Innovating has to do with method and culture

Innovating is a matter of entrepreneurial culture, it can involve simple initiatives and is not necessarily synonymous with technology. This Tuesday, the 16th, the participants of the 6th Event of the ABPI Sectional Representations surprised. The event, in person and online, had the theme “Innovation Ecosystem in Minas Gerais” and featured lectures by André Medina, from Andrade Gutierrez; Guilherme Freitas, from MRV; and Priscila Malaguti Guerzoni, from Skema Business School. ABPI’s Minas Gerais sectional representative, Luiza Tângari Coelho, moderated the debate.

To show how innovation can often be integrated through simple solutions, Freitas gave the example of the modification MRV made to apartment sales contracts. With the change, the documents, actually reasoned in “legalese”, gained accessible language, visual improvement and were reduced from 22 to six pages. “These were contracts made by lawyers for lawyers and not very accessible to consumers”, explains the MRV representative. “It is important that the companies’ legal department help spread the culture of innovation by making this flow natural in all areas of the company”. Another important aspect highlighted by the director of MRV is regarding the objective intended with the innovation. He cited data from a survey in the United States revealing that 77% of innovation projects implemented in the North American market failed because they did not have a defined objective. “Innovation requires culture, method and purpose”, he said.

Medina, in his presentation, emphasized that innovation does not need to be developed indoors. Andrade Gutierrez created, in 2018, Vetor AG, the first open innovation program in the engineering and construction sector that seeks, through partnerships, solutions in several areas. By October last year, the program had already reached the mark of more than 1,500 connections with startups, in addition to having accelerated more than 30 initiatives and hired more than 20 solutions. “Open innovation is faster and cheaper and gives greater breadth to our business solutions than if we just developed them in-house,” said Medina.

Professor Priscila Malaguti Guerzoni, in turn, highlighted the importance of integrating innovation into the market. “To get an idea off paper, a connection with the entrepreneur is essential,” he said. According to her, when choosing Belo Horizonte to host its campus in Brazil, Skema Business School took into account the fact that the capital of Minas Gerais is the third largest city for business in the country. Created in 2009 from the merger between École Supérieure de Commerce – Lille (1892) and CERAM Business School – Sophia Antipolis (1963), in Belo Horizonte, Skema offers Business Administration and Law courses.

If you missed the webinar, you can watch it again on the ABPI YouTube channel.