At the following link a very interesting article from Professor Mark Jenkins. I believe that the current dynamics in F1 (relevant to technological and overall management change) make the contents of it even more sound and relevant. It will be interesting to see the impact of a the integration of the overall management american and european style in LibertyMedia over the project.
Ross Brawn
Ross Brawn is playing a key role in this from an experience and cross-cultural view perspective.
The old saying on #entrepreneurship states that we have to focus specializing on one activity in order to excel and build a successful business on it.
Elon Musk
Times have changed and, as Elon Musk entrepreneurial activities show, it is necessary to use acquired dynamic knowledge and networks in order to become ‘specialized-generalists’ driven by #visionary principles and #synergistic practices across different fields of action.
They used to be called business ecosystems: clusters of cooperation and healthy competition within a certain geographical area. Today we talk about #ideasenvironments because everything has become much more subject to dynamic changes and disruptions.
Such environments are essential to any enterprise to survive and thrive; for this reason every business should actively participate in developing such physical and conceptual areas.
Interesting perspectives on the topic at this link.
New technologies, people’s visions and the integration of socio-cultural aspects are key drivers to international business growth not necessarily linked to large size companies. Today Small and Midsize Enterprises represent a powerful force of change in global business development from many perspectives.
This has surfaced during the workshop “Business growth through leveraging on new technologies and know-how” held today as part of the University of Pisa International MBA. The master has reached the 8th edition and it features 34 participants representing twenty different nationalities with a very high level of multifaceted diversity. Industry 4.0 concepts and practices; innovation focus developed through organizational networks; know-how developed in a production field leveraged upon also in other ones; international business development from socio-cultural perspectives; these are the topics outlined in the workshop by the four presenting organizations.
Marco Dell’Osso, Strategic Marketing Manager in Futura, (manufacturer of converting machinery for the tissue paper industry) has outlined concepts and practices of Industry 4.0 by pointing out the features of the latest projects the company is developing and utilizing and that it will develop in the future.
Stefano Bortoletto, coordinator of the ‘Club Tecnologia e Passione‘ has illustrated the characteristics and purposes of this club of companies belonging to several fields and driven by common goals of innovation focus going also beyond technology into socio-cultural fields.
Nicola Scimeca and Mario Saccone, founders of Ycom have outlined how a company specialised in developing prototypes and services within the highest echelon of global Motorsport, has potential and capabilities (because of the unique technological and cultural characteristics of the field) to develop rapid and efficient innovation to the benefit also of other industrial sectors.
Pierpaolo Vannucci, founder of firm Vannucci e Associati (part of an international network of Chartered Accountants and business development, MGI) has illustrated the development of a project bridging Italian technologically driven socio-cultural know-how in a progressive country as Morocco.
Overall the workshop, moderated by Riccardo Paterni co-founder of Synergy Pathways, has stimulated active interaction with the international audience and the many cultural, academic and professional perspectives present have stimulated analysis and debates. As part of the workshop process the companies have also strengthen their relationship of cooperation with the MBA network and the students have been offered opportunities to actively know about the companies the companies unique projects already.
34 people from 20 different countries, basically representing all of the continents, different ages and work experience from several academic and professional backgrounds. This is the ‘melting-pot’ that characterises the 8th edition of this unique MBA that has reached its 8th edition.
Its executive-style-full-time format linked to several key subjects elaborated through many teamwork activities, stimulate an active and positive leveraging on a multifaceted diversity.
I am fortunate and proud to have been part of the the program since the very beginning and starting it up with the ‘Leadership, Individual and Group Development’ Module that set-ups ways to identify a marked Personal Branding and take advantage at best of the entire MBA path in order to enhance the desired career development.
Here some pictures relevant to the group work activities regarding Personal Branding case studies.
Motorsport: driving innovation and industry diversification
New knowledge development and knowledge sharing
presented at the International Academy of Management and Business’s Conference
On Friday September 28th at Regent’s University LONDON
By
Riccardo Paterni (Entrepreneur at Synergy Pathways) – presenter Dr Tim Angus (Honorary Research Fellow, Centre for Business in Society, Coventry University)
with Gabriele Testi (Motorsport journalist)
Topic Abstract:
Motorsport is not simply a sport involving racing cars, it is a complex and far reaching industry generating many billions of US dollars of global turnover each year. It has deep historical roots that go back to the very beginning of the automotive industry,
Motorsport involves a wide international network of manufactures, related components sup- pliers, research & development activities, related paying fans (and in most cases paying dri- vers) and sponsors. These invest and leverage the global media system that for some of the championships has a strong global reach (for example Formula 1 Grand Prix are the most glo- bally followed sport taking second place only to the Soccer World Cups and the Olympics). Mo- torsport has a dimension that spreads from the local to the global in which many global automo- tive manufacturers are involved. It has a value chain that involves: constructors, participants, events, and the distribution and consumption of the sport. The total global yearly turnover for Motorsport as an industry is well above USD 50 billions (Henry et al, 2007) .
