FACT Network Newsletter- May 2010

1. FACT Update May 2 0 1 0
Vo lu me 2 Is s u e 1
Contact us at:
factnetwork@gmail.com
INSIDE THIS ISSUE Explore the Many Facets of Innovation
1 Save the Date for FACT2010
Please join us for FACT2010, The Many Facets of Innovation, an exclusive
1 Facets of Innovation: half-day event for women executives from Canada‟s leading organizations. We
A Panel Discussion will examine the role of innovation in business today and in the future. It will be
a morning of learning, collaboration and networking in an intimate setting.
2 Panel on Innovation
Please mark your calendar for Friday, September 24, 2010 at the Toronto
3 Panel on Innovation, cont‟d Board of Trade from 8:00 a.m. to 11:15 a.m. We will send additional details
shortly.
4 Meet our Panelists
You can reach FACT2010 at 416.762.0394 or at factnetwork@gmail.com.
4 FACT2010 Sponsors
Facets of Innovation: A Panel Discussion
By Shira Yoskovitch and Leslie Riley
Innovation has many
Innovate or die. facets – it creates
different images and
What is innovation? Google offers more than 100 million results for thoughts depending on
searching the word „innovation.‟ individual experience and
For insight into how Canadian enterprise is dealing with innovation, we occupation. It can be new
asked seven successful business professionals in various fields including or better products and
information technology, financial services, broadcasting, supply chain services, process
management, human resources, business development, marketing and improvements, enhanced
sales. We included executives, middle and senior managers, practitioners business models, changes
and a recent MBA grad. to distribution channels,
new branding or new
In addition to the question of what does innovation mean, we asked our corporate image. What
panelists to predict the future role of innovation, and to describe the best of seems indisputable is that
what our businesses do well now and what we could do better. Read what there are many ways to
they had to say in PANEL ON INNOVATION on pages 2 and 3.
innovate and that
everyone can share the
Continued page 2 – Panel on Innovation role of ‘innovator.’

2. Page 2 FACT Update
Panel on Innovation
What does “innovation” mean to you?
[Innovation is] “the According to our panel, innovation can be as complex as creating and delivering a
new product or a new process and also as simple as „questioning the status quo.‟
process of looking at what
They all agreed it required the ability to „think and look at things in a different light‟
could be versus what is as well as some measurable commercial value. Three respondents used an
…questioning the status improved delivery mechanism as examples of innovation.
quo…asking the questions
Kim Maguire, Vice President Business Development, Kuehne+Nagel Ltd., says
why and why not?” that innovation “is about creating a want. It doesn‟t necessarily have to be
completely new, but rather may be an evolution on an existing concept. It
Jane Matthews ultimately changes how we go about our day-to-day.”
Interim Executive
What do you consider the best of how we do business today and
what would you like to see changed?
Our panel pointed out the significance of technology on business today, in
particular, the access to global marketing data, the quantity and speed of
information, and the speed of personal interaction.
This „uninterrupted access‟ not only broadens our understanding of other
marketplaces and cultures, but also helps to reduce the barriers to entry in many
markets. The continuing influence of social marketing is apparent - - tweet, text
and Google are now verbs in our lexicon. Businesses check out personnel
references on Facebook and LinkedIn, something that would have been
inconceivable even 5 years ago.
Our panelists were nearly unanimous in highlighting the need for new rules, even a
desire for new „codes of conduct‟ to guide communication in this age of
technology.
We may find that dealing with „depersonalization‟ is a key component of
maintaining productive and rewarding interpersonal connections. For example,
“What is the true impact of teens today struggle with depersonalization – does technology threaten the
social marketing? Thirty- development and use of their personal filters? Will our emerging workforce
understand the nuance of business norms in communication? What tone will
somethings seek out
written and verbal exchanges in the workplace take on in 10 or 15 years?
opinion leaders among their
peers…The gurus of Others are concerned about the risk of becoming controlled by technology (think
„crackberry‟, for example) rather than the other way around. We also heard
tomorrow will not be the
concerns about ideas being compromised or stolen since access to information is
mechanics but instead will so easy and so fast. Several of our panelists talked about the need for new
be those who cross analyze processes and controls for developing and protecting innovations.
consumer inputs,
The need for innovation also demands that we reconsider trade-offs between
competitive inputs and corporate structure and creativity. What is the optimum balance among structure,
management inputs.” creativity and innovation? Can you develop a structure that actually nurtures and
inspires creativity and innovation? Our panel offered many ideas on how to
Kevin Shea, Principal encourage innovation from micro to macro, including more structure, less
SheaChez Inc. structure, focus on leadership development, paying more attention to the
developing economies and eliminating inertia [that is, shedding the idea that „don‟t
fix it if it isn‟t broken.] They did agree that improving transparency of corporate
results and tying personal performance measures directly to the employer‟s bottom
line are necessary elements. In other words, creativity is essential, but it doesn‟t
come with a blank cheque.
Continued page 3 – Panel on Innovation

3. FACT Update Page 3
Panel on Innovation (continued from page 2)
Carol Ellen, Recruiter, expressed concern that advances in technology are not being
used effectively to improve customer service. She suggests that because of the focus “Innovation is in the
on technology, we have moved away from „generalist‟ roles, in favour of specialists. In
approach, not necessarily the
doing so, employees may no longer understand their roles in or their contribution to
the value chain. If we want use innovation to enhance the customer experience, she product or service.”
recommends a thorough review and reconciliation of the alignment among roles,
responsibilities and processes in order to ignite innovation that would achieve the Lisa Laicini
highest standards of customer service. Executive Vice President,
Business Development
Looking 5-10 years ahead, what changes to you see in how we And Operations,
conduct business? Platinum Edge Recruitment
We heard widespread agreement on at least one point – the proliferation and
availability of technology and social media tools will continue. On that there was no
doubt. There also seems to be a feeling of confidence in our collective abilities to
actively and productively harness the social media behemoth to establish new
universally accepted social media communication norms (a modern-day Emily Post?)
Could this ultimately lead to a slowdown of communications, while people conform to
these new rules? Likely so, but the beneficial outcome of slowing things down just
might be increased interpretation time. So what? We‟d be getting back to basics in
taking the time to understand our needs and wants, together with our customer and Google and 3M encourage
supplier communities. employees to use up to
20% of company time on
Mary DiRenzo, Senior Manager, Market Development & Strategy, BMO Financial
Services, suggests that we also need to look at the bigger picture and be fully any project or idea they
accountable in everything we do. She sees the need for “...being smarter about why wish to pursue.
we do things and the way we do them; being responsible for what we do now and how
it affects the future.”
This back-to-fundamentals approach will also enhance our ability to design forward-
thinking key performance indicator measurements and establish the linkage to a
company‟s bottom line. Alongside this notion is the increased accountability that will
be drawn across functions in the organization. Each discipline is a contributor-
positive or negative- to the achievements of the entity as a whole and this contribution
must be measured. Without this, acts of innovation will not be sustainable as they
move through their life cycle.
In light of this, what skills will people need to be successful in business in
the future?
By 2031, visible minority
Goal orientation, collaborative decision making skills and the ability to be a team groups [will] comprise 63%
1
player in a diverse workforce are the skills valued by millennials. Gary Fong, recent of the population of
MBA graduate, had this to say about the future required skills, “global
Toronto, 59% in Vancouver
mentality...understanding and working with cultural differences...a need to develop
skills in cooperation and team influence...alignment of corporate resources behind a and 31% in Montreal.
vision and towards a specific goal.” [Statistics Canada Study:
The ability to harness the power of technology for real business processes and to Projections of the diversity of
improve service delivery were seen by the panel as an important skill for the future. the Canadian population
As well, our panel believed that the ability to balance the needs of the enterprise with (03/Mar/2010)]
st
those of the individual was essential as a new work ethic evolves in the 21 century.
1
The Millennial Generation (also referred to as Generation Y, Generation Next or Echo Boomers) were born from the mid 1970‟s
through the 1990‟s. Although many are still in school, the eldest have been in the workforce for 10 years and more.

4. Page 4 FACT Update
Meet Our Panelists
We are grateful to the business professionals who took the time to talk to us about innovation in their industries and
their insights on how innovation will drive and change business in the future.
Mary DiRenzo, Senior Manager, Market Development and Strategy, BMO Financial Services, has with 25 years
experience in financial service and is an expert in commercial cards and electronic payment systems.
Carol Ellen, Recruiter, is a Certified Professional Consultant (CPC) and has 13 years experience as a senior
recruitment executive in multiple industries including retail, manufacturing, financial services and not-for-profit.
Gary Fong, Project Manager, University Health Network, has 12 years experience identifying and converting
client needs into innovative products and services. He was recently awarded an MBA from the Rotman School.
Lisa Laicini, Executive VP Business Development and Operations, Platinum Edge Recruitment, has 17 years
experience in developing and leading complex account relationships across Logistics and Warehousing, Retail
and Pharmaceutical industries.
LESSONS LEARNED
Kim Maguire, VP Business Development, Kuehne+Nagel Ltd, has 15
years experience in global logistics and supply chain management.
Comments from our panelists
Jane Matthews, Interim Executive, has 25 years experience in sales, about what they have learned in
service and marketing and has held key executive posts in several business.
industries including financial services, professional services,
technology and not-for-profit sectors. “Listen more than you talk.”
Kevin Shea, Principal, SheaChez Inc., has 30 years of experience in “Show respect for opposing
Canadian entertainment, broadcasting, cable, telecommunications views...”
and culture industries. He was Founding President and CEO of YTV
Canada and President and COO of the Global Television Network “Be flexible... [be] open to new
and of Atlantis Communications Inc. ideas...”
“Luck and timing are incredible
FACT2010 Sponsors gifts.”
Shira Yoskovitch
Supply Chain (R)Evolution
Shira is a global supply chain expert with 15 years experience in developing, implementing and improving procedures and
controls that drive superior operational performance. She worked around the world for such leading brands as Arrow
Electronics, Virgin Mobile and XM Satellite Radio. In early 2008, Shira founded Supply Chain (R)Evolution, a boutique
consulting firm focused on enabling organizations to successfully implement business transformation strategies in a “total
value chain” approach.
Shira has an MSc in International Accounting and Finance from the London School of Economics and Political Science and a
B.Comm. from McGill University.
Leslie Riley
BRANDwright Inc.
Leslie is a strategic planning & corporate communications professional with over 20 years experience in both corporate and
not-for-profit sectors. An experienced relationship manager, she employs a collaborative approach to obtain commitment on
tactical objectives and implementation from internal and external stakeholders at all levels in an organization. Her
corporate experience includes marketing and selling services to Canadian & multinational companies.
Leslie earned an MBA from University of Toronto’s Rotman School and a B.Sc. in Industrial Management from Purdue
University.
You can reach us at: factnetwork@gmail.com