Let's cooperate to seize global opportunities

I was lucky to meet a Japanese business professor some time ago on an airport. We chatted about business life in his country and mine (Finland). One of the most interesting issues raised during our 30 minute discussion was the attitude that businesses have towards cooperation.

My Japanese colleague assumed Finnish companies cooperate a lot as they readily have a global orientation. Finland obviously relies on exports! In Japan, he said, things are different as the domestic market to huge. Companies are too often focused on racing in Japan and neglecting global opportunities – even in car industry.

I was surprised. I assumed that Japanese companies do cooperate a lot and have a global mind-set – at least as compared to many of their Finnish counterparts. I mean which one of us does not think of the word Keiretsu when thinking about Japanese industry.  

It is sad that our assumptions do not hold when we analyze the way firms operate in our countries. I totally agree that Finnish companies and other actors should cooperate to gain global success. There is no use in competing for scarce resources back home. We should cooperate to gain both efficiency and effectance.

 

For some reason it seems that Finnish companies are still not seizing opportunities of our era. Finland is facing some serious difficulties right now and, thereby, I hope to see some change on this front. The time to cooperate is right now!

Crowdfunding promotes democracy!

A number of digital tools have emerged to help start-up companies raise funding for their novel value creating projects. Importantly, these tools have offered means to interact with consumers, empower them, and give voice to those who were previously left silent. This is where democracy meets the consumer market.

A crowdfunding campaign per se can be very useful to tell about who the team is, what the company offers and why. Transparency is essential to democracy. And, as I mentioned above, a company can – if it chooses to do so – offer consumers a opportunities to get involved, to use their intellect, creativity, time and effort to contribute. 

Consumers may be invited to decide for instance about particular campaign products, methods, etc. As individuals, they may even be granted the right to leave their identity markers on the end product itself. This is when the individual can see oneself in the product and say: Hey! That's me! That was my idea! Millions of people may see that. Amazing, right?

A crowdfunding campaign offers the consumers also an opportunity to establish meaningful new communities around their joint interests and enjoy being part of the process of creation.

Recently, Loiste Interactive, started an Indiegogo campaign calling for support in getting a new PC/Mac game, INFRA, out to the market. The team invited everyone even remotely interested in the new game, INFRA, to get involved. INFRA will fill a void, but it will do a better job if the community is involved.

The campaign can be followed in Facebook and Twitter. There will be a lot of competitions, etc. coming up. Check this out, since you are offered a pretty intriguing chance to leave your mark both on the campaign and on the game!