Building a futuristic Centre of Excellence has become mandatory for every organization to achieve one critical objective called ‘PROBLEM SOLVING.’

The world of work was profoundly affected by the Pandemic. In addition to the threat to public health, the economic and social disruption threatened the long-term livelihoods and well-being of millions. The Pandemic has heavily affected labour markets, economies and enterprises, including global supply chains, leading to widespread business disruptions. Moreover, the calamity has lasting effects, accelerating existing trends:

  • The adoption of new technologies
  • A rethinking of global supply chains
  • The rise of well-connected oligopolies

The World Ahead 2023 consider the interlocking challenges facing the world: the war in Ukraine, high food and fuel prices, the fight against inflation, the transition to renewable energy, and China’s uncertain post-pandemic path as the Pandemic becomes Endemic in most of the world how organizations and leaders can reset for growth beyond. I recommend that organizations should focus on sustainability and inclusive growth, which must be done rapidly. The ultimate goal to be achieved by any organization is to increase productivity, reduce costs and improve the quality of products/services. This is possible only when organizations establish the Hybrid Centre of Excellence.

The key benefits of establishing a Centre of Excellence:

1. Breaking the traditional approach of Problem-Solving: Customers and consumers want to be associated with companies that are making a positive difference. Therefore, the conventional method is no longer an effective way to address the problems within an organization. In addition, as organizations get more complex, teams often work in silos, not sharing their knowledge, despite the parallel evolution of various skills. In such situations, organizations benefit from a structure that brings together various groups who are experts from any particular field and sits outside of the regular reporting structure.

2. Potential Opportunities for New business/Market: Partnerships and Collaborations open doors for co-creation and co-innovation. Through such collaborations, organizations take the risk of innovating fast and failing fast. Organizations will be able to find solutions quickly and address their business challenges. This enables them to not only grow their existing business but also become the hub for creating new innovations, ultimately opening a new stream of revenue, business growth and new market segment—a win-win for all the players.

3. Sustainability and Inclusivity:  The current era is increasingly defined by the interplay of complex disruptions, with their disparate origins and long-term consequences. Institutions are not fully prepared for the new reality, often reacting separately to each disruption. Through CoE, organizations are enabled to address these challenges collectively by focusing on bringing their best-in-class teams, experts, technologies, etc.,

Case Studies of Organizations that have embarked on the above CoE model have to a large extent, been able to meet the challenges crises pose to sustainable, inclusive growth:

1. Switzerland is reportedly planning to ban electric vehicles in the country: According to a report in The Telegraph, officials in the country have drafted a proposal that would restrict power usage to prevent blackouts and power cuts. If this happens, Switzerland would become the first country to do so. Sixty per cent of Switzerland’s energy supply depends on hydroelectric power. The Swiss power plan involves measures like banning cryptocurrency mining and escalators being turned off. The proposed ban is one of the strict measures that are designed to implement a sustainability strategy.

2. Bangalore Airport, Terminal in a Garden: The new infrastructure Terminal 2 is an eco-friendly facility mainly constructed using bamboo. It has been built on four guiding principles, ‘Terminal in a Garden’, sustainability, technology and Innovation, and the art and culture of Karnataka. “The beautiful green environment at Terminal 2 has 620 endemic plants, over 3,600 plant species, 150 palm species, 7,700 transplanted trees, 100 types of lilies, 96 species of lotus, 180 rare, endangered, and threatened species, as well as 10 ecological niches.”

3. Sony: Sony’s vision is to “continue to deliver Kando and Anshin to people and society around the world through the pursuit of technology and new challenges.” To carry out this vision, they made sustainability an essential aspect of their operations. (Kando is a Japanese word that roughly translates to “the sense of awe and the emotion you feel when experiencing something beautiful and amazing for the first time.” and *Anshin is a Japanese word with various meanings, such as peace of mind, reassurance, reliability, and trust.). As a result, Sony has been focusing on three areas that are key to their business: The three pillars of sustainability – Environment, Accessibility, and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I). Twenty years ago, in 2002, Sony was the first to produce vegetable-based plastic in the production of the Walkman®, a well-known and legendary Sony product.

To Summarize, the above case studies demonstrate how they achieved the goal of Sustainable Innovation and inclusivity by establishing the Centre of Excellence through the Open Innovation model.