Vijay Govindarajan

Vijay Govindarajan's Speech Descriptions

VG presents his exceptional knowledge of innovation strategy in a customized form, tailored for audience and situation. He explains how companies have to continually redefine their strategy to cope with competitive imitation and constant marketplace changes.

As well as defining the challenges, VG offers solutions; using a research study of innovation initiatives for over 50 large corporations, he explains how the “organizational DNA” of a company needs to be changed across staffing, structure, systems and culture in order to succeed. He also details his innovative concept of reverse innovation, where new business models can first be developed in emerging markets. He also illustrates how American healthcare can learn lessons from the Indian hospital model.

STRATEGY IS INNOVATION
VG customizes his presentation on Strategy is Innovation to fit a given audience and situation.

We now live in an era of constant change, driven by the dynamic forces of technology, globalization, the Internet, changing demographics, and shifting customer preferences. As a result, companies find that their strategies need almost constant redefinition—either because the old assumptions are no longer valid, or because the previous strategy has been imitated and neutralized by competitors. Rooted in these premises, the strategic and organizational challenges become:

INNOVATION EXECUTION
Implementing Box 3 breakthrough innovation projects is the triple-flip-with-a-quadruple-twist of general management. No matter how talented and experienced the leader, chances are that this is a new and unfamiliar challenge. VG can help you understand the three fundamental challenges faced by Box 3 strategic experiments, and can offer several specific recommendations to help you overcome them.

Even world-class companies with successful business models eventually hit the ceiling on growth. That’s what makes emerging industries so attractive. These markets represent huge opportunities for capturing long term growth and competitive advantage. But because they lack a proven formula for making a profit, they are risky and expensive—with dire consequences for failure.

Vijay Govindarajan argues that every organization’s survival depends on Box 3 breakthrough innovations that target such untested markets, but few firms understand how to implement them successfully. Too many managers think that a great idea is enough to get them from business plan to profitability, but somewhere in the middle of the innovation process, most organizations stumble. Govindarajan reveals where firms go wrong on their journey from idea to execution—and outline exactly what it takes to build a breakthrough business while sustaining excellence in an existing one.

Based on an in-depth, multiyear research study of innovative initiatives at over 50 large corporations, Vijay Govindarajan identifies three central challenges to strategic innovation:

Govindarajan explains how to overcome these challenges by rewiring the "organizational DNA" across four main areas: staffing, structure, systems, and culture, in order for a promising new venture to succeed. He also spells out the critical role senior executives must play in managing the inevitable tensions that arise between today’s business and tomorrow’s.

Breakthrough growth opportunities can make or break companies and careers. Govindarajan can present a guide to execution in unexplored territory.

REVERSE INNOVATION
Historically, multinationals innovated in a rich country and sold those products in a poor country. Reserve Innovation is doing exactly the opposite. It is about innovating in a poor country and selling those products in a rich country. Reverse Innovation is a Box 3 strategy.

In this presentation, VG introduces the idea of developing new business models in emerging markets first—instead of scaling down rich-world products—to unlock a world of opportunities for your business. Stemming from a pivotal article in Harvard Business Review, his reverse innovation presentation offers an important next step for companies looking to derive long-term value from emerging markets. According to VG, "Reverse innovation is a potent force that will transform the global economy over the next few decades. It will redistribute power and wealth to countries and companies who understand it and diminish those who do not."

VG offers a glimpse at strategies from some of the world’s leading companies—from GE and Deere & Company to P&G and PepsiCo. There is no one industry that needs to reverse innovate; instead, all industries must have interest in the needs and opportunities in the developing world in order to thrive in tomorrow’s global marketplace.

HBR picked reverse innovation as one of the Great Moments in Management in the Last Century. Reverse Innovation was a New York Times and Wall Street Journal best seller.

DELIVERING WORLD-CLASS HEALTHCARE, AFFORDABLY
In this presentation, VG explains how innovative Indian hospitals are delivering high-quality healthcare at prices 95% below American hospitals. Although the context is very different in these two countries, there are lessons that U.S. healthcare leaders can learn and apply.

To provide high-quality care at ultra-low costs, private Indian hospitals have adopted three techniques: 1) hub-and-spoke networks; 2) task shifting; and 3) basic frugality. These approaches enable these hospitals to maximize the number of patients served, while benefiting from economies of scale. In the years ahead, U.S. healthcare providers should learn about and consider adopting these principles as they strive to expand access, improve quality, and reduce costs. If U.S. providers don’t change, they actually risk being disrupted by these efficient, low-cost Indian providers.