{"id":599,"date":"2020-11-10T13:36:39","date_gmt":"2020-11-10T11:36:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.hanken.fi\/cers\/?p=599"},"modified":"2022-01-11T16:29:41","modified_gmt":"2022-01-11T14:29:41","slug":"innovation-in-times-of-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.hanken.fi\/cers\/2020\/11\/10\/innovation-in-times-of-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"Innovation in times of crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The world has\nin many ways been turned on its head. Rather than borderless mobility,\nabundance of alternatives, and extensive cultural sharing that we are\naccustomed to in the 21st<\/sup> century, individuals and organizations\nacross the globe are faced with physical restrictions, political turmoil and governmental\ninterventions. As a marketing professor interested in innovation, consumer\nbehaviour and digitalization, it has been exciting to observe how we humans are\nable to adjust and flourish in times of crisis. Instead of giving in to the\ncircumstances accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, I believe that we are doing\nwhat human beings do best; we adapt and evolve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In my\nrecent research together with the Dutch consumer insight company TrendWatching and\nits sister organization Business of Purpose, we investigated how organizations are\ninnovating to overcome the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Thousands of\ninnovations were identified in a very short time in this crowdsourced platform.\nSimilar ventures have been developed, such as the OECD\u2019s Observatory of Public\nSector Innovation (OPSI) platform designed to gather innovations in the public\nsector and governments. Their objective is to inspire and coordinate innovation\nefforts to mitigate the unprecedented and rapid disruption of society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What I can\nobserve is that these turbulent times have also had a positive effect on the\ncreativity level of private, public, governmental and civilian actors. While\nsome of the characterizing issues of these innovations are clearly related to\nthe ongoing pandemic, other issues have more long-term consequences for how\ninnovations are developed and designed. So, what can we learn from innovation\nin times of crisis? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Extensive\nreflection and sensemaking.<\/strong> In normal business circumstances we tend to build on linear thinking,\nrelying on the relevance and viability of existing capabilities and resources. But\nin times of heightened turbulence, less can be taken for granted. Innovation as\na driver for development requires more consideration about one\u2019s activities,\nalternatives, and the broader surrounding environment. Innovation is thus a\nsensemaking process around not only what is, but also about what could be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How willing and able are we to stretch our current capabilities and resources to become something new? <\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

How willing\nand able are we to stretch our current capabilities and resources to become\nsomething new? How can we ensure relevance of and envision a future market for\nour current capabilities? In times of crisis, it is easy to become paralyzed\nand merely ride out the storm, but research shows that the ability to step out\nof the comfort zone of the current scope and making a case for new activities\nis clearly an opportunity for radical growth. An example of stretching\nboundaries is beauty brands\u2019 recent initiatives to educate consumers, provide\nvirtual consultation and online coaching and thus marking a path away from\nmerely selling the brand in physical stores to providing additional intangible value\nfor consumers in their own space.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Networks\nand widespread collaboration. <\/strong>Our research shows that it is challenging to extend beyond the current\nbusiness environment, especially when under pressure. A crisis can nurture an\nintensified interest in collaboration and cooperation with new actors to\naccelerate creativity. The pandemic has brought on new service delivery\nsystems, especially in the tourism and hospitality sectors to mitigate the\nphysical restrictions and change in buying behaviour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, collaboration\nextends beyond the strategies around production and delivery and involves challenging\nthe over-confidence in individual approaches and single data-sets. Data and\npractice sharing is a necessity for innovation. Real-time data collection among\na broad set of public and private actors has been accelerating, opening up\npreviously hidden datasources, cross-fertilizing and linking diverse methods\nand evidence from different domains to gain a more holistic understanding of\nissues in the surrounding environment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Customer is (still) king.<\/strong> Consumer behaviour will never be constant and cannot be taken for granted. Consider for example the demand for homeleisure wear and stay-in apparel that emerged as a new category in retailing. This face of quarantine fits has fuelled also the consumption of interior design pieces, ambiance fragrances, and other spirit-boosting objects for the home. The stay-in trend may persist if consumers are permanently nudged to favouring in-home experiences and multi-purpose loungewear. What a crisis can teach business managers is that while ecosystem collaboration is essential, the customer is and will remain the main stakeholder of the business and should be the key actor of innovation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is\nreflected in the management guru Peter Drucker\u2019s classic statement: Without\ncustomers there is no purpose of the business. And similarly, an innovation is\nsuccessful only if there is a customer who sees value in it. Customer as a\nnotion involves all types of actors, irrespective of the label: user, buyer,\nconsumer, citizen, patient, etc. Public and private organizations must thus\ntake an outside-in approach and not get caught in the internal visions only but\nbe thoughtful of issues happening in the surrounding environment that are not\nlinked directly to the organizations\u2019 business areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Individual\nand collective well-being. <\/strong>It is not surprising that in times of turbulence we try to balance and\neven out the aftermath. A commonality of innovations pouring out of the\npandemic is the focus on collective and individual well-being. The health and\nhumanitarian emergency aside, to mitigate the growing uncertainties in society,\ngovernments and organizations alike pursue social bricolage entrepreneurial\nthinking to foster collective and individual well-being. Examples include\nphilanthropic and altruistic innovations, such as free online consultation, and\nsafety innovations, such as schedulable store opening hours for vulnerable\ncustomers. What they have in common is the emergent and shared focus on\nsocietal well-being.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In times of crisis, markets are created and transformed. Innovation becomes a question of resilience, not only differentiation and growth. I believe that the key takeaway of the COVID-19 pandemic is that creativity and innovation don\u2019t have to stall during a crisis. In fact, they should accelerate. If handled well, innovation is an opportunity to nurture profound organisational renewal and enhance the viability of companies in the eyes of consumers, policy makers, and other market actors. A crisis at any magnitude can and should be used to improve the resilience and sustainability of the business and the surrounding environment. In that sense it seems that in times of crisis, public and commercial innovation initiatives align, geared toward societal welfare at large.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kristina Heinonen <\/a>
Professor of service and relationship marketing, Director of CERS<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reference<\/strong>
Heinonen, K. and Strandvik, T. (2020), “Reframing service innovation: COVID-19 as a catalyst for imposed service innovation”, Journal of Service Management, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1108\/JOSM-05-2020-0161<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photo: Unsplash <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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