2018年CRI Business leaders call for inclusive environment for innovation

Business leaders both in China and overseas are suggesting that companies should be patient and tolerant of risk in order to successfully innovate 1 and develop faster. They are also calling for flexible and up-to-date education to cultivate creative talents.

Innovation has been one of the top phrases during this year's Summer Davos meeting in Tianjin.

Zhang Chen is the Chief Technology Officer of JD.com. He said innovation in companies should serve for the benefit of consumers and solve their problems.

"If a company wants to innovate, it should focus on creating application scenarios 2 of its business. This kind of innovation has the long-term value as user experience can be promoted. The purpose to innovate is not to promote technology, but to perfect user experience, lower costs and increase efficiency."

According to the 2018 Forbes list of the world's top 100 most innovative 3 companies, the United States topped the chart with 51 companies, while China and Japan both ranked second with seven companies each. China's Tencent was ranked the 25th, and travel services site Ctrip.com at 28.

Omar Abbosh, Chief Strategy Officer of Accenture, said companies should be comfortable with risks when taking new steps and learn to absorb experiences of other companies within the ecosystem 4.

"For big companies that innovate, they need to develop a culture of experimentation 5: how do we do experiments in the company to test and realize these with real customers but without risking the whole company. The second thing you need to figure out is to reach out outside company into the ecosystem of small companies. And learn how to use their innovation and bring into the company. So I would say successful western companies have a good risk of tolerance 6, but it's always they still have to deliver the financial results. The rules of business haven't changed," said Omar Abbosh.

Public and business figures are also calling for an inclusive and tolerant environment for companies to make innovations.

Gong Ke, Executive President of Nankai University, said seeking instant benefits can never produce true innovations.

"I think only a flexible environment can produce innovative results. If the government or companies have no patience and only seek quick success and instant benefits, it will only hinder the development in innovation. To cultivate innovative talents, we must create an open and inclusive environment," said Gong Ke.

Betsy Ziegler is the CEO of 1871. Based in Chicago, her company is designed to support technology start-ups in the city by offering classes, lectures, seminars and other programs.

Betsy said talent is key in the global trend of innovation, and how to cultivate innovative talents will be a huge task that awaits global governors.

"So what we have to invest in is a lot of personal skills that surround the technology. So how do you communicate, how do you do critical problem solving, how do you empathize with other people, how do you influence, how do you collaborate 7, how do you think about the robot is the team member versus 8 the competitor to you. So how do we think about how jobs are gonna shift, how skills are gonna go away, and how roles are gonna have to be put back together and changed, what is the education required to do that. There is no way that we've figured that out yet. There are a lot of people talking about it. But we're not there yet," said Betsy.