Open innovation means gathering new ideas from sources beyond organizational boundaries. It occurs when solutions to address clients' needs are developed in collaboration and the resulting products and services are distributed through a flexible network of partners. Daniel Fasnacht's book, the first of its kind, discusses open business models in the context of the financial services industry. He elaborates the drivers for strategic change such as increasingly sophisticated clients or demanding shareholders among other trends, including the recent global financial crisis, and explains why the transition from a closed model of operation to open innovation is vital. Various case studies illustrate how to integrate the client into the firm's innovation process and emphasize the importance of smart client segmentation and a holistic advisory model to serve clients around the globe. Leaders must develop a set of new management practices to be able to invest in multiple strategic directions. They are responsible for giving clients a remarkable experience and for creating social relationship capital based upon an open innovation culture. Open Innovation in the Financial Services provides a much-needed framework for helping to understand industry dynamics in banking and to make the most of organizational energy by using open innovation to sustain profitable growth.
The book comes at the right time and offers a new mindset for business - not only for expansion strategies in general, but especially during turbulent times.
About the Author: Daniel Fasnacht is a thoughtful leader with more than 25 years of professional experiences in the financial services industry. He began his career at SAP and Accenture, where he advised clients and led complex projects around the globe. Later, he worked for large private banks like Credit Suisse and Julius Baer, delivering value propositions and serving international high net worth individuals and families. Recently, he has been engaged as chief executive officer, developing small asset managers in Switzerland. He is the founder of Ecosystem Partners Ltd., a promotion and consulting firm for innovativeness and swissness.
During his Ph.D. research, he came across the concept of open innovation in 2002 and was one of the first who adopted Professor Henry Chesbrough's early work from the manufacturing and high-tech industry in the Silicon Valley to the financial services with the thesis title Open Innovation: A Case Study in the Banking Industry. He published his first book Open Innovation in the Financial Services: Growing Through Openness, Flexibility and Customer Integration in 2009 by Springer. He understands the disruptive challenges of the banking, wealth, and asset management industry and has always strived to find innovative strategies, be it in practice or through dozens of articles and speeches.
Daniel Fasnacht holds degrees in information management, an MBA from the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland in collaboration with the University of Berkeley, Haas School of Business, USA, and a Ph.D. in Strategic Management from the University of Nottingham, UK.
