Driving Competitive Advantage Through Service Innovation
PART 1: The Dynamics of Service Innovation… view details
27 May, 2009 | (01 hr)
Traditional sources of competitiveness – tangible and previously plentiful inputs such as land, natural resources and labor quantity – that have given the US its historical competitive edge will not be sufficient in the future. Scarce and intangible inputs that will create competitiveness are ideas, knowledge, and labor quality (talent). “Service innovation”, instead of traditional “product innovation”, is now the focus of companies looking to maintain and grow competitive advantage. An exciting but complicating factor in this new development is the increasing melding of “products” and “services” as leading edge companies bring their imagination and business acumen to bear on unmet customer needs.
The Business Issue: As the tight integration of services and products into innovative “offerings” becomes more critical to firm competitiveness, how are companies organizing around these capabilities? What kinds of people are needed to design and implement new business models, processes and capabilities? How are old and new capabilities integrated to achieve economies of scope and scale through back-of-the-house operations?
During the first session we will sketch the broad perspective on the evolving world of service innovation through IBM’s effort to develop a new business school curriculum centered on "service science, management and information". Clearly, IBM expects that a shift from traditional to service innovation will lead to radically different business models and business processes, and a shortage of managers who can think in terms of the new services and manage them well. What kinds of managers are required ("Ts") and how can firms (and their supply chains) organize around these new business processes?
Key Points to be covered:
- The rapidly evolving business landscape and its effect on business models.
- The disconnects between old and new models, as well as organizational structure, managerial skills, sources of value and key metrics.
- IBM’s continuing journey through services business model innovation.
Speakers
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Dianne Fodell
Dianne Fodell's responsibilities include promoting new university research and curricula in Service Science, Management and Engineering (SSME). She serves on the governance board for the Service Research and Innovation Initiative (SRII) and is an ... Full Bio |
PART 2: Wholesale to Retail: Service Innovation in Health Insurance… view details
03 June, 2009 | (01 hr)
Traditional sources of competitiveness – tangible and previously plentiful inputs such as land, natural resources and labor quantity – that have given the US its historical competitive edge will not be sufficient in the future. Scarce and intangible inputs that will create competitiveness are ideas, knowledge, and labor quality (talent). “Service innovation”, instead of traditional “product innovation”, is now the focus of companies looking to maintain and grow competitive advantage. An exciting but complicating factor in this new development is the increasing melding of “products” and “services” as leading edge companies bring their imagination and business acumen to bear on unmet customer needs.
The Business Issue: As the tight integration of services and products into innovative “offerings” becomes more critical to firm competitiveness, how are companies organizing around these capabilities? What kinds of people are needed to design and implement new business models, processes and capabilities? How are old and new capabilities integrated to achieve economies of scope and scale through back-of-the-house operations?
In this session, we will review the case of a traditional (B2B) service provider, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida, which has a new (B2C) offering for those who cannot get health insurance through their employers, delivered through shops in malls. Where did the idea comes from, who were involved, how did it get launched? And, after a few successful store openings, how to roll out this offering, and how to organize the firm around it? Finally, how does the new business relate to the traditional business, how does it draw on existing capabilities, how are these reshaped, how does it fit in the rest of the organization, and what is the role of the CEO in fostering this innovation?
Key Points to be covered:
- Understanding a changed environment as a first step to service innovation.
- Embracing disruptive innovation as a way to better serve the customer and create competitive advantage..
Speakers
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Carey Hepler
Carey specializes in the full cycle of new product development, including needs identification and analysis, conceptual design and implementation and launch. In addtion, he has a Black Belt in QFD (Quality Function Deployment). His background in a... Full Bio |
PART 3: Multi-Disciplinary Approach to Problem-Solving: Service Innovation in a Professional Services Firm… view details
10 June, 2009 | (01 hr)
Traditional sources of competitiveness – tangible and previously plentiful inputs such as land, natural resources and labor quantity – that have given the US its historical competitive edge will not be sufficient in the future. Scarce and intangible inputs that will create competitiveness are ideas, knowledge, and labor quality (talent). “Service innovation”, instead of traditional “product innovation”, is now the focus of companies looking to maintain and grow competitive advantage. An exciting but complicating factor in this new development is the increasing melding of “products” and “services” as leading edge companies bring their imagination and business acumen to bear on unmet customer needs.
The Business Issue: As the tight integration of services and products into innovative “offerings” becomes more critical to firm competitiveness, how are companies organizing around these capabilities? What kinds of people are needed to design and implement new business models, processes and capabilities? How are old and new capabilities integrated to achieve economies of scope and scale through back-of-the-house operations?
One service innovation approach is bringing together multi-disciplinary teams to solve significant business challenges. PwC will share its story of how it solved a well-understood business challenge faced by many finance departments with a team of specialists possessing unique skills for a professional services firm.
Key Points to be covered:
- Tackling a known challenge in a unique and creative way
- Bringing new perspectives to institutional thinking about an existing challenge
- Looking to external analogous situations as inspiration for solutions
Speakers
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Sheldon Laube
Sheldon leads a team whose mission is to accelerate innovation by inspiring new ideas and reducing barriers to their implementation. He also oversees PwC's Center for Advanced Research, which has developed and globally deployed new solutions for d... Full Bio |
PART 4: Second Generation Service Innovation… view details
17 June, 2009 | (01 hr)
Traditional sources of competitiveness – tangible and previously plentiful inputs such as land, natural resources and labor quantity – that have given the US its historical competitive edge will not be sufficient in the future. Scarce and intangible inputs that will create competitiveness are ideas, knowledge, and labor quality (talent). “Service innovation”, instead of traditional “product innovation”, is now the focus of companies looking to maintain and grow competitive advantage. An exciting but complicating factor in this new development is the increasing melding of “products” and “services” as leading edge companies bring their imagination and business acumen to bear on unmet customer needs.
The Business Issue: As the tight integration of services and products into innovative “offerings” becomes more critical to firm competitiveness, how are companies organizing around these capabilities? What kinds of people are needed to design and implement new business models, processes and capabilities? How are old and new capabilities integrated to achieve economies of scope and scale through back-of-the-house operations?
In the fourth and final session we will follow a successful company that had a legacy service product come under pressure from disruptive innovation on the outside. Hertz saw both the threat and the opportunity of Flexcar’s and later ZipCar’s “car sharing” model in relation to its traditional “car rental” business. Hertz brought in a key executive from the outside, from ZipCar, to create its own disruptive innovation that competes with its traditional model. A difficult course, but one with the potential to create a transformational second generation of its service offering.
Key Points to be covered:
- Disruption is a given.
- Understanding new customer needs
- Riding the curve — being willing to put the legacy product at risk in order to remain competive and transform their company.
Speakers
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Griff Long
As Senior Director, Global Car Sharing, Griff is responsible for leading the Company’s global car sharing initiatives, including initial launch, web development, new market development, and sales and marketing endeavors. Prior to his current... Full Bio |
Series Host
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Jim Lichtenberg
Program Director, The Conference Board Council on Innovation and Digital Strategy Council Jim Lichtenberg's expertise is in e-business strategy. Lichtenberg has successfully completed business-building assignments for clients such as Prudential, Nestle, John Wiley, AT&T, and DuPont. His articles on technology and culture have appea... Full Bio |
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Willem Overmeer
Senior Advisor Willem Overmeer is a senior advisor to the High-Performing Organizations practice of The Conference Board and the program on Scenario Building & Analysis. He works closely with individual members of The Conference Board to identify critical tr... Full Bio |