FT-EY Global CFO Forum Emerging Markets 2016 Dubai

Companies today need to embrace disruption and create and
develop an entrepreneurial culture of their own. This helps
inspire innovation and promotes retention of some of the
most talented employees.
Moving away from traditional research and development
laboratories towards this inclusive, company-wide culture of
innovation brings multiple benefits. Mentoring, aiding ideas
to germinate and providing time and resources to founders to
develop their products and services are all pivotal to achieving
success for start-ups in a corporate set-up.
”It is critical to develop a culture of innovation,” said Tri Pham,
Chief Strategy Officer at India-based Tata Communications.
“This is not just about the next big idea. It is about agility —
it enables you to respond to changes in your industry and
prepare for the threats of new technology.”
Understanding ideas
Tata Communications takes a two-pronged approach to this
challenge. Firstly, it works with employees, encouraging
entrepreneurship: “We allow them to work on innovation
projects and give them capital.” Second, the company
monitors and collaborates with external innovation centers
around the world to uncover ideas that might be relevant
to business development. “We’re investing and testing
with companies, getting involved in the whole process,
understanding the diverse ecosystem of new ideas,” he said.
Allowing innovators to develop ideas in-house simultaneously
provides new avenues of growth and a way to retain the most
creative employees, who might otherwise leave, said
Johanna Mukoki, CEO, Travel With Flair. “Because our
industry is so competitive, you need to have people
continuously thinking outside the box. We offer funding to
research ideas and we co-partner, but keep a majority stake.
If you leave, your idea stays!”
Panelists Dev Bhattacharya, Group Executive President, Corporate
Strategy and Business Development, Aditya Birla Group;
Raman Garg, Head of Portfolio Finance, Sequoia Capital;
Johanna Mukoki, CEO, Travel With Flair; Tri Pham, Chief Strategy
Officer, Tata Communications with moderator John Gapper,
Chief Business Commentator and Associate Editor, Financial Times
Dev Bhattacharya, Group Executive President, Corporate
Strategy and Business Development, Aditya Birla Group,
stressed the importance of reaching out to external start-ups
to offer them support and help to scale up. “The response
has been excellent,” he said. “We have had 1,500 start-ups
coming to meet with us, and now 50 are working with our
business.”
Equally important, he said: “Our management has had their
eyes opened to the disruption and capabilities outside. If you
find something interesting, you buy the company.”
But Raman Garg, Head of Portfolio Finance, Sequoia Capital,
cautioned that sometimes big companies, preoccupied with
the “here and now,” could fail to spot long-term potential. As
venture capitalists, he said, “We are gardeners: we provide
the water and sunshine.”
FT-EY Global CFO Forum: Emerging Markets 2016, Dubai |
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