ hugely in general. Of more
importance is the nature of the busi-
ness – the sectors within which it
operates, the extent and location of
its supply chains, exposure to inter-
national markets, and so on. Larger
companies may be able to weather
crystallising risks better than smaller
companies, but that will depend on
the nature of the risk and also the
preparedness of the enterprise (in
other words the maturity of its risk
and industry positions. Although I more about risk management. The management). Small companies will
didn’t appreciate it in these terms in second thing is that this education find it harder to devote resources to
some of my previous roles, what I should not inhibit, in fact should risk management but that does not
understand now is that all organisa- promote, wide-ranging thinking and mean they can’t be effective in identi-
tions face risks – and often they face open-mindedness. One of the impor- fying and managing risks.
common risks. What is important is tant skills of risk managers is to connect
how organisations and people identify various parts of (often voluminous)
risks, measure and monitor them, and information which face us and make
put in place appropriate mitigation to sense out of them. Having wide expe- How can a company create an all-
bring that risk within an explicit risk riences allows some of us to do this but of-staff risk mitigation effort?
appetite. I appreciate that I think this comes down primarily
There are there are people to that nebulous concept of culture.
two aspects of What is important is starting their Critical to ensuring that all staff
my experience how organisations and careers who contribute to mitigation is the right
which, for me, will not have “tone from the top”, that is a clear
shape what we people identify risks, the advantage of direction on expected behaviours
are here to do at measure and monitor those different and how the enterprise will react
the IRM. First, them, and put in place experiences. Of to risk events. This must be backed
I want us to course, some up by senior-level behaviours – for
provide a sound appropriate mitigation will have the example, there cannot be a culture
education to our to bring that risk within opportunity to of shooting the messenger when bad
students. Risk
an explicit risk appetite. move in and news is uncovered. When things go
management is out of risk as a wrong, senior management need to
a discipline that career, but for be clear about expectations. They
requires education and training. At the those who stay in a risk role, we need should support their teams who
IRM, we have world-leading qualifica- to equip them with the ability to think are managing the risk and create a
tions and training programmes for all widely and understand, assimilate and culture where lessons can be learned
levels of risk professionals, and others analyse wide-ranging data. to improve the organisation’s resil-
who are interested in understanding ience going forward.

management is people speaking to do hear a lot about office workers
At what stage should a company each other, in particular discussing working from home but, of course,
consider creating the role of “chief areas of concern with their managers. there are a number of people who
risk officer”? have continued going to a workplace,
Some organisations, especially often in very difficult circumstances
in financial services, need to have – for example, healthcare, transport,
someone identified in this role. Can you give some examples of energy, construction and extraction.
However, the title is not important firms that thrived during the pan- Good communications and targeted
and I would suggest that all organisa- demic, and explain why they were investment in what helps people carry
tions, whatever their size and nature, able to survive the COVID-19 crisis? on working productively have been
will benefit from having someone I won’t single out any organisations the difference between those who
of sufficient clout whose role it is to here, but I have seen organisations have come through strongly and those
challenge whether the organisation come through the crisis successfully who haven’t.
is aware of the risks it faces, how who quickly moved to support their
those risks are people in making
changing, what the big move to
the impact could Some organisations, working from After COVID-19, people might
be if those risks especially in finan- home, bringing in think spending money on risk man-
crystallised, and to technology solu- agement is pointless if it is impossible
prepare the organ- cial services, need to tions and making to prepare for a blind force that is be-
isation for such have someone iden- the move to online yond human control and understand-
an eventuality as tified in the role of interactions with ing. What would your advice be here?
appropriate. That customers and It is impossible to prepare for every
may be part of “chief risk officer”. their people. We eventuality and very few organisations
someone’s role in
a small organisation or a role carried
out by tens of people in large, regu-
lated organisations.
I think the key thing here is that
everyone needs to understand that
they are a source of risk to their organ-
isation. This is not bad – it is a fact that
organisations in carrying out their
daily business take on risk. Those
risks may be due to the external envi-
ronment, such as geopolitical risks,
or risks that could lead to operational
disruption, such as weather-related
risks. They could also be due to
things the organisation is doing and,
in particular, weaknesses in controls.
So, I would say that people should be
aware of what they do and what risks
are relevant in the context of their
role, and ask whether the organisation
is aware of those risks, and prepared.
I also think a powerful part of risk
LEADING IN THE
POST-C VID WORLD
input from academics, practitioners

and our members and stakeholders
on providing leading relevant qualifi-
cations and training for all those who
deal with risk in their jobs.
Enterprise Risk Management is
relevant to any business, in any sector
globally, and the broad church of our
members and student community
demonstrates that different companies
and, indeed, sectors and countries are
at different stages of risk maturity and
implementing
risk management
If I have one piece of advice to strategies. Our
young people (or, indeed, people of portfolio offers
something for
any age) thinking of a career in risk everyone at every
management or just interested in stage of their
will have been specifically prepared how effective risk management career.
for COVID. However, organisations
can prepare for business disruption can make their organisation better, If you could
and set up structures such as incident it will be to study the subject. pick three of the
management teams that allow them
Having a solid grounding in the top risks that
to react quickly to unfolding events. CEOs are losing
Investing in data sources to keep topic will pay dividends in helping sleep over, what
abreast of changing circumstances is your organisation understand and would those be?
also an important part of risk manage-
manage its risks. I think the
ment. I do come back to culture here top three of
– investing in ensuring that you have a many would
culture within your organisation that We have moved all our training include some or all of: threats to
means you are aware of and discuss courses online. Our suite of Enterprise organisational resilience, impacts
risks that face you, you plan appro- Risk Management, Financial Services of the pandemic (health, people and
priate mitigation, you set indicators, so Risk Management, Supply Chain and economic) and climate change.
you can see risks unfolding, and you are Digital Risk Management Certificates
ready to react should things go wrong. were already delivered by online
These are all worthwhile investments supported distance learning, so they
which don’t require you to plan for are available to anyone, anywhere Given the turbulent nature of the
every specific risk that may impact you. in the world. Virtual delivery for business sector, what advice can you
training is likely to continue for the give aspiring young professionals in
foreseeable future, as countries are at the industry to enable them to hit
different stages of recovery, although the ground running and keep going,
How will IRM’s training programmes we may move to offering a hybrid of even amidst all the disruptions?
change (if at all) after COVID-19? What face-to- face and online. If I have one piece of advice to young
do you think are the top emerging We believe that our suite of people (or, indeed, people of any age)
trends in enterprise risk management training is world-class, current and thinking of a career in risk management
and how will IRM prepare for them? relevant. We are constantly seeking or just interested in how effective risk

management can make their organisa- rock of society, because of the disrup- a game of football at the London
tion better, it will be to study the subject. tive nature of the pandemic. As the Stadium or meeting friends for a
Having a solid grounding in the topic ' - *! *) *! /# (*./ .*0"#/Ǳơ - drink or dinner.
will pay dividends in helping your organ- risk management platforms, how do
isation understand you personally
and manage its deal with change? What are some words you live by?
risks. I would also ūǢǪƼƲŀƧчǪǿŜŜūǪǪчǷƼч I try to live )Ɵ)''4Ǜ2#/* ..0 ..( )
say that change is a ưūчưūŀƲǪчƧūŀȖƐƲƄчǷƋūч some of the to you?
constant, so build things I have Personal success to me means
your personal ǟūƼǟƧūϰчƼǢƄŀƲƐǪŀǷƐƼƲǪч talked about leaving the people, organisations and
resilience to ŀƲţчǟƋȝǪƐŜŀƧчūƲȖƐǢƼƲ- earlier. I like physical environments I interact with
deal with and, if ưūƲǷǪчRчƐƲǷūǢŀŜǷчȗƐǷƋч to think ahead in a better place than when I started
possible, lead that about the possi- with them. Personal development has
change. Finally, ƐƲчŀчśūǷǷūǢчǟƧŀŜūчǷƋŀƲч bilities but also always been very important to me;
build your own ȗƋūƲчRчǪǷŀǢǷūţчȗƐǷƋч the pitfalls of the education can open many doors. Our
networks. This future. I like to enrolment window for the December
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an everyday thing felt by everyday than I have done in the past. In more ensure that your staff are current
people. How do you approach uncer- normal times, that may be watching and competent.
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risks in whatever they do, whether it ǟǢƐȖŀǷūчŀƲţчǟǿśƧƐŜчǪūŜǷƼǢǪϯчMūчŀƧǪƼчƋŀǪчƲūŀǢƧȝчͶʹч
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is developing strategy, thinking about
ship associations.
an acquisition, looking at building the
talent in our organisation or going ¸ƋūчūƲǢƼƧưūƲǷчǟūǢƐƼţчƃƼǢчǷƋūч$ūŜūưśūǢчūȜŀưǪчƋŀǪчśūūƲчūȜǷūƲţūţч
about their day-to-day jobs. ǷƼчͷʹчbǿƲūчͶʹͶ͵ϯч.ƲƋŀƲŜūчȝƼǿǢчŜŀǢūūǢчŀƲţчūŀǢƲƐƲƄчǟƼǷūƲǷƐŀƧчŀƲţчƧūŀǢƲч
from anywhere in the world by online supported distance learning
$ƼƲбǷчǢƐǪƤчƐǷϰчƄūǷчǡǿŀƧƐɯūţϯчwww.theirm.org/quals
It can be argued that change, while
inevitable, has shaken the very bed-
www.europeanbusinessreview.com ччͷ͹
The automated way to
build a modern data estate
for analytics and AI
Get Your Data Ready for Analytics and AI

with TimeXtender
timextender.com
INNOVATION
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anaging corporate data is mission crit- and costs, only to see the new data warehouse
ical for any company or organization 0)1 $' ) *ơ ) /$( . )*/ '$") 2$/#
and for good reason. When having an then-current-business needs. This is where
abundance of high-quality data and instantaneous $( / ) -Ș*( .$)ǚ
../*$/Ǜ*(+)$ .).$")$Ɵ)/'4$(+-*1 TimeXtender is a market leader with its auto-
their capabilities to make sound, strategic deci- mated, no-code/low-code data management
.$*)./*"-*2/# $-0.$) ..ǚ# #'' )" $.Ɵ)- +'/!*-(!*-*-")$5/$*).ǲ-*..)4- "$*)*-
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$)!*-(/$*)ǲǩ ƣ$ )/'4Ǫ $)"/# & 42*-ǚ corporate data estate.
Traditionally, building a technical infra- Following are four examples of how
structure with a data warehouse as the TimeXtender has helped European companies
centerpiece has required excessive labor hours from across various industries do just that.
www.europeanbusinessreview.com ччͷͻ
INNOVATION
1
FOOD INDUSTRY
2
CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY
Data plays a vital role for Sonneveld Group B.V., part Data is becoming increasingly vital across the
of the Orkla Group. Its operational environment and board, and the construction sector is no excep-
the machines in the company’s production environ- tion. From safety to productivity and from
ment generate vast quantities of data. The supply streamlining business processes to proactive
chain in the food industry must be clear and trans- maintenance, the sector is using ever-greater
parent at all times and the organization needs insight volumes of data. Following a SAP implementa-
into stock levels, prices of raw materials, customer tion in 2014, Heijmans N.V. installed Qlik software
preferences and transport statuses, among countless to give staff and management access to reports
other vital aspects. TimeXtender was used to help and analytics. After many years of successful use,
with data management. the ever-increasing demand for reports within
the business meant it was time to take the next
step: developing a “data estate.” Rather than
“
conducting an extensive RFP process, Heijmans
adopted a pragmatic strategy.
Once you have a data management
environment like TimeXtender, in which
all data is automatically collected,
compiled, documented, validated and
prepared, you can truly get your data to
work for you via analytics, data mining
or AI. And once your data is working for
you, your organization can operate in a
data-driven, flexible and agile manner,”
said Ismail Yasemin, CIO, Sonneveld
Group B.V. “TimeXtender now serves as
our ‘Central Park’ in which all of our data
is collected and distributed. We can now
create validated reports incorporating all
of our systems, all of our definitions and
all of our data. This has helped to boost
data quality within the organization.
”
The complete manuscript about
this story can be found here.1
38 THE EUROPEAN BUSINESS REVIEW MAY - JUNE 2021 1. https://www.timextender.com/sonneveld-groups-data-journey-from-cost-driven-to-value-driven/

2. https://www.timextender.com/heijmans-fully-prepared-for-the-future-with-a-strong-data-infrastructure/
“
We could see that TimeXtender
provides a modern data manage-
ment platform. We also saw that
TimeXtender can easily connect with
every data source, allowing us to
categorize, model, transfer, trans-
form and document all of our data
down to the very last bit. As all of
the business logic is now stored in
a central location, the reporting and
analytics performance within Qlik
and Power BI has been substantially
boosted,” said Marc Salah, Informatie
Manager, Heijmans N.V.
3
Visit the website2 for more about this
“
success story.
Let me state first of all that I have no IT

background. I am now responsible for setting
HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY up and maintaining the data warehouse
up to and including building dashboards
Where data quality is important for every organization, this is and reports,” said Tessa van der Linden, BI
especially true in healthcare. Institutions deal with sensitive employee at Zorggroep Charim. “If you have
information and efficiency is extremely important. Employees to do that alone, TimeXtender is a very easy
must always have up-to-date and correct information in order solution. There are countless ways to retrieve
to lead the organization efficiently. the data in a very user-friendly way. The nice
The care group Zorggroep Charim chose TimeXtender’s data thing is that you don’t need to have as much
management platform to bring data from various sources in a detailed technical knowledge of the design
simple and secure manner together, as the foundation for reports of different packages. Otherwise you would
and analyzes. The implementation of TimeXtender did not take have to seek outside help for that.
”
months or weeks, but merely days. The time required for data
updates and integrations has decreased from days to hours.
Click here3 to learn more about this story.
3. https://www.timextender.com/care-group-charim-builds-a-reliable-data-foundation-with-timextender/ www.europeanbusinessreview.com 39
4. https://www.timextender.com/hardi-international-turns-to-timextender-to-build-a-modern-data-estate/
INNOVATION
4
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Hardi International A/S has grown to become a world

leader in crop protection and sprayer
equipment. To control its unusual manu- Visit ƋūǢū4 for
!/0-$)" +-* .. Ƣ /$1 '4Ǜ /# 0.$) .. more details
needs clear, easy-to-understand data about how
analysis of every step from planning and TimeXtender tech-
manufacturing through to delivery. With nology supported
ǷƋƐǪчǟǢƼơūŜǷϯч
such processes in place, Hardi can keep
track of its manufacturing, deliver on its
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what it needed to achieve this was a stricter control of its
business data. TimeXtender has helped more than 3,300 companies over
-$ ,0$&'4 - '$5 /#/ $( / ) - *Ƣ -. /# the last 15 years -- these success stories as shared above
Ơ 3$$'$/4) . Ǳ*!Ǳ0. /#/$/2.'**&$)"!*-ǚ4 $)" - %0./.(''.(+' *!#*2$( / ) -*Ƣ -.)0/*-
independent of analysis tools, TimeXtender can feed, for mated data management platform, without writing code,
3(+' Ǜ $-*.*ơǨ. *2 -
2$/# /# / $/ - ,0$- . that helps implement and operate data warehouses, data
to visualize data in ways that are clear and valuable to lakes, and data marts; automating the process to get data
users. Yet, by also being fully customizable, TimeXtender ready for AI and analysis.
''*2. -$/*$) )*0"#Ɵ './*(/#/# *(+' 3 Use cases5 for TimeXtender include accelerating
nature of its product builds. As a robust data manage- Azure Synapse Analytics, data warehouse modernization,
ment platform, TimeXtender creates a single source of migrating to the cloud and a modern data estate, and
data capable of feeding any number of BI applications. By building a data warehouse for SAP.
*$)".*2$/#($)$(' .0++*-/ !-*( ./ƢǛ $/ .1 . /$( ǚ
Widespread automation, plus features such as contin-
For more about TimeXtender’s success in various
uous incremental loading of additional data, save even vertical industries visit ƋūǢū6, or at ǷƋƐǪчǟƼƐƲǷ7 to
more time, allowing Hardi to concentrate on their busi- discover greater details about TimeXtender software.
ness rather than maintaining their back-end systems.
TimeXtender’s Data Architecture
5. https://www.timextender.com/use-cases/
͸ʹчччччч¸M.ч.¿£} .rч¿«Rr.««ч£.ÖR.×чччччччpÝчТчb¿r.чͶʹͶ͵ 6. https://www.timextender.com/industries/
7. https://www.timextender.com/software/
How is your
organisation
meeting its
unique
challenges?
We don’t advise you what
to do – we draw on our
coaching style to support
your own discoveries and
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ENERGY

SMART MOVES FOR
EUROPE’S ENERGY-
INTENSIVE INDUSTRIES
By Jean-Marc Ollagnier,
Sytze Dijkstra,
Lasse Kari,
Gargi Chakrabarty
Europe needs to keep producing

chemicals, steel, and cement while
reducing emissions from those
industries. Here’s how companies
can slash carbon output while at
the same time improving their
competitiveness.
ENERGY
T
ackling climate change and at the same time meet-
ing consumer expectations requires businesses to
rethink how they make and market things. This is
increasingly needed for the materials that scaffold modern
life: steel, cement, and chemicals. These industries have
outsized footprints on our daily living, from the homes we
live in, to the cars we drive,
to the office buildings where
Chemicals, steel, and cement we work. In Europe, they ac-
industries emit about 311 count for almost 6 million
jobs and 3% of its GDP. But
million tons of carbon a year current processes of making
in Europe – accounting for them also emit high amounts
more than half of its total of carbon dioxide and green-
house gases into the atmos-
industrial emissions. phere.
Chemicals, steel, and cement
industries emit about 311 million tons of carbon a year in
Europe – accounting for more than half of its total industri-
al emissions. And the numbers likely will grow as Europe’s
population climbs and cities expand, spiking demand for
their products.
Overall, many European industries have tried to address
climate change, putting nearly 10% of capital expenditures
toward energy efficiency measures to reduce emissions.
But that pace and size of investment is not nearly enough
to meet the European Union’s long-term goal of making
the region climate-neutral by 2050, in compliance with the
Paris Climate Agreement.
It’s not just government: consumers want faster
change too. We surveyed 1,400 utility consumers last
June spanning the United Kingdom, France, Germany
and the United States. We wanted to gauge if their feel-
ings about climate change – mostly linked to emission of
pollutants into the atmosphere from industrial activities
– had shifted amid COVID-19. Our research1 found 60% of
consumers have become more aware of climate change
and its environmental impact since the outbreak, while
half of them said this awareness would influence their
decision on purchases.
Hoping to push along this energy transition, the
European Union has tied climate goals to its €750 billion
pandemic recovery package for industries announced in
July 2020. Our research suggests that four EU countries
– France, Germany, Spain, and Portugal – could allocate
between €20 billion to €38 billion from the package to
reduce carbon emissions by 2025.

found these industries could implement specific
STRUCTURAL CHALLENGES, short- and medium-term tactics in the next
COMPETITIVE PRESSURES three to five years to stave off any trade-offs
between investments in low-carbon solutions
Transition issues for industries are more and cost competitiveness and also spark long-
complex than just the upfront cost of buying and term business growth. Digital technologies such
installing technologies. As it is, the cost of doing as artificial intelligence, Internet of Things,
business is structurally higher in Europe than blockchain, digital twin, and more can facilitate
elsewhere, largely due to higher energy costs. the rapid development and adoption of these
And competitive pressures continue to mount solutions. These technologies can foster agile
as European businesses deal with COVID-19. In innovation processes, better insights into oppor-
November 2020, 45% of European C-levels said tunities in the business ecosystem.
they expect Europe to be less competitive than Our analysis suggests European companies
China after the current crisis – as compared can not only position themselves to achieve the
with 17% who had that view earlier in May. ambitious EU target of 55 percent emissions
The biggest challenge for industries making reduction by 2030 but also unlock around €28
low-carbon investments is balance and timing, billion in business value across these six sectors
given that such technologies are maturing at by 2025. The resulting carbon emissions reduc-
uneven speeds. Pouring money in too early tions would total 137Mt, more than the total
could mean a trade-off between lower returns greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of the Czech
and higher emissions reductions, while waiting Republic in 2018.
too long could lead to missed opportunities in
lucrative markets.
Reducing emissions from industrial
processes while being cost competitive isn’t PRACTICAL STEPS
easy but can be done – with digital enablers. FOR EUROPEAN COMPANIES
A recent Accenture report2 found that compa-
nies which pursue such a twin transformation We identified four practical steps for investment
– combining digital technology adoption with that can help industries achieve the dual goals
sustainability – are 2.5x more likely to be of accelerated emissions reductions and busi-
among the companies that emerge strongest ness growth while positioning them for future
from this current global crisis. opportunities. Digital technologies are critical
So, what should industries do? We studied enablers for executing these steps effectively
six of them for actionable solutions – the and at scale, enabling real-time monitoring,
legacy industries of steel, cement, and chem- facilitating collaboration across consortia and
icals, and the emerging industries of pharma, ecosystems, and providing transparency and
battery manufacturing, and data centers. We convenience for consumers.
ENERGY
1MEASURE AND MONITOR FOOTPRINT
Map carbon footprint and energy landscape to iden-

tify opportunities for emissions reduction, process
optimization, and value creation.
Identifying opportunities for emissions reduc-

tions starts with a detailed understanding of the
carbon footprint and energy landscape of busi-
ness operations. Energy and materials flows sin
industrial processes are highly complex. IoT
technology embedded in assets combined with
advanced analytics capabilities enable detailed
and forward-looking understanding of wasted
energy and unnecessary emissions.
Honeywell, a technology and performance
materials company based in Charlotte, NC, has
a vision of the future: one that is characterized
by the use of technology (connectivity and
artificial intelligence, among others) to opti-
mize energy and resource use. To this end, in
2019, Honeywell launched Honeywell Forge, an
IoT platform that helps clients collect data from
their operations and makes it easy to display
and analyze. The intent is to use software to
improve operational efficiency, reducing waste
and energy costs. The company has improved its
own energy efficiency by 70% since 2004.3
1
SMART MOVES
IoT technology embedded in assets,
Embed IoT and AI tech- combined with advanced analytics
nology into assets and
processes to gain real-time capabilities, enable detailed and
insight into energy & emis- forward-looking understanding of wasted
sions footprints energy and unnecessary emissions.
Adapt frameworks for
decision making (e.g. business
cases) to include emissions
and energy-use criteria
Set targets to reduce

impacts by processes
and KPIs for continuous
improvement

2 SCAN THE FRONTIER
Structurally monitor low-carbon technology cost

levels and technology maturity to identify key tech-
nology enablers for decarbonization and inform
opportune timing for investment.
Technologies that enable emissions reductions

have developed rapidly over the past decade.
Some, like renewable energy generation, have
developed into mature, commercial markets.
E-mobility solutions and intelligent energy
management are also reaching this stage, while
others remain pre-commercial and sub-scale.
Understanding how solutions are moving
across horizons is essential for anticipating the
right timing for investing.
SusChem, the European Technology
Platform for Sustainable Chemistry, supports
sustainable chemical and biochemical inno-
vation.4 It develops and leads large-scale,
integrated research and innovation programs on
behalf of its members, and also disseminating
critical intelligence. This includes, for instance,
a common Strategic Research and Innovation
Agenda5, which identifies key technology priori-
ties to address EU and global challenges.
2
SMART MOVES
Create dedicated teams

responsible for understanding
technology trends and exploring
relevant opportunities
Integrate scenario thinking

into business strategy to
anticipate demand for
sustainability solutions
Engage with external

experts and partners to share
and develop cutting-edge
market intelligence
ENERGY
3
CONNECT THE VALUE CHAIN Sea Canal area to enable the use or storage of
CO2 under the North Sea. This project is a joint
Build cross-industry consortia that can work closely initiative of Gasunie, EBN, Tata Steel and Port of
with regulators and local governments to find joint, Amsterdam. It brings together all the key capa-
bigger opportunities for reducing emissions and bilities that are needed to establish a CCUS value
unlocking trapped value. chain: Tata Steel will capture CO2, Gasunie has
experience with building infrastructure and
Opportunities for emissions reductions do not transport, EBN has knowledge of geology &
end at company boundaries. In fact, collaboration storage, and the Port of Amsterdam facilitates
creates new opportunities for larger emissions and coordinates companies in the area. The
reductions. Waste energy and material streams consortium approach in this industrial cluster
can find useful applications makes it possible to capture, store and reuse
at partners on a single site large quantities of CO2 emissions before 2030.
Embed low-carbon or along the value chain.
criteria into product
3
And pooling of resources SMART MOVES
and expertise can accel-
& service design for erate commercialization of Establish consortia at industrial clus-
better product perfor- new solutions for emissions ters to create, test, and scale technology
mance, longevity, reduction by identifying solutions for sustainability impact
and testing early use-cases,
safety, and quality at supported by stimulus and Utilize technology such as block-
affordable costs. subsidy funding. Consortia at chain to trace resource use within
industrial clusters can serve ecosystem partners.
as early test beds for new
concepts that bundle multiple solutions (e.g. large- Closely work with peers, national and local
scale renewable supply and hydrogen production). governments, and policy makers towards
Tata Steel is a partner in the Athos consor- an orchestrated European energy transi-
tium, which provides for the construction of tion strategy that safeguards the European
a basic transport infrastructure in the North competitive edge and level playing field

