Executive Program in Industrial Management: Thank you all for your contribution to the fourth module!

Publicerat 6 February 2020

Thank you all for your contribution to the fourth module of the Executive Program in Industrial Management! Our themes in focus were Global Sourcing and Production as well as Leading and Communicating Change in an International Business. Among other topics, we explored industrial transformations for climate and competitiveness together with Professor Monica Bellgran, KTH. Lena Sellgren, Chief Economist, Business Sweden, provided us with a global economic outlook for 2020. Another example is Jan Brockmann, COO/CTO, Electrolux, sharing his insights into global manufacturing strategy.

Once again, thank you all!
Monica Bellgran and Antonio Maffei, KTH
Jan Brockmann, Electrolux
Lena Sellgren, Business Sweden
Per Finnhammar, EFFSO
Leif E. Andersson
Lars Martinsson
Michael Gates, Richard Lewis Communications
Ulf Änggård, KTH Executive School

Our first breakfast seminar of 2020: Twenty-Five Years of Disruptive Innovation – with Torkel Strömsten

Publicerat 31 January 2020

We opened our 2020 breakfast seminar series with a special overview on disruptive innovation  –  in memory of Clayton M. Christensen, the coiner of the term, who sadly passed away on 23 January. At our first session Torkel Strömsten – Visiting Professor, KTH and Associate Professor, SSE – described how the theory has evolved over time as well as explored how companies can act in order to take advantage of disruptive innovation and as an established company avoid being disrupted. Thank you all for joining us!

Christmas Food for Thought 2019

Publicerat 18 December 2019

In case you fancy some food for thought, we recommend this noteworthy story from the Economist Babbage Podcast, “The Promise and Peril of AI”, which puts Artificial Intelligence into perspective and highlights the challenges we need to overcome in order to make it flourish. Leading experts in the field talk about the benefits and risks of AI as well as discuss why it is critical for mankind. You can listen to the podcast here.

We also recommend “Measure what matters: OKRs: The simple idea that drives 10x growth”, by John Doerr, which you can find as audio book here.

It addresses the topic of how to apply measures that are not limiting your business, a challenge many of you who collaborate with us face. In his book, Doerr outlines a framework of objectives and key results that support growth.

The thoughts are based on how Intel, Google, Amazon and Uber work with goal setting. Although the company you represent might operate in a somewhat different business environment, we believe there are interesting learnings to be made.

Finally, we recommend “What Is Disruptive Innovation?”, by Clayton M. Christensen et. al, which you can find here. Twenty years after having introduced Disruptive Innovation, the authors in this article revisit this by now fundamental theory.

It is emphasized that disruptive innovations originate in low-end or new-market footholds and that disrupters often build business models that are very different from those of incumbents. But also that the mantra “Disrupt or be disrupted” can misguide us, that incumbent companies should not overreact to disruption by dismantling a still-profitable business. Instead, they should strengthen relationships with core customers while also creating a new division focused on the growth opportunities that arise from the disruption.

Don´t miss this year´s last AI – Under the Hood of Machine Learning seminar on text recognition!

Publicerat 9 December 2019

Join us for the third part of our seminar series, AI – Under the Hood of Machine Learning designed for you in a management position.

 

The purpose is to provide you with the intuitive understanding of the AI fundamentals required for judging and driving the AI agenda in the development and launch of new businesses, strategies and ways to operate.

The concepts of Machine Learning and Neural Networks will be in focus, as these are core concepts where AI delivers great value today.

Time: 12 December, 14:00-17:00
Address: KTH Main Campus, Room D31, Lindstedtsvägen 5, Stockholm
Language: English
Cost: The seminar is free of charge.
Register: here

Kicking off the third module of this year´s Executive Program in Industrial Management

Publicerat 4 December 2019

How to build and nurture customer relationships in industrial businesses? Kicking off the third module of this year’s Executive Program in Industrial Management, Program Director Anders Holmström welcomed  Hanna Lindh, Atlas Copco, and Stefan Åberg, Value Model, to share their expertise with our participants. Stefan drew attention to customer insights that can help us grow our businesses, while Hanna focused on how we can capture the voice of our customers.

Image recognition with convolutional neural networks at the AI – Under the Hood seminar series

Publicerat 3 December 2019

At the second part of our AI – Under the Hood seminar series, we dived deep into image recognition with convolutional neural networks and tested some of its currently available uses, together with Ulf Änggård, Director AI Initiatives. We are glad that so many of you joined us yesterday. Thank you all for a great discussion!

