2018年CRI Business leaders call for inclusive environment for innovation

 

Business leaders both in China and overseas are suggesting that companies should be patient and tolerant of risk in order to successfully innovate¹ and develop faster. They are also calling for flexible and up-to-date education to cultivate creative talents.

Innovation has been one of the top phrases during this year's Summer Davos meeting in Tianjin.

Zhang Chen is the Chief Technology Officer of JD.com. He said innovation in companies should serve for the benefit of consumers and solve their problems.

"If a company wants to innovate, it should focus on creating application scenarios² of its business. This kind of innovation has the long-term value as user experience can be promoted. The purpose to innovate is not to promote technology, but to perfect user experience, lower costs and increase efficiency."

According to the 2018 Forbes list of the world's top 100 most innovative³ companies, the United States topped the chart with 51 companies, while China and Japan both ranked second with seven companies each. China's Tencent was ranked the 25th, and travel services site Ctrip.com at 28.

Omar Abbosh, Chief Strategy Officer of Accenture, said companies should be comfortable with risks when taking new steps and learn to absorb experiences of other companies within the ecosystem⁴.

"For big companies that innovate, they need to develop a culture of experimentation⁵: how do we do experiments in the company to test and realize these with real customers but without risking the whole company. The second thing you need to figure out is to reach out outside company into the ecosystem of small companies. And learn how to use their innovation and bring into the company. So I would say successful western companies have a good risk of tolerance⁶, but it's always they still have to deliver the financial results. The rules of business haven't changed," said Omar Abbosh.

Public and business figures are also calling for an inclusive and tolerant environment for companies to make innovations.

Gong Ke, Executive President of Nankai University, said seeking instant benefits can never produce true innovations.

"I think only a flexible environment can produce innovative results. If the government or companies have no patience and only seek quick success and instant benefits, it will only hinder the development in innovation. To cultivate innovative talents, we must create an open and inclusive environment," said Gong Ke.

Betsy Ziegler is the CEO of 1871. Based in Chicago, her company is designed to support technology start-ups in the city by offering classes, lectures, seminars and other programs.

Betsy said talent is key in the global trend of innovation, and how to cultivate innovative talents will be a huge task that awaits global governors.

"So what we have to invest in is a lot of personal skills that surround the technology. So how do you communicate, how do you do critical problem solving, how do you empathize with other people, how do you influence, how do you collaborate⁷, how do you think about the robot is the team member versus⁸ the competitor to you. So how do we think about how jobs are gonna shift, how skills are gonna go away, and how roles are gonna have to be put back together and changed, what is the education required to do that. There is no way that we've figured that out yet. There are a lot of people talking about it. But we're not there yet," said Betsy.

1 innovate   

v.革新，变革，创始

参考例句：

• We must innovate in order to make progress.我们必须改革以便取得进步。
• It is necessary to innovate and develop military theories.创新和发展军事理论是必要的。

2 scenarios   

n.[意]情节；剧本；事态；脚本

参考例句：

• Further, graphite cores may be safer than non-graphite cores under some accident scenarios. 再者，根据一些事故解说，石墨堆芯可比非石墨堆芯更安全一些。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• Again, scenarios should make it clear which modes are acceptable to users in various contexts. 同样，我们可以运用场景剧本来搞清楚在不同情境下哪些模式可被用户接受。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

3 innovative   

adj.革新的，新颖的，富有革新精神的

参考例句：

• Discover an innovative way of marketing.发现一个创新的营销方式。
• He was one of the most creative and innovative engineers of his generation.他是他那代人当中最富创造性与革新精神的工程师之一。

4 ecosystem   

n.生态系统

参考例句：

• This destroyed the ecosystem of the island.这样破坏了岛上的生态系统。
• We all have an interest in maintaining the integrity of the ecosystem.维持生态系统的完整是我们共同的利益。

5 experimentation   

n.实验，试验，实验法

参考例句：

• Many people object to experimentation on animals.许多人反对用动物做实验。
• Study and analysis are likely to be far cheaper than experimentation.研究和分析的费用可能要比实验少得多。

6 tolerance   

n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差

参考例句：

• Tolerance is one of his strengths.宽容是他的一个优点。
• Human beings have limited tolerance of noise.人类对噪音的忍耐力有限。

7 collaborate   

vi.协作，合作；协调

参考例句：

• The work gets done more quickly when we collaborate.我们一旦合作，工作做起来就更快了。
• I would ask you to collaborate with us in this work.我们愿意请你们在这项工作中和我们合作。

8 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。