Fall Conference 2016: Building a Connected Strategy: From Customer Experience to Technology Platforms

The Internet of Things, the sharing economy, wearable fitness trackers, remote health care, peer-to-peer payment systems … Executives across industries are buffeted by a broad range of technological developments that enable new business models. The common thread among all these developments is that, rather than having episodic interactions with customers, firms are now attempting to connect to customers in a continuous way, providing services and products as customers’ needs arise.  Both incumbent firms and new entrants are trying to reshape their industries through creating what we call a Connected Strategy.

Consider a few examples: “Connected healthcare” creates a constant link between patients and health care providers, not just at the time when an urgent need arises. Companies like Uber, Lyft, and Airbnb create a connection of suppliers (of transportation or accommodation) with customers who have an occasional need for these services. Coursera and other MOOCs provide education on topics at the time the learner needs them, not “in bulk” in a multi-year program.

Firms have experimented with creating different types of connections from customers to firms. Some firms have “push-to-talk” connections in which customers send their needs directly to a firm (e.g. an order to Amazon, a car request to Uber). Other firms have created an “automated hovering” connection in which customers send information (continuously and usually automatically) to a firm.

Likewise, firms have experimented with creating different types of connections from firms to customers: 1) “Rapid response,” in which firms try to satisfy customer requests as quickly as possible (e.g. Amazon, Uber); 2) “Curated offerings,” in which firms anticipate customer needs by providing a customized set of products and services (e.g. Netflix suggestions); 3) “Tweak behavior” in which firms try to nudge customers’ behavior through personal feedback and social comparisons (e.g. FitBit); and 4) “Automatic delivery” in which firms automatically anticipate needs and fulfill them (e.g., behavioral medical intervention, re-ordering milk, re-balancing a portfolio).

The Mack Institute Fall Conference 2016 will explore the implications of Connected Strategy as it relates to 1) the customer experience, 2) the required changes in the operational business model of firms, 3) the implications for data analysis, and 4) the underlying technological infrastructure that makes Connected Strategy feasible.

If you are interested in attending this event, please contact Joe Nebistinsky at jneb@wharton.upenn.edu.

Fall Conference 2016 Agenda

8:30 a.m.–9:00 a.m. — BREAKFAST

---

9:00 a.m.–9:15 a.m. — WELCOME AND INTRODUCTION

Saikat Chaudhuri
Executive Director, Mack Institute for Innovation Management
Adjunct Associate Professor of Management, The Wharton School

Nicolaj Siggelkow
Co-director, Mack Institute for Innovation Management
David M. Knott Professor of Management, The Wharton School

Christian Terwiesch
Co-director, Mack Institute for Innovation Management
Andrew M. Heller Professor, The Wharton School
Senior Fellow, Leonard Davis Institute for Health Economics

---

9:15 a.m.–10:15 a.m. — CONNECTED STRATEGIES FOR CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

Robert Boland
Associate Director, Emerging Science and Innovation Strategy, Johnson & Johnson

Stephen Ranjan
Executive Director, Priority Customer Solutions, Merck

---

10:15 a.m.–10:30 a.m. — BREAK

---

10:30 a.m.–11:30 a.m. — NEW BUSINESS MODELS: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES

Andy Lin
Senior Director, Digital Innovation Group & Global IT, Ansell

Matt Kempler
Director, Digital Innovation, Ansell

Christian Terwiesch

---

11:30 a.m.–12:15 p.m. — FRAMEWORK FOR UNDERSTANDING CONNECTED STRATEGIES

        Nicolaj Siggelkow

---

12:15 p.m.–12:45 p.m. — LUNCH

---

12:45 p.m.–1:30 p.m. — GROUP WORKING SESSION

---

1:30 p.m.–2:15 p.m. — GROUP REPORT BACK

---

2:15 p.m.–2:30 p.m. — BREAK

---

2:30 p.m.–4:00 p.m. — INFRASTRUCTURE DATA & TECHNOLOGY PLATFORMS

Aileen Smith
Head of Ecosystems, Huawei Technologies

Pramod Kalyanasundaram
CTO- Verizon Telematics, Global Platform

Julian Jenkins
Vice President, Innovation Performance & Technology, GlaxoSmithKline

Mo Patel
Practice Director, Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning, Teradata Analytics

---

4:00 p.m.–4:15 p.m. — CLOSING REMARKS