Design thinking has become the de facto way to innovate for successful companies these days, but it is now moving further up the organisational hierarchy. Core Insights host Trevor Barnes talks to Pietro Micheli, Professor of Business Performance and Innovation, on how organisations can use design thinking in building a strategy and why the concept is so helpful in today's climate of uncertainty. Read more on how design thinking can aid a company's strategy and the six factors involved in using it here: https://www.wbs.ac.uk/news/six-factors-crucial-to-lifting-design-to-a-strategic-level/. 
Further, find out how design thinking can help build a strategy from the bottom-up here: https://www.wbs.ac.uk/news/six-factors-crucial-to-lifting-design-to-a-strategic-level/

Applying design thinking to your company’s strategy

In 1999 Dow Chemical decided to embark on one of the most ambitious transformations in US corporate history. It decided to pivot from low-margin chemicals into high-margin speciality chemicals and embarked on the acquisition of 138 companies, enter 122 joint ventures and unravel 156 divestitures. Koen Heimeriks, Professor of Strategy, has studied the journey and reveals to Core Insights host Trevor Barnes the lessons learned and the tools needed for others to transform their business successfully.
Read more on corporate transformation from Professor Heimeriks here: https://www.wbs.ac.uk/news/how-to-build-corporate-transformation-capabilities/

How to transform a corporation through mergers and acquisitions

Core Insights host Trevor Barnes talks to Graham Loomes, Professor of Behavioural Science, about his research on the trade-offs involved in implementing costly health polices like those used during the pandemic. How does a Government decide how far to go with restrictions that will have a severe impact on the economy but stop many people from being infected and dying from COVID-19? Professor Loomes details the trade-offs involved and how such calculations are formulated. Read more on it here: https://www.wbs.ac.uk/news/the-dilemmas-involved-for-governments-in-saving-lives/

How do Governments balance saving lives with impacting the economy?

In the final episode of our first Behavioural Science series, Core Insights host Trevor Barnes talks to Ivo Vlaev, Professor of Behavioural Science, about his work in the health sector. Professor Vlaev has put together a series of randomised controlled trials testing various nudges on patients. The nudges have helped people adopt healthier diets, cut down on drinking alcohol, lowered the number of patients missing hospital appointments and much more. Professor Vlaev explains how the nudges work and how they could save the NHS valuable time and resources, often by simply changing the wording of a letter or text. Read more about it here: https://www.wbs.ac.uk/news/how-can-behavioural-science-nudges-improve-healthcare/

How behavioural science nudges can improve our health

Core Insights host Trevor Barnes talks to Loizos Heracleous, Professor of Strategy, about agility.  Once the manifesto for software designers, agile has worked its way to the top of organisations as companies look to cope with an increasingly complex and uncertain world. Even before the global pandemic evidence suggested that volatility was increasing with more and more companies being disrupted by nimble start-ups as technology evolves at rapid rates in the fourth industrial revolution. But how do big companies incorporate agility into their strategy and structure? Professor Heracleous reveals the answer. You can read more on agility in the book 'Agility.X - How organizations thrive in unpredictable times', which Professor Heracleous co-edited - click on this link to buy it https://www.amazon.co.uk/Agility-X-Organizations-Thrive-Unpredictable-Times/dp/1108424201

How to incorporate strategic agility in your business

Warwick Business School's Core Insights present a series of podcasts examining eight areas that will be vital to the future organisations and society in our post-pandemic world: Strategy, Leadership, Behavioural Science, Entrepreneurship & Innovation, Future of Work, Healthcare, Finance and Sustainability. Host Trevor Barnes interviews academics on the latest research and thinking on these vital topics. Plus listen to our special series on how to lead an organisation through the COVID-19 pandemic.