 Most Western countries perceive Asian markets as fascinating innovation hubs, where technologies are leapfrogged and where people are open to new digital innovations and transformations. But is it a reality for all Southeast Asian countries, and what is still necessary to get there? At the ISPIM Conference Bangkok 2020, a panel discussion was held with Theresa Mathawaphan (Deputy Executive Director of National Innovation Agency of Thailand), Dr. Suraya Sulaiman (Innovation Provocateur of Alpha Catalyst), Detlef Reis (Founding Director of Thinkergy) and James Engel (Chief Learning Architect of SEAC Thailand), chaired by Vincent Ribiere (Managing Director of Institute for Knowledge and Innovation Southeast Asia of Bangkok University). The panellists shared what they have personally experienced and saw as successful solutions to stimulate various forms of innovation in Southeast Asia. This is an excerpt from the conversation which took place.  Starting off the conversation, the speakers discussed the current state of innovation in the Southeast Asian region. Innovation within the Southeast Asia region varies dramatically in terms of maturity, and can be roughly divided into three categories: the advanced (Singapore), the intermediate (Malaysian-Thailand-Indonesia) and the emerging (Laos-Cambodia-Myanmar). Malaysia tended to produce more product or service-oriented innovations, while Singapore developed more tech innovation. Other than the variation between innovation focus; cultural diversity, regulations, availability of sandboxes/testbeds also played a part in distinguishing the level of innovation maturity. Moving into examples of innovative companies emerging from the region, Grab and Go-jek was top most in mind. Grab, a technology company which started off offering ride-hailing transport services have now ventured into: online food delivery, insurance, courier service, prepaid and payment solutions, all on a single seamless platform. Suraya quoted Grab’s impeccable exponential growth- visible through their downloads, number of rides and revenue. Within 5 years, their app downloads increased from 600,000 to 100 million (across the Southeast Asia region). Their annual revenue grew from 0.5 billion to 2.3 billion within three years (as of 2019). She highlighted that the key success she’s observed was how they leverage on attributes associated with the exponential organisation (ExO) model such as leveraging assets, usage of algorithms and utilising staff-on-demand. Theresa brought up another similar Indonesian startup, Go-Jek. With a social mission to improve the welfare and livelihood of the Indonesian people, Go-Jek is an app for transportation, food delivery, logistics, payment and daily services. Due to their drive to fulfil their social mission, Go-Jek has been commended for their approach to localisation. Other panellists also highlighted other startups such as QQ, a Tencent’s eCommerce app which also integrates online social games, music, microblogging and group & voice chat software; and HotelManagement.Asia, a one-stop app for event management. Apart from being successful, these startups have two common themes between them: the identification and solving a specific issue or problem; and are platform providers by aggregating solutions and leveraging on assets. Other than being different from one another, Southeast Asia also varies internationally. Detlef highlighted that the main difference between the European ecosystem and Asia’s is the culture. The culture has influenced the behaviour of employers and employees, and the interactions between them. Asian organisations tend to have higher levels of hierarchy, leading to a higher power distance. With Asians being collectivists rather than individualists, they are less verbal and outspoken with their thoughts and ideas. Hence, the main barrier towards innovation is the mindset. Taking into consideration the culture, they agreed that innovations worked best when it is initiated top-down, however, the top must also walk the talk rather than giving mere commands. Another barrier discussed was the retirement issue within the older generation workforce. As they approached their retirement age, the observation was that they tended to opt for less risky or tedious projects- possibly due to the high responsibility or energy investment needed. In addition, risk and failure acceptance was seen to be low overall, and is comparatively lower internationally. However, the panellists have all witnessed that there is a positive shift in the mindset- whereby employees are becoming more open to being involved with the organisation’s future and their innovative efforts- displaying a promising future. Due to the culture where Asian tend to not voice out their ideas and thoughts, interfaces such as digital tools and digital innovation management softwares can provide the avenue for expression and sharing of ideas. Through these platforms, organisations will be able to tap on the collective insights from their employees, as well as minimising the effect of hierarchy. Due to the cultural difference, most innovation management system theories from the Western part of the world are less applicable to the Asian ecosystem. Coming from an innovation management consulting firm specialised in the Asian perspective, Dr Suraya discloses that the systems are well designed, however is not possible to use entirely, and would need to be adapted to suit the context and culture. The discussion has highlighted the cultural difference, however, that may be Southeast Asia’s strongest point. With the positive mindset transition, the future for innovation is definitely promising and worth looking out for!   On the 21st of November, Alpha Catalyst held a Future of Work roundtable discussion at Common Ground Taman Tun Dr Ismail. The rise of digital has shifted the way we live and work. Current technologies have enabled many to adopt a digital lifestyle when it comes to travel, food, entertainment, knowledge and many more. At the workplace, the rise of cloud computing, collaboration software, algorithms and artificial intelligence are changing how organisations work and create value and grow. Simultaneously, talent expectations are changing, resulting in significant implication on how organisations function and how people are managed.