If you would like to join us for the third session about text recognition on 12 December, please sign up here.

Only a few seats left for our next AI – Under the Hood of Machine Learning seminar!

Publicerat 27 November 2019

Register now if you would like to join us on Monday 2 December and learn more about image recognition.

The purpose of this seminar series designed for you in a management position is to provide you with the intuitive understanding of the AI fundamentals required for judging and driving the AI agenda in the development and launch of new businesses, strategies and ways to operate.

The concepts of Machine Learning and Neural Networks will be in focus, as these are core concepts where AI delivers great value today.

Time: 2 December, 14:00-17:00
Address: KTH Main Campus, Room D36, Lindstedtsvägen 5, Stockholm
Guest speaker: Reynaldo Boulogne, Peltarion
Language: English
Cost: The seminar is free of charge.
Register: here

Join us for our seminar series, AI – Under the Hood of Machine Learning

Publicerat 16 October 2019

Join us for our seminar series AI – Under the Hood of Machine Learning designed for you in a management position.

The purpose is to provide you with the intuitive understanding of the AI fundamentals required for judging and driving the AI agenda in the development and launch of new businesses, strategies and ways to operate.

The concepts of Machine Learning and Neural Networks will be in focus, as these are core concepts where AI delivers great value today.

 

The seminars are free of charge. However, we ask you to register since there is only a limited number of seats. Sign up at the links below:

AI – Under the Hood of Machine Learning, Part 2: How Machines Understand Images (2 Dec)
AI – Under the Hood of Machine Learning, Part 3: How Machines Understand Texts (12 Dec)

Dialoglab om hur vi använder vatten

Publicerat 15 October 2019

Under det gångna året har en grupp av forskare, studenter, tjänstemän, företagare, politiker i en tillämpad studie visat hur cirkulära vattenbruk kan förverkligas praktiskt i mindre, avgränsade samhällen (öar), som har stora VA-utmaningar.

Hur ska vi få dricksvattnet att räcka till när tillgången är extremt ojämn, när ingen tydligt äger frågan om hållbart vattenbruk, när prima dricksvatten är vårt största matslöseri?

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How the internet and digitalization change the relations between customers and suppliers

Publicerat 28 May 2019

Girl with VR headset

Digitalization is here to stay

Technology is changing our society in an even more rapid pace than ever before. Everything from how we consume goods to how we work is connected to the internet in one way or another. Digitalization is almost always praised, but in what ways are the relationship between customer/supplier changing because of the internet and digitalization?

What the change means

The way suppliers interact with their customers is completely changing. Meaning that the way a business operates is going through fundamental changes in order to stay relevant and to deliver consistent value to their customers, whenever and wherever they need it. This is affecting all areas of a company, from marketing to customer service. For some, this might be scary news. But this is also a huge opportunity for suppliers to gain growth in an ever changing
technological landscape.

Customer-driven change

Interestingly, this change is not one driven by the suppliers or companies itself, but by the customers. They expect relevant information and products or services at anytime, anywhere, and in the medium of their choosing. If a potential customer can’t find what they are looking for from a company, they won’t hesitate a microsecond to get it from a competitor instead.

Digital by default

With the arrival of the smartphone just over ten years ago, almost everyone is now connected to the internet 24/7. This has led to changing consumer habits, which puts a new demand on suppliers. The modern buyer is online at all times, knows the technology, and is aware of the benefits of being online. Having this in mind, a supplier is only as good as the value they can offer their customers. This means that suppliers must reconsider how they approach their customers.

Personalized experiences

In order to stay relevant and to offer what the always-connected customer is expecting; businesses must adapt and embrace digital solutions that put the personalized experience first. This means offering such a seamless and great experience with focus on the unique individual that the customer doesn’t have to think about it – it just works.

Cross channel relations

A customer’s experience with a supplier or a company could start with a recommendation sent by a friend at an online messaging platform such as WhatsApp, or by text message. Then the customer might check out the Instagram account of the company, to later visit the company’s web shop in order to make a purchase. After the purchase, the customer expects the product or service to be delivered as soon as possible. Finally, they might write a review of their experience on the company’s Facebook page. This not only results in a lot of different channels where a business must be present, but a business must also offer a genuine experience between these channels.

Wrap it up

To summarize how the internet and digitalization changes the relationship between customers and suppliers, it is done so by the customer who is always connected and who expects a personal experience with genuine value at any given time, place, and platform. For suppliers to be successful in this new landscape, they always need to be adaptable to change and to put the customer first in all areas of their business.