1st Trnsfrmr roundtable

First ever club event

On Wednesday June 20th, 2018, Worldwebforum hosted the first Trnsfrmr Club event with the goal of developing a universal mission for the club of thought leaders and change-makers. Honorary guests Professor Charles O’Reilly from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and Professor Ulrike Schaede from School of Global Policy & Strategy of University of California, San Diego, facilitated the roundtable discussion.

Professor Ulrike Schaede is an authority on Japanese business organization, strategy and management. Her core research interest is to analyze and compare different systems of capitalism and ways of organizing business in order to identify the social economic efficiency consequences.

Professor Charles O’ Reilly has taught in Columbia, Harvard Business School, UC Berkeley and UCLA. He has consulted for a variety of public and private firms in the U.S., Europe, Africa, and Asia. He also has developed, directed, and taught in executive programs for senior managers in innovation, technology, leadership, change, and human resources.

 

Continental differences

In the first discussion, the members of the Trnsfrmrs Club delved into the differences between the US, Japanese and European approaches to digital transformation and innovation. Key learnings were that Swiss organizations could adopt a more lateral approach to innovative thinking, and integrate high-value-added components to international manufacturing processes. For service-oriented organizations, it is about adding value with the expertise in niche fields where we have competitive advantage.

 

Ambidextrous leadership

In the second half of the roundtable, the Trnsfrmrs dissected Professor O’Reilly’s presentation about ambidextrous leadership. In his book Lead and Disrupt, How to Solve the Innovator’s Dilemma, he emphasized that “firms must remain competitive in their core markets, while also winning in new domains”. Senior leadership is pivotal in managing the implementation of old business, whilst implementing strategic innovation so that both sides of the business continue to grow.

Zurich

Jan 17, 2019

at the beecom office