21 January 2019
As part of the INSEAD Executive Course ‘Digital Transformation and Innovation’, SparkOptimus was invited to present a lecture on this topic at this world-famous business school. Theory and practice complemented each other seamlessly in the discussions between SparkOptimus’ partner Jur Gaarlandt and the 40 executives who attended the course in the French town of Fontainebleau. We are exploring for follow-up lectures in 2019.
The lecture presented by SparkOptimus focused on the successful implementation of digital innovation in organisations: Jur based his arguments on the 150 projects that SparkOptimus does each year and linked them with the INSEAD frameworks.
The lecture concentrated on four elements: the goal of digitization, establishing a customer-first organization with the corresponding talent, and finally digital operational excellence. It goes without saying that the course participants all knew that our future is digital. How organizations need to prepare and set themselves up, however, is a question that most companies still have to answer. A lot can be learned from companies like Google, Facebook, Netflix and Uber, in terms of how to adequately respond to (latent) customer needs. But it remains difficult to deduce from this how to set up your own business in a completely different sector to achieve similar success. ‘Digitization of a pharmaceutical company that’s been working on a medicine for years simply doesn’t walk along the same lines’, Jur explains.
The participants presented situations to each other, listened and exchanged thoughts and knowledge about how it works in their specific industries. And after the course, additional time was reserved for more personal questions on the how, why and the getting-it-done in their own business. Jur: ‘These executives are all extremely clever people on their way to the top in companies that employ at least 10,000 staff. It is a privilege to be able to help these people by sharing our experiences as SparkOptimus’.
Around the world, our partners give lectures and workshops on digital transformation and disruption. Interested in finding out what we can do for your business or educational institution? Contact us here.