Services Innovation in Ireland - Options for ... - Europe INNOVA

Box 10 Workforce as champions of innovation
AXA ….launched its first innovation programme in 2000, designed to bring people together
to develop new ideas, break barriers, promote new ways of thinking and learning. Known as
‘Madhouse’ teams of seven employees across different grades, were brought together for a period of
two months, with the objective of developing two customer focused innovation proposals. The teams
worked in a dedicated room set up to encourage fun and innovation, and received self-guidance
material to enable them to challenge their ideas, filter them and ultimately present their ideas to
senior Director team. On the basis of Director feedback ideas were then selected for implementation
(with the best ideas entered into a completion. Madhouse’s success was evident in the 174 ideas
produced to conceptual stage in the first year, and of these some 50% were felt to have some form
of technological content.
Axa has subsequently built on this Madhouse through a programme – ‘Taskmasters’ designed to
empower and encourage each employee to engage in innovation on an everyday basis, and an
‘Innovation Corridor’ to promote successes and raise the profile of innovation within the company
A key factor in encouraging staff input into the programme was the link created between active
participation in the innovation programme, linked directly to some 20% of employees’ bonuses.
Overall AXA estimate that these innovation activities produced some €5 million benefit to the
company over a three year period.
Other features noted from the case studies included the role of the internal team in keeping abreast
of trends and emerging opportunities and capturing insights participation in networks, focus groups,
trade shows and so on, and feedback/guidance from an external advisory board.
Box 11 Services innovation through customer feedback
SerCom Solutions, the international supply chain management and logistics company conducts
quarterly business reviews with customers to review both the past and future. Due to the volumes
involved, this exercise is carried out on a weekly basis with Dell along with the daily interaction that
occurs at all levels between the two organisations. The various IT systems are used to capture issues.
4.4 Drivers and Barriers
The case study results provide evidence of a wide range of internal and external drivers of services
innovation. These are not dissimilar to the drivers and barriers to innovation that are frequently
cited for technological innovation in the manufacturing sectors. However there are subtle but
significant features that distinguish the experience of the drivers and barriers in the context of
service innovation.
Box 12 Services innovation through diverse intelligence gathering activities
QUMAS monitors developments in services through a variety of activities including building
on customer relationships, training courses, regular meetings with clients, monitoring the
strategies of their clients, attending trade shows and seminars, speaking to the press, and hiring
experienced analysts.
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