Do you recognize the threat and the opportunity of Convergence to disrupt entire industries?

Only few decision-makers are truly familiar with the term Convergence. We predict that this will change fairly soon. The Convergence of industries, sectors and technologies leads to the creation of new markets and innovative products. A popular example of how to take advantage of this trend is the Google-Car which was not built by the ‘traditional’ car industry.

This strategy provides firms which are confronted with stagnating markets with a potentially high-growth alternative. A key success factor is the creation of strategic partnership, opening up markets for smaller actors. The fundamental challenge is the identification of potential partners in order to revolutionize existing industry rules.

In the course of our work we were able to deduce the following key questions:

Case Example

Status Quo:

During an interaction with the manager of “strategic projects” at a large European insurance company
clear dissatisfaction with the status of innovation management becomes apparent. Current search areas for new topics of innovation set up within the company are not generating the desired success. This has led to the recognition that relevant future innovations are increasingly developed in cooperation with other companies even from external industries such as nursing homes or pharmaceutical firms. However, this external perspective as well as the approach to initiate cooperation with companies from a different professional and industry background is not a simple process.

In this context, the insurance company aims to specifically address external sectors and industries in order to participate in a dialogue on innovation. The intention is to generate real and feasible innovation projects in the peripheral areas of the company. In the initial phase this requires clarity in the process and expertise in order to ensure a successful cooperation.

Key statement by the client during the project development:

“The Custom Team is able to specifically connect companies from different industries based on its expertise in the areas of innovation and creating new business models in order to initiate a process of mutual exchange leading to the creation of new innovation areas.”

Joint Project:

Stimulating the Innovation Agenda through Industry Convergence

The ability to integrate research results of various institutes at the University St. Gallen in combination with constant support by the Executive School significantly contribute to our standing as a reliable partner for such initiatives.

Please contact us for a detailed introduction; we will take care of the next steps!