Mastering the Digital Innovation Challenge

In 2010, a small group of managers at the automaker Volvo Car Corp. assembled to craft a vision for the future involving wirelessly connected cars. They recognized that the company needed to renew its innovation capability to compete more effectively in an increasingly digital environment. Doing so, of course, was easier said than done. One problem was that many managers didn't see a need to innovate digitally. Volvo Cars was a car manufacturer, after all, and not a digital business. Others saw the need to engage in digital innovation, but they couldn't get their head around how to do so. How could they convince their colleagues, when they didn't necessarily have a clear vision of what the innovation outcome would be and the process itself appeared to be ambiguous? At the same time, Volvo Cars’ automotive business was strong, raising additional concerns about how to innovate digitally while maintaining core competencies.