4 tool for low-carbon, smart road design. With
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customers meet their own climate ambitions and concrete products and building solutions.
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būŀƲЙpŀǢŜч}ƧƧŀƄƲƐūǢ is the «ȝǷȧūч$ƐơƤǪǷǢŀчis a senior fŀǪǪūчdŀǢƐ is the global FŀǢƄƐчƋŀƤǢŀśŀǢǷȝч

ŜƋƐūƃчūȜūŜǿǷƐȖūчƼɭŜūǢчƼƃч principal at Accenture energy research lead at is a senior editor at
ŜŜūƲǷǿǢūчƐƲч.ǿǢƼǟūϰчȗƐǷƋч £ūǪūŀǢŜƋчƃƼǢч.ǿǢƼǟūŀƲч Accenture Research in Accenture Research
management oversight of ŀƲţч«ǿǪǷŀƐƲŀśƐƧƐǷȝч¸ƋƼǿƄƋǷч $ȄǪǪūƧţƼǢƃϰчFūǢưŀƲȝ in Boston
all industries and services fūŀţūǢǪƋƐǟчƐƲчưǪǷūǢţŀưϰч
ƐƲч.ǿǢƼǟūϯчMūчƐǪчŀƧǪƼчŀч rūǷƋūǢƧŀƲţǪ
member of Accenture’s Global
Management Committee.
FUTURE OF BUSINESS
FLP-IT FORWARD:
A New Framework for Growth
in the Post-Pandemic Era
By Olaf J. Groth,
Mark Esposito
and Terence Tse

A
sian companies and economies rebounded com- modate the restrictions the coronavirus forced across
+-/$1 '4 ,0$&'4 !-*( /# *1$ǱƧƯ *2)/0-)Ǜ the world, re-calibrating supply chains and adding
employing lessons they learned from previous amenities such as curbside pickup to sidestep the worst
pandemics to triage their business portfolios and adapt of the financial and economic fallout.
to a chaotic new reality. Many forward-thinking U.S. This need for this type of triage process might not feel
companies followed closely behind. Facebook, Amazon quite as urgent as the coronavirus recedes, but the impor-
and other large digital platforms could simply feast on tance of constantly analyzing the business environment and
the pandemic-fueled bounty for e-commerce and deliv- paring out parts of the business that cannot adapt to a world
-4*(+)$ .Ǜ0/()4*!/# *0)/-4Ǩ./*+ǩ- ' *)- $) *)./)/ #)" 2$'' - ($)ǚ *1$ǱƧƯ .$(+'4 '$ -
omy” firms, such as Walmart, also managed to accom- /# ) !*-*)/$)0*0.+0-.0$/*!+/$'$/4)Ơ 3-
ibility as new virus variants are coming, other pandemics
).0 ) */# - '-" .' $.-0+/$*). -
on top, such as cybersecurity outages, climate change and
" *+*'$/$' / ).$*). 2$/# #$)ǚ . /# +) ($ 2$ ).
/# $1$ . /2 ) /# #1 . ǹ ǚ"ǚ /# '-" $"$/' +'/-
!*-(.Ǻ)/# #1 Ǳ)*/.ǹ ǚ"ǚ(*./*!/# Ǧ- ' *)*(4ǪǺǛ
we will need a new framework to remobilize and charge
ahead. To that end, we propose FLP-IT, a novel framework
/#/Ơ$+.*0-"5 /*/# !0/0- 2#$' /&$)"$)/**0)//#
ever-changing variables that are reshaping our surround-
ings, environments, markets and lives.
¸M.чEf ТR¸чE£p.×}£d
The FLP-IT framework sets out a series of analytical steps

that will help individuals and organizations make better
sense of the current environment, and then begin to turn
the threats and opportunities they identify into growth
going forward:
E}£.«ϱ
) -./)/# ) 2!*- .Ǜ*-/# (+'$Ɵ/$*)*! 3$./$)"

forces that create critical uncertainties and impact our
lives and businesses. For example, what tech providers
are positively or negatively impacted by the pandemic?
Will new political administrations in the U.S. and Europe
elevate or depress regulation of the digital economy and
society? What will emerge from advancements in cutting-
edge technologies that were unleashed by the pandemic? A
fuller understanding of these new forces will help you more
accurately assess how current events are transforming the
www.europeanbusinessreview.com чч͹͵
FUTURE OF BUSINESS
ǪчǷƋūчǟŀƲţūưƐŜч
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. //$)". $) 2#$# Ɵ-(. *+ -/ ) - .#+$)" who loses? Which business models will prevail?
the business landscape. How will a decentralized supply chain change
(-"$)' - 1 )0 ) *./.Ǣ $'' $/$ . .0Ƣ -
f}FRϱ brain drains as virtual work nomads seek new
physical spaces, and will this phenomenon
As you gain a better sense for these key forces, change spending, consumption and taxation?
determine the new and emerging logic devel- How will education and training change to
*+$)" $) *0- .*$ /$ .Ǜ $)0./-$ . ) Ɵ '.ǚ ''*2 2*-& -. !- (*- Ơ 3$$'$/4 /* ' -) )
These days it is particularly cliche to hear earn simultaneously? And how will a hybrid-
about the “new normals” with which we need ized workforce compete with the vibrancy of
to cope, so look instead for the evolving logics brick-and-mortar economies, mainly in the
that explain the evolution of your environment. developing markets, as consumption and social
Will our economies, industries and lives bounce interactions stagger?
back quickly once a vaccine is approved, or will
we struggle to recapture growth and vitality? Rp fR¸R}r«ϱч
$''2 ./0&/*" *( /-4*!-$.$.ǹ ǚ"ǚ/#
Ǳ.#+ ǛǱ.#+ Ǜ*-'*)"/ /#/0ǺǢ
!2 Now, draw conclusions about the implications
do roar back, how will we normalize business /# . !*- .Ǜ'*"$.ǹ(0'/$+' +'0.$' !0/0- .Ǻ
and society? Will we live in an era of continuous and patterns will create for your company,
ǩ*-*)*($.ǛǪ2$/#!./ -*.$''/$*) /2 ) community and family. For businesses, this
contraction and expansion as every new virus might come in the form of a value chain impact
and non-virus disruption hits? Will technoc- assessment based on observations gleaned
-$ . /-$0(+# . */# - *0)/-$ . -$ơ /*2- from the FLP steps in this framework. Where
populism and away from science? are the vulnerable links in the value chain, and
where are the new opportunities to strengthen
¸¸.£r«ϱ and diversify it? What specialized platforms
might emerge, or what technologies could you
With a sense of the logic at play in these develop in-house to enhance smart procure-
turbulent times, visualize the new patterns ment and supply chains as the world moves
and phenomena emerging from interactions toward a more systematic acceptance of open
between actors in your world. Who gains and and frugal solutions?
͹Ͷчччччч¸M.ч.¿£} .rч¿«Rr.««ч£.ÖR.×чччччччpÝчТчb¿r.чͶʹͶ͵
TRIAGE:
The true value of identifying the implications of

these forces, logics and patterns emerges from
the development of a new portfolio of business
activities, units and products that can respond
to discontinuities with greater adaptability. To
realize that value, though, you have to triage the
existing elements of your portfolio. This might
require the elimination of portfolio elements
that cannot adapt to a constantly shifting
“non-normal” – or at least accommodate a reality
in which radical transformation will periodically
occur. This frees up capital and attention that then
provides oxygen for activities that are less rigidly
pegged to one type of normal or one dimension
(e.g. outside versus inside, digital versus physical, apply these will vary based on who you are or,
domestic versus international, or centralized more importantly, who you want to become as
versus dispersed). To that end, we recommend a you step through and emerge from the crisis:
1
focus on the use of digital technologies and new
materials science to transform assets for utility in
V
different market realities, such as selective lock-
downs, changing health and hygiene policies, or Build healthcare surveillance into your
the ebbs and flows of cross-border transactions. operational model – The emerging future
of work will necessitate new combinations
of virtual and physical presence. “Hyperflex
VOLATILITY mode,” or the constant toggling between
PUTTING FLP-IT TO WORK
U
physical and digital, will become a key
operating principle for most businesses.
The triage process is a logical destination for the This will not be possible without steady
entire FLP-IT framework. Indeed, we designed vigilance for worker wellbeing and the
FLP-IT to integrate assessment, foresight and resulting assurance of productivity.
2
action in a way that helps individuals and busi- UNCERTAINTY
C
nesses generate the kind of flexible growth
that portfolio adaptability provides in a VUCA
world – no matter how long the down cycles Invest in remote facilities operations
last or how widely the balances shift between and new transaction processes between
digital and physical presence. Most portfolio collaborators – New health and hygiene
triage decisions will be determined by the COMPLEXITY requirements will require more monitoring
A
specific business, competitive arena or industry and command-and-control technologies
in question, but there are some generalizable for fabrication sites. Managers will need
recommendations we can make already. Each new digital/hybrid leadership techniques.
of the following recommendations offers an And marketing and sales teams will need to
internal productivity investment or an opportu- craft new partnerships for event manage-
nity for new actors to innovate and develop new AMBIGUITY ment, “edutainment,” and other solutions
solutions – and ultimately build more resilience that foster human intimacy and help replace
in traditional and digital actors alike. How you physical rapport-building protocols.
FUTURE OF BUSINESS
3
Increase supply chain redundancy and
}¿¸ч¸M.ч¿¸M}£«
$Ǣϯч}ƧŀƃчFǢƼǷƋчis a global strategist, author,

resilienceчЛч×ƼǢƤƐƲƄчȗƐǷƋчRЙţǢƐȖūƲчǪưŀǢǷч adviser and professor focused on technology,
ǪǿǟǟƧȝчŜƋŀƐƲчƃǿƲŜǷƐƼƲŀƧƐǷȝчǟǢƼȖƐţūǢǪчЋūϯƄϯч disruption and discontinuities in the global
ūŜƼƲƼưȝϯчMūчƐǪч.}чƼƃчŀţȖƐǪƼǢȝчǷƋƐƲƤǷŀƲƤч
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}ǢŀŜƧūЌчŜŀƲчƋūƧǟчŜƼưǟŀƲƐūǪчƄŀƐƲчƐƲǷūƧƧƐ- ɯǢưчŀưśǢƐŀƲч$ūǪƐƄƲǪϰч ǢƼƃūǪǪƼǢчƃƼǢч«ǷǢŀǷūƄȝϰч
gence on the health of their procurement RƲƲƼȖŀǷƐƼƲϰч.ŜƼƲƼưƐŜǪчŀƲţчEǿǷǿǢūǪчŀǷчMǿƧǷч
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processes and various vendors. This will EŀŜǿƧǷȝчƃƼǢч«ǷǢŀǷūƄȝϰч¸ūŜƋƲƼƧƼƄȝчŀƲţчǿǪƐƲūǪǪч
enable faster switching and, with that, Ӆч ǿśƧƐŜч ƼƧƐŜȝчŀǷч¿чūǢƤūƧūȝЫǪчMŀŀǪч«ŜƋƼƼƧч
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greater supply security. ǷƋūч×ƼǢƧţч.ŜƼƲƼưƐŜчEƼǢǿưϯч}ƧŀƃчƋŀǪчƋūƧţч
leadership roles in global enterprises and
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consultancies. A frequent speaker, commen-
tator and author in media outlets he is also
co-author of “Solomon’s Code: Humanity in
a World of Thinking Machines,”чơƼƐƲǷƧȝчȗƐǷƋч
¿чūǢƤūƧūȝЫǪч$ǢϯчpŀǢƤчrƐǷȧśūǢƄчŀƲţчƼƃч"The
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AI Generation: Shaping Our Shared Global
ưƐȧūчƋǿưŀƲчǷƼǿŜƋчǟƼƐƲǷǪчŀƲţчūȜǟƼǪǿǢūч Future With Thinking Machines"чЋ ūƄŀǪǿǪϰч
to infections, putting special attention to ͶʹͶ͵ЌϯчMƐǪчƃƼǢǷƋŜƼưƐƲƄчśƼƼƤч“The Great
Remobilization: Designing A Smarter World”
the value proposition of new service or ȗƐǷƋч$ǢϯчpŀǢƤч.ǪǟƼǪƐǷƼчŀƲţч$Ǣϯч¸ūǢūƲŜūч¸ǪūчƐǪч
product delivery modalities. This plays into ţǿūчǷƼчśūчǢūƧūŀǪūţчƐƲчͶʹͶͶϯ
the emerging trend of “everything at a safe
$ǢϯчpŀǢƤч.ǪǟƼǪƐǷƼчis a socio-economic
distance,” which generates new customer strategist and bestselling author, researching
and employee intimacy problems for brands. the Fourth Industrial Revolution and Global
5
«ƋƐƃǷǪϯчMūчȗƼǢƤǪчŀǷчǷƋūчƐƲǷūǢƃŀŜūчśūǷȗūūƲч
Business, Technology and Government and
ŜƼЙƃƼǿƲţūţчrūȜǿǪчEǢƼƲǷƐūǢ¸ūŜƋϰчŀƲчǢǷƐɯŜƐŀƧч
Intelligence company. He is Professor of
ǿǪƐƲūǪǪчŀƲţч.ŜƼƲƼưƐŜǪчŀǷчMǿƧǷчRƲǷūǢƲŀǷƐƼƲŀƧч
źŰƨŎġĩƠϑŰĩǕϑťŎŁĩΣŮþŰþłĩŮĩŰƵϑƨźťƽƵŎźŰƨчЛч ǿǪƐƲūǪǪч«ŜƋƼƼƧчŀƲţчūǡǿŀƧƧȝчŀчƃŀŜǿƧǷȝч
«ƼŜƐŀƧчţƐǪǷŀƲŜƐƲƄчƐǪчǪǷǢŀƐƲƐƲƄчǢūƧŀǷƐƼƲǪƋƐǟǪч member at Harvard Division of Continuing
.ţǿŜŀǷƐƼƲчǪƐƲŜūчͶʹ͵͵ϯчMūчƐǪчŀƲчŀţȖƐǪƼǢчǷƼчǷƋūч
ŀƲţчɯƲŀƲŜūǪчŀǢūчƄūǷǷƐƲƄчǪǷǢūǷŜƋūţчśȝчǷƋūчƧƼǪǪч ǢƐưūчpƐƲƐǪǷūǢч}ɭŜūчƐƲчǷƋūч¿.чŀƲţчŀч ƼƧƐŜȝч
ƼƃчŜǿǪǷƼưūǢǪϰчơƼśǪчŀƲţчƃǿǢƧƼǿƄƋǪϯчpūŀƲȗƋƐƧūϰч EūƧƧƼȗчŀǷч¿fЫǪчRƲǪǷƐǷǿǷūчƃƼǢчRƲƲƼȖŀǷƐƼƲчŀƲţч
the cybersecurity of both enterprise and Public Purpose. He has authored/co-au-
ǷƋƼǢūţчƼȖūǢч͵͹ʹчǟǿśƧƐŜŀǷƐƼƲǪϰч͵͵чśƼƼƤǪϰчŀưƼƲƄч
home networks becomes more enmeshed ȗƋƐŜƋчͶчưŀȧƼƲчśūǪǷǪūƧƧūǢǪϱ Understanding
ŀƲţϰчǟƼǷūƲǷƐŀƧƧȝϰчƧūǪǪчǪūŜǿǢūϯϯч«ƼƃǷȗŀǢūчǪƼƧǿ- how the Future UnfoldsчЋͶʹ͵ͻЌчŀƲţчThe AI
Republic ЋͶʹ͵ͽЌϯчMƐǪчƲūȜǷчśƼƼƤчШThe Great
tions that manage the new volatility on all
Remobilization: Designing A Smarter World”
ǷƋūǪūчƃǢƼƲǷǪчȗƐƧƧчɯƲţчǷƋūƐǢчưŀǢƤūǷǪϯ with Dr. Olaf Groth and Dr. Terence Tse, will be
ǟǿśƧƐǪƋūţчƐƲчͶʹͶͶчśȝчpR¸ч¿ƲƐȖūǢǪƐǷȝч ǢūǪǪϯ
$Ǣϯч¸ūǢūƲŜūч¸ǪūччƐǪчŀчǟǢƼƃūǪǪƼǢчŀǷч.« ч
We will not see a single “new normal” for months ǿǪƐƲūǪǪч«ŜƋƼƼƧчŀƲţчŀчŜƼЙƃƼǿƲţūǢчŀƲţч
if not years, and we more likely will need to adjust to ūȜūŜǿǷƐȖūчţƐǢūŜǷƼǢчƼƃчrūȜǿǪчEǢƼƲǷƐūǢ¸ūŜƋϰч
an AI company. He has worked with more
a series of frequently changing “new normals” as we than thirty corporate clients and intergov-
prepare ourselves for a world in constant transforma- ernmental organizations in advisory and
training capacities. In addition to being a
/$*)ǚ/# -/#)#*+$)"$)1$)!*-- /0-)/*2#/ sought after global speaker., he has written
2 *) &) 2*-"$1$)"$)/*/# +$)*!2#/Ǩ.'*./Ǜ ƼȖūǢч͵͵ʹчǟǿśƧƐǪƋūţчŀǢǷƐŜƧūǪчŀƲţчǷƋǢūūчƼǷƋūǢч
2 ) /*Ơ$+*0-"5 !*-2-Ǜ (- /# 0) -- books including the latest Amazon best seller,
The AI Republic: Building the Nexus Between
tainty, and adjust our strategies and activities. The Humans and Intelligent AutomationϯчMƐǪчƲūȜǷч
FLP-IT model does that, so we can triage our portfolios book “The Great Remobilization: Designing
A Smarter World” with Dr. Olaf Groth and Dr.
in ways that generate tangible value for the businesses pŀǢƤч.ǪǟƼǪƐǷƼчȗƐƧƧчūȜǟƧƼǢūчǷƋūчǟƼǪǷчǟŀƲţūưƐŜч
and individuals we encounter each day. designs as we prepare for the great reset.
BUSINESS PROCESS
SIX BUSINESS PROCESSES

YOU NEED TO RETHINK
FOR THE AGILE AGE
By Alessandro Di Fiore From pandemics to politics and beyond, companies face
an uncertain and changing environment characterized
and Gabriele Rosani by fast-decreasing stability and predictability. To cope,
organizations in different contexts and competitive
situations have enthusiastically embraced the concept
of agility. In support, thought leaders, academics and
practitioners produce a constant stream of articles,
reports, white papers and books on agility – not to
mention the profusion of webinars and events.

T
he result is that when we quiz them, ex- cycles of a few weeks (called sprints in agile
ecutives often say, “Yes, of course we do jargon) while pressed to comply with the yearly
agile.” In reality, when pressed they be- budget process, filling templates with detailed
lieve they have embraced agility because they numbers for the next twelve months. Under
have launched some teams using agile method- such constraints, sprints become marathons.
ologies (such as Scrum) as their way of working. Does it really make sense for an agile team to
But launching agile teams is often not enough to invest time and effort in detailing a yearly budget
achieve the goals of becoming a more flexible plan that may be completely outdated after a few
and agile organization, able to operate faster. sprint cycles?
There is a difference in scope and ambition in Or imagine if the same team needs to pivot and
setting agility as a goal for the overall organiza- pursue a different route requiring new skills in
tion against using agile methodologies to run a the team. Does it make sense for them to wait for
number of teams and projects. extended periods because procurement takes three
In reality, if you launch agile teams while months to source the newly needed outside talent
the rest of the organization is operating in the through the standard vendor process? These are
traditional way, the teams will not achieve not theoretical questions. At one company an agile
their performance potential. Agile teams will team needed to quickly find an expert on machine
be systematically slowed down by long-estab- learning, a skill that was not promptly available
lished processes. We have encountered newly in-house. The procurement process to engage a
formed agile teams expected to work in short vendor was so cumbersome and time-consuming
BUSINESS PROCESS
that the team gave up and eventually went with a

suboptimal solution to avoid critical delays.
Keeping traditional business processes
3
Goal Setting: establishing team-based
objectives and related measurable key
unchanged may fundamentally hinder the results (OKRs) on a quarterly cadence
ability to reap performance rewards from agile rather than annual individual MBOs.
teams. If a company wants to become agile
4
it must also rethink some key management
processes, relics of 20th century management,
that create rigidity, bureaucracy and slowness.
Based on our global consulting experience, Performance Management: moving
there are six main business processes that a towards a system of social feedback,
company should adapt when introducing agile. open to peers and team members, not
We have published extensively on most of them only determined by the performance
and we suggest the reader who is interested review of the hierarchical boss.
to dive into some of them to refer to our other
publications. But here is a summary of the six
processes and their needed changes:
5
1
Strategic Planning: allowing more
Talent Sourcing: evolving towards
a liquid workforce, leveraging the
opportunity of external on-demand
dynamic assumptions and strategic talents (for example, using freelance
options, periodically reassessed, based platforms).
6
on strategic conversations rather than
simply using a numbers game.
2
Budgeting: making resources and funds
Decision Making: innovating the
control model, reducing the chain of
preventive authorizations, empowering
available to teams in a flexible way to teams and employees and establishing
seize emerging opportunities. new ways of post-detection control.

