The entire Finnish Metropolitan area is truly a great place for foreign investors and startups to run their business, as long as one knows how to do it in a proper way. We like to think of ourselves as an successful example in that – Lenovo Finland has been able to gain its market leader position based on its long-term strategic business development efforts during the past few years.
As a solid evidence of the above, Lenovo has successfully entered into the most potential future business sector, Healthcare. Digitalization and utilization of ICT technology is one of the key drivers for the Finnish Government to achieve the targeted sustainability gap. For Lenovo it has required to create high-level personal contact network with the key governmental decision makers and influencers within SOTE (Social Welfare and Healthcare Reform in Finland), Healthcare, Education and Employment sectors.
How we’ve tackled the EdTech & HealthTech business – three proof-of-concept examples
Smart Learning Environments for the Future: Lenovo is one of the major technology providers within 6Aika The Six City Strategy – The Smart Learning Environments for the Future pilot project is funded by the European Regional Development Fund and it is headed by the City of Helsinki.
Another excellent example regarding Education sector is Growing Mind project headed also by City of Helsinki in which Lenovo is one of the technology partners for the project. The multidisciplinary Growing Mind project research is carried out in cooperation with the City of Helsinki and schools.
Within healthcare sector Lenovo is technology partner within a significant project called ICory (Intelligent Customer-driven Solution for Orthopedic and Pediatric Surgery Care). Project Kicked-Off on 28th of May and it is involving also the New Children´s Hospital in Helsinki.
Lessons learnt
“Success is not an accident, but a logical outcome from timely execution of a good plan”
For Lenovo it has been vital to understand how to create a real “unfair competitive advantage”.
However, understanding alone is absolutely not enough to beat the competition. One of the guiding principles in our mode-of-operations over the years has been ”The best way to win the game is to change the rules”. Therefore, we are heavily focusing on our customer driven operational model to ensure strong strategic partnerships, business partner relations and voice of customer.
For us one of the key lessons has been to put customers always in the center of everything we analyze, plan and execute.
It is also important to understand that without a problem, there cannot be a solution. In practice this means that a solution that would be beneficiary for a customer will be consisting of offerings from various stakeholders. Within Education and Healthcare sectors it typically means modern high-tech solutions from various startup companies.
Lenovo has over the years built a wide network of education and healthcare startups.
One great example of these companies is Claned, Helsinki based edtech startup. Claned® is a cloud-based learning platform that maximizes learning outcomes by combining artificial intelligence, collaborative learning and world-class pedagogy.
Lenovo achieved its market leader position via transforming its operations from products to customer centric/need-driven solutions and becoming a strategic partner to its customers/partners instead of being a traditional (if not even an old-fashioned) IT vendor. Within Lenovo measurable customer experience is in the center of everything we analyze, plan and execute.
We truly believe that
- Business Collaboration is the key competitive advantage
- Business Ecosystem (Value Network) is the key to success
- Customer Experience is the driving market decision behavior
Lenovo daily business approach with platform economy is based on following thoughts (Source: Sitra)
“The key understanding is that it is the customers or network members who create value, not the network owner”.
“The most successful firms are market platforms that enable interaction between customers and network partners”.
“You don’t need to be present in a factory any more, or in an office, but you need to be present for other people”.
Valuable insider tips on business development strategy
For those planning to make it big in the Helsinki region’s education and healthcare business, here’s our list of business development and strategy tips:
- Strategy is all about setting the course and navigating to the right direction
- Focus on from strategy to implementation, because: ”Planning Won´t Do It – Doing It Will Do It”
- Success is not an accident, but a logical outcome from timely execution of a good plan
- Focus on achieving your goals with measurable objectives, targets and milestones
- Execute, Build Muscle and Measure: Extended competencies and skills set are required
- Be absolutely sure about your cultural awareness: ”Culture will eat your strategy for breakfast, lunch and dinner”
