How Leading B2B Companies Invest In Innovation
By Magnus Meier, Global
Head of Wholesale Distribution, SAP
It was American investor
Warren Buffett who said, “We continue to make more money when snoring than when
active.” This line of thought is not lost on many other financial experts
who also favor long-term investments and believe “market timing” does not
actually yield results and can be stressful, time-consuming, and risky.
In fact, the strategy of long-term investments in the financial market can
easily be applied to a B2B organization’s approach to investing in business
innovation.
Consider a
401(k)-retirement savings plan. Ongoing, predictable contributions to a
401(k) account throughout an individual’s career aims to build a long-term,
guaranteed path to a comfortable retirement. Likewise, continuous
developments and investments in innovation can enable B2B organizations to keep
up with, and even proactively address, the needs of a dynamic market.
What History Teaches Us
Past recessions have
taught us a few things. Authors Ranjay Gulati, Nitin Nohria, and Franz
Wohlgezogen studied the recessions of 1980, 1990, and 2000. In their
book, Roaring Out the Depression, they wrote that 17 percent of companies
didn't survive, 74 percent came out the recession the same or weaker, and 9
percent come out stronger. How can we apply lessons learned from these
drastic shifts in market leadership?
The keys to coming out of
recessions in a better position than you started are seeing and understanding
trends, developing a strategic vision around them, then evolving the company
around that vision. It means embracing change. It also means making the right,
strategic investments into an organization. Enabling it to identify disruptive
trends, define successful strategies, simplify or even abandon outdated
practices and to embrace new technologies that will enable new practices or
business models driving the company closer toward its vision.
How Leading Companies
Approach Technology Investments
Although the majority of innovations
are driven by business, technology is often a catalyst for change and vital to
predicting and proactively responding to trends in the market, across all
industries.
According to a 2019 Forrester
Consulting Study, digital transformation journeys continue to be a
priority for enterprises. These organizations are increasingly optimizing
existing processes to improve efficiency, extending processes to capture new
value, and transforming business models to gain new revenue streams.
As companies seek
competitive advantages and operational improvements, they are prioritizing
innovative technologies. As such, leading B2B organizations are implementing or
have already implemented innovative technologies to drive digital
transformation:
·
Internet of Things: 92 percent
·
Artificial Intelligence: 78 percent
·
Machine Learning: 77 percent
·
Augmented reality/virtual reality: 70 percent
·
Blockchain: 68 percent
According to the
study, 92 percent of companies showed a high interest in platforms
that unify data collected by, and used across, all intelligent technologies and
business processes. Take I-D Foods,
for example. This Canadian-based food service distributor continues to invest
in advanced digital technologies that expose deep, real-time business
insight that helps them better understand and predict demand. The company’s
unified approach helped reduce stock, expand product offerings, increase
availability and accelerate fulfillment times.
“We are always looking to
improve and win more customers,” said Mike Issenman, CTO, ID Foods Corporation.
“An important part of that is delivering great service. To achieve our future
ambitions, we needed to adopt a platform that could offer deeper operational
insight, greater agility, and superb scalability.”
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