Bangkok--26 Jun--IBM Thailand
Majority of Management Plan Fundamental Change and Expect New Forms of Innovation to Drive Growth
Innovation is the way to create sustainable competitive advantage in a world of relentless change and rising global competition. The kind of innovation companies need today goes beyond products or services, involving all aspects of the enterprise — from business processes and models to management systems, culture and policies. This is evident from findings of the IBM Global CEO Study 2006 of 765 CEOs around the world by IBM Global Business Services. Indeed, CEOs stated that approximately two-thirds of their efforts are now targeted at business model and operational innovation.
“It is very clear that CEOs today are looking at new kinds of innovation to drive substantial organizational change and business growth. It is about understanding how to innovate a business model, or an operational process, or management behavior to create new and differentiating value,” Suphajee Suthumpun, Country General Manager, IBM Thailand Company Limited, said at the Business Leader Circle 2006 today.
Accomplishing this kind of systemic innovation requires a unique blend of business and technology, and a deep understanding of the new tools, techniques and capabilities that have come of age today
“Integration of technology with business design is now possible as never before — and therefore is necessary as never before, for companies that hope to remain competitive. Also, CEOs now understand that innovation will only come from collaboration, not only within the company but with external enterprises,” Suphajee said.
“One great company, working alone, can invent a great product, but enterprises, that harness the creativity of many make better products, get them to market faster, and have the ability to transform an industry,” she added.
"Innovation requires more than just invention," said Ponani Gopalakrishnan, Director of the IBM India Research Laboratory. "While that may seem like a strange statement coming from a company credited with so much invention, we recognize that it is the useful application of technologies that is valuable to our clients. That's why our IBM Researchers spend a good deal of their time collaborating with clients to find solutions to their problems and new opportunities for growth."
Dr. Proadpran Punyabukkana Pitsatorn, Assitant Dean of Faculty of Engineering Chulalongkorn University said “Innovation is challenging capability to search better things for society. Innovation that Chulalongkorn University created in CUVoice Browser project is aimed to help society, assist the disabled and give good opportunity to them. This project is conducting research and invent web browser for the blind and the disabled in hand and arm to order by voice. This project is granted National Software Contest or NSC 2005 Award held by Ministry of Science and Technology and special award from the National Institute for the blind. This research is cooperated by IBM Thailand Co.,Ltd. which helps this project succeed in the due period. This pilot project is a blueprint of innovation for Thai Society that we are all proud of.”
Apart from the seminar, Global Innovation Outlook 2.0 is now available, a continuing innovation effort, a global dialogue about the changing nature of innovation, by which the full report is available for audiences at the event. The GIO examines the opportunities emerging at the intersection of technology, business and society. It uses a open, multidisciplinary approach designed to uncover those ideas and insights that might not surface via traditional approaches. IBM begins GIO cycle by identifying several broad focus areas critical to society, then consider specific opportunities for innovation and advancement - in the realm of products, services, business processes and models, policy, culture and beyond. The focus areas for GIO 2.0 were :
1. The Future of the Enterprise
If the Industrial Age is in fact giving way to the Knowledge Age, what are the new foundational structures and organizing principles that will characterize institutions in this era? How will those principles affect existing corporations and the field of competition? What will they imply for the disciplines of management and current research and development practice? Will basic terms such as “employee,” “employment” or even “enterprise”—which has long been synonymous with “big business”—take on new meaning, or perhaps become irrelevant?
2. Transportation
If at the core of almost all our lives—and perhaps even our genetic makeup—lies the need and desire to move about freely, will 1st- century technology facilitate increased mobility? If so, how will we balance rapid improvements in long-distance travel with the pressing challenges of navigating high-density mega-urban centers? What new challenges may emerge for today’s urban planners, and what possible path can be taken to support continued economic growth and sound environmental health?
3. The Environment
If one of the premises of the first GIO was the impossibility of separating the world of business from society and its attendant opportunities and challenges, then what of the relationship between business and the literal environment—our planet? What areas of environmental sustainability hold the most promise for private and public sector innovation? And what are the management implications when these well-known environmental issues are finally confronted?
For more information please contact:
IBM Thailand Company Limited
Krisana Sinprasert
Tel: 0-2273-4639
email: [email protected]