I AGREE with last Friday's report ("Creativity and resolve needed in productivity push"). Business model innovation (BMI) is key to providing the quantum leap in boosting productivity.
My company has been investigating BMI since 2008 and started our transformation three years ago. For every dollar we invested in technology, we invested four times more in developing people and culture.
While we did not expect the execution to be easy, we were surprised the biggest obstacle was commercialising innovation.
When we presented our solution to a public organisation, we were told that although it would improve productivity, it would have to go through two different tenders, and that there would be too much red tape to adopt our solution.
Another common reason for the rejection of our solution is cost. Organisations do not look beyond this - at the number of man-hours we can help them save and the value our solution can bring to their customers.
The fear of making a mistake also seems to prevent civil servants from trying new solutions.
My company finally managed to make a breakthrough with the private sector, with foreign decision-makers. They tend to be open, allowing us to work together to achieve win-win solutions.
Being the largest procurement sector, the Government needs to lead by example to create an environment where civil servants feel safe to explore innovative solutions.
Perhaps, a high-level committee could be set up to evaluate the merits of innovations, with a platform to showcase these innovative solutions.
More importantly, the adoption of innovative solutions should be made a key performance indicator for the public sector. The tender process should also include parameters such as improvements in the business process and net customer satisfaction.
Tan Jit Khoon
My company has been investigating BMI since 2008 and started our transformation three years ago. For every dollar we invested in technology, we invested four times more in developing people and culture.
While we did not expect the execution to be easy, we were surprised the biggest obstacle was commercialising innovation.
When we presented our solution to a public organisation, we were told that although it would improve productivity, it would have to go through two different tenders, and that there would be too much red tape to adopt our solution.
Another common reason for the rejection of our solution is cost. Organisations do not look beyond this - at the number of man-hours we can help them save and the value our solution can bring to their customers.
The fear of making a mistake also seems to prevent civil servants from trying new solutions.
My company finally managed to make a breakthrough with the private sector, with foreign decision-makers. They tend to be open, allowing us to work together to achieve win-win solutions.
Being the largest procurement sector, the Government needs to lead by example to create an environment where civil servants feel safe to explore innovative solutions.
Perhaps, a high-level committee could be set up to evaluate the merits of innovations, with a platform to showcase these innovative solutions.
More importantly, the adoption of innovative solutions should be made a key performance indicator for the public sector. The tender process should also include parameters such as improvements in the business process and net customer satisfaction.
Tan Jit Khoon
