Innovation takes many forms. We often focus on innovation as technological breakthroughs and indeed those are important to fuel corporate growth. But there are other forms of innovation which can be just as powerful and just as disruptive to the status quo in creating strategic competitive advantage. Innovation in operations, in business processes and in business models can have transformational benefit for the companies that successfully implement these new ways of doing business.
Yet, it is a mistake to assume that all conflict is bad. It is an insightful alliance manager that understands that diversity is an opportunity to create value. When members of an alliance are invited to contribute their knowledge, their perspectives, their unique expertise, some amazing innovation can happen.
The Starfish Alliance is and example of business model and business process innovation. Starfish is a consortium of five logistics suppliers and Rolls Royce. Rolls Royce, jet engine division, took a radical approach to optimizing their global supply chain in 2003. They sought to partner. They invited their logistics suppliers to collaborate to increase value to the customer and to increase the value in their business relationship with not only Rolls but with each other. This was radical in that these suppliers had been locked into the traditional vendor/supplier relationship, where by the vendor relentlessly pressures suppliers for greater price concessions. They had also become locked into very hostile competition with each other, each hoping to gain a bigger piece of the logistics pie. But this model had become a game of inches. Pricing concessions could only yield incremental cost savings of a few percent a year.
To learn more please join the December 10, 9:00 am Pacific worldwide webcast:
Collaborative Innovation
& Value Creation
Harnessing the diversity
of alliances to create innovative value
Register: http://www.acteva.com/booking.cfm?bevaid=193215
PhoenixCG
guests can take advantage of the ASAP member pricing of $25 for this 1-1/2 hour instructional
session. The webinar will be recorded
and will be made available to registrants. So no worries if you have a schedule
conflict, you will be able to view the recording at your convenience.
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