¸M.ч«RÜч¿«Rr.««ч £}.««.«чÝ}¿чr..$ч¸}ч£.¸MRrdчE}£ч¸M.чFRf.чF.
Process From … … To
1. Strategic • «ǷŀśƧūчŀǪǪǿưǟǷƐƼƲǪчƃƼǢчưǿƧǷƐЙȝūŀǢчǟƧŀƲǪ • Dynamic assumptions to validate ‘on the go’

Planning • Process-heavy, number game • Periodical reassessment based on learnings and
• fŀŜƤчƼƃчŜƧŀǢƐǷȝчŀƲţчǪƐưǟƧƐŜƐǷȝчЋţƐɭŜǿƧǷчǷƼч strategic conversations
ŜƼưưǿƲƐŜŀǷūЌ • «ǷƼǢȝǷūƧƧƐƲƄчЋūǟƐŜǪϰчƃūȗчȗƼǢţǪчǪǷǢŀǷūƄȝчǪǷŀǷūưūƲǷЌч
2. Budgeting • Once a year • ¢ǿŀǢǷūǢƧȝчЋƼǢчūȖūƲчưƼǢūчƃǢūǡǿūƲǷЌ

• Rigid resource allocation • EƧūȜƐśƧūчǢūŀƧƧƼŜŀǷƐƼƲчśŀǪūţчƼƲчȖŀƧǿū
• Bureaucratic authorizations ‘increments’ and changing priorities
• }ȗƲūţчśȝчEǿƲŜǷƐƼƲчЋШưȝчśǿţƄūǷЩЌ • «ƐưǟƧūчǢǿƧūǪчǷƼчǿǪūчŀƲţчǪǟūƲţчƐǷ
• Owned by autonomous teams
3. Goal Setting • ƲƲǿŀƧчŀƲţчɯȜūţ • ¢ǿŀǢǷūǢƧȝчŀƲţчǢƼǿǷƐƲūƧȝчǢūȖƐūȗūţϰч}d£чưūǷƋƼţƼƧƼƄȝ

• Individual • Team-based
• fƐƲƤūţчǷƼчp}чЋƼƲƧȝчūưǟƧƼȝūūчŀƲţчưŀƲŀƄūǢчƤƲƼȗЌ • Transparent
4. Performance • }ƲƧȝчǷƋūчƼǪǪчƄƐȖūǪчƃūūţśŀŜƤчЋƋƐūǢŀǢŜƋƐŜŀƧчưƼţūƧЌ • «ƼŜƐŀƧчƃūūţśŀŜƤчЋШȗƐǪţƼưчƼƃчǷƋūчŜǢƼȗţЩЌ

Management • «ūŜǢūǷƐȖūчŀƲţчƃƼǢưŀƧ from many peers
• rūƄƼǷƐŀǷƐƼƲчŀǢƼǿƲţчŜƼưǟūƲǪŀǷƐƼƲч • Transparent, and candid
• ¸ƐưūчŜƼƲǪǿưƐƲƄϰчɯƧƧƐƲƄчǷūưǟƧŀǷūǪч • For learning and development
• ǟǟчǷƼƼƧǪчЋƃūȗчŜƧƐŜƤǪЌчǷƼчǟǢƼȖƐţūчŀ
feedback in minutes
5. Talent • $ƐǪǷƐƲŜǷƐƼƲчśūǷȗūūƲчƐƲǷūǢƲŀƧчŀƲţчūȜǷūǢƲŀƧч • fƐǡǿƐţчȗƼǢƤƃƼǢŜūчЋśƧǿǢǢūţчƧƐƲūǪчśūǷȗūūƲч

Sourcing ЋūȜǷūǢƲŀƧчưūŀƲǪчȖūƲţƼǢЌ ƐƲǷūǢƲŀƧчŀƲţчūȜǷūǢƲŀƧЌ
• MūŀȖȝчǟǢƼŜūǪǪчǷƼчǟǢƼŜǿǢūчūȜǷūǢƲŀƧƧȝ • Access to a long tail of talents on
• Preferred on-premises work freelance platforms
• Talents easily and quickly sourced
• ×ƼǢƤчƃǢƼưчȗƋūǢūчȝƼǿчƧƐȖū
6. Decision • «ūȖūǢŀƧчŀǿǷƋƼǢƐȧŀǷƐƼƲчƧŀȝūǢǪчśūƃƼǢūчǷƋūч • Push the decision-making down the

Making decision or spend is authorized organizational hierarchy
• £ǿƧūǪчǷƼчƧƐưƐǷчǷƋūчţƐǪŜǢūǷƐƼƲŀǢȝчơǿţƄū- • .ưǟƼȗūǢưūƲǷчƼƃчǷƋūчȗƼǢƤƃƼǢŜūчŀƲţчǷƋūƐǢ
ment of employees ơǿţƄūưūƲǷчƐƲчưŀƤƐƲƄчţūŜƐǪƐƼƲǪ
• Preventive control model • ‘Post-detection” control model
*).$ - .*( *(+)$ . /#/ #1 /-).- dynamics follow much shorter cycles of few
formed their key processes to become more agile. 2 &.*- 1 )' ..ǚ*). ,0 )/'4Ǜ0" /$)")
Take the case of Vodafone: as part of an ambi- resource allocation cannot be rigid anymore. Their
tious Agile transformation program they have 0" /Ǜ!*-$)./) Ǜ$.- .// !*0-*-Ɵ1 /$( .
rethought key processes such as resource allo- a year: the initial version is not bounding, and the
/$*) /* ''*2 (*- +/$'$/4 ) Ơ 3$$'$/4 spending mix of a Tribe can be reallocated across
to changes. For example, while in the past the $Ƣ - )/,0.*-$)"/*.#$ơ$)"+-$*-$/$ .ǚ
+'))$)" !*- #-$./(. *Ƣ -$)". ) (+$"). # -+ 0/$.Ǜ 2 -. 4Ǳ. $*/ #
used to start months in advanced, today portfolio company, introduced an agile goal setting process,
BUSINESS PROCESS
0.$)" ) . ++-*#ǚ *- 3(+' Ǜ *) "*' creates bureaucracy and reduces employee
of the company is to advance late stage clin- )"" ( )/ǚ ƣ)$/4'0. '$($)/ /# '*)"
ical programs, with the concrete key result of approval processes and introduced a frame-
*/$)$)" ++-*1' 4 /# Ɵ-./ 2*-&ǹ$))0/.# ''ǜǩ*2#/$.$)
quarter of the year. This set of compa- /# ./ $)/ - ./ *! *0- '$ )/.ǪǺ
)4Ǩ. . $. '$") /* /# / (.
ƼưǟŀƲƐūǪчǷƋŀǷчƋŀȖūч to guide everybody in making
owning each clinical development ŀƄƐƧƐǷȝчŀǪчƄƼŀƧчƃƼǢчǷƋūч decisions for loans. Within that
+-*"-(Ǜ 2#$# $) /0-) Ɵ) (*- ƼȖūǢŀƧƧчƼǢƄŀƲƐȧŀǷƐƼƲч framework every employee can use
"-)0'-.ǲ.0#.*(+' /$)" their judgement to deviate from
certain clinical study by a deadline or
ưǿǪǷчǢūǷƋƐƲƤч /# )&Ǩ. +*'$$ .Ǜ 0/ /# 4 -
#1$)"/# -$ Ɵ)"*0( )/.- 4 ƃǿƲţŀưūƲǷŀƧчǟǢƼŜūǪǪūǪч required to justify their decisions
to be submitted to FDA. Individuals, ǷƋŀǷчŜǢūŀǷūчǢƐƄƐţƐǷȝчƐƲч and post their rationales in the
or sub-teams, that perform work system in a transparent way.
/# ) #1 /# $- .Ǜ 2#$# -
ǢūǪƼǿǢŜūчŀƧƧƼŜŀǷƐƼƲчŀƲţч Embracing agility is more than
discussed with the team. This creates śǿǢūŀǿŜǢŀŜȝчƐƲчţūŜƐǪƐƼƲч simply launching teams using an
an environment of communica- ưŀƤƐƲƄϰчţūƧŀȝƐƲƄч "$' ( /#**'*"4ǚ *(+)$ .
tion, alignment, and collaboration. that have agility as goal for the
*- *1 -Ǜ*) / (Ǩ..- 1$.$'
ŀŜǷƐƼƲǪчŀƲţчƋŀưǟūǢƐƲƄч overall organization must rethink
to other teams to increase transpar- ǷƋūчŜƼưưƐǷưūƲǷчŀƲţч fundamental processes that create
ency and ease interdependencies. ūƲƄŀƄūưūƲǷчƼƃчǷƋūƐǢч rigidity in resource allocation and
.- $.0.. )0+/ ,0-- bureaucracy in decision making,
/ -'4/*- Ơ /#)"$)"+-$*-$/$ .ǚ ūưǟƧƼȝūūǪϯч delaying actions and hampering
ƣ)$/4'0.Ǜ $)) .*/Ǳ. the commitment and engagement
credit union, is a remarkable example of inno- of their employees. Making those processes
vation in decision making and control model. more agile will also enable the work of agile
) /-$/$*)' )&.Ǜ 1 ) $! /# 0./*( - Ɵ/. teams, improving their performance and
the credit scoring, the branch employee must morale and, at the same time, preparing the
ask for a signature two or three levels up before right preconditions for full-scale organiza-
granting a loan. This slows down decisions, tional transformation.
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ƧūǪǪŀƲţǢƼч$ƐчEƐƼǢū is the FŀśǢƐūƧūч£ƼǪŀƲƐ is a senior

ƃƼǿƲţūǢчŀƲţч.}чƼƃчǷƋūч ưŀƲŀƄūǢчŀǷч.«RчƼƲǪǿƧǷƐƲƄϰч
.ǿǢƼǟūŀƲчūƲǷǢūчƃƼǢч«ǷǢŀǷūƄƐŜч ūȜǟūǢǷчƐƲчǷƋūчŀǢūŀǪчƼƃчśǿǪƐƲūǪǪч
RƲƲƼȖŀǷƐƼƲчЋ.«RЌчŀƲţч.«Rч model innovation, platform
Consulting. He is based in economy, innovation manage-
Boston and Milan. He can be ment and organizational agility.
ǢūŀŜƋūţчŀǷчŀţƐɯƼǢūӄūŜǪƐЙŜƼƲ- He is based in Milan and
sulting.com. Follow him on can be reached at
ǷȗƐǷǷūǢчӄŀƧūȜţƐɯƼǢūϯ ƄǢƼǪŀƲƐӄūŜǪƐЙŜƼƲǪǿƧǷƐƲƄϯŜƼư
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BRAND
ƼưǟŀƲȝчǢŀƲţǪ
ŀǪч ǿǢǟƼǪūЙţǢƐȖūƲ
fƐȖūţЙ.ȜǟūǢƐūƲŜūч
.ŜƼǪȝǪǷūưǪ
By Venkat Ramaswamy
and Nicholas Ind
W
$/# /#
ǱƧƯ +) ($ 0-$)"
"'*' /-1 ' $) /# Ɵ-./ ,0-/ - *!
2020, Airbnb, which had taken twelve
years to build its hosting community and home
rental business, saw 80% of its bookings vanish.
The company lost around $1 billion in revenues
$)/# Ɵ-./ $"#/2 &.*!/# . *),0-/ -)
0/ *0/ ,0-/ - *! $/. ƭǛƫƦƦ 2*-&!*- ǚ -
markably, by the end of the third quarter, Airbnb
2.$)/# '&"$)ǚ*-$)"/*-$)
# .&4Ǜ$-)"*/&/*/# *- *!$/.-)
+0-+*. *! ǩ '*)"$)" ) *)) /$*)ǪǛ ơ -
losing focus in pursuit of growth with forays into
media, hotels and transportation, and increasing
its marketing spend.1
While Airbnb raised $2 billion in debt and
,0$/4Ɵ))$)"/*./4Ơ*/).'.# *0/
$1 billion in marketing expenses, it also had to
cover increased expenses: it gave booked guests
their money back, gave hosts approximately $250
million to cover lost revenue, created a “super
host relief fund” of $10 million and engaged
200,000 hosts in providing housing for some
100,000 “front-line workers”. At the same time,
it launched a new category of “online Airbnb
www.europeanbusinessreview.com ччͺ͵
BRAND
experiences” (from artists to chefs Airbnb also did something unusual with its
to celebrities), which became their laid-off employees. They were invited to opt
fastest-growing offering ever. A key into an alumni directory, where recruiters (even
catalyst behind rebounding its core competitors) could reach out to them. More
business was connecting with the than half a million people visited, a number
lived experiences of its customers of them got new jobs and some got hired back,
and hosts, and learning from and with others prioritised to be welcomed back as
adapting with them. At the end of and when. Besides employees’ stock
the second quarter 2020, Airbnb had options, Airbnb made yet another
uncovered a key strategic insight, in
A key catalyst unusual move when it allowed hosts
that, while people didn’t really want behind rebounding to invest in $238 million worth of stock
to go to cities or travel on business, its core business in its $3.5 billion initial public offering
they did want to get out of the house (IPO). Given the doubling of its share
in a car and travel somewhere up to
was connecting price post-IPO, hosts felt appreciated as
300 miles away. By the middle of the with the lived co-creators of value through the Airbnb
quarter, it was doing more business experiences of its platform. As Chesky noted, “Our hosts
in the United States than at the same helped create this community and so it
time the previous year. By engaging
customers and would be nice, if they want to, they can
together with customers and hosts, hosts, and learning co-own the company.”3
Airbnb pivoted its home page on its from and adapting To be sure, Airbnb has been beset
website to “Go Near”, with interac- by a large number of scandals over the
tional flows of engagements crafted
with them. years. It has come under fire from hosts
around both customers and hosts. who have felt ignored, from regulators,
About 90% of Airbnb’s traffic is direct, especially in cities, and from customers
because, as Chesky puts it, “we have who have experienced racial discrimina-
a brand that’s kind of used as a noun tion. In January 2020, Chesky had publicly
or verb around the world and that’s declared, “We believe that building an endur-
because people are really passionate ingly successful business goes hand-in-hand
about the product we offer… People with making a positive contribution to society.
come to Airbnb to figure out where Increasingly, that is what citizens, consumers,
they want to travel to… so this is a employees, communities, and policy-makers
really, really big opportunity, and desire – even demand. Serving all stakeholders
we’ve really custom built this plat- is the best way to build a highly valuable busi-
form specifically for the Airbnb way ness and it’s the right thing to do for society.”4
of traveling.”2 The Airbnb story draws attention to creating

company brands, together with orchestrating interactional flows of given greater emphasis to individ-
stakeholders, as purpose-driven expe- engagements that enhance the crea- uals and their life experiences (i.e.,
rience ecosystems. This is to adopt tive developmental capacities of “lived” experience). This “lived-expe-
a perspective that sees the world experience ecosystems, and positively rience ecosystem” revolution calls for
through the lived journeys of indi- impact the outcomes in the lives and the dramatic rethinking of company
viduals-as-experiencers, as shown in livelihoods of all stakeholding individ- brands, from both the perspectives
Figure 1. To transform value requires uals, together with them. of stakeholding individuals as experi-
business to construct purpose-built encers, as well as co-creators, within
platforms that enable relevant and the broader ongoing movement of the
impactful ecosystem engagements PURPOSE-BUILT firm beyond the traditional corporate
and experiences. The implication PLATFORMISATION OF form toward “purpose-driven” enter-
of this is that managers have to IMPACT ECOSYSTEMS OF prises. The COVID-19 pandemic has
understand and use brand purpose LIVED EXPERIENCES catalysed ongoing discourse, among
to configure interactional flows of academics and practitioners alike,
engagements across the interfaces, Exchange of goods and services has on impact valuation and multi-stake-
processes, artifacts and persons that been the basis of the industrial revo- holder governance processes, and
compose digital platforms. This is a lution powered by water, electricity, the legal articulation of a “purpose-
collective process, in that the impacts computers and, now, interactive intel- driven” enterprise.
of activities in the ecosystems in ligence. Although we are in a so-called This was made explicit in France
which it operates are shaped together “Fourth Industrial Revolution” (4IR), in 2019, when a distinction was
with stakeholders in light of their companies have remained teth- made between the legal entity of the
lived journeys as experiencers. ered to a view of market exchange corporation and the creativity and
As the Airbnb example suggests, to the exclusion of more directly innovation of the enterprise itself.
successful co-creation goes beyond focusing on interactional and crea- Core to the distinction was the desire
the platformisation of resourced tional flows of engagements.5 The to give emphasis to corporate purpose
capabilities per se. It means COVID-19 pandemic has, however, and to oblige companies to consider
the social and environmental impli-
cations of their activities. In this
FIGURE 1: Co-Creating Purpose-driven Lived-Experience Ecosystems context, Levillain and Segrestin have
argued that we need to conceptualise
the modern business “enterprise”
Valuable
Developmental as a form of “collective creation” that
IMPACTS emphasises scientific invention, new
communication systems and innova-
tion toward “desirable futures”.6 This
new entreprise à mission model raises
the question as to, “How can this
Cross-sector Architectures of Enactment of Life journeys of Stakeholders
Interactional Creational
collective creation be best oriented
Ecosystem Environments of Individuals-as- -as-
Relations ECOSYSTEMS Flows of BRAND EXPERIENCERS Co-Creators toward the collective interest?” Today’s
ENGAGEMENTS
innovative and global business enter-
prise cannot be thought of as a private
actor pursuing its own interests. As an
engine for the production of society,
Purpose-built its governance should certainly match
Digitalised the requirement of general welfare.
PLATFORMIZATION
From a business perspective,
operating in a hyperconnected,
BRAND
From a business perspective, operating

in a hyperconnected, interdependent
world has been a reckoning for CEOs of
companies who are “genuinely struggling
with their role at a time when employees,
customers, investors and society are
demanding ever more of them”.
interdependent world has been a reckoning for integrating it into its charter and undergoing
CEOs of companies who are “genuinely strug- external reporting and evaluation. Danone’s
gling with their role at a time when employees, ex-Chairman and CEO, Emmanuel Faber, notes
customers, investors and society are demanding that managing the diversity of stakeholders
ever more of them”.7 As Airbnb navigated its is a “fact”, as manifest in the realities of busi-
way out of the crisis, Chesky noted in a Fortune ness.(*) Creating shareholder value requires
interview, “I think what ends up happening the enterprise to engage in multi-stakeholder
with companies is they usually just serve one governance, and report and deliver on the four
stakeholder – shareholders; they look at only key objectives of health, planet, people and
certain types of metrics – financial metrics; inclusive growth in its business ecosystem.
they look at them over a short period of time In other words, it is becoming the standard.
– quarterly; and so human beings get reduced In the case of Danone, Faber notes that food
to numbers on a spreadsheet… It is possible to is undergoing a vast revolution: “People are
design systems where everyone can benefit… reconsidering the role of brands when it comes
People have this erroneous notion that there is to food. They had entrusted in their parents
thing called trade-offs and that you must priori- and trusted brands with the guarantee that the
tise somebody over the other… I just call that an food they were eating was the right food. They
incomplete design.”8 found out it was not always true and some of
Even as the pressure toward becoming the unintended consequences like diabetes,
purpose-driven is becoming more intensive, obesity, and depleting natural resources etc.,
the locus of brand value innovation has rapidly and a whole generation is now questioning
shifted beyond traditional goods-services that”, and this all across the world; “there
operational activities toward environments of is a need to rebuild trust and I think that big
experience ecosystems in the lived journey of brands have a place (and whereas they have
experiencers. Consider, for instance, the case lost market share in the last decade) and are
of Danone, a French-based, multinational ready to be brands on a mission, they can make
food giant, whose North American arm is a change. And what we see in the COVID crisis
the largest public-benefit corporation in the is exactly that opportunity to come back into
world. The parent company became the first the preferences of people if they can behave
listed entity in France to adopt the entreprise à properly... Consumers are craving change.
mission model, which makes the stated raison They expect large organisations like Danone to
d’etre (which defines the company purpose and bring our scale of impact to change the world
can differ from the interests of shareholders, for the better.”9
as such) legally binding for its directors by At the same time, the production of food

and the business of agriculture itself has the early 2000s, Deere began experimenting
undergone dramatic change in the 4IR, as infor- with global positioning systems (GPS), along
mation technology has become part of physical with a wide variety of biosensors on their
farming products. Consider the case of the John combines and tractors, with on-board sensors
Deere brand, which is almost two centuries that can measure the oil content of grain or
old, with its roots in agriculture. As Docherty tell the difference between weeds and crops.
and Porter note, “John Deere talked with local GPS-guided steering of tractors and other
farmers, who spoke of their frustrations with machines establishes repeatable accuracy and
their old ploughs, most of which were designed eliminates overlaps in the treatment of farm
for the sandy soils common in the eastern areas, reducing costs to the farmer in time,
United States and were therefore unable to fuel, labour and chemicals, while fertilisers
shed the sticky soil of the Midwest. John Deere and herbicide can be applied according to
built a new plough of highly polished steel that the needs of the soil in a farmer’s area. The
was self-scouring, allowing farmers to plough modern farmer can keep track of equipment
their fields uninterrupted. In 1837 he created remotely, access remote diagnostics inte-
the company that bears his name.” John Deere’s grated into the system, along with predictive
focus on helping farmers ultimately built a analytics to avoid costly surprises during the
brand trusted by farmers.10 planting or harvesting seasons. John Deere
Over the past two decades, Deere has created the Intelligent Solutions Group (ISG),
undergone a remarkable purpose-driven comprising “hundreds of system architects and
digitalised transformation based on an expe- developers centred on developing advanced
rience ecosystem configured toward the farming technologies”… to help capitalise on
lived journeys of farmers as experiencers. In “the use of technologies such as GPS, vision,
What we see in
the COVID crisis
is exactly that
opportunity
to come
back into the
preferences of
people if they
can behave
properly...
Consumers are
craving change.
BRAND
sensors, robotics and machine learning”… and ENGAGING STAKEHOLDERS AS