The round table discussion delved deeper into the future of work in the digital age, distilling what organisations can and should do to future proof themselves. We brought in together views from prior global conversations, local thought leaders, organisation leaders and startups, with an aim to explore future trends and opportunities in and around the future of work in Malaysia over the next decade.  Starting off the session, Azim Pawanchik, Alpha Catalyst’s Innovation Strategist, shared light on the future of collaboration. Organisations would need to leverage on digital tools and algorithms for cognitive automation. After that, Kevin Allen, Chief Community Officer of OpenExO, then highlighted the importance of exponential thinking and OpenExO’s 11 attributes to be an exponential organisation. The rise of the gig economy was discussed by Alejandro Kikuchi, the Head of International Growth of Workana. Being the number 1 freelancing platform in Latin America, they have witnessed the shift first hand. Alejandro also shed light on how Unilever, one of their biggest corporate clients, leveraged them for project-based talents. He shared the resistance he observed during the embarking, but now- even the most resistant departments also utilise Workana. Ru Sow, Common Ground’s Head of Operations, presented the shift on the workspaces. Apart from the flexibility and the social element of co-working spaces, their membership offers multiple benefits with their partners.  After the sharing session was completed, Tim Jones, founder and director of Future Agenda, took over for the roundtable discussion. He started off by explaining the Future of Work cards, the trends & potential challenges that would impact large organisations. Each group then were distributed a deck of cards, and they were required to categorise the cards according to impact level (low, medium and high). Tim then evaluates and opens the room for discussion once the cards were arranged according to ratings. After the group activity, each individual was given ‘hearts’ to vote on which trend will be happening in Malaysia. The top 5 trends were:
Huge thanks to our awesome Future of Work participants from Maybank, UMW Corporation, Academy Science of Malaysia, OpenExo, Touch N Go, Sunway, Sime Darby Plantation, Bank Negara Malaysia, Cense Media, Wholesome Leaders, SCS, PNS, UTM, Futurise, Common Ground, GoGet & Workana!
 We recently had a launch event for our Accelerating Corporate Transformation (ACT) programme and platform at Common Ground Bangsar South on the 20th November 2019. Our remarkable panellists shared their insights on innovation, foresight & exponential transformation, and inspired the attendees from both the public and private sector to find balance in their innovative & digital mindset. The event started off with Tim Jones, the Founder & Director of Future Agenda, sharing on the Future of Companies. Future Agenda is an open-sourced think tank and advisory firm that runs the world’s leading open foresight programme and helps organisations to identify emerging opportunities and make more informed decisions. Based on insights from multiple expert discussions across the globe, three themes were touched upon for the Future of Companies: New Social Contract, The Digital Business and Future Organisations. Within the discussion of New Social Contract, companies need to have a purpose as trustworthy organisations are rated the highest by the upcoming generations. The alignment between business models to customers’ and society’s values should be one of the priorities for companies. The Digital Business section brought up topics revolving data marketplaces and data as an asset. Among the discussion points, valuing and taxing the data were brought up. Looking at the other side of things, data can also be a liability. Does the risk and cost outweigh the benefit? The shift of the way of work was discussed during the Future Organisations section. The rise of smaller ‘big’ companies like Grab was brought up. How roles are being reinvented as machines outperform human operators were also touched upon. To access his slides, access this link.
The event started off with Tim Jones, the Founder & Director of Future Agenda, sharing on the Future of Companies. Future Agenda is an open-sourced think tank and advisory firm that runs the world’s leading open foresight programme and helps organisations to identify emerging opportunities and make more informed decisions. Based on insights from multiple expert discussions across the globe, three themes were touched upon for the Future of Companies: New Social Contract, The Digital Business and Future Organisations. Within the discussion of New Social Contract, companies need to have a purpose as trustworthy organisations are rated the highest by the upcoming generations. The alignment between business models to customers’ and society’s values should be one of the priorities for companies. The Digital Business section brought up topics revolving data marketplaces and data as an asset. Among the discussion points, valuing and taxing the data were brought up. Looking at the other side of things, data can also be a liability. Does the risk and cost outweigh the benefit? The shift of the way of work was discussed during the Future Organisations section. The rise of smaller ‘big’ companies like Grab was brought up. How roles are being reinvented as machines outperform human operators were also touched upon. To access his slides, access this link.
As the attendees were exposed to what can be expected of the future, we then had to see how corporates brace themselves with these coming changes with innovation. Dr. Hirzun, Head of Innovation and Technology Management at Sime Darby Plantation (SDP) shared his insights on innovation within a large traditional company like SDP. For professionals at SDP, innovation is finding a specific idea and value and delivering it through a business process or model to drive a specific purpose. This could be from increasing revenue and productivity to increasing shareholder value through sustainability initiatives. Dr. Hirzun also shares how the company overcomes the negative perspectives clouding the oil palm industry by innovating and becoming pioneers in a number of sustainable practices in the industry. At his ending note, he stresses that without the right culture to innovate in a large organisation, tools and systems put in place for innovation will not be optimised. Some of the cultural barriers mentioned are the unwillingness to share issues as Malaysians and the unforgiving perspective of failure within corporates. To learn more about Sime Darby Plantation and Dr Hirzun’s presentation, access here.