Motorsports integrated complexities are what makes it a unique business ecosystem which is similar in many respects to many other business ecosystems that might be encountered within various economic fields; such complexities are generated by many variables spanning techno- logical aspects to regulation, the management of high levels of dynamic know-how and the shaping-up, development and management of often far reaching business models.Motorsport requires, by default, an extremely dynamic constantly changing environment requiring a consistent focus on efficiency (relevant to financial, technological, infrastructural, organizational and highly skilled human resources management) and, at the same time, a marked and relentless focus on on-racing-track and commercial performance.
All of these characteristics make the Motorsport ecosystem a solid, concrete and at the same time continuously evolving laboratory of innovation: a laboratory in which innovation is identified and implemented in very pragmatic terms, for example, in terms of novel effective solutions to problems (racing tracks are nothing if not constant active practical and conceptual laboratories for these problems), novel products and services that are welcomed by markets. Innovation in motorsport goes well beyond the realm of technological innovation into innovation in knowledge generation, knowledge-transfer and new business models related to new industrial and commercial realities. Industry diversification, rooted in this new knowledge production , is a natural offspring of these industrial dynamics.
An additional characteristic that feeds this overall system, is the presence of specific motorsport industrial clusters (geographically comprised socio-economic networks that develop and implement new knowledge) that have been characterizing parts of the industry since its beginning and are still present today (e.g. the UK’s ‘Motorsport Valley and Italy’s ‘Motor Valley’). Motorsport and its related industrial and research & development activities has become a prime example of high level knowledge development ready to be shared among other applications and industries. We will present case studies (Costruzioni Meccaniche Novicrom, Ycom and McLaren Applied Technologies) that represent this concept from a knowledge perspective generating far reaching business development activities by leveraging upon the constant in- novation present within motorsport.
A recent study published on Organizational Science and pointed out on a Fast Company article by the title “Unexpected lessons about innovation from Formula One teams” stresses that even the fast paced changing Formula One world shows that effective innovation is the one implemented in an incremental way.
There are many factors that influence directly innovation in Formula One: regulations, technologies, financials boundaries, yet the drive to performance needs to be focused and streamlined and a study points out that the incremental application of original know-how is the most effective one. When we think about innovation (products or services solving problems or being effectively embraced by markets) we need to observe that tracing back its roots we realise that truly it is always an incremental process, a process that at times can be accelerated by technologies or fast developing know-how, yet central key roots remain set in place.
‘Panta Rei’! (tutto scorre). Il celebre aforisma di Eraclito oggi assume un doppio significato: da un lato l’inesorabile presenza del cambiamento; dall’altro la necessità di rapportarsi con questo cambiamento nel modo più fluido, scorrevole possibile, senza esserne travolti.
Oggi più che mai abbiamo il compito e responsabilità di essere non solo attori, ma anche produttori, registri e soprattutto scrittori del copione della nostra vita. Per questo osservare e riflettere su percorsi di vita di successo (dove il successo viene misurato con il riuscire ad esprimere il meglio di se, del proprio potenziale e farlo con consapevolezza).
L’ebook presenta una narrazione a due voci. Da un lato tratti salienti del percorso professionale del compianto tre volte campione del mondo di Formula 1; un percorso che mette l’accento sul modo originale e innovativo (perché efficace) che lui utilizzo’ per sviluppare la propria carriera. Dall’altro lato riflessioni, commenti e esercizi pratici ispirati da aspetti concreti di quella narrazione. Il tutto sviluppato per stimolare in noi un senso di consapevolezza, progettualità e conseguenti azioni costruttive.
Lo schema di pensiero riguardante aspetti di innovazione e performance si rapporta anche ad un contesto più ampio, organizzativo, con specifici piani d’azione da implementare.
E allora: ‘Panta Rei’! con una consapevolezza e progettualità che non sono solo alla portata dei campioni.
A section of the book focuses on the concept of innovating by ‘doing more with less’; this is exactly the philosophy that brought bodywork craftsman Ugo Zagato (he started his shop in Milan in 1919) to concretely implement new ways to build automobiles for brands such as Lancia, Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Bentley etc. since the first decades of the last century. This construction philosophy would be ahead of its time even in terms of racing cars: limit weight and focus on improving overall aerodynamics. All of this much sooner then the British racing manufacturers begun to focus on these factors.