provide “software and data-based solutions that CO-CREATORS
work with equipment and analyse outcomes to
solve complex problems on the farm”. Deere is With growing recognition of the importance of the
connecting not only farm machinery but also an United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
ecosystem of connected services through irriga- (SDGs), to achieve a better and more sustainable
tion systems, combined with weather data and future for all, there is increasing emphasis on
seed optimisation for an advanced “precision focusing on multi-stakeholder impacts. As the
farming brand experience ecosystem”.11 World Economic Forum notes, the company is
The Deere brand offering is oriented around “more than an economic unit generating wealth.
the farmer-as-experiencer, paying attention to It fulfils human and societal aspirations as part of
the lived journey of farmers through which value the broader social system. Performance must be
emerges for the farmer via Deere platformised measured not only on the return to shareholders,
capabilities as a service. Over the past decade, it but also on how it achieves its environmental,
has systematically become focused on the indi- social and good governance objectives.”12 This
vidual jobs a farmer has throughout the entire move to involving stakeholders in co-creating the
growing season, starting with the process of enterprise entails a shift in the strategic manage-
field preparation, planting or seeding, applying ment of brands toward orchestrating platformised
(nurturing and protecting) and harvesting. It brand experience ecosystems. The connection of
includes all the analysis and planning that goes brand value creation opportunities with resourced
into farm management to assist farmers, as they capabilities, enables stakeholders, as co-creating
stand in their fields or sit in their combines, as to experiencers and organising actors, to co-design
how their businesses could be run better overall environments of emergent experiences and enact
using mobile interactive platforms. Farmers can valuable embodied experiences through those
harness machine and agronomic data to enhance environments over space and time.
the long-term health and sustainability of their Multi-stakeholder perspectives of brand
operations, while promoting their stewardship of valuation, corporate social responsibility and
the land. They have a sense of control over their sustainability considerations have gained increased
data and can share it with whomever they choose recognition in creating brands together. This builds
to, with appropriate access and decision rights. on earlier emphases of brand value as a “multi-
farious construct that is affected by, or the sum

of, a gamut of relationships”, which involves in society, the environment and the business
employees, customers and other stakeholders landscape; responsible in that short-term and
in brand development, and all stakeholders in long-term objectives must be balanced; empa-
the enterprise network contributing to a “nego- thetic in that the expectations and demands of
tiated” brand, as its brand value develops over diverse stakeholders must be recognised; and
time. Multi-stakeholder perspectives also draw participatory in that the voices and concerns of
attention to balancing heterogeneous matters '' ./& #*' -. (0./ *).$ - ǚ )*) Ǩ.
of concern, dealing with the loss of control Manifesto brand model is a case in point. Its
*1 - -) 1*'0/$*)Ǜ Ɵ)$)" /# ($' backbone is its “One Planet, One Health” vision,
ground between polyphony and cacophony, which recognises that the health of people and
positive and negative freedom, and cultivating that of the planet are interconnected. It is a
trust and ethics, and nurturing a sense of “call to action for all consumers and everyone
meaningful brand purpose. In addition, techno- who has a stake in food to join the food revo-
logical advances, such as in machine learning lution: a movement aimed at nurturing the
) -/$Ɵ$' $)/ ''$" ) Ǜ '.* -$. $(+*-/)/ adoption of healthier, more sustainable eating
questions of inclusiveness, privacy and ethics in
decision-making that impact brand relations in
experience ecosystems.13 ƼЙŜǢūŀǷƐƼƲчƋŀǪчǷƋūчǟƼǷūƲǷƐŀƧч
*Ǳ- /$*) #. /# +*/ )/$' /* ') /#
invisible hand of free markets with the visible ǷƼчśŀƧŀƲŜūчǷƋūчƐƲȖƐǪƐśƧūчƋŀƲţч
) 0)$/ #). *! /# *-+*-/ -)Ǩ. ƼƃчƃǢūūчưŀǢƤūǷǪчȗƐǷƋчǷƋūч
diverse stakeholders. This demands a genuine ȖƐǪƐśƧūчŀƲţчǿƲƐǷūţчƋŀƲţǪчƼƃч
will and an absolute commitment to listening
/* $Ƣ - )/ ./& #*' -.Ǩ ) .Ǜ 3+ //$*). ǷƋūчŜƼǢǟƼǢŀǷūчśǢŀƲţЫǪ
and desires. However, unfortunately, too many ţƐȖūǢǪūчǪǷŀƤūƋƼƧţūǢǪϯ
organisations are still primarily concerned with ¸ƋƐǪчţūưŀƲţǪчŀчƄūƲǿƐƲūчȗƐƧƧч
meeting the expectations of their shareholders,
even if they claim to engage in a dialogue with ŀƲţчŀƲчŀśǪƼƧǿǷūчŜƼưưƐǷưūƲǷч
/# $- $Ƣ - )/ ./& #*' -.ǚ
)./ Ǜ *).$ )- ǷƼчƧƐǪǷūƲƐƲƄчǷƼчţƐɬūǢūƲǷч
tious corporate brands promote an authentically ǪǷŀƤūƋƼƧţūǢǪЫчƲūūţǪϰч
balanced stakeholder perspective. Additionally,
they are not only committed to listening to stake- ūȜǟūŜǷŀǷƐƼƲǪчŀƲţчţūǪƐǢūǪϯ
holders but, most importantly, they engage them
in their strategic decision-making processes.
*).$ )/$*0.*-+*-/ -).2#$## - /*
this strategic view of co-creation, see their stake-
holders as key strategic partners with whom they
need to build long-term, trustworthy collabora-
tive relationships. Here, stakeholders are seen as
value co-creators, “rather than as entities to be
merely managed by the enterprise”.14
To enable a co-creative approach requires
transformative, responsible, empathetic and
+-/$$+/*-4 ' -.#$+ *! *(+)4 -). ǲ
/-).!*-(/$1 $)/#/+-*Ɵ/.)+0-+*. (0./
be balanced with a commitment to using busi-
ness to foster a positive, transformative change
.europeanbusinessreview.com 67
BRAND
and drinking habits”. This brand

model “has as its unique starting point
the focus on people, identifying the
tension between a relevant insight and
confronting it to the reality in which we
live. This makes it possible to identify
the legitimacy of the brand to operate
in this environment.” What’s more,
Danone has empowered its 100,000
employees to co-own this vision (with
nine 2030 Danone Manifesto intercon-
nected goals) through its pioneering infrastructures, while enhancing mention “digitally native” business
“One Person, One Voice, One Share” developmental capacities. Sustaining models (such as Airbnb), centred
engagement platform. It relies on an the collective creation of purpose- on networked flows of engagements
internal digital platform with exten- driven experience ecosystems requires and interactional creation of value
sive sharing and learning resources continued emphasis on the positive through digitally platformised offer-
related to the company vision and generation and modification of its ings. Simultaneously, there has
goals, including content derived from capacities to produce “surplus effects” been an increasing democratisation
collaboration with like-minded part- of well-being, while deftly managing in the process of value creation
ners. All Danone employees have the strategic risks which are material to the as a “co-creation”. Prahalad and
opportunity to learn more and build business as they arise. Ramaswamy originally articulated
on the issues, challenges and oppor- co-creation as a process of individ-
tunities that come with the goals. They uals and enterprises jointly creating
can also voice their point of view on customer experience value, where
both the company agenda and the CONCLUSION the individual was involved in this
roadmaps of the 2030 goals, at local process.16 They heralded a new fron-
and global levels. Annually, 26 volun- Over the past two decades, there has tier of co-creation of value based
teers are selected to carry the voices been growing recognition of the dual on the engagement of individuals
of its 100,000 employees to members decentring and democratisation of through their environments of expe-
of the Board of Directors and the company brands, within the broader riences on the one hand, and access
Executive Committee; the dialogue umbrella of co-creating brands and to resources, skills and capabilities of
provides an opportunity for richer and co-creative brand management networks of firms and communities
more constructive discussions to feed systems, and with the active partici- on the other hand. They discussed
into Danone’s strategy, which is then pation of stakeholding individuals in how this was more than a mere focus
shared back with employees.15 creating brands and valuable impacts on the user experience of goods
Engaging stakeholders as co-crea- together. Ubiquitous information and and services. Instead, it entailed a
tors of cross-sector, purpose-driven communication technologies in a broader, emergent lived-experience
lived-experience ecosystems entails hyperconnected and interdependent space, in which individuals were an
the co-creative transformation of digitalised world have transformed integral part, personally and collec-
brand management systems that the business and societal landscape tively, alongside the rapidly evolving
support ongoing interactional crea- in unprecedented ways, accelerating smart, connected offerings that
tional flows to create valuable brand the decentring of value creation away we take for granted today through
impacts together. A significant chal- from the goods-services activities multiple modes of interactions –
lenge is to configure brand-experience of firms and institutions toward the from new cloud-enabled mobile
ecosystem platforms with partners and experiences of individuals. It has applications of artificial intelli-
other stakeholders, as they plug into spurred an “experience-first” frame gence, to the Internet of Things and
or proactively build out focal digital of reference in value creation, not to augmented/virtual reality. While

digitalised technologies continue to evolve, so ǷƋūч ǿǢǟƼǪūЙ$ǢƐȖūƲч.ƲǷūǢǟǢƐǪūϯчÖŀƧǿŀǷƐƼƲч«ǷǿţƐūǪϰч
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digitalised world, is a new emergent frontier ͽϯчƋǷǷǟǪϱϼϼƃƼǢǷǿƲūϯŜƼưϼͶʹͶʹϼʹͻϼʹͻϼ
of value creation and innovation over the next for-danones-ceo-stakeholder-capitalism-is-a-fact/
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decade.
Transforming a Historic Brand for a Hyper-Connected
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(*) Since writing the article, Emmanuel Faber has left ¸ϯчŀƧƤƐƲǪчЋ.ţǪϯЌϰчdellogg on Branding in a Hyper-
Danone. The company notes that ‘The Board believes connected WorldϯчMƼśƼƤūƲϰчrbϱчbƼƋƲч×ƐƧūȝчӅч«ƼƲǪϯч
in the necessity of combining high economic perfor- ͵͵ϯчƋǷǷǟǪϱϼϼȗȗȗϯţūūǢūϯŜƼưϼūƲϼƼǿǢЙŜƼưǟŀƲȝϼ
mance and the respect of Danone’s unique model of sustainability/
a purpose-driven company, built on the strength of ͵ͶϯчƋǷǷǟǪϱϼϼȗȗȗϯȗūƃƼǢǿưϯƼǢƄϼŀƄūƲţŀϼͶʹ͵ͽϼ͵Ͷϼ
its brands and enabled by the outstanding quality of ţŀȖƼǪЙưŀƲƐƃūǪǷƼЙͶʹͶʹЙǷƋūЙǿƲƐȖūǢǪŀƧЙǟǿǢ-
its teams. ‘ https://www.danone.com/content/dam/ pose-of-a-company-in-the-fourth-industrial-revolution/
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corporatepressreleases/PR-Danone-new-governance- enterprises can create meaningful purpose together
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4. https://news.airbnb.com/serving-all-stakeholders/ theory of conscientious corporate brand co-creation:
͹ϯчdƧŀǿǪч«ŜƋȗŀśϰчͶʹ͵ͺϯчShaping the Future of the ǷƋūчƲūȜǷчƤūȝчŜƋŀƧƧūƲƄūчƐƲчśǢŀƲţчưŀƲŀƄūưūƲǷϯ Journal
Fourth Industrial RevolutionϯчrūȗчÝƼǢƤϱчǿǢǢūƲŜȝϲч of Brand ManagementϰчͶͻЋͺЌϰчͻ͵ʹЙͻͶʹϯ
ÖūƲƤŀǷч£ŀưŀǪȗŀưȝϰчͶʹͶʹϯчfūŀţƐƲƄчǷƋūчūȜǟūǢƐūƲŜūч ͵ͺϯчϯчdϯч ǢŀƋŀƧŀţчŀƲţчÖūƲƤŀǷч£ŀưŀǪȗŀưȝϰчͶʹʹ͸ϰч
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active platforms. Strategy & Leadershipϰч͸ͼЋͷЌϰчͷЙͽϯ with Customers, Boston, MA: Harvard Business
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eclectic scholar with wide-ranging interests in innovation, strategy, marketing, branding, IT,
operations and the human side of the organisation.
Venkat's book, The Future of CompetitionчЋͶʹʹ͸ЌϰчŜƼЙŀǿǷƋƼǢūţчȗƐǷƋчϯdϯч ǢŀƋŀƧŀţϰч
introduced co-creation as a revolutionary concept. It provided a new frame of reference
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customers, employees, partners and other stakeholders.
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His work focuses on the intersection of co-creation, branding and corporate culture. He is
ǷƋūчŀǿǷƋƼǢчƼƃч͵ͺчśƼƼƤǪϰчƐƲŜƧǿţƐƲƄчfƐving the Brand, Branding Governance, Brand Desire and
Co-creating Brands.
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ƃƼŜǿǪчƼƲчţūɯƲƐƲƄчśǢŀƲţǪчŀƲţчśǢƐƲƄƐƲƄчǷƋūưчǷƼчƧƐƃūϯч
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TEAM MANAGEMENT
AIMING TO NOURISH
THE MORE HUMAN
ORGANISATION
By Michael Chaskalson, Helen Sieroda,
Chris Nichols, and Philippa Hardman
T
he first article in this series examined the organisations right now: how can we be more
importance of Team Mindfulness using fully human in our work? Our research and
the AIM model (Allowing, Inquiry, Me- client work tells us that this question has become
ta-awareness) and explored how the application more pressing during the months of the COVID
of the model in practice addresses important era, as the challenges of moving to new ways of
areas of organisational life, including purpose working have had their impact on us all. We have
and the quality of participation, both of which been using the AIM model as a guiding principle
impact performance. over this time.
This article takes a deeper dive into a These are some of our experiences and
fundamental question on the agenda of most findings
TEAM MANAGEMENT
WHAT’S THE PROBLEM? The team as a team. Some of the teams we have surveyed
have described difficulties arising in the nature of the team
Teams are almost universally itself, which are not unique to digital working, nor to the
reporting that the scale and pace pandemic, but have been exacerbated by these factors.
of organisational challenges are Teams describe themselves as struggling to find and agree
unrelenting. Some teams, and a shared purpose, contesting the purpose of the team
some team members, are having a itself.
tougher time than others. Alongside
the exuberance of reinvention and
transformation, teams are having
to recognise that their new ways Team performance. Some teams are facing challenges
of working can pose a challenge to around the performance of the team. To what extent is
well-being. We are seeing strain and the team working well? Some teams are struggling to get
distress, and where it exists, it is a right balance between time spent individually and time
unevenly distributed. as a team. Sometimes the urge to create connection xis
At root what we are facing is creating a demand for more and more meeting time.
a sharpening of the question of
how organisations do, and do not,
support the needs and well-being (in
the broadest sense) of the humans The adequacy of conversation: some teams are reporting
involved. There has been a definite a difficulty in addressing tougher issues in their virtual
shift towards a world intermediated conversations. Often, difficult conversations are being
by machines. For many of us work has avoided out of concern that a virtual meeting is a tough
become physically distant, at least in place in which to have such conversations well. As a
part, conducted through digital inter- result, certain issues of individual or team performance are
faces. Much of the day-to-day social neglected. When those kinds of difficult conversations are
activity of organising travel, setting avoided, creative juice leaks away.
up meetings, and sharing informal
conversations, have been replaced by
incessant online activity. Many organ-
isations have already announced an Difficulties of inclusion and participation: teams are
intention to retain many of these ways reporting that they are seeing new challenges in the use
of working. But, in doing so, it is also of power, affecting the way inclusion and participation is
essential to address the human conse- working. Individual life circumstances can be amplified in
quences and to act wisely to gain the new ways of working. It is easy to rely on some people more
benefits of such ways of working, than others in virtual meetings. The efficient use of the chat
without doing harm in the process. function, or the use of side-messaging on other platforms,
This matters on both the ethical can exclude and isolate alongside creating efficiency.
level and in respect of organisational
effectiveness. We recently conducted
a qualitative survey of OD consultants
and clients on the issues that teams There are also specific issues arising in complex teams
are finding hardest to address in the where there is wide geographical distribution involving
face of new ways of working. We can multiple time zones, or complex cross-cultural factors –
summarise the issues emerging into which may exacerbate all of the other issues.
the following main areas.

Throughout all of this is the issue of balancing ALLOWING
human and organisational needs. Organisations
often have an element of “the machine” about is the practice of recognising reality for what
them, with processes and reporting cycles that it is. We all spend so much our time living in
are not particularly flexible to the needs of the a “what if” world.
people who work there. The move to digital and When we are stuck in
online often makes the machine-human inter- There has been a an attitude of wishing
face a little more obvious. Clearly if we want definite shift towards things weren’t like
humans to flourish and work well in organisa- this or an attitude of
tions that themselves serve customers well and
a world intermediated denial, there is very
succeed in their commercial goals, we need to by machines. For many little choice available
pay attention to the balance, the co-existence of of us work has become to us. It’s fruitless to
the needs of both the organisation and the indi- spend time wishing
vidual humans in it. physically distant, the world were
Our practice shows that the AIM framework at least in part, somehow different.
can help. It helps to identify the source of issues conducted through When you’re able to
and assist in addressing them creatively and allow things to be as
with rigour. The rest of this article explores how digital interfaces. they actually then
possibilities emerge.
INQUIRY
A RECAP OF THE AIM APPROACH
is the practice of disciplined interest in opening
These AIM foundations of Allowing, Inquiry things up. So much of creating the future
and Meta-awareness were first set out in earlier involves moving beyond the ways of seeing
research discussed in an article by Michael and acting that have brought us to the problem
Chaskalson and Megan Reitz. we’re in. The ability to address the problem
TEAM MANAGEMENT
Organisations often
have an element
of “the machine”
creatively demands that we see the about them, to be physically located in prime city
world another way. We can only see with processes centre HQ space? Will tomorrow’s
another way if we are willing to look staff need very different skills than
through fresh lenses. This is where and reporting the current team?
nurturing a team’s ability to inquire cycles that are There has been a lot of anxiety and
really matters. not particularly some conflict, within the research
team and between the research team
META-AWARENESS flexible to the and the wider organisational manage-
needs of the people ment, who view the research team as
is the ability to look at the team who work there. presenting unwelcome and emotional
from an ‘outsider’ perspective and obstacles to reasonable strategic
see the behaviour of the team as it is questions. The COVID crisis has led to
happening, like looking down at the much of this research activity being
swirling patterns of people moving the purpose, form and operation of done remotely, with the team never
around a busy railway station from the research work. The parent organ- fully coming together during the last
a high up balcony. The team learns isation is moving its city HQ and this year. Discussions about the poten-
to see itself in action. It sees what is is leading to questions about exactly tial changes have therefore all taken
going on its own collective behaviour how the research archive serves the place in virtual meetings.
and its own patterns – what it is doing firm best. What is the place of digi- Let’s turn to how the AIM model
while it is actually doing it. tisation of the activity, and what helps make sense of this situation and
As we discussed in our previous structural and operational changes how it assists the team in the situation
article, the three fundamentals of AIM will that mean? Does the archive need they face.
– allowing, inquiry and meta-aware-
ness – can all be learned and nourished.
Let’s now see how they work in the
context of the challenge of creating a
more human organisation.
LOOKING AT ONE TEAM’S

EXPERIENCE USING THE
AIM LENS
To make this practical, let’s look at

the experience of one team we are
working with (we’ve changed some
details to keep confidentiality intact).
This team sits within the research arm
of a larger, high-profile organisation.
The organisation concerned depends
upon the team’s ongoing research
activities, and their archive of past
work makes a continual contribution
to the organisation’s current output.
Several factors have combined to
require a significant examination of

The starting point is to allow what is happening simply to
be accepted as facts. We’ve been working with a cross section
of the people involved to encourage them to recognise what is
happening, without judging anything as right or wrong. Some of
the facts that have had to be accepted include:
There is fear and anxiety about the potential impacts

of the changes on individual work patterns and life-
styles. The team has worked together in one physical
space for many years, and team members are widely
spread within commuting distance of the HQ. A move
to any other location will clearly benefit some and
disadvantage others. This is leading to conflict in the
research team itself.
to gloss it into something more palatable, provides
The difficulty has been exacerbated by home a richer, if sometimes more complex and difficult,
working, since it has become obvious which team agenda that leaders are then able to work with
members have been called into the office to meet through inquiry.
“essential” projects and which have been fully at
home, which is causing fears over differential job Inquiry asks better questions.
security. In addition, although some team members In the example we have been working with here,
welcome the flexibility of working from home, we encouraged team members to begin to inquire
others do not have suitable workspaces, or have more deeply into different aspects of the situation
home schooling or caring responsibilities and have they are facing:
felt disadvantaged in the new ways of working.
Firstly, their own experience of being in the
The leaders of the team have come to recognise team at that point in time. How did they feel
that their team is not in fact acting as one team, about the work they were doing? What impact
but as groupings with very different concerns did working in these conditions have on their
and interests in respect of the changes at hand. experience of work and their life at home?
Although they have previously set great store in
their team spirit, it’s been no use to pretend that Then we asked them to envisage and discuss
this is currently “one happy family”, as they previ- what the proposed changes might mean for
ously saw it. The very different needs and realities them and for others of their team-mates. We
of the team members have called for a more created specific periods of time where those
detailed and richer examination of the concerns thoughts could be shared non-judgementally
and challenges of individual team members. – in a spirit of allowing.
It has been no use to simply wish this to be different, and We also asked people to find words and
the leaders have gradually let go of the fantasy that everyone metaphors to describe the team’s climate –
can rationally accept that there are strategic advantages and what did it feel like working in the team that
future gains. The reality is that the restructuring and new ways had been, the team that was now and the
of working will have costs and benefits that are going to be team they saw coming into being.
unevenly borne, and that these differential impacts create a
more complex situation to be managed. Finally, we asked them to consider how the
We have seen similar situation in other organisations, team’s purpose, its task and goals were
where the act of “allowing” what is there, rather than trying being affected by the team’s current climate.
TEAM MANAGEMENT
Much of the value of better inquiry arises from seeing

the situation from a fresh perspective. We spend so much
of our work lives seeing things from the position in the
system that we each happen to occupy. It can be liberating
just to realise that other viewpoints are possible! Taking
the time to create moments in which a new question can
lead to a new way of seeing is often an act of radical crea-
tivity. Seeing a situation from another perspective will
often in itself create better connections between parties
where tension exists, moments of truth and reconcil-
iation as alternative
realities are witnessed meant that they came to see anyone who
and acknowledged. In stood between them and the “finish line” as
addition, each new way It’s easy to lose sight of “part of the problem”, and this stopped some
of seeing can offer the the humanity in service of the team hearing the full range of human
seeds of new solutions: needs of the people they were dealing with.
a new conversation, the
of the day-to-day By places themselves “on the balcony”
possibility of a new set pressures involved in and able to look over at organisational
of action, and these are running a business. It’s patterns emerging (of which they are them-
often helpful contribu- selves are a part), the team was also able
tions to addressing the only by turning up fully to see how their privileged position in the
situation the organisa- and working with a clear system made some important communica-
tion is facing. focus on the intention of tion much harder to achieve.
In the case of the For example, project leaders noticed
research team in our serving humanity well that they were very attached to the story
example, this process that this aspect really they had developed about the strategic
of rich inquiry, through gets sufficient focus. gains of the office move. In seeing this story
questioning as we have above all others, they had placed them-
discussed, fed into selves several steps ahead of the people in
the next phase of building a stronger and more capable the research team, who were looking at a story of personal
organisation as the team began to become more aware of impacts and possible losses. Once they spotted that there
itself as a team. They began to experience an increase in was more than simply their own story running within the
meta-awareness. project, they were more able to hear what others were
trying to tell them.
Meta-awareness makes us pay attention to the patterns Stopping to listen made it more possible for the holders
of thinking in the team, while they are happening. By of those other stories to be heard, to be treated as humans
developing this capability, the project team began to not mere obstacles to a process. No one had intended to
notice their own patterns of thinking. They began to spot dehumanise their colleagues, but the project team came to
that sometimes their espoused values were not the ones see that this had had in fact been the impact of their way
actually playing out in their actions. This meant that they of seeing the world. They had become invested in their
were much more able to do something to correct this. own story of costs and efficiency measures, and genuinely
One thing they noticed was that they were being came to have less interest in the human impacts. Once they
driven by a number of metaphors. They saw the project spotted that this was so (through allowing it to be) they were
as a series of races, with a stopwatch and a series of finish able to listen better and that engaged more of the research
lines to be reached. This was very understandable given team in the change process.
that all of this was taking place within a change project, The solution of creating more space for human interac-
with an accompanying Gantt chart of activities. But it also tion was key to making progress. Some of this was through