Moving forward from the insightful session from Dr Hirzun, we had a representative from Open ExO to share on what it takes to be an Exponential Organisation. Kevin Allen is the Chief Community Officer at Open ExO, a global community of exponential thinkers with a purpose to transform the world for the better. He shares that we as human beings are not wired to think exponentially and that thinking linearly is very much our default. He highlights that as technology is becoming cheaper and more accessible, disruption is inevitable in almost every industry. As industries become more digitised, they will be disrupted by these technologies offering new ways to provide or deliver products and services. What follows this disruption is normally demonetisation, as products and services have increasingly low marginal costs hence democratising them as the product and services are being made available to the masses faster, easier and cheaper. ExO, with Hult University, studied a number of exponential organisations and were able to identify 11 attributes associated with an exponential Organisation. These 11 attributes are covered in Kevin’s slides which can be found on the ACT platform. Kevin cautioned the attendees that, while exponential transformation is needed in corporates, organisations tend to have an immune system which attacks change initiatives, including innovation & transformation. Access his slides here.
Last but not least, Azim Pawanchik, Alpha Catalyst’s Innovation Strategist, discusses the hybrid mindset necessary for the digital economy. He shared statistics on key innovation drivers and challenges within Malaysia. Other than lack of direction to innovate, employees also feel the lack of support and empowerment from leaders. Unlike what most corporate leaders think, employees are not expecting monetary rewards when it comes to innovation. To learn more about the statistics, access the ACT platform.
Next on the agenda was the panellist discussion, where our speakers were joined by Raja Segaran, Head of Strategy & Research at MDEC, to answer questions from the floor. It was kicked off with Raja Segaran sharing the variety of MDEC’s digital transformation initiatives from the public sector, such as the Global Acceleration & Innovation Network (GAIN) and Digital Transformation Acceleration Programme (DTAP), where the aim is to start small and scale fast. Raja expressed his concern on the demand side of technology adoption, sharing that there is resistance from the private sector to adopt emerging technologies while there are plenty of suppliers. Attendees also shared concerns on these initiatives being heavily catered to the larger organisations rather than SMEs which makes up 98% of registered businesses in Malaysia. The panellists then debated the risks of not transforming the larger organisations as they contribute roughly 60% of Malaysian economic activity. They argued that it is not entirely about providing significant resources to these organisation but to create a positive ripple effect across the economy as SMEs are still dependant on larger companies and GLCs. This begs the question if the economic structure needs to change. Kevin also shared that organisations and country needs tools and mechanisms in place to change mindset of individuals. He highlighted that traditionally, policies tend to be crafted based on a scarcity mindset rather than abundance. Finally, the panellists addressed changing the mindset and culture in a traditional hierarchical structured world. How can leaders promote autonomy within a hierarchical culture? Leaders found that although Malaysia struggles to move away from the norm in governance and leadership, there are early signs of change and the future is bright for transformational leaders.
To end the session, Dr Suraya Sulaiman, Alpha Catalyst’s Innovation Provocateur, launches the ACT Platform. Leveraging on the future of platform-based economies, ACT platform aims to create an enabling environment by connecting the communities of practitioners, innovators and disruptors. The platform acts as a conducive co-creation ecosystem, with access to exclusive resources and knowledge from global advocates of digital transformation and exponential growth. Join the movement, and be part of the conversation!  The platform will supplement our ACT programme as we aim to digitise our consulting and advisory efforts for our clients. Allowing our clients to leverage on A.I, Data Analytics and Gamification functions, to uncover growth opportunities, capture ideas and scale solutions in a robust manner. The framework above shares how corporates of our ACT programme are able to take on transformation initiatives of various degrees. From refining core businesses to a divergent approach and exploring new opportunities for the company.
How do I sign up for The ACT Platform?
 Our Innovation Provocateur, Dr Suraya, moderated such a distinguished panel of speakers on 'Navigating Innovation Ecosystems in Asia' @Asia Innovates Summit 2019, which was organised by the Royal Academy of Engineering (UK) and Malaysian Industry-Government for High Technology (MIGHT).
Prof. Ric Parker (Special Advisor on technology and technology transfer, UK), Anna French (Dep. Head, Department for International Development (DFID) India), Feng Tian (Chairman & CEO Phomera Metamaterials) and Lilyana Abdul Latiff (CEO & Co-Founder BETA Foundation) was part of the panel.  OpenExO is the global transformation ecosystem with more than 2,500 coaches, investors, consultants and innovation specialists helping organisations, institutions and people unlock abundance to change the world.
With the OpenExO Consultant Certification, Azim Pawanchik will be able to further help Asian companies to adopt an exponential mindset, use practical tools and discover disruptive opportunities to empower them becoming professional in transforming the world for a better future. For more information on OpenExO, see this link. |
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