A chemical company explores Big Data and the innovation ecosystem of Singapore

We brought the IT and Web Applications team of one of our client for a half day Digital Awareness Learning Expedition in October in Singapore. As digital transformation impacts all industries, our client, a leader in chemicals, wanted to bond its IT and Web Applications team, showing them successful B2B companies in the industrial space who achieved their digital transformation. The objective of the tour was to understand how technologies (Big Data, 3D Printing, AI…) are transforming industries, to get inspired by the dynamism of the startup ecosystem in Singapore and to bond a team spread across APAC. “It was an inspiring journey. The tour refreshed my thinking and helped peel away the accumulated daily ‘crust’ that can sometimes suffocate dreams and big ideas,” said one of the participants.

A French FMCG explores how innovative companies engage their teams towards change and drive performance

A fundamental pillar of transformation in a company – and probably the hardest one – is to change the mindset of leaders and employees. Through this, we can make the entire organization recognize the need, and engage them towards change. But what ways can a company drive engagement towards change? How do digital pioneers, from technology giants to startups, up to legacy companies undergo their digital transformation, manage their talents and drive employee engagement to increase ownership? That was the challenge of one of our clients. We’ve interviewed and organized visits of a selection of inspiring companies, from digital pioneers to technology giants and accelerators. These agents of change shared which methodologies they use to keep their teams engaged during a Learning Expedition we organized on that topic in July 2016 for 60 employees of our client. The visits were followed by a debriefing workshop to bring a constructive discussion in the company. During this learning expedition, participants learnt from the experience of a dozen of innovative companies about the leader’s crucial role in developing company culture, mission and vision, the importance of recruiting like-minded people and communicating transparently about performance, how to create an environment of trust and openness, how to […]

A life insurance company explores the Fintech and Insurtech scene in Singapore

Challenges The Transformation and Strategy department of a major life insurance company needed to : – onboard the whole company in the effort of transformation, – enrich the strategic vision and innovation roadmap, – discover new business model opportunities. – discover solutions to improve its operational efficiency and customer experience, Methodology To answer these challenges, we co-designed with their team a learning expedition during 4 days in Singapore in March 2018, for 12 leaders in the company, including 4 members of the Executive Committee. We met 20 startups in Fintech / Insurtech, had 5 sharing sessions with the innovation labs of other banks or insurance players, and visited 4 accelerators. We also facilitated debriefing sessions every day and a 2 hours workshop on the last day. Outcomes – 42 ideas generated/person (502 ideas in total) during 4 debriefings and 1 ideation workshop on topics such as culture, methodologies, operational efficiency and customer experience – Partnerships engaged at highest level with key startups in SG. – Awareness on critical digital capability (UX, use of data, AI, blockchain…) and new ways of working (lean, POC…) – Presentation of key learnings and actions to the Executive Committee to get their support.

Clients in hospitality, healthcare and banking explore the capital of IoT in Shenzhen

“One week of work in Shenzhen is equal to one month at the Silicon Valley”. The rapidity of prototyping and manufacturing is the main strength of the Chinese metropolis according to all the startups, incubators and companies we met during an open learning expedition in what is considered as the hardware capital of the world. We organised this learning expedition in November 2015 to expose our participants, a semi-dozen of innovation and IT directors from large French groups, to the innovation ecosystem of a city which is already compared to the Silicon Valley, at least for electronics. “Shenzhen, it’s like the Mecca for us. We are at 30 minutes from the factories” explained Emmanuel Peype, Marketing director of the fast growing smartphone startup OnePlus, which has its headquarter and factories in Shenzhen. What was a fishing village 30 years ago has transformed into the world main factory and is now considered as the “heart of innovation” as said Elise Then, CEO Asia of the French drones manufacturer Parrot, which has its production center in Shenzhen. “Here we can go easily from the concept to reality and launch our product on the market at the right time” she adds. Among the most important […]

5 tips on how to increase engagement and deliver outcomes in a remote world

Engaging your teams or your leads in a remote world comes with additional challenges. People are tired of Zoom meetings, and today’s Zoom fatigue is mainly due to one issue: virtual team events are not taken seriously. Everyone acts as if no preparation was needed, and would usually be multitasking and not 100% engaged. But you don’t have to put your team inspiration, alignment and reconnection efforts, or your business development activities with strategic accounts on hold because you are remote. There are ways to succeed in organizing winning online events. There is no big secret, no magic tool, no advanced technology… We’ve organized more than 50 learning expeditions over the past few years, with an average satisfaction score of 9,3 on 10. What has made our offline events successful is exactly what makes our online events successful. These are the 5 ingredients to our success: Preparation, preparation and… preparation Failure to prepare is the best way to prepare to fail. We usually need at least 6-8 weeks to co-design the event, and to communicate about the event. We co-design our programs with the client with weekly followups, and make sure our facilitators keep the participants engaged during the event all […]