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None of this means that the changes affecting the The structure and discipline of AIM provides a way to
research team are being stopped, nor does it mean do this better. In fact, in our experience, where any team
that it will not disadvantage some. It was simply that is acting in ways that support human wellbeing well, they
entering more fully into a human connection allows for will inevitably be following the triple strands of allowing,
more creative ways of addressing genuine needs and inquiry and meta-awareness. The more we can bring
meeting them where they can be met is helping to move these practices into our organisational life, the more able
situation forward. we will be to create a workplace in which human beings
thrive and succeed together.
What the next article in this series covers

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a Professor of Practice Ƽƃч×ƐǪūчFƼƼǪūчǪŜƋƼƼƧчƼƃч of the specialist systems co-founder with Chris
ŀǷчǪƋǢƐţƄūч.ȜūŜǿǷƐȖūч coaching and a partner at ŜƋŀƲƄūчŜƼƲǪǿƧǷƐƲƄчɯǢưч rƐŜƋƼƧǪчƼƃчFŀưū«ƋƐƃǷϯч«Ƌūч
.ţǿŜŀǷƐƼƲчŀǷчMǿƧǷч Fŀưū«ƋƐƃǷϯч«ƋūчƋŀǪчśūūƲч Fŀưū«ƋƐƃǷϰч}ȖūǢчǷƋūчǟŀǪǷч is a chartered accountant
International Business coaching at senior levels three decades he has śȝчśŀŜƤƄǢƼǿƲţϰчȗƐǷƋчͶ͹ч
«ŜƋƼƼƧчŀƲţчŀǪǪƼŜƐŀǷūчŀǷч¸Ƌū ƃƼǢчƼȖūǢчͶ͹чȝūŀǢǪчŀƲţчśǢƐƲƄǪч worked in public service, ȝūŀǢǪчŜƼƲǪǿƧǷƐƲƄчūȜǟūǢƐ-
Møller Institute at Churchill ǪƐƄƲƐɯŜŀƲǷчǟǪȝŜƋƼƧƼƄƐŜŀƧч ŜƼƲǪǿƧǷƐƲƄϰчɯƲŀƲŜūчŀƲţч ence including Coopers &
ƼƧƧūƄūчƐƲчǷƋūч¿ƲƐȖūǢǪƐǷȝчƼƃч ūȜǟūǢǷƐǪūчŀƲţчūưƼǷƐƼƲŀƧч academia. His work brings fȝśǢŀƲţчЋƲƼȗч ȗЌчŀƲţч
Cambridge. A pioneer in the intelligence to her work. creative provocation and чƼƲǪǿƧǷƐƲƄϯч«ƋūчȗŀǪч
application of mindfulness «ƋūчȗŀǪчŀч¿ϯdϯчƼǿƲŜƐƧчƃƼǢч spiritual practice to the previously co-leader of the
to leadership and in the Psychotherapy registered boardroom in service of strategy engagement group
workplace, he is founding psycho-spiritual psycho- human and more than and Director of Ashridge
Director of Mindfulness therapist and trainer of ƋǿưŀƲчɰƼǿǢƐǪƋƐƲƄϯ Consulting.
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Fŀưū«ƋƐƃǷϯч
LUXURY STRATEGY
To Harness the
Power of Purpose,
BRANDS MUST
HAVE A MISSION
By Klaus Heine and

Sabine Chrétien-Ichikawa
E
specially in times of economic turbu-
lence, companies need to be even more
innovative. But competition has shift-
ed from product innovations and functional
benefits to cultural innovations and symbolic
benefits. About two-thirds of consumers want
companies to stand up for social or environ-
mental issues they also feel passionate about
(Accenture 2018). Conscientious consumers
may buy or boycott a brand because of its so-
cial or political stance. Along with this trend,
a growing number of companies engage in
Brand Activism, to drive social, political, or
environmental change. This explains why
everyone seems to be talking about purpose
today, along with CSR, sustainability, eco, and
ethical branding. Purpose-driven branding is
probably one of the key business success driv-
ers today – but it comes with some substantial
risks and challenges.
The Brand Purpose is part of the overall
company objectives, which are known to be
closely related to company success. Shang Xia,
a Chinese high-end lifestyle brand owned by
Hermès, recently celebrated its ten-year anni-
versary in Beijing. At this occasion, one of the

authors of this article interviewed Mrs. Qionger
Jiang, the head of Shang Xia and Mr. Patrick
Thomas, the president of Hermès at the time
when the brand was launched. The goal of the
interview was to ask them to look back at the
last ten years and think about the key factors
that made Shang Xia successful. Mr. Thomas
replied that the ultimate success factor is to have
a clear Brand Vision: “You need to know exactly
what you want. As soon as you divert from that,
you are losing strength. Every decision and every
act of the company has to be in harmony with the
vision” (Heine 2020). The Brand Vision inspires Let’s start by looking at a few examples of
and motivates entrepreneurs and staff to keep Brand Purpose/Mission/Vision/Ambition. Do
going and attracts like-minded customers to you know what is what?
the brand. Mrs. Jiang further explained that all
senior managers must share exactly the same
1
vision. And as this was the case at Shang Xia, Coach: To become a company that defines
there were never any serious disputes about the global modern luxury
strategic direction of the brand between Mrs.
Jiang and Mr. Thomas.
2
As part of the Brand Vision, the Brand Stella McCartney: To achieve good envi-
Purpose refers to a “good cause.” However, when ronmental and especially animal welfare
we look at studies about customers’ willingness standards
to pay more money for fair-trade, bio, or envi-
ronment-friendly products, the results are often
quite disappointing for many entrepreneurs. Warby Parker: To offer designer eyewear for
3
Many idealists are surprised that most people are fashion-conscious Millennials at a revolu-
simply not willing to just hand over more money tionary price by cutting out the middleman and
so they can “do good.” While ‘helping children in selling directly to our clients.
developing countries’ or ‘saving the rain forest’
are important issues, they are pretty far away
4
from the small world around us. For too general Shang Xia: In 2021, we plan to open three new
causes, people tend to pay lip-service instead of stores in China.
a price premium. Having a clear brand purpose
isn’t enough on its own. We should never forget
about a fundamental marketing lesson that is
rooted in human nature: People spend their As it’s the most descriptive and established
money depending on the value that they believe term, “Brand Vision” was selected to describe
to receive in return. the entire category of overall business objec-
To harness the power of brand purpose, we tives. The Brand Vision Canvas (see Figure next
need to understand, first of all, the differences page) helps you to identify and to illustrate your
between the different types of brand objectives: Brand Purpose/Mission/Vision/Ambition in a
Brand Purpose/Mission/Vision/Ambition – comprehensive overview. All of them are long-
which are often confused. Second, to really drive term business objectives – but they differ by the
your business, we need to connect the Brand time horizon and by whom they address – the
Purpose with a strong Brand Mission. society, customers, or the company.
LUXURY STRATEGY
BRAND PURPOSE:
Think about the higher reason for the existence of your brand beyond
making money. The Brand Purpose is not about creating customer
value, but about ‘doing good’ for the environment or society.
Inspired leaders and brands don’t describe ‘what’ they do – they
think, act, and communicate from the inside out – they start with
‘why.’ Because according to Sinek (2009), “People don’t buy what you
do; they buy why you do it. And what you do simply proves what you
believe.” A typical example is the statement of Stella McCartney
above. The purpose of Shang Xia is to revive the pride of the Chinese
people in their heritage.
BRAND MISSION:
Think about the benefits of your products for your customers. Once you Having a clear
know ‘why’ you do what you do, the question is ‘how’ are you going brand purpose
to do it? The Brand Mission captures your brand’s unique value prop-
osition that customers can obtain through all the products under isn’t enough
your brand. As shown by the example of Warby Parker above, you on its own. We
can draft a Brand Mission by the following formula: [Our brand] should never
provides [what?] for [whom?] who seek [why?] and who prefer our
products because [how?]. Shang Xia provides fine apparel, leather forget about a
goods, jewellery, tableware, and furniture for demanding clients who fundamental
seek a combination of superior quality, contemporary design, and
marketing lesson
Chinese tradition and who prefer their products because they are
hand-crafted by the very best artisans. that is rooted in
human nature:
BRAND VISION:
People spend
their money
Think about what you envision your brand will be like in, for instance, depending on
30 years. The Brand Vision reflects the ultimate long-term goals for
your company – something that will require significant change and
the value that
progress to attain. An example is the statement by Coach. The long- they believe to
term vision of Mrs. Jiang for her brand is to develop Shang Xia into receive in return.
the Hermès of China.
BRAND AMBITION:
Think about the next important milestones for your business. To know
how successful you are and to really motivate your people, you need
to break your vision down into manageable chunks. Just like the
example by Shang Xia above, Brand ambitions include clear goals
and key performance indicators for the next months and years.

FIGURE
Brand Vision Canvas Brand Name: Version:
III. Brand Vision

What you enivison your brand will be like in 30 years
II. Brand Mission
II.5 Brand Promise
II.4 Key Principle The benefits of your products II.1 Market Niche
The Reason for your customers
to Believe Vision Frame of Reference
I. Brand Purpose
How? I.2 Brand I.1 Brand What?
Challenge The higher reason Subculture
for the existence
Because of of your brand For whom.
what? beyond making
II.2 Customer
II.3 Key Benefit money Niche
Why? I.3 Brand Adversary

For whom?
Against whom?
IV. Brand Ambition

3 Months 6 Months 1 Year 2 Years 5 Years
The next important short- and middle-term milestones for your business
Source: Heine, K. (2020) Build a Brand to Change your World: A Step-by-Step How-to Guide for Building High-end Cultural &
Creative Brands, 2nd ed., Upmarkit: Tallinn, https://upmarkit.com/how-to-build-a-brand-to-change-your-world
Let’s now look into the second point with the world. Consumers are not spending their
a few examples. Fashion label ‘Life is Good’ money for Dove products because they do
doesn’t care much about clothing, but about some charity. Their cream makes customers
their message – to spread optimism. The Brand feel more self-confident and beautiful the way
Purpose of Dove is women empowerment, to they are — and with each cream they buy, they
encourage women to have a positive body image. make a little step towards the brand’s higher
Dove appears as qualified in this pursuit because purpose of women empowerment. Patagonia
it fits perfectly with their personal care prod- offers high-quality jackets made from recycled
ucts. Patagonia stands up for the conservation materials. While consumers purchase them
of resources, which is also closely linked to their because they like the quality and longevity,
products – with their efforts in product dura- they help the brand at the same time to pursue
bility, repair services, and recycling. its purpose, which is to reduce the human
What do successful brands such as ‘Life is impact on the environment.
Good’, Dove, and Patagonia have in common? Mrs. Jiang and Mr. Thomas explained that their
They are all driven by a powerful Brand Purpose Brand Mission and unique selling proposition
— which relies on a strong Mission. In fact, rely on three principles including their strong
their products appear to be an extension and style & creativity, the product quality & excel-
expression of their Brand Purpose. ‘Life is Good’ lence of craftsmanship, and the Chinese touch,
t-shirts are just a means to achieve a higher which means that each product embodies a
purpose: To spread the power of optimism to cultural story from Chinese history or traditions.
LUXURY STRATEGY
Their customers enjoy buying some appealing Shang Xia and the other examples teach us
products for themselves, while at the same time, some critical success factors, which are summa-
they support Shang Xia’s purpose to revive centu- rized in the following major lessons learned:
ries-old Chinese cultural traditions.
These examples show that to drive business
success, a purpose-driven brand (that aims to The Brand Purpose must be specific, yet
save nature, etc.) must be linked to a compelling simple: A clear, simple and consistent purpose
Brand Mission (a unique selling proposition) strengthens the brand in consumers’ minds.
because, first of all, people want to know what Therefore, everyone inside the company must be
the product can do for them. Based on that, able to articulate clearly why the brand is doing
1
they are ready to learn more about the brand’s what it’s doing. The Brand Purpose must also
higher purpose, which can satisfy higher-order be very specific – unlike the vague purpose of
consumer needs and greatly improve brand-con- outdoor apparel maker Lost Arrow Corporation:
sumer ties and business success. “To be a role model and a tool for social change.”
Especially in the luxury segment, companies Too many brands could say the same.
try to provide consumers with a good excuse for
indulgence. Some consumers feel they shouldn’t
make luxury purchases due to changing social The Brand Purpose should be closely linked to your
norms especially in times of economic reces- products: When developing a brand’s purpose, it
sion. The best justification for indulgence is can be tempting to pick a popular issue. Multiple
2
a sense that they’re actually contributing to brands have received backlash for lecturing their
something larger than themselves, which can customers on unrelated topics, such as Audi over
create a deeper sense of partnership between equal pay. But if brand managers are not honest
the consumers and the brand. The more money about what inspires them or jump on a social
people spend for some desirable benefits, the cause that is unrelated to their brand DNA, their
more they also (can say to themselves and others brand will appear inauthentic and confusing.
to) support some higher purpose.
A luxury brands shopping street in Canton Road, Hong Kong, China.

In the luxury segment, companies try to
provide consumers with a good excuse
for indulgence. Some consumers feel
they shouldn’t make luxury purchases
due to changing social norms especially
in times of economic recession.
The Brand Purpose must be credible: Everything Think big, start small: A Brand
you say and everything you do has to be in line Vision should stretch the imag-
with your Brand Purpose. Therefore, it is recom- ination and challenge yourself
3
mended to turn the purpose into a benchmark and your team to grow. But with
question, to encourage everyone in the company your Brand Ambitions, start
to continually question what they are doing: small. Instead of pushing brand
“What are you doing today to [Think different] or communications too early,
[Spread optimism]?” better fine-tune your offer-
6
ings and revise your branding
strategy by trial and error
A strong brand needs a common enemy: until you can seduce a small
Many entrepreneurs try to please all possible number of core clients. For
consumers all the time – but in the end, they instance, Uber tested and fine-
stand for nothing. Strong brands are like good tuned its business model in
books, songs, and art – they have their own point San Francisco, then expanded
4
of view. As Stella McCartney started to fight for rapidly. Accordingly, you can
animal rights in fashion, she met with tough focus on a single city, area, or
resistance. According to communication specialist customer sub-segment at first.
Kasi Bruno (2017), “The best brand stories repel
more people than they attract. Simultaneously
magnetic and uncomfortable, strong brand narra- A Vision must always be alive:
tives act as a rallying cry for some, but as a snub Based on his experience as
for most.” the president of Hermès, Mr.
Thomas has learned a key
lesson: Many strategic problems
Never compromise on your Brand Vision: At the arise from a lack of vision – or
7
beginning when Shang Xia was launched, out of the fact that the vision became
5
100 products, only about ten met their extreme obsolete. Therefore, a vision
quality standards and so they had to destroy should never make a sudden
the rest. This was a difficult decision to make 180-degree turn but, on the
(which would probably be heavily criticized today other hand, must always be
because of environmental concern). adjusted gradually.
LUXURY STRATEGY
This article highlights a unique collaboration between

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dƧŀǿǪ MūƐƲū works as marketing «ŀśƐƲūчƋǢŬǷƐūƲЙRŜƋƐƤŀȗŀчis a French

ǟǢƼƃūǪǪƼǢ ŀǷ .ưƧȝƼƲ ǿǪƐƲūǪǪ «ŜƋƼƼƧ ǢūǪūŀǢŜƋūǢчśŀǪūţчƐƲч«ƋŀƲƄƋŀƐчǪƐƲŜūч
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entrepreneurs to build high-end ƧǿȜǿǢȝчƐƲţǿǪǷǢƐūǪчƐƲчǪūȖūǢŀƧчŜƼǿƲǷǢƐūǪϰч
brands with a higher purpose. ǪƋūчƲƼȗчǢǿƲǪчǷƋūчp«ŜчƐƲч.¿ЙǪƐŀч
He runs the “High-end Brand fǿȜǿǢȝчpŀǢƤūǷƐƲƄчǟǢƼƄǢŀưчŀǷч.««ч
Management” Master program «ŜƋƼƼƧчƼƃчpŀƲŀƄūưūƲǷчƐƲч«ƋŀƲƄƋŀƐϯч
and has worked and cooperated MūǢчūȜǟūǢǷƐǪūчƐƲŜƧǿţūǪчƧǿȜǿǢȝчϼч
ȗƐǷƋ MūǢưźǪϰ $ƐƼǢϰ fƼǿƐǪ ÖǿƐǷǷƼƲϰ high-end brand management, retail
Montblanc and many other brands. and sustainability.
SALES MANAGEMENT
In a study before the pandemic, PricewaterhouseCoopers1 found that companies had

made little progress in the previous decade in speeding up their cash-conversion
cycle—as the cash crunch generated by the coronavirus painfully demonstrated:
in 2020, a JPMorgan Chase Institute report found that 50% of small businesses had
fewer than 15 cash buffer days and only 40% had more than 3 weeks.2
GETTING UP TO
SPEED IN YOUR
SALES EFFORTS
By Frank Cespedes
and Zoran Latinovic
I
n most firms, the biggest driver of cash-out in opportunity selection are felt throughout, so
and cash-in is the sales cycle. Accounts pay- emphasize quality over quantity.
able accrue during selling, and accounts re- Prospects differ in their product and service
ceivables are largely determined by what’s sold, preferences and their response to marketing
how fast, and at what price. But the sales cycle actions. Some require more sales calls; some
is the result of other activities: opportunity se- buy in operations-efficient volumes, and
lection, deal size, and win rate. Let’s look at each others with just-in-time or custom orders that
component and the managerial requirements: affect setup time, delivery and other elements
of cost-to-serve. These factors affect your
return on capital because many capital costs
are embedded in cost-to-serve differences.
OPPORTUNITY SELECTION: To improve sales velocity, have and commu-
QUALITY OVER QUANTITY. nicate criteria the sales team can use in
qualifying prospects. That’s the role of lead-
When asked to double revenue, most managers scoring, and most CRM software will classify
seek twice the leads. But effective sales models leads based on sales readiness. However, CRM
operate as a system. Improvements or failures systems typically weight revenue expectations

by pipeline stage on the assumption that the odds automation system. This enables CloudTalk to reach
of closing increase in successive stages—a process out with personalized messages to prospects that
often at-odds with current buying journeys where have expressed interest in its service but have not
prospects simultaneously use taken any action. It also allows
online and offline channels in their CloudTalk to deploy selling efforts
search, evaluation, and purchase on warmer prospects, decreasing
decisions. Also, most sales incen-
In most firms, the biggest the cost of false positives and
tives are based on top-line volume driver of cash-out and increasing sales velocity. The
independent of margin, profit, or cash-in is the sales results to date have been 20 more
cost-to-serve. In a pay plan like trial sign-ups monthly—a big gain
that, there are no “bad” opportuni-
cycle. Accounts payable in an early-stage venture.3
ties, and the sales force will spend accrue during selling,
much time on false positives and and accounts receivables
sell to customers whose conflicting
demands on product and service
are largely determined AVERAGE DEAL SIZE:
groups fragment resource alloca- by what’s sold, how fast, PRODUCT, PRICE, AND
tions across the firm. and at what price. DEPLOYMENT.
CloudTalk.io provides call-
center software mostly for SMBs This element of sales is tied to
in various industries. It manages opportunity opportunity selection, but is also affected by pricing,
selection with the help of a tool from Leadfeeder, product features, and deployment. Here are examples:
which tracks webpage content that a prospect Toast focused on the need to split a group-dining
has searched for and automatically updates check. Its app let diners see what each had ordered,
that information in CloudTalk’s marketing and pay with credit cards without waiting for the
SALES MANAGEMENT
server. But average deal size was low because $1 trillion in assets under management (AUM),
restaurants relied on legacy cash-register relies on Financial Advisors (FAs) to acquire and
systems and desired product features varied. grow AUM with clients. A key to Jones’ success
Pizza restaurants wanted the ability to specify has been its management of account assign-
different toppings; others wanted diners’ ments and service levels. Its Goodknight program
email addresses as part of loyalty involves an established FA turning
programs; casual dining places over to a new FA the clients that the
wanted to take orders when lines For all businesses, veteran FA has not contacted for a
are long and send a text to patrons continuous specified period of time. This frees
when their table was ready. Toast veteran FAs to spend more time
built an order-taking system using improvement in with and increase “share of wallet”
cloud technology. This affected sales velocity will at established clients, and allows
pricing (a change to subscription be key after the new FAs to work with existing but
pricing) and the value proposi- under-served Jones clients. The
tion. The pitch that resonated best pandemic, because success rate of a new FA without
before the pandemic was helping it’s core to the Goodknight program was 36%,
restaurants to turn tables faster
financial oversight while for those in the program it’s
when they’re busy, generate 80%. Jones therefore conducts thou-
online ordering when less busy, as well as sales sands of “Goodknights” annually.
and allowing managers to access management. Conversely, as it grew, Jones also
inventory data from a laptop or found that smaller accounts take up
phone, rather than arriving early inordinate amounts of FA time and
or staying late at the restaurant to do that, and effort, and it assigned inactive accounts with
spend more time with their families. less than $50,000 in AUM to home-office based
Sales deployment can also increase deal size. service centers, freeing up time for FAs to focus
Edward Jones, a brokerage firm with more than on clients with higher deal-size opportunities.4

misallocations and hurts sales velocity.
E£}pч}££.¸ч¸¸£R¿¸R}rч¸}ч $/ 'Ǜ )$) / ' *( Ɵ-(Ǜ (0./ '
.rMr.$ч×Rrч£¸.«ϯ with a complex buyer journey and long selling
cycle where attribution is not easy. Via Bizible,
Average win rate per rep is less than 50%,5 an Adobe product, Mitel improved visibility
and your business bears the deadweight loss about which marketing campaigns generated
of the time and expense incurred on those which kinds of leads and outcomes, allowing
)*/ '*. ǚ $) -/ . *ơ ) #1 -**/ 0. . Mitel to make smarter use of its marketing
in other activities in a sales model, especially budget, improve alignment with sales, and
-& /$)"ǲ' . '$")( )/ ) !-$/$*) $) /# double pipeline revenue within a year.7
closing process itself. Finally, a standard complaint of many

