The industry must act now to avoid another Kodak moment, says Parul Green, head of M&A and innovation for AXA UK
Believe it or not, some in the insurance industry are unconvinced by the need to change in the face of disruptive new technology. They believe that a three century old industry will weather the storm, largely unchanged, as it has done in the past.
There is a flurry of activity at many insurers, with multiple innovation initiatives in response. The problem is not an inability to take action but an inability to take appropriate action. Donald Sull of MIT Sloan calls it the active inertia or an organisation’s tendency to follow established patterns of behaviour — even in response to dramatic environmental shifts. Stuck in the modes of thinking and working that brought success in the past, some have simply accelerated all their tried-and- tested activities, without recognising the need to transform.
The problem is not an inability to take action but an inability to take appropriate action.
One of the most well recognised victims of active inertia was former photography giant Kodak. In 1976, Kodak was the undisputed leader in its sector. More than 90% of film and 85% of cameras sold in the US alone were manufactured by the firm. In 1975, less than twelve months earlier, Kodak engineer Steven Sasson invented an early digital camera prototype. Like others before them, the managers at Kodak failed to successfully commercialise it.
Film was Kodak’s golden goose, what would be the sense in slaughtering it? Later, in 1990, having grasped the potential of digital, Kodak pour
May 23, 2017
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