[Webinaire] WHAT’S HOT IN SINGAPORE… RETAILERS’ INNOVATIONS FACED WITH THE COVID-19 CRISIS IN SINGAPORE

Singapore is one of the most innovative cities in the world. As elsewhere, retailers had to take measures and initiate an accelerated digital transformation to maintain their activity during the various phases of social distancing and confinement imposed by the government. This transition was made using technology, strongly encouraged by the government. The city of Singapore, which had resisted full containment until early April, was finally forced to put in place progressive restrictions to protect its citizens from covid-19. Non-essential businesses had to close their doors and begin their digital transition to compensate for their drop in income. With government support, many retailers have had to accelerate the development of their own delivery platforms and services. The crisis has highlighted the importance of a direct sales strategy, faced with the increase in commissions taken by delivery platforms, and of an adapted communication strategy. The use of social networks and the rise of the Chinese trend of live-streaming have even allowed seniors and traditional markets for fresh products to continue to buy and sell during confinement. Through the following webinar, a quick overview of initiatives, starting with Facebook To download the webinar presentation, click here. Sell by video on Facebook The crisis has accelerated a trend that […]

Press Review Asia : Digital Transformation and Mobile Payment

This week's topics to look at for your next learning expedition: Digital Transformation and Mobile Payment Our press selection of everything business related happening around the world, for you to get inspired on where to go on your next learning expedition. We organise innovation learning expeditions to empower executives. Contact us to organize your learning expedition to get insights on the subjects that matter the most to your company. The state of digital transformation in China versus the rest of the world #China #DigitalTransformation • Companies in China are taking a more offensive role, using digital transformation as a way to differentiate, drive revenue, enhance customer experiences and acquire new customers. • Digital transformation helps identify growth opportunities (62% in China versus 48% in rest of the word) • 42% of the steering committees for digital transformation in Chinese companies are led directly by the CEO. Compared to 29% in other countries. • 74% of the Chinese companies interviewed are in the process of (28%) or have completed (46%) mapping out the customer journey compared to 32 and 27% in the rest of the world. • Chinese companies are investing less on employee engagement in comparison, 8% (China) vs. 29% (rest [...]

Tallinn, the capital of e-governance

Tallinn is the capital of Estonia, the northest country among the Baltics. Ex-member of the Soviet Union (USSR), Estonia has been very active in the digitisation of its government and has now become a global model in e-governance. After the dislocation of the USSR, the country needed to construct from scratches. Due to the lack of resources, it needed a economical and efficient system. The government has since decided to invest in digital technologies. As a result, Estonia is one of the world’s most connected country in the world – ranked 13th – and benefits from a huge technical talent. Surrounded by Finland, Russia, Lettonia and the Baltic sea, Estonia benefits from a strategic location. With its small population of 1,3 million inhabitants, Estonia has achieved a 4.9% GDP growth in 2017. Estonia presents itself as the home of e-governance. No wonder, 99% of administrative services are available online 24/7. Indeed, Estonians can access to more than 2000 services online with a unique identification number. They can even sign documents and open a bank account online. X-Road, the backbone of e-Estonia, is developed by local companies, which have now expertise in this industry. Tallinn benefits from an international tech scene […]

Top Transformative Companies To Visit in Asia For Strategic Inspiration

We’ve put the most inspiring and transformative companies to visit this year in Asia on a map to help you plan your next learning expedition / year-end team rewards trip. Click here to see the full map. CHINA Tik Tok, also known as Douyin in China, is a music video platform where people can share their musical performances. Based in Beijing, Tik Tok has a an excellent UI and design. Launched in 2016, it has become the most short video platform in Asia. In July 2018, it has reached 500 millions active users monthly. Hema, launched by Alibaba in 2015, is the most successful example of New Retail with a growing rate of one new store every six days. Pinduoduo is a group buying website and app in China, founded in 2015. It offers users discounts on a wide variety of products, especially when they buy more than one item. WeBank, founded in 2014, is China’s first private commercial bank established. It uses WeChat data and blockchain to provide microloans for SMEs and entrepreneurs in China. SenseTime, founded in 2014, is a Chinese company developing computer vision and deep learning technologie and is the world’s highest-valued AI company. Klook is one the most […]

3 Challenges Limiting Learning In the New Workplace And How Some Companies Are Overcoming Them

Businesses are facing new challenges. They have to deal with new technologies such as blockchain or artificial intelligence, navigate competitive environments led by new powerful players such as Google or Amazon and thousand of startups trying to disrupt them. These new challenges have created new headaches for companies as they struggle with upskilling employees in order to help them adapt to the transforming environment. Talent development professionals thus have a valuable opportunity to play an instrumental role in helping organisations adapt to disruption. Through the creation of learning opportunities for employee growth and achievement, talent development professionals become enablers in helping their organisations to create lasting change. Anticipating the new knowledge needed, engaging leaders in the learning process and developing a learning culture at scale within the organization are some of the main challenges that our clients, Fortune 500 companies in various industries, are facing today. This article provides examples of what we has worked for our clients as well as for other companies to overcome them. Anticipating The Required Knowledge The results of a recent study from LinkedIn highlights the gap between the focus of talent developers on training for today’s skills demands whilst executives emphasise on tomorrow’s […]

Author: Innovation Is Everywhere