) ()4 Ɵ-(.Ǜ -& /$)" $. - .+*).$' reps is the time and effort they must spend
for generating leads and collateral that are to finalize contracts. Here, the pandemic was
then handed to Sales. But an estimated 70% a disseminator of good practice. Electronic
disappear into the “sales lead black hole.”Ƭ signatures and agreements available from
Meanwhile, new tools for tracking which leads DocuSign and others can shorten sales cycles
and collateral are used by sales, and how, by a week or more,8 while eliminating printing,
enable responsive marketers to improve inter- mailing and other expenses of paper-based
actions with sales and accelerate sales velocity. contracts.
) ()4 Ɵ-(.Ǜ !*- 3(+' Ǜ - $/ !*- For many businesses, improving sales velocity
purchase simply goes to “the last click”—which- has been crucial for surviving the pandemic. For
ever email, online ad, or web page triggered the all businesses, continuous improvement in sales
sale. In reality, purchases are usually motivated 1 '*$/42$'' & 4ơ -/# +) ($Ǜ 0.
by multiple interactions throughout the buyer $/Ǩ. *- /* Ɵ))$' *1 -.$"#/ . 2 '' . .' .
journey. Incorrect attribution leads to resource management. Start now.
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Face a Tough Task: Freeing Cash Trapped
ƼƲч¸ƋūƐǢчŀƧŀƲŜūч«ƋūūǷǪϰЩчThe Wall Street
Journal ЋrƼȖūưśūǢчͶͽϰчͶʹ͵ͼЌϱч͵ϯ
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ͷϯчhttps://www.leadfeeder.com/customers/
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MŀǢȖŀǢţчǿǪƐƲūǪǪч«ŜƋƼƼƧϯчMūч «ūƧƧƐƲƄчŀƲţч«ŀƧūǪчpŀƲŀƄūưūƲǷчŀǷч
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ͽЙͻ͵ͼЙ͸ͻͼчЋƼǪǷƼƲϱчMŀǢȖŀǢţчǿǪƐƲūǪǪч«ŜƋƼƼƧϰч has written for publications ÖƐūƲƲŀч¿ƲƐȖūǢǪƐǷȝчƼƃч.ŜƼƲƼưƐŜǪч
Ͷʹ͵ͼЌϯ including Harvard Business ŀƲţчǿǪƐƲūǪǪчЋ×¿ϲч«ǟǢƐƲƄЙ
5. https://www.cien.ai/low-win-rate/ Review, Organization Science, «ǿưưūǢчͶʹͶ͵ЌчŀƲţчƐǪчŀчÖƐǪƐǷƐƲƄч
6. FŀǿǢŀȖч«ŀśƲƐǪϰч«ƋŀǢưƐƧŀчϯчƋŀǷǷūǢơūūϰч
£ŀơţūūǟчFǢūȗŀƧϰчŀƲţчFŀǢȝчfϯчfƐƧƐūƲϰчШ¸Ƌūч«ŀƧūǪч and The Wall Street Journal, ƼǪǷţƼŜǷƼǢŀƧч«ŜƐūƲǷƐǪǷчŀǷчpR¸ч
fūŀţчƧŀŜƤчMƼƧūϱч}Ʋч«ŀƧūǪч£ūǟǪЫчEƼƧƧƼȗЙ¿ǟч ŀƲţчƐǪчǷƋūчŀǿǷƋƼǢчƼƃчǪƐȜчśƼƼƤǪч «ƧƼŀƲч«ŜƋƼƼƧчƼƃчpŀƲŀƄūưūƲǷϰч
ƼƃчpŀǢƤūǷƐƲƄчfūŀţǪϰЩчJournal of Marketing, 77 including, most recently, Sales pŀƲŀƄūưūƲǷч«ŜƐūƲŜūϯчMūчƋŀǪч
ЋbŀƲǿŀǢȝчͶʹ͵ͷЌϱч͹ͶЙͺͻϯ
7. https://www.marketo.com/customers/mitel Management That Works: How written for publications including
8. https://www.docusign.com/blog/ to Sell in a World That Never MIT Sloan Management Review,
accelerating-remote-sales-during-the-cov- Stops ChangingчЋMŀǢȖŀǢţч Fast Company, MarketWatch,
ƐţЙ͵ͽЙƼǿǷśǢūŀƤ
ǿǪƐƲūǪǪч£ūȖƐūȗч ǢūǪǪϰчͶʹͶ͵Ќϯ Psychology Today, and The Hill.
STRATEGY
It has been five years since I published the first article on Decoupling theory here in the
European Business Review, explaining how, regardless of industry, startups are disrupting
markets in a very similar fashion. Since then, I have published more than two dozen articles
on the theory, written a best-selling book entitled Unlocking the Customer Value Chain, and
advised various companies worldwide including Samsung, American Eagle, BMW, Microsoft,
Hyundai, Red Cross, among many others through my firm Decoupling.co. In the interim, I have
learned a few important lessons on the power of customer-centric innovation, mapping the
customer value chain, and applying offensive decoupling strategies as well as defensive response
strategies. In this follow-up article, I describe how companies manage to grow fast after using
decoupling as a disruptive entry strategy. The goal is to share best practices and a process for
executives and managers interested in implementing a customer value-centric growth strategy.
DESIGNING A
CUSTOMER VALUE-CENTRIC
GROWTH STRATEGY
By Thales Teixeira
A
ll around the world, large established competitive advantage. The late CK Prahalad
companies are worried about being dis- later introduced the concept of core competen-
rupted by startups and are in need of cies in the mid-1990s and complemented Porter’s
finding new high potential markets to enter and approach. Bain consultant, Chris Zook, then
grow. Historically, the standard way of thinking refined the idea of identifying market adjacen-
about which markets large companies should cies in the early 2000s. Porter, Prahalad and Zook
enter revolved around the idea of “adjacencies” took a firm-centric approach to the question:
and “firm-side synergies.” Here is a short expla- Which markets to enter and grow? While these
nation on this standard approach to growth in approaches have many merits, the downside
new markets. is twofold. First, it still leaves open the possi-
My former colleague, Michael Porter, bility of entry into many—potentially dozens or
suggested the value chain in 1985 as a tool to more—adjacent markets. With so many potential
assess where to grow by identifying a firm’s markets for expansion that build on a company’s

The goal is to share best
practices and a process
for executives and
managers interested
in implementing a
customer value-centric
growth strategy.
existing skillsets, it’s difficult to decide which short period of time. They do so by creating
one to pursue. Second, and perhaps most impor- products and services that are valuable to
tantly, Porter, Prahalad and Zook focused largely customers and enable customers to be acquired
on what would be best for the company versus more easily. One way to do this is to offer custom-
what would be best for their customers. er-side synergies: new products that, when your
While a firm-centric thinking has worked customer uses in conjunction with the original
wonderfully in the past, there are new signs product, make it cheaper, easier or faster for
pointing at its limited ability to drive fast growth them to fulfil their needs as compared to using
going forward. The reason? My latest research two (or more) products from different compa-
shows that, due to their changing behaviors, nies to fulfil the same needs.
customers disrupt markets. By disruption, I mean In planning for disruptive growth, firms need
when startups find ways to steal large amounts to look at all relevant aspects from the point-of-
of market share from incumbents in a relatively view of their current and potential customers.
STRATEGY
They should start by looking for new opportu- This customer value-centric thinking was not
)$/$ . 0.$)" /# 0./*( - 1'0 #$)Ǜ *- Ǜ pioneered by large and established companies.
which is the sequence of activities that customers )/# *)/--4Ǜ$/2.*+/ Ɵ-./Ǜ)*/4/#
execute in order to acquire and consume goods incumbents, but by their challengers, the tech
). -1$ .ǚ''/$1$/$ .) 0)$,0 '4 startups. By 2021, Alibaba had become one of
'..$Ɵ $)/*1'0 Ǳ- /$)"Ǜ1'0 Ǳ -*$)") /# 2*-'Ǩ.'-" ./*(+)$ .4(-& /+$/'-
value-capturing activities. Figure 1 depicts this ization, with more than ten multibillion-dollar
in the case of a retail purchase. businesses in wide ranging sectors such as
retailing, ecommerce, online cloud services,
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mobile phones, logistics, payments, content,
) (*- ǚ /2 ) ƨƦƧƧ ) ƨƦƧƬǛ /# *(+-
)4Ǩ. - 1 )0 . "- 2 / ) 1 -" *(+*0)
REALIZE NEED COMPARE PAY FOR ))0' -/ *! Ʈƭ + - )/ǚ -*Ɵ/. %0(+ 4
USE PRODUCT
FOR PRODUCT OPTIONS PURCHASE
Ưƪ + - )/ ) .# Ơ*2 4 ƧƨƦ + - )/ǚ #$.
rapid growth was quite unique for such a large
and established digital company. Yet, Alibaba
Creates value Erodes value Charges for value Creates value
continues to grow remarkably fast more than 20
4 -. ơ - $/. !*0)$)"ǚ *2Ǣ
The company was founded in 1999 as an online
In recent years, the focus on innovation and business-to-business marketplace. In 2003, it
Ɵ)$)" "-*2/# *++*-/0)$/$ . #. .2$/# !-*( moved into consumer-to-consumer ecommerce,
/# Ɵ-(Ǩ. + -.+ /$1 ǹ2#/ $. ./ !*- 0.ǢǺ /* and in 2004, built both Aliwangwang, a text
/# 0./*( -Ǩ. + -.+ /$1 ǹ2#/ $. ./ !*- *0- message service, and Alipay, an online payments
0./*( -.ǢǺǚ . .#*2) $)
Figure 2, this switch to a
customer-centric mindset RƲчǢūŜūƲǷчȝūŀǢǪϰчǷƋūчƃƼŜǿǪчƼƲчƐƲƲƼȖŀǷƐƼƲч
has profound implications ŀƲţчɯƲţƐƲƄчƄǢƼȗǷƋчƼǟǟƼǢǷǿƲƐǷƐūǪчƋŀǪч
for what strategy frame-
works are used, what types ǪȗƐǷŜƋūţчƃǢƼưчǷƋūчɯǢưǪчǟūǢǪǟūŜǷƐȖūчЋȗƋŀǷч
of synergies should be ƐǪчśūǪǷчƃƼǢчǿǪ϶ЌчǷƼчǷƋūчŜǿǪǷƼưūǢЫǪчǟūǢǪǟūŜ-
leveraged and even which ǷƐȖūчЋȗƋŀǷчƐǪчśūǪǷчƃƼǢчƼǿǢчŜǿǪǷƼưūǢǪ϶Ќϯч
markets to enter.
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#$) $) ) Ƣ*-/ /* +-*1$ *).0( -. 2$/#
$ƐɬūǢūƲŜūǪч
Firm - Customer- content and web services. In 2008, it launched
ƐƲчƧƼŜǿǪчƼƃч centric centric
TMall, a business-to-consumer online retailer.
ţūŜƐǪƐƼƲЙưŀƤƐƲƄ thinking thinking
Other new business launches proceeded in turn:
. -# )"$) *(+)4 )( * ǹƨƦƧƦǺǛ
Tool to Value Chain Customer Value
assess (e.g., Porter) Chain (CVC) start-up called Aliyun that created mobile oper-
value /$)".4./ (.ǹƨƦƧƧǺǛ)'*"$./$.*).*-/$0(
+ + )( $)$* ǹƨƦƧƩǺǚ
) ƨƦƧƫǛ '$ /**&
Type of
synergy Firm-side Customer-side majority stake in smartphone maker Meizu.
synergies synergies
pursued Note how many of these companies oper-
/ $)1./'4$Ƣ - )/$)0./-$ .ǚ# .4) -"$ .
Where to Adjacent Adjacent CVC
between retailing, cloud computing, payments,
grow next? markets activities
and electronics manufacturing are not very
ͽͶчччччч¸M.ч.¿£} .rч¿«Rr.««ч£.ÖR.×чччччччpÝчТчb¿r.чͶʹͶ͵
Alibaba Group
sign statue in
«ƋūƲȧƋūƲϰчƋƐƲŀ
ƋȜţśȧȜȝчϼч«ƋǿǷǷūǢǪǷƼŜƤϯŜƼư
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Alibaba
MƼȗчƧƐśŀśŀч Alipay
FǢūȗчǷƼчƼȖūǢчǷƋūч Meizu Aliyun eTao SHOP B2B Aliwangwang (Ant Financial) Cainiao
.ƲǷƐǢūчÖ
CHOOSE
CHOOSE SEARCH TALK TO PAY FOR RECEIVE
BROWSER SHOP C2C
DEVICE ONLINE SELLER ITEM ITEM
/OS
SHOP B2C
Taobao Tmall
2015 2011 2010 2003-2008 2004 2004 2013
clear. Businesses in these industries require ).**)ǚ/.*( +*$)/Ǜ/# 4$ )/$Ɵ )
$Ƣ - )/ - .*0- . ) (+'*4 . 2$/# 2$ '4 to make a purchase and performed searches on
varying skillsets in order to compete. So why search engines or on ecommerce websites. From
$)Ǩ/ /# *(+)4 ./$& 2$/# $/. *-$"$)' 0.$- there, consumers arrived at the most appro-
ness-to-business online marketplace and focus +-$/ *(( - .$/ .ǚ
) #$)Ǜ 0.$) ..
growth where it had a competitive advantage, or customers went to Alibaba, while consumers
move into adjacent industries as prior academics went to Taobao or Tmall. To negotiate prices
and consultants espoused? *-/ -(.ǹ*((*)+-/$ $)#$)ǺǛ04 -.
'$Ǩ. 3+).$*) ./-/ "4 !*0. communicated with sellers usually by chat apps.
squarely on customer-side synergies around *).0( -. /# ) # /* +4 !*- /# $- +0-#.
% )$ .ǚ
)ƨƦƧƬǛ-*0)ƫƦ+ - )/*! and wait for a logistics operator to deliver it.
*)'$) .#*++$)"$)#$)/**&+' 1$(*$' This represented the extent of the typical online
phones, with the rest occurring on laptops, desk- .#*++ -Ǩ.ǚ
/*+.Ǜ)/' /.ǚ*.#*+*)'$) Ǜ*).0( -.Ɵ-./ )'45$)"/#$.$)$"0- ƩǛ2 .+*/' -
had to decide which device to use to access the pattern. Alibaba began growing by focusing on a
internet, and implicitly, which operating system .$)"' ./" *!/# .#*++ -Ǩ.2$/#$/.'$
) -*2. - *($)/$*) /* 0. . 2 ''ǚ ơ - website. It then moved outwards to capture other
that, most consumers opened browsers and 0./*( -.Ǩ/$1$/$ .ǚ
)./ *!0.$)"/# /-$-
pointed at websites, accessing their communica- /$*)'$)0./-4% )$ .++-*#ǹ+4( )/Ǜ
tion services, email, social networks, chat apps, mobile phones, and logistics are not adjacent
www.europeanbusinessreview.com ччͽͷ
STRATEGY
industries), the company opted to move into of the CVC for which your company does not
adjacent CVC activities. By 2018, the compa- have offerings. There are generally only two, and
ny’s businesses were serving most of the CVC they are the first natural candidates to explore.
activities. Alibaba didn’t immediately pursue Other proximate, non-immediate, adjacen-
firm-side synergies. Its real win came from cies are also potential candidates. Third, upon
achieving customer-side synergies. It opted to entering these adjacencies with new offerings,
deliver benefits to its current customers at each make sure to strengthen the links in the CVC by
growth opportunity. That, in turn, convinced creating customer side-synergies.
its customers to couple their activities in a For instance, Google started with a search
“one stop shop” manner. Eliminating a major tool. When Gmail came out in 2004, it brought
obstacle—finding different customers for its search and email integration together—just
new businesses—allowed Alibaba to grow faster. one click away. Google Maps, launched in 2005,
allowed users to click on an address in Gmail and
see its location pop up on a map. A few years later,
in 2011, Google Flights allowed users to purchase
IMPLEMENTING GROWTH BY a ticket, also one click away, with no need to sign
COUPLING in or copy and paste information across websites.
Google came to fill all the major adjacencies in
Focusing on customer benefits and growing a user’s work-related travel CVC by reducing the
around their (not your) value chain, a process effort and time previously experienced by having
I termed ‘coupling,’ requires going through the to work with multiple websites. Fourth and lastly,
In the Google four-step process depicted in Figure 4. First, after strengthening the links between stages of
Canada Kitchener- map out the stages in the customer value chain. the CVC, it is time to grow into stages farther
Waterloo office,
Ontario, Canada Second, identify the immediate adjacent stages apart from the original core activity.
JHVEPhoto / Shutterstock.com

Customer
Value Immediate Your core Immediate
Adjacency Adjacency
Chain Adjacency business Adjacency
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Growth from New Your core New
MƼȗчǷƼчFǢƼȗч
adjacent stages business business business
ƃǢƼưчţơŀŜūƲǷч
ÖчǪǷŀƄūǪ
Strengthening New Your core New

adjacent links business business business
Subsequent
adjacent New Your Your core Your New
growth business business business business business
*0+'$)" /$1$/$ . 2*-& !*- '$Ǜ ) $))*- ǹ % )/ /$1$/4Ǻǚ # ++ ,0$&'4 /**&
vate tech company. But can it also work for *ƢǛ ) $)" ) ./-/ $)" */# - !0)-
large companies in traditional industries? In tionalities to it such as the ability to schedule a
.#*-/Ǜ 4 .ǚ $)" ) $. #$) . $).0-) ) */*-Ǩ. ++*$)/( )/ ) 1 ) /'& /* /# */*-
Ɵ))$' . -1$ . *)"'*( -/ ǚ . *) *! /# remotely. Fast-forward to 2021, Good Doctor is
largest insurance companies in the world, it is /# (*./ 2$ '4 0. ++ *! $/. &$) $) #$)Ǜ
$) (*- /#) ƪƦ $Ƣ - )/ 0.$) .. .Ǜ (*)" serving 70 million monthly active users. In April
them health, life and prop- 2018, it was spun out of
erty insurance, real estate, Ping An, IPOed and raised
investment banking and ƼǿǟƧƐƲƄчŀŜǷƐȖƐǷƐūǪч $1.1 billion dollars at a
*/# - Ɵ))$' . -1$ .ǚ ȗƼǢƤūţчƃƼǢчƧƐśŀśŀϰчŀƲч valuation of $5 billion.
So, in 2014, it was not easy 0-.0$)" %-
for Ping An, a company ƐƲƲƼȖŀǷūчǷūŜƋчŜƼưǟŀƲȝϯч cency growth strategy
with revenues of $135 ǿǷчŜŀƲчƐǷчŀƧǪƼчȗƼǢƤч served such a large and
$''$*)Ǜ /* Ɵ) */# - #$"# ƃƼǢчƧŀǢƄūчŜƼưǟŀƲƐūǪчƐƲч established conglomerate
growth potential markets well, a hard feat to accom-
to enter. In internal discus- ǷǢŀţƐǷƐƼƲŀƧчƐƲţǿǪǷǢƐūǪ϶ч plish in the age where
sions, entering traditional RƲчǪƋƼǢǷϰчȝūǪϯч only tech companies and
market adjacencies was startups can create such
one obvious approach. high growth. When I

