Developing a system of innovation

Published on December 31, 2023   56 min

A selection of talks on Technology & Operations

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0:00
My name is Sylvie Albert, I'm a professor of Strategy and Leadership at the University of Winnipeg in Canada. I am joined by my friend, Al McLeod. Hi. I had a 40-plus-year career as a technologist and serial entrepreneur in Canada. Welcome to our presentation on developing a system of innovation.
0:21
My research focuses on city sustainability and innovation and how various stakeholders contribute to these topics in communities worldwide. I've been an entrepreneur in residents at several Manitoba institutions and also created my own startup. I held senior management positions in Financial services, Technology services, Telecom, Media, and Insurance. I'm a thought leader in entrepreneurship and creator of corporate innovation training and tools system. As you can see, we have a combination of academic and field experience joining you today to cover a wide variety of topics.
1:01
We will begin by talking about why we innovate, the types and descriptions of innovation, who is responsible for innovation and who contributes. Then, a number of planning issues that we need to contend with if we want to develop an innovation portfolio. As well as several innovation execution examples and we will conclude with the McKinsey Model of Innovation, which should nicely wrap up our topic for today.
1:31
In this slide, you see a depiction of the volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous environment that we live in today or VUCA for short. It is a major incentive for thinking about our organizational systems of innovation. With an aging workforce, a significant influx of millennials, and culturally diverse populations around the globe, the demographic angle certainly requires new ways of thinking and serving all stakeholders. The growth and changing technologies, whether we are affected by automation, virtual marketplaces, or the rise of the data economy, provides opportunities, but also possible challenges and threats for many industries. Every organization must continually assess its business environment and understand where changes coming from and these can be industry forces, key trends, market forces, or macroeconomic forces. High uncertainty calls for more emergent strategies are those that require flexibility and ability to quickly change course and innovations are key. Since forecasting is difficult in volatile environments, following carefully laid plans can be risky. Planning is still important, but all hands are on deck to innovate and pivot when necessary. Exponential converged technology advancement is only one part of the change facing modern businesses. The four major forces that impact companies and industries are very concerning to CEOs, of course. As most industries are changing with increasing rates and complexity of change, new market entrants are an industry force, especially tech startups, either on their own or worse yet, with one of your current competitors or one of the big tech companies could be invading your market, like Apple entering financial services or Tesla selling insurance. Changing customer needs is a big market force, largely driven by changing demographics, social forces, and customer preferences. Then there are forces, such as the expectations for stakeholder capitalism, the impact of the pandemic, global warming, and so on.