From the CEO – Innovation Pays Off

By Rod Vawdrey, CEO, Fujitsu Australia and New Zealand

Innovation has become something of a buzz word in recent months, but it’s one with more than a little substance at its core.

The latest Fujitsu Innovation Index has revealed that innovation drove a 29 per cent increase in key performance indicators such as customer satisfaction and profit at Australia’s top performing companies. These innovative leaders also enjoy employee acquisition and retention rates around 125 per cent higher than their less innovative competitors, while their profitability per employee is 120 per cent higher.

At Fujitsu, innovation is at the heart of everything we do, as demonstrated by our US$2 billion annual investment in research and development. Our commitment to making our customers’ dreams a reality drives innovation at Fujitsu and while at one time we perhaps approached research and development with an idea in mind rather than a solution, this has changed dramatically in recent years.

As a Japanese-owned company with a strong commitment to kaizen (continuous improvement), we are never satisfied with the status quo but are constantly looking for ways to grow and develop new and better ways to serve our customers.

Recognising that 80 per cent of the IT needed in any business is standard from one organisation to another, we have applied many of the principles of kaizen to standardise how we design, develop, deploy and manage IT services and solutions.

By standardising that 80 per cent and helping our clients to focus on the 20 per cent of IT and processes that are unique to their business, we can reduce costs, slash lead-times and improve the quality of our solutions and services – we call this TRIOLE thinking. To learn more about Industrialising IT Sevices click here.

The idea of standardisation also brings into play the concepts of re-use. Re-use, of course, is a major tenet of another buzz word – sustainability. Fujitsu globally is proud of its environmental credentials, and to help our customers bring this to life our Green IT consulting practice has launched the positioning paper Green IT - Delivering Business Sustainability.

This issue of Interaction also features an article by our strategy consulting practice lead, Tom Dissing, on the latest Fujitsu Innovation Index and its implications for Australian innovation.

Also in this month’s issue, you’ll find a story about the need for innovation in Australia’s aged care sector in response to new research from Fujitsu showing that retiring Baby Boomers have different needs and wants from previous generations.

Another industry struggling to satisfy its customers is Australia’s financial sector, with a study by Fujitsu Consulting revealing that 80 per cent of banking customers are frustrated by poor service levels and ready to switch. A little innovation in the area of service delivery could deliver huge dividends for a financial institution willing to lead the way.

As we draw to the close of another successful year, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank you for your support over the past 12 months and to wish you a happy and healthy Christmas and New Year. We look forward to working with you to apply Fujitsu innovation to solve your business challenges and drive growth in 2008.

Regards, Rod