/ *0' // (+/ /* )/ - % )/ Ɵ))$' 1$.$/ $)" )Ǩ. # ,0-/ -. $) +-$' *! ƨƦƧƮǛ
services such as retail banking. Or it could enter the company was in the last stage of adjacent
) % )/ " *"-+#4 .0# . +) *- *- ǚ growth: mapping out all the non-immediate
Alternatively, it could enter an adjacent segment % )/ /$1$/$ . /#/ /# 4 *0' +*/ )-
of customers such as high-end insurance. tially enter with the goal of creating new $1
Instead, it chose to focus on what was best for its billion customer value-centric businesses
more than 300 million middle-class customers.
$) ) 3 0/$1 . - '$5 /#/ ()4 #$) .
did not have health insurance. And those that
$Ǜ # +4( )/ )3$ /4 ơ - "*$)" /* /# ¸M.чMff.rF.ч}EчF£}×¸MчÝч
doctor, not knowing if and when they would }¿ fRrF
get reimbursed from their health insurance.
Therefore, Ping An decided to create an app *0+'$)" * . )*/ *( 2$/#*0/ $/. *2) #'-
that helped people pay for their healthcare and lenges. The main hurdle of pursuing growth by
get reimbursed from their insurance provider expanding on the customer value chain is that
STRATEGY
*ơ )/$( . /#$. (4 ' 4*0- *(+)4 $)/* *4Ǜ0./*( -.#1 *+/$*).ǚ*). ,0 )/'4Ǜ
1./'4 $Ƣ - )/ 0.$) .. . /#/ - ,0$- 1./'4 the balance of power has switched from sellers
$Ƣ - )/+ *+' Ǜ.&$''.)+$'$/$ ./#)/# to buyers. The implication for executives of
ones it possesses. In the case of Alibaba, it went established companies, while far from simple
!-*( *(( - /*Ɵ))$'. -1$ .Ǜ/*. -# to implement, is quite simple to state: compa-
/**'.Ǜ /* '*"$./$.Ǜ /* #-2- ) /* .*ơ2- ǚ nies that want to grow should put the needs
There are very little of the customer
common assets to before their own.
leverage in these ¸ƋūчưŀƐƲчƋǿǢţƧūчƼƃчǟǿǢǪǿƐƲƄч That entails inno-
businesses. When I ƄǢƼȗǷƋчśȝчūȜǟŀƲţƐƲƄчƼƲч vating on behalf of
present coupling as a customers, deciding
growth strategy to my ǷƋūчŜǿǪǷƼưūǢчȖŀƧǿūчŜƋŀƐƲч which markets to
clients, I warn them ƐǪчǷƋŀǷчƼƃǷūƲǷƐưūǪчǷƋƐǪчưŀȝч enter primarily
of this hurdle and ask ƧūŀţчȝƼǿǢчŜƼưǟŀƲȝчƐƲǷƼч based on how much
/# ( /* Ɵ'' *0/ /# customer value can be
table in Figure 5 with ȖŀǪǷƧȝчţƐɬūǢūƲǷчśǿǪƐƲūǪǪūǪч created, and building
the skills they think ǷƋŀǷчǢūǡǿƐǢūчȖŀǪǷƧȝчţƐɬūǢūƲǷч in customer-side
will be required to
ǟūƼǟƧūϰчǪƤƐƧƧǪчŀƲţчŜŀǟŀśƐƧƐǷƐūǪч synergies for co-con-
succeed in a new adja- sumption of products
cent activity, whether ǷƋŀƲчǷƋūчƼƲūǪчƐǷчǟƼǪǪūǪǪūǪϯ and services offered
they have those skills, by the company. In
and, if not, how they short, innovation
plan on obtaining them. Will they 0$' /# ( and growth has to be customer value-centric.
internally, *--*2/# ( from others via new part- I hope this article provides a compelling
nerships or 04 /# ( through acquisitions or rationale for executives to move away from a
recruitment? What they cannot do is disregard firm-first to a customer-first mindset, as well
/# ) /*-$" /#*. .&$''"+.ǚǹ# .( ) as showcase a practical step-by-step approach
*) !*-/ #)*'*"4)*/# -- .*0- .Ǻǚ for how they can start this journey.
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MƼȗчǷƼчǢƐţƄūч
ǷƋūч«ƤƐƧƧǪчFŀǟчƃƼǢч ACTIVITY 1 ACTIVITY 2 ACTIVITY 3 ACTIVITY 4
ƼǿǟƧƐƲƄ
Required skills
Available skills
How to obtain
Build, Borrow, Build, Borrow, Build, Borrow, Build, Borrow,
non-available
or Buy? or Buy? or Buy? or Buy?
skills
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£RrR f«ч¸}чd.. чRrчpRr$
1 2 3
EƐƲţ ǟŀǷƋǪ ǷƋŀǷ ƄƼ ƐƲ ƃŀȖƼǢ śŀƲţƼƲ ȝƼǿǢ śǿǪƐƲūǪǪ ¸ŀƤū ŀ ưƼǢū
Ƽƃ ЋȖūǢǪǿǪ ŀƄŀƐƲǪǷЌ ȝƼǿǢ ưƼţūƧ Ɛƃ ƐǷ ƲƼ ƧƼƲƄūǢ ūȜǟŀƲǪƐȖū ȖƐūȗ Ƽƃ ȝƼǿǢ
ŜǿǪǷƼưūǢǪЫчūȖƼƧȖƐƲƄчśūƋŀȖƐƼǢϯч ǪūǢȖūǪчǷƋūчƃŀǪǷЙƄǢƼȗƐƲƄч ƼǟǟƼǢǷǿƲƐǷƐūǪϯч
ǟƼǢǷƐƼƲчƼƃчǷƋūчưŀǢƤūǷϯч
When Amazon decided to move from )4 ./'$.# *(+)$ .ǧ+$" *)-
the books category to electronics, it Executives of established businesses #*' Ǩ /# (. '1 . /** )--*2'4 $)
faced challenges by not having any *ơ ) Ɵ) $/ $ƣ0'/ /* - Ǳ/#$)& /# $- .+ $Ɵ $)0./-4ǚ . *). ,0 ) Ǜ
+#4.$'./*- .ǹ//# /$( Ǻǚ# - !*- Ǜ 0.$) .. (* '.ǚ ) $)0( )/. their area for exploring new growth
it developed apps that !$'$// viably venture outside their standard is limited, not by their potential or
people to go to physical stores and take *Ƣ -$)".Ǣ *- $)./) Ǜ ) ) 0/*- their capabilities, but by arbitrary
pictures, scan bar codes, or search for (& - - ''4 Ƣ*- )*/ /* (& -. $)0./-4 Ɵ)$/$*).ǚ # !./ ./
the price of electronics on Amazon !*- *).0( -. /* 04 ǹ/# ./)- 24 /* "-*2 $. /* *Ƣ - .*( /#$)"
that they wanted to buy. As a conse- (* '$)/# 0/*$)0./-4ǺǢ/0''4Ǜ that your current customers, those
quence, people started showrooming 4 .ǚ 4)& ƥ *ǚǛ %*$)/ 1 )/0- most loyal to you, would gladly pay
.$")$Ɵ)/'4 (*- $) ./ 04 ./*- . /2 ) 2 )Ǩ. *'1* ) #$)Ǩ. for. By virtue of them acquiring this
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common only in groceries stores at the model to cater to this new generation and transformation
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ORGANISATION
PEOPLE
ASSESSMENT in
the Digital Age
By Adrian Furnham
as virtual and augmented reality. Gone

are the old days of application form, in-
terview and references. Exploiting and
scraping the web are in.
Those interested in assessment often
seem transfixed by the how questions
(how we measure people) which do
change compared to the what questions
(what aspects, features) which do not.
There is also the question of whether
new technology improves the breadth or
depth but more importantly the accuracy
of assessment
But does a new technology adds
more, new, relevant information that we
need, rather than simply new ways of
collecting and refining data. Also, those
who use new technology (AI algorithms)
might expect a number of lawsuits and
would do well to start preparing their
defence based on all the relevant criteria
H
as well as predictive validity.
ow have technical, social, eco- There has always been the call for
nomic and legal forces influ- faster, cheaper, more accurate and
enced the business of people more fake-resistant ways of assessing
assessment? New technologies used in people. And, as one might expect there
assessment include smartphone and mo- are always people happy to supposedly
bile sensing, ambulatory assessment and “supply that need”. Indeed, there is a
ecological momentary sampling, text lot of money to be made in this area.
mining, sensors and wearables, as well “Start-up watchers” beware.
ORGANISATION
ESSENTIALLY THERE MANY FUNDAMENTAL QUESTIONS
How the assessment data is used?

What we are trying to assess? The answer Is the data fed into a complex and
6
appears to be no: selectors are still inter- sophisticated algorithm or used more
ested in an individual’s ability, personality and impressionistically by an individual or
1
motivation as well as their integrity and health. small team? Is it stored and used to
Whilst new concepts appear every so often help validate instruments and decisions?
(e.g agility, resilience) there has not been much
change in the fundamentally features of what
people are trying to assess. The predictors of To what extent is the assess-
7
success have not changed. ment data fed-back to the
individual and or used by HR to
develop a training program to
How can we assess individuals? This is exploit this data?
about the development of new meas-
urement techniques (mostly web-based,
2
behavioural and physiological) which Where the data is stored:
8
may be superior to those used in the i.e. in the cloud and all
past. But shiny new toys need to be that that implies?
proved to be better.
Is their “joined-up” data collection and
9
The cost of those assessments? A analysis in the different parts of the
central question is organizational organization? Or do they jealously guard
3
budgets and it seems some, realizing their own patch?
the cost of selection errors, are willing
to spend greater amounts in the hope of
better assessment and selection. Are there any special problems
10
associated with on-line assess-
ment, like being clear about who is
What we are allowed to assess? For actually taking the assessment?
many, the new world is one of increasing
legislation where there are a number of
4
questions and details it is unadvisable
and illegal to ask as they may be related There are also unintended consequences and
to anti-discrimination laws. This issue is effects of these developments. The use of the
getting much hotter: watch this space. internet does expand the applicant pool but
also increases the number of under-qualified
and out-of-country applicants. It is easy to be
Who does the assessment? This is about flooded with inappropriate applicants and
whether companies should outsource there is also the loss of personal touch that
5
assessment to experts or do it in house. both assessor and assessee value and respect.
More and more it is B2B cutting out the There are further concerns about cheating if
expensive middle men: test publishers timed ability tests are used and adverse impact
and consultants. of those who not have access to the technology
to take the tests.

Those who favour and sell many clear and fair method to differentiate candi-
news assessment products dates. They want methods that are focused on
diversity and inclusion and provide a good expe-
argue that many employers are rience for their candidates.
overwhelmed with large applications. They use the following catch phrases to sell
They want to reduce the time and their ideas and product:
“ Next generation” technology; 21st century
costs and have a clear and fair generation”; “Digs deeper” “Reveals more”;
method to differentiate candidates. “Powered by Neuro-Science”; “State-of-the-Art”;“
Has less adverse effect….leads to more
diverse choices”;“Authentic” and “real world”;
Talent identification in the HR world is “Disruptive”, “exciting new and different”
shifting, indeed has shifted from the traditional Some argue that their techniques have better
methods of assessment, including job inter- psychometrics: particularly predictive validity: they
views, assessment centres, cognitive ability are more accurate than the “old” well-used and
tests, personality inventories, to techniques tried methods. The suggest that their new methods
like digital interviewing and voice profiling, in fact lead to a reduction/avoidance of “older
social media analytics, web scraping and text method” issues/artifacts (e.g. impression manage-
analytics, internal big data and talent analytics ment). That is, the more traditional methods have
and gamification. well known problems associated with them and
these new methods largely overcome them.
They also suggest that many new methods
provide a better candidate experience: that is
MARKETING IN THE BRAVE that candidates are much more positive about
NEW WORLD the whole experience. This leads hopefully to
better PR for the tester and company doing
Those who favour and sell many news assess- the assessment and selection. These new and
ment products argue that many employers are improved techniques are it seems more up-to-
overwhelmed with large applications. They date, fairer, and more engaging which reflects
want to reduce the time and costs and have a very well on the selectors.
ORGANISATION
BEWARE THE JINGLE-JANGLE non-academic, the latter often being science

EFFECT journalists, practitioners and consultants. An
example is McHenry (2017), himself both an
The Jingle-Jangle fallacy refers to the idea that academic and a test publisher. He made five
two different things are the same because assertions, nearly five years ago, about the
they bear the same/very similar names (jingle future of psychometric tests:
fallacy) or that two identical or very similar
concepts are different because they have
1
different labels (jangle fallacy). The question is Smartphones will replace computers for
what jingles vs jangles and why? Old concepts employee assessment.
simple re-packaged for the modern ear; or
new, different concepts hiding under familiar
2
umbrella terminology? High-quality psychometric testing services will
Fashions change; ideas and measures need be sold direct to consumers.
revitalisation. So it is not difficult to take an
old test and idea and repackage it, which is,
of course, what many do. Manufacturers who Advances in the neuroscience of personality
3
prefer the jingle fallacy. Notice how the cheaper will reveal which are the most valid individual
store’s product has a name and package almost differences to measure and how best to
identical to the much more expensive, exclu- measure them.
sive brand. They want you to think that a thing
with a near identical name, colour, label is
essentially the same at half the price. The digital badging movement, coupled to the
4
use of big data and new forms of digital CV,
will render many of the current applications
for high-stakes testing redundant.
NEW TECHNOLOGY
Many attempt to exploit the opportunities that The basis for employee development will in the
5
new technology offers to assess people more near future be derived from the data yielded
accurately, easily, and cheaply. Some are early by wearable devices and not from psycho-
adopters, indeed even pioneers, in the field. metric tests.” (p. 268).
Others find that it is client demand that causes
them to investigate, and then use, new tools and
techniques that show that they are at the cutting
edge of psychometrics. The question for many One of the most comprehensive and up-to-
must be the investment of time and money in date review called “Personnel selection in the
techniques that in the end fail to deliver what Digital age Wood et al. (2019) reviewed all recent
they promise and may indeed cause many addi- research 2010-2020. Their focus was on Digital
tional problems. Selection Procedures (DSP) and the main appli-
There are changes in the law, and all the issues cations and emergent evidence.
surrounding discrimination. There are changes They observed: “Digital technology is ﬂexible
in how tests are administered and scored. There and easily updated and adapted and so informa-
are changes in how tests “get to market” tion from users,clients and others can be used to
There are plenty of speculators and futur- continually and rapidly improve the way that, for
ologists in this area, both academic and example, software or online systems function.”……..

The rapid configurable nature of digital assessments
means a fundamental shift in the way we approach
validation,from an “endpoint” of instrument crea-
tion to an ongoing accumulation of insight into a
technique or methodology”(p71)
They detailed many studies which compare
old and new methods (electric vs paper-and
pencil; proctored vs non-proctored) and
different tests (personality vs intelligence).
Most showed no differences. However, they do
note the problem of impersonation and fraud-
ulent completion of tests and that candidates
often preferred internet testing over the tradi-
tional methods
New developments in Situational Judgement breadth of professional and non-professional
Tests include the use of videos with some experience social capital, interest in updating
evidence that they were more valid predic- their knowledge.
tors of work performance that traditional In this excellent review they cover various
written methods. There is an interest in crucially important issues:
Digital Interviews where people record video
or digital answers to predeter- VALIDITY :
mined questions which can be This is clearly the most important issue and the
Many easily used for comparison. This conclude like so many others: “Alongside issues
attempt to data can be subject to all sorts of of construct validity is arguably the most crit-
AI and other analysis. ical gap currently in the literature on the validity
exploit the Some studies suggest that of DSPs; namely the absence of peer-reviewed
opportunities candidates do not like these tech- published studies of criterion validity. In the papers
that new niques being less fair and stilted we reviewed, only two reported criterion-related
and “Creepier and less personal” validity of digital forms of assessment in the context
technology with the traditional methods of selection” (p. 69)
offers to though that may change over time.
ADVERSE IMPACT:
assess In examing Gamified
Assessments they note arguments It is argued that new technology can be used to
people more in favour of reduced faking reduce human bias in selectors but many main-
accurately, and social desirability while tain (through AI technology) biases that are
easily, and promoting “fun, transparency, found in society.
challenge and interaction”. But
cheaply. they suggest that despite much PRIVACY:
buzz about the use of gamified Clearly some people are really put off the idea
assessments in practice, there that selectors themselves or hire others to
remains scarce published liter- screen all their online content. Further it can be
ature on the construct validity of gamified challenged in the law
assessments and applicant reactions to them.
With respect to using social media and DIGITAL FAMILIARITY:
network sites to gather digital footprints they Access to, and familiarity with, technology, may
note that it is possible to gather information discriminate older, poorer people in developing
that would seem to predict work success like countries as there is a digital divide.
ORGANISATION
TREND #3: GAMIFICATION

A SKEPTICS RESPONSE …. The idea is that if job applicants have more
fun taking the assessment, they will be less
Sherman (2019) notes in a blog in PSYCHOLOGY likely to drop out of the application process.
TODAY warned about various trends: Although the data show that candidates do
enjoy game-based assessments, the data also
TREND #1: NEUROSCIENCE indicate that gamification doesn’t improve
Some companies measure how fast you react to performance predictions. Research indicates
flashing objects on a computer screen and say that applicants who drop out during the assess-
that their assessments are based on neurosci- ment process are unlikely to be your strongest
ence. Neuroscience is the study of the structure candidates anyway…..
and function of the nervous system. Even though
such a broad definition leaves room for debate, TREND #4: PROFILE MATCHING
the reality is that neuroscience concerns the First, they assess your high-performers. Next,
function of individual neurons and the brain they see what differentiates your high-per-
(i.e., a large mass of neurons)…… formers from a larger population of people
who have taken the assessments. The differ-
TREND #2: BIG DATA AND DEEP ences between the two create a high-performer
LEARNING profile. Although this profile matching approach
Some companies brag about their stacks of big used by many companies seems intuitive, only a
data and their use of machine learning or arti- proper validation study that differentiates high
ficial intelligence to produce talent insights. and low performers will give you an accurate
However, if you dig deep, you find that most of profile. Don’t fall for assessments that are only
the data these companies collect are useless; validated on high-performers.
they aren’t even using it. For example, millions
of mouse-movements, keystrokes, and response TREND #5: EMPHASIZING IRRELEVANT
times can be measured in a 10-minute assess- INFORMATION
ment. But are they consequential? Do they …. New and old assessment companies often
predict anything? emphasize the total number of applicants, time

to hire, and the diversity of the hiring class as
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THE PSYCHOLOGY
OFчч«¸£¸Т¿ «
By Adrian Furnham
E
very generation likes to believe lifestyle or have they lost work ethic?
/#/ /# 4 - $Ƣ - )/ !-*( # 4+- ! -Ơ/#$ --#4ǝ$./#//*
those that came before them foster closer relationships with their
ǲ ǩ) 2 ) $(+-*1 Ǫ . 1 -/$. -. manager or are they are deeply cynical
like to call it. But are the young peo- about authority? They are empow-
ple entering the workforce today very ered by roles that have positive social
$Ƣ - )/ !-*( /#*. /#/ #1 *( impact and do not tolerate deviations
before them? from that goal; is that a commitment
There are doubts about how you to social good or an excuse for lack of
Ɵ) /# . $Ƣ - )/ " ) -/$*).ǜ commitment to organisations?
what you call them and precisely how
many there are in the workforce. The
/ -). ǹ*- -$/$*)'$./.Ǻ #1
around 1925-1945 as their birth dates; Ö}¸R}rfчM}R.
/# 4 **( -. -*0) ƧƯƪƫǱƧƯƬƫǝ
) -/$*))!-*(ƧƯƬƫ/*ƧƯƮƫǛ I have been studying young people and
the Millennials from 1985 to 2002 and working with them in my more than 35
)4*) .$) $.'..$Ɵ ./# ) 2'4 year career as an academic. I am an I/O
emerging Generation Z. psychologist interested in many things
So how many are there now in including vocational choice. I both
the workforce? About 5-10% are research the topic and teach under-and
Traditionalists; 30-40% Baby Boomers; post-graduates. My question has been
30% Generation Xers; the remainder are there changes in what we used to
ǹƨƦǱƩƦʷǺ $'' )$'.ǚ
/ $. -"0 /#/ call vocational preference: what sort of
$Ƣ - )/ " ) -/$*). #1 $Ƣ - )/ jobs young people look for when they
values, motivations and work styles. We leave school or university?
#1 # -$/'' !*- Ǟ4*0)"+ *+' # )
' ơ0)$1 -.$/4ǹ3!*-ƧƯƮƧǺ
want to have good work/life balance; my peers wanted jobs in the media,
is that a commitment to a healthy /# *1 -)( )/Ǜ *- /# $/4ǚ # 4
www.europeanbusinessreview.com чч͵ʹͻ
ORGANISATION
were exciting, stimulating and, supposedly, This is Millennial heaven. This is the current
lead to fame, money and power. These pref- generation (20-35 year olds), with their need to
erences remained throughout the Thatcher/ invent something new, because they believe they
Regan years. But all three have lost their lustre are special and can do special things, something
for different reasons. All have been tainted one most likely that the gener-
way or another. ation before them instilled
There have been other fashions. One that
Start-up founders in them. There are also
has been going some time is the social impulse are mostly young, plentiful sources of invest-
to work, often abroad, in non-for-profit organ- talented individuals, ment and lots of venture
isations that promote ecological, educational capitalists looking for
and health issues. These are the young people
frustrated with these very special people.
who have turned their back on the material hierarchies and the So money is supposedly
world preferring to “make a difference” and old order. They don’t not a problem though that
help other people. seems to be changing.
have employees, The cost of entry for
colleagues, the kind of start-up that
managers or interests Millennials is at
START UP MENTALITY an all-time low (you can
support-staff, but create and upload an app
Now the Bright Young Things all echo the same ‘friends’. over a weekend!). Young
mantra: start-up. We want to be entrepreneurs people are masters of
they chant! technology and social media. The use of social
The stereotype is of a group of friends working media platforms enables entrepreneurs to build
in a casual/funky environment (look at the a product, a brand, and grow the company with
exponential growth of co-working spaces: such high interaction and relatively little cash.
as WeWork, Work.life, TechHub and Second Start-up founders are mostly young, talented
Home) on their computers, having great fun individuals, frustrated with hierarchies and
and coming up with (here is the key adjective) the old order. They don’t have employees,
disruptive concepts, products and processes. colleagues, managers or support-staff, but
Their aim is to destroy the lazy, old-fashioned ‘friends’. They are usually prepared to take risks
behemoths of the past. - and are in a situation to do so.
Three of my best PhD students who initially
wanted to become academics have chosen
this route. Others I have interviewed started
“serious” jobs in consultancy, finance and the
media but all “dropped out” lured by the appeal
of the start up.
There are many obvious appeals of the stereo-
typic start-up. They are (allegedly) places of fun
and creativity, unrestricted by slow bureaucratic
processes, incommunicative silos and general
risk aversion. There is less hierarchy and less
politics than in a big old-fashioned organization.
The office is a playroom. There are no stuffy
rules; no petty supervisors; no dull and monot-
onous tasks. Indeed, it is difficult to distinguish
work from play.

