The McKensie report regarding the Lebanese economy development has been finally out earlier this year. One of its main recommendation for regaining stability and growth is to focus on the key sectors that would drive the economy potential.
It is not surprising that knowldege and innovation are at the core of these recommendations. They should be a key focus for the Lebanese government economical plan: relying on thechnology to develop the productivity in key sectors but also helping companies across sectors to innovate in order to survive and drive growth.
To do so, Lebanese Companies need to focus on critical, differentiating capabilities in order to align innovation with their overall business strategy. Referring To Booz & Co article on the subject, “the best performing companies develop additional capabilities that are very specific to their chosen innovation strategies. Some companies are technology drivers: Their strategy is to develop leading-edge products. These capabilities, however, are less crucial for need seekers, whose strategy is to identify unmet customer needs and innovate to fill them. The most successful companies, we found, are those that focus on a particular, specifically aligned set of common and distinct capabilities that enable them to better execute their chosen strategies.”
Successful innovators globally focus on what matters most rather than spreading their effort and resources on capabilities that are less critical. Identifying the core value proposition of Local Brands and Businesses will lead to better focus and alignment, and will uncover innovation opportunities, boost top-line growth and reduce relative costs--all at the same time.
Today, through the toughest economic crisis of the country, it is the right time to react and take action. Innovation should not be considered as a luxury anymore, Innovation is a must to survive, to avoid cannibalization, to disrupt the market before being disrupted.
It is time for local businesses to re-invent themselves like global ones are doing constantly to keep up with market changes. Lebanon has always been the country of services and creativity, in a time where services are gaining grounds VS products facilitating the life of busy consumers, Local firms in the sector business for instance should jump on the opportunity to take their offering to a different level using the latest human centric approach to be in line with their customer’s changing expectations.
Brandcell Innovation and strategy consultancy have been applying the design thinking approach for few years now, helping Brands and Companies in Lebanon and the region in various sectors (banking, HORECA, Healthcare, Retail...) define their value proposition, innovate and re-design their service strategy and experience.
Because we believe that here in this small country more than anywhere in the world innovation is the precious fuel of our future.