Wells Fargo Bank, Luxottica Group, and Wal Mart



Wells Fargo Bank was the 2009 Winner of Barlow Research’s Monarch Innovation Award. This prestigious award was created to honor certain financial institutions that provid the most innovative and consumer driven products to business customers. It is also known to reward risk-takers who create, promote, or exemplify innovation within their own organizations.

What is so unique for this year is that Wells Fargo received two of the four awards. First, For the “Most Innovative Product,” Wells Fargo’s Foreign Exchange For Small Business was a clear winner. This product provides small and medium sized businesses with the tools to make international payments in more than 100 foreign currencies with “real time” exchange rates and settlement by wire or draft. This innovation is available 24/7 and it is accessible for users simply through their Wells Fargo Business Online banking service. One of the Judges for Monarch, Bob Leahy, commented on this product by saying, “I especially liked that this product allows small businesses to print out paper drafts that they can mail to their overseas vendors,” (“Digital Insight,” 2/9/09).

The 2009 “Most Innovative Feature Award” went to Wells Fargo as well for the My Spending Report with Budget Watch. This service was deisnged so that small businesses can many their funds by comparing total account inflows with outflows on a regular basis. It is really a cash flow management tool, and helps the business find ways to increase saving dollars, reduce debt, and do future planning. Because it is interactive, the business can customize the report directly for their business.

These two awards to a great deal for Wells Fargo. First, they impact their Strategic Plan in showing how a tactical application focused on the small business field can be a powerful tool for gleaning and retaining accounts. Second, since this seems to be the sector Wells Fargo is most “after,” the more innovative tools that can be utilized cost free for small businesses, the greater the potential for growing that segment of their base. This is especially critical in these economic times, and most critical in the global economy when many smaller businesses are doing transactions internationally.

The Luxottica Group is a world leader in the design, manufacture, marketing and distribution of high-quality prescription frames and sunglasses. They have over six thousand world-wide outlets, as well as the management of LensCrafters and Pearle Vision. Their vision is expressed as:

vertically integrated design-production-distribution model, both wholesale and retail, which is unique in the sector;

wide-reaching wholesale and retail distribution network, which maximizes the Group’s capacity to serve the market and keep distribution costs and times under tight control;

brand portfolio, one of the strongest and most balanced in the industry; - high, and continuously improving, product quality;

production efficiency and flexibility, enabling it to rapidly address changes in the market;

strong focus on pre- and post-sales services ().

Their passion for efficiency and flexibility is continually reflected in their innovation – styles change, colors change, demographics change, but for Luxottica, the idea is to handle all significant components of the eyewear process in order to remain costs competitive while still offering new and innovative products. Because they have total control over all key phases, the company can be more innovate sooner. Because Luxottica has been such a strong player in the eyewear market for so many years, they now can play a significant role in setting new trends, and remaining on the cusp of innovation (“Luxottica and Salvatore…,” 1/30/09). This, of course, contributes to both their strategic and tactical competitive advantage, which shows no sign of winding down.

While many believe that Wal-Mart is an innovation killer, other business writers and scholars see their company mission as thriving on innovation. For example, many writers point to the innovation of Wal-Mart’s pharmacy department, and the ability to offer certain generic drugs at below $4.00 to be wonderfully insightful and innovative. This department has certainly shown itself to help drive more business. In fact, even as learly as 1999 Wal-Mart had 2,500 stores with pharmacies generating more than $6 billon dollars in presciption sales. And way? Well, according to one of Wal-Mart’s retired executives, the success comes from “a restless drive for constant innovation and improevement…… to beat the competition… takes continious improvement,” (“Wal-Mart Thrives…,” (6/12/00). To remain successful, Wal-Mart has utilized this approach to find ways of making mini-departments successful and capture more of the consumer’s dollar when already in the store. This is a clear strategy, clear tactics, and has now ensured Wal-Mart’s position as one of the world’s largest, most successful, companies.

References:

“Digital Insight, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America Win Barlow Research’s 2009 Monarch

Innovation Award,” (2/9/09), in pr-.

“Luxottica and Salvatore Ferragamo Renew Global Eyewear Lucense Agreement for an

Additional…,” (1/30/09), in .

“Wal-Mart Thrives On Innovation as Pharmacy Superpower,” (6/12/00), Drug Store News,

cited in .

“Wells Fargo Awarded 2009 Monarch Innovation Awards By Barlow Research,” (2/17/09),

in .

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