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Cross-culture Innovation Mindset

The procedure of innovation is not only about recombining and reusing traditional tangible resources for profits, but also leveraging intangible elements, such as the fusion and synergy of cultures, to create additional value and even turn around disadvantages.

Looking at the cases of SM Entertainment and Hoshino Resorts TOMAMU, we find there are three crucial factors in cross-culture innovation. Firstly, the key innovation players must have prior knowledge and are able to guide the Innovation Facilitators to discover potential markets and opportunities where they can implement their strengths. Secondly, they need to be able to transform. Innovation Facilitators need to transform elements