People in start-ups do, or pretend A start-up is classically a small, names and new adjectives but the
to, enjoy teamwork and networking. 0) -./Ƣ 0)$/2$/#/# 1)/" . .( +- ($. ǲ2 - $!! - )/)
They see continuous learning as highly and disadvantages that bestows. The 2 )*/#$)". // -ǲ0/$! 1 -4
desirable and virtuous. And they are salaries are not great, but there are " ) -/$*).4./#//# )- )Ǩ/4*0
+- +- /*2*-&!*-'*2+4Ǟ0)/$'Ǜ*! +-*($. . *! .#- .ǚ ơ ) /# *2) -. more alike than different to those
course, they discover a must-have app spend more time talking to venture that came before you?
and get really rich. capitalists than “running the business”.
So this is the new vs the old: Lack of commercial insight means that £.E.£.r.«чч
• ƧưūƐţŀϰч ϯчRϯчfϯϰчƋưūǷƼƄƧǿϰчFϯϰчŀƲţч
on-trend geniuses vs stale, pale, frail start-up geniuses are bent on inventing ƋŀưƼǢǢƼЙ ǢūưǿȧƐŜϰч¸ϯчЋͶʹ͵͸Ќϯч×ƋƼч
males. But is it? Is it any more than the things before they even consider if ȗŀƲǷǪчǷƼчśūчŀƲчūƲǷǢūǟǢūƲūǿǢ϶ч¸Ƌūч
2 ''Ǳ&)*2) $Ƣ - ) . /2 ) $" anybody wants the product. relationship between vocational
ƐƲǷūǢūǪǷǪчŀƲţчƐƲţƐȖƐţǿŀƧчţƐɬūǢūƲŜūǪч
and small organizations?
-*)$''4Ǜ./-/Ǳ0+.- *ơ )/-4$)" ƐƲчūƲǷǢūǟǢūƲūǿǢǪƋƐǟϯчbϯчCareer Assess.
Most studies show that big organ- to solve the problems of big organi- ͶͶϰч͵ʹͶЛ͵͵Ͷ
izational units are bad, in the sense sations, the old favourites: big media • ƼƲƲūǷǷϰчϯчϰчӅчEǿǢƲƋŀưϰчϯч͵ͽͽ͵ϯч
×ƋƼчȗŀƲǷǪчǷƼчśūчŀƲчūƲǷǢūǟǢūƲūǿǢ϶чч
that there is more absenteeism, Ɵ-(.Ǜ /# "*1 -)( )/ *- $)1 ./( )/
study of adolescents interested in a
higher turnover and lower morale. banks. So how would someone with no ÝƼǿƲƄч.ƲǷūǢǟǢƐǪūчǪŜƋūưūϯчbƼǿǢƲŀƧчƼƃч
Big units lead to a poorer sense of experience of a big organisation have .ŜƼƲƼưƐŜч ǪȝŜƋƼƧƼƄȝϰч͵Ͷϱч͸ͺ͹Й͸ͻͼ
cohesion, greater task specialisation the understanding to build a product to • Henderson, R. and Robertson, M.
Ћ͵ͽͽͽЌϰч×ƋƼчȗŀƲǷǪчǷƼчśūчŀƲчūƲǷǢū-
and less good communication. Yet solve their problems? They are unlikely ǟǢūƲūǿǢ϶чÝƼǿƲƄчŀţǿƧǷчŀǷǷƐǷǿţūǪч
size is not closely related to produc- to even know what those problems are. to entrepreneurship as a career.
tivity, but more to the way in which Furthermore, individuals who leave Education + TrainingϰчÖƼƧϯч͸͵чrƼϯч͹ϰчǟǟϯч
ͶͷͺЙͶ͸͹ϯ
people work. $" *-")$./$*). 2$/# /# $- $)Ɵ)$/
# - . -# *) ./ƣ)" '**&. / resources, to pursue the entrepreneurs
$Ƣ - ) .$) #1$*0- /2 )'-" dream, soon realise that constantly }¿¸ч¸M.ч¿¸M}£
and small-populated environments not having enough resources, which
or settings: big and small businesses, is synonymous with start-ups, means
schools and towns. When a setting is that you are constrained to intro-
0) -./Ƣ Ǜ /# - - 0.0''4 - '4 duce processes to direct those limited
enough people to ensure that it func- resources. So you are teased with
/$*). Ƣ /$1 '4ǚ*Ǜ$)*- -/*($)/$) freedom from rules but inevitability
it, people tend to be more active and have to deal with them. ţǢƐŀƲчEǿǢƲƋŀư is Principal
involved in what they are doing. You may implement more effi- ūƋŀȖƐƼǿǢч ǪȝŜƋƼƧƼƄƐǪǷчŀǷч«ǷŀưƃƼǢţч
The data from ecological psycholo- cient processes but that is what ǪǪƼŜƐŀǷūǪчƐƲчfƼƲţƼƲϯчMūчȗŀǪч
gists, who study these sorts of things, the generation before you did and ǢƼƃūǪǪƼǢчƼƃч ǪȝŜƋƼƧƼƄȝчŀǷч¿ƲƐȖūǢǪƐǷȝч
ƼƧƧūƄūчfƼƲţƼƲч͵ͽͼ͵чǷƼчͶʹ͵ͼϰчŀƲţч
show that in comparison with those it is inevitable that the “efficient
now Professor in the Department
2*-&$)"$)*1 -./Ƣ )1$-*)( )/.Ǜ processes” created by Millenials will ƼƃчfūŀţūǢǪƋƐǟчŀƲţч}ǢƄŀƲƐȧŀǷƐƼƲŀƧч
/#*. $) 0) -./Ƣ . //$)".ǜ - be obsolete by the time Generation ūƋŀȖƐƼǿǢччŀǷчǷƋūчrƼǢȗūƄƐŀƲчǿǪƐƲūǪǪч
more committed to their organisation Z enter the work force. And so the «ŜƋƼƼƧчƐƲч}ǪƧƼϯчMūчƋŀǪчȗǢƐǷǷūƲчƼȖūǢч
and have higher job performance. cycle will begin again with news ͵ͷʹʹчǪŜƐūƲǷƐɯŜчǟŀǟūǢǪчŀƲţчͽʹчśƼƼƤǪϯч
www.europeanbusinessreview.com чч͵ʹͽ
TECHNOLOGY
The present article describes how the Vodafone

-*0- ( )/*(+)4ǹǺ#.*+/ -/$Ɵ$'
Intelligence technology to boost its ability to perform
ǩ .$")ƨ*./Ǫ)#$ 1 .$")$Ɵ)/*./*+/$($.-
tion as a result. The adoption of digital technologies
$)'0$)"-/$Ɵ$'
)/ ''$" ) ''*2./# 0/*(-
tion of activities performed routinely by humans.
#$.+*.$/$1 '4$(+/./# ƣ$ )4*!/# . $)$-
viduals and allows them, in the best case, to focus
on more value - adding activities. At the same time,
such technologies can be used to augment the work
of procurement professionals by allowing teams to
deliver more value. Augmentation typically supports
complex and collaborative activities that were not be
systematically performed before.
}×.£RrFч}«¸RrF
×R¸Mч£¸RERRfч
Rr¸.ffRF.r.ϱ
THE CASE OF
VODAFONE
PROCUREMENT
By Hervé Legenvre,
Gavin Hodgson,
Govind Khandelwal
͵͵ʹчччччч¸M.ч.¿£} .rч¿«Rr.««ч£.ÖR.×чччччччpÝчТчb¿r.чͶʹͶ͵
initial aim presented in the business
M}×чR¸ч«¸£¸.$ case was to save 300 million Euros
over 5 years, but the stretched goal
# *!*) -*0- ( )/*(+)4 was to achieve cost reductions of 1
was established in 2008 to serve as billion Euros within this 5 year period.
*!*) Ǩ. )/-'$. +-*0- ( )/ * !-Ǜ ơ - /#- ) #'! 4 -.Ǜ
#0ǚ 4 ƨƦƧƭǛ # - # *1 - ƫƦʷ *! *!*) Ǩ. "'*' .+ )
plateau in terms of maturity. Price #. )$)Ơ0 ) 4/# / ()
negotiations were facing limits, hundreds of millions of Euros have
leading the organisation to ask: been saved, putting Vodafone well on
#/Ǩ. /# ) 3/ ./ +Ǣ # *(+)4 track to achieving its stretched ambi-
needed further opportunities to elim- tion. Over 250 pieces of hardware have
inate costs, but it also needed healthy been analysed to date and the pipeline
.0++'$ -. 2#* *0' $)1 ./ $) ƥǚ is full for the coming six months.
Procurement experts at Vodafone
knew that they were most valued by
their stakeholders when they were
bringing not only savings, but also «.¸¸RrFч¿ чч$.«RFrч¸}ч
knowledge, facts, and options to the }«¸чf
table. Knowledge on the design and
on the detailed costs of the products # +-*% /Ǜ -) .$")ƨ*./Ǜ
and services provided by suppliers plays 2. '0)# / $) / (+*-
a key role here. All this led to the idea of rary lab located in a meeting room.
further investing in the integration of Following the success of the pilot,
cost analysis capabilities it was clear that more space was
within the procurement needed to perform their cost tear-
/ (ǚ*Ǳ'' ǧ .$")/* *2).Ǜ.*$)$)$'.*)Ǜ*!Ǜ
So-called ‘design to *./Ǩ''*2./# . //$)"*! said: “Take the boardroom and build
cost’ allows the setting g an objective cost goal for a your lab in it. This is the best way
product by breaking down !*-2-ǚ*0) (*- .+ ǟǪ#
of an objective cost goal the product into sub- .$")ƨ*./ $)$/$/$1 ./-/ .(''
for a product by breaking elements and assessing 2$/# / ( *! %0./ Ɵ1 + *+' Ǜ )
down the product their respective costs and /*4 *./. ƧƬ /-$) .$")ƨ*./
) Ɵ/.ǚ #$. ''*2. experts from a range of industry
into sub-elements for the rethinking of backgrounds including electrical
and assessing their products and services, engineers, mechanical engineers and
respective costs and achieving cost reduction manufacturing. On the ground in the
and increasing the value lab the team focuses on the hardware
śūƲūɯǷǪϯ delivered. teardowns with the support of a team
The Vodafone team in India who do detailed analyses of
performed benchmarks /# Ɵ)$)".ǚ *- . -1$ . *./ / --
with automotive companies and looked *2).Ǜ Ǩ. / "*-4 ()" -. -
across the telecom industry to assess trained in cost analysis methodology
existing practices. This provided a enabling them to perform their own
good basis to start a pilot, the results costing activities with the support
of which were very promising and *! /# .$")ƨ*./ / ( 2#* "$1
a business case was developed. The coaching and validate their results.
www.europeanbusinessreview.com чч͵͵͵
TECHNOLOGY
the team creates a new cost model or looks

THE PROCESS AND HOW IT for external cost information, always seeking
WAS DEVELOPED multiple sources of information to ensure relia-
bility. From this, they perform all the analysis
Vodafone’s Design2Cost process was developed using their software. The final cost model is
by creating a series of in-house tools. The team completed by incorporating the value-adding
developed a systematic seven-step process and steps as well as overheads, R&D, and any
invested in access to many sources of informa- other third party costs. This allows the team
tion on costs. From the start, the process was to produce the information kit for category
developed as a cumulative learning process. managers and support them as needed. The
Right from the beginning they built a data- process is outlined in Figure 1.
base that could be updated and re-used over
time, meaning that it is continuously updated.
For instance, the data on the cost of labour are
updated every quarter. So, if you have a supplier Figure 1: The Design2Cost Process for hardware
in a specific region in Vietnam, the database
gives you the labour for the appropriate skill
level, energy and factory floor space costs in that
region. Many sources of information contribute
to the database and different sources are regu- Define the scope
larly compared so that it is reliable.
The analysis process can be described as
follows. Whenever a procurement project above
a certain value starts, category managers must Tear down the Hardware
confirm they have considered a Design2Cost
approach. When appropriate, the Design2Cost
team starts by defining the scope and the context. Scan the entire product
This provides a basic understanding of the cate-
gory and of the business issues. They then tear
down representative pieces of hardware and scan Identify every component
all the components using a proprietary, internally
developed system. This scanning equipment
takes hundreds of images that are combined Connect each item with a
into a single ultra-high resolution image. Using cost in the database
a neural network, which is currently patent
pending, software then recognises and defines
the locations of components of interest. Other Perform the analysis using the
internally developed software then takes the software developed in-house
images already captured, and markings extracted
using Optical Character Recognition, to compare
and match these components with the internal Produce the Information Kit for
database built over the life of the lab. Up to 92% category managers
of electronic components on an unknown board
are now being automatically recognised in this
way. Each item within the hardware is automati-
cally allocated a cost thanks to the lab’s database. Support category team as needed
If the information is not already in the database,

From the start, the
process was developed
The information kit provided
as a cumulative learning down to decision makers who
at the end of the process is process. Right from the specify the needs and to the
*(+- # ).$1 Ǜ *Ƣ -$)" beginning they built a supplier to see how this can be
complete overview of the tear- taken forward.
down. It includes what they database that could be To create this process and
'' ǧ' )Ǳ.# /Ǩ *./$)"Ǜ /# updated and re-used over the system that supports it the
'Ǩ. *2) 1 -.$*) *! /# *./$)"ǚ time, meaning that it is / ( #. - / ǧ"-" $))*-
They also decompose the costs 1/$*)Ǩ )1$-*)( )/ǚ -')*
by subassembly, by components continuously updated. -$"*-$$./# 'Ǩ.
.+ $'$./
) *Ƣ - /$' 1$ 2. *) described the development:
labour impact. The lab can also ǳ#$. ./-/ $) (4 &$/# )ǥ

*Ƣ - *(+ /$/$1 *(+-$.*). 4 *$)" / - *2) *) 2. +0//$)" /*" /# - '' /# ' ( )/. !*- .))$)" #--
*(+ /$/*-.Ǩ+-*0/.ǚ# 4.0"" ./.*( ' 1 -.2$/#/# $- 2- /*" /# -/#*( Ǥ1 -4/#$)"2. 1 '*+ $)#*0. ǥ
cost impact. ) .*( /$( . - ''4 $) (4 *2) #*0. ǩ #$. $. *!/ ) /#
Typically, the info kit provides category managers with . 2$/#(#$) ' -)$)"ǥ4*0)./-/2$/#.*( '"*-
a list of design optimisation opportunities as levers that -$/#(./#/- 1$'' *)*+ ).*0- 0//# )ǥ/.*(
can be used to reduce costs. These can run to 20 or more +*$)/ 4*0 ) /* (& $/ 2*-& !*- 4*0ǤǴ Before this the
opportunities, but the actionable number depends on the team was using magnifying glasses and manual tools, they
maturity of the product. This provide options. Then it is were looking at every single component on the board and
www.europeanbusinessreview.com чч͵͵ͷ
TECHNOLOGY
sources to be able to do a cost tear-

down quickly and effectively. When
the team does not have access to
the cost within its existing database,
members of the team start to look
at a wide range of external informa-
tion. By looking at multiple sources,
the information is triangulated. The
lab has used thousands of sources
of data to get information on more
than 20 000 components. The level of
identifying everything by themselves. takes to do a complex costing has been accuracy can now exceed 90% thanks
Now they are teaching the machine reduced from 30 to 10 days thanks to to the machine learning algorithms.
to recognise all components so that the tools that use AI and machine But the team still plays Sherlock
everything is automated. After the learning that were developed as part Holmes sometimes, they dig deeper
picture is assembled, the components of the setting up of the lab. Today, the in technical papers to understand
are identified, and the data is aggre- neural network technology developed some of the unknown costs and they
gated automatically. by the team is registered as a patent. exchange and work with suppliers
These developments undertaken In this approach the wide access to better understand some of these.
by the team have had a tremendous to external data is also key. Figure 2 However, this is less and less required
productivity impact on their own describes the sources of data used as information is accumulated and
work and performance. The time it by the team. You need all these updated on an ongoing basis.
Figure 2 Sources of data
Internal
database
Structured cost data

available on the web
Easy to access cost Talk with the supplier

references
Visit the supplier
Unstructured data buried in

specialist source Work with the supplier

/#$.*Ƣ -.!0''0) -./)$)"*! .$").)
¸M.ч.r.ER¸«ч¸}ч¸M.ч}p rÝ of their impact on cost and customer prefer-
ences, creating options for the company to
Since the lab was established, the team has choose what is essential and what is not critical
performed detailed teardowns and cost analyses from a customer standpoint. This allows for
on hundreds of complex electronic and electro- the value of every component to be challenged.
( #)$'+-*0/.). -1$ .Ǜ$)'0$)"3ƮƬ For instance, the team in the lab highlight on a
servers, remote radio units, customer premise recurring basis that black paint on a board that
equipment and various types of deployment, nobody will see is “vanity not value”. Finally,
marketing, call centres, IT and other services. this allows them to have in-depth, fact-based
The impact of these activities has been signif- conversations about the opportunities to jointly
$)/ǜ0.$)"/# 'Ǩ.- .0'/.Ǜ/ "*-4()" -. optimise the end-to-end value chain with
have achieved a step-change in the quality of *!*) Ǩ.+-/) -.ǚ#$.$.& 4
discussion with suppliers. They have scrutinised to opening the door to more
vendor cost structures on the most detailed level, collaborative and innovative The impact of
uncovered hidden margins, and opened-up joint relationships with suppliers. these activities
cost reduction and value creation opportuni-
ties with suppliers. Sometimes this has helped
has been
0)*1 - $) ƣ$ )$ . /#/ 2 - 0 /* 4 - *! ǪƐƄƲƐɯŜŀƲǷϱ
.+ $Ɵ/$*). /#/ # ) +$'$)" 0+ *) # M}×ч×«ч using the lab’s
other. Many examples of impact show double- ¸M.чMrF.ч
digit cost improvement. Rp f.p.r¸.$϶ results, category
A category manager interviewed suggested managers have
/#/ /# ) Ɵ/. - (*- .$")$Ɵ)/ 2# ) Implementing such an initiative achieved a
there is a competitive tender at stake. When requires a change in mind-set.
representatives from the supplier know they are On the supplier side, not all step-change in
in a dominant position, it is more challenging to were open to discuss and share the quality of
get their team to be open and discuss detailed /# $-*./.ǚ# )*! discussion with
.$")ǚ 0/ # '.* #$"#'$"#/ /#/ ) Ɵ/. Vodafone sent a letter to all key
*) . -1$ . ) .$")$Ɵ)/ǚ
) Ǜ /# .0++'$ -.Ǩ 0./*( - *0)/ suppliers.
.$")ƨ*.// (+ -!*-(.)'4.$.2$/#$)/# (. ) .Ǜ 3+'$)$)" /*
Ɵ ' *) . -1$ .ǚ # (+ +-* .. . )'4. /# ( /#/ /# .$")ƨ*./
them and spot improvement opportunities. had been established and that it would lead to
* .0((-$. /# ) Ɵ/.Ǜ /# ' ) $/. new ways of working. Also, from the start of a
.$")/**./+-* ..+-*1$ .) 2$).$"#/./#/ project with a supplier, an evaluation of their
can be used in commercial negotiations. Second, openness is done. This is important to create
www.europeanbusinessreview.com чч͵͵͹
TECHNOLOGY
Technology
often makes an
the right relationships and forms part
organization more and the assets they had created. For
of tender evaluation criteria. The team ūɭŜƐūƲǷ ǷƋŀƲƤǪ ǷƼ instance, some of the data can be
has seen some suppliers coming to them automation. But used to map sources of components
with services or products where they lose and react to any disruptions or bans.
(*) 4 ) *Ƣ -$)" /* 2*-& /*" /# - /* when technology There is also the possibility to offer a
see how this could be improved. New augments the 0-+*. Ǳ' .$")ƨ*./ +$'$/4ǚ
)/-)/. $) /# (-& / *ơ ) 2)/ /* work of the best This means identifying impacts on
2*-& 2$/# Ǩ. .$")ƨ*./ / ( ) the environment and society as part
are open to discuss cost. Incumbent professionals of the exercise so further feedback
suppliers are more reluctant, but in a ǷƋūƲ ǷƋū śūƲūɯǷǪ can be provided to suppliers. This
competitive context or when the process are huge. can help identify if refurbishing
brings real tangible opportunities for a product is an option or not, can
both sides, progress has been made. help eliminate plastic and serve as a
Perseverance and consistency are essential here. "**.$./*0) -./)2 emissions. It can be used
On the internal side, a lot of time has been invested to make the necessary total cost calculations for imple-
$) 3+'$)$)" /# ) Ɵ/. ) /# 24 $/ 2*-&.ǚ #$. $. menting circularity. Finally, one option for the ream
perceived as an opportunity for procurement teams to be is also to monetize its capabilities outside of Vodafone
empowered with more information and knowledge, so it to other telecom operators who cannot invest in such
really helps them make progress with some vendors. 'ǚ *Ǜ /# !0/0- $. '**&$)" "- / !*- /# *!*) Ǩ.
.$")ƨ*./ ǚ
''/#$. (*)./-/ ./#// #)*'*"4*ơ )(& .)
*-")$5/$*) (*- ƣ$ )/ /#)&. /* 0/*(/$*)ǚ 0/
f}}dRrFчRr¸}ч¸M.чE¿¸¿£. when technology augments the work of the best profes-
.$*)'./# )/# ) Ɵ/.- #0" ǚ#$.- ,0$- .(/0-$/4Ǜ
As the team progressed, it realised that additional and for many organisations, further investigations of
benefits could be unearthed from the data collected their investments.
}¿¸ч¸M.ч¿¸M}£«
MūǢȖŬчfūƄūƲȖǢū is Professor and FŀȖƐƲчMƼţƄǪƼƲ manages Vodafone’s FƼȖƐƲţчdƋŀƲţūƧȗŀƧ is Head of Core,

£ūǪūŀǢŜƋч$ƐǢūŜǷƼǢчŀǷч.R pϰчŀƲч Hardware teardown lab. He has «ƼƃǷȗŀǢūчӅч¸ǢŀƲǪưƐǪǪƐƼƲч¸ūŜƋƲƼƧƼƄȝч
.ţǿŜŀǷƐƼƲчŀƲţч¸ǢŀƐƲƐƲƄчRƲǪǷƐǷǿǷūчƃƼǢч ǷȗƼчţūŜŀţūǪчƼƃчƄƧƼśŀƧчūȜǟūǢƐūƲŜūч ǢƼŜǿǢūưūƲǷчŀƲţч$ūǪƐƄƲͶƼǪǷчfŀśчŀǷч
ǿǢŜƋŀǪƐƲƄчŀƲţч«ǿǟǟƧȝчpŀƲŀƄūưūƲǷϯч in procurement and supply chain ÖƼţŀƃƼƲūϯчFƼȖƐƲţчƐǪчŀч«ǷǢŀǷūƄƐŜчŀƲţч
He manages educational programmes management, and holds degrees from business focused senior international
for global clients, conducts ŀưśǢƐţƄūч¿ƲƐȖūǢǪƐǷȝϰчŀƲţчd.$F.ϯч ǷūƧūŜƼưưǿƲƐŜŀǷƐƼƲчƐƲţǿǪǷǢȝчūȜūŜǿ-
researches and teaches on innova- He is currently working on solutions ǷƐȖūчȗƐǷƋчͶʹѾчȝūŀǢǪчƼƃч«ǿǟǟƧȝчƋŀƐƲϯч
tion and purchasing transformation. to assess hardware COͶ footprints by MūчƋŀǪчRƲǷūǢƲŀǷƐƼƲŀƧчȗƼǢƤчūȜǟūǢƐūƲŜūч
Hervé Is the author of the book “Fifth using teardown insights. ƐƲчRƲţƐŀчŀƲţч.ǿǢƼǟūϯ
Generation Purchasing”.
͵͵ͺчччччч¸M.ч.¿£} .rч¿«Rr.««ч£.ÖR.×чччччччpÝчТчb¿r.чͶʹͶ͵
United by Science
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to solve the challenges of today and enable the dreams
of a better tomorrow.
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In an age of uncertainty, there is inarguably

M lab at Burlington site, USA

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a stable super-heavy element? What is dark matter

November 12 – 19, 2021

THE FOUR WAYS

How have innovation practices

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The field of targeted innovations

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Therein, employees have near- absolute

Some companies focus on nurturing internal

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Create products or services that May trigger cultural change

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

PART-TIME EXECUTIVE FULL-TIME

Lenzing sets a milestone

VEOCEL™ Lyocell fibers

New carbon neutral offering

renewable material wood, derived an external nature-based carbon

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centred on humanist goals, the univer-

THE GOLDEN STANDARD

As the 5th provider for Executive

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Risk is a fact of life for businesses

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In what ways does a small com-

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input from academics, practitioners

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Get Your Data Ready for Analytics and AI

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Let me state first of all that I have no IT

Click here3 to learn more about this story.

Hardi International A/S has grown to become a world

TimeXtender’s Data Architecture

Coach Consultancy | Coaching | Coach Training

T: +4 4 (0) 20 7127 5125 www.aoec.com

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Europe needs to keep producing

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1MEASURE AND MONITOR FOOTPRINT

Map carbon footprint and energy landscape to iden-

Identifying opportunities for emissions reduc-

Set targets to reduce

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Structurally monitor low-carbon technology cost

Technologies that enable emissions reductions

Create dedicated teams

Integrate scenario thinking

Engage with external

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