Product centric change

October 17, 2006

Daniel Sachs, CEO of Proventus and Roger L. Martin, dean of the Rotman School of Management in Toronto and appointed "innovation guru" by the magazine Business Week in 2005, participated in a discussion on the creative and innovative forces of design.

As a backdrop to his product centric approach, Daniel Sachs gave a rather bleak view of the future. The case for growth in the West is weak. The competitiveness of western businesses and economies is decreasing; the focal point is moving east. Economic development in the West is increasingly fragile; growth is dependent on asset prices and leverage. Increasing economic and demographic pressure will lead to challenges to democracy and political systems in the West.

We have to deal with these challenges and the solution partly lies in creating a new European industrial base. All sustainable growth departs from the product. Apart from driving growth, a leading product creates attention and is a solid foundation for a corporation's communication, corporate culture and brand. The BRIO case illustrated the importance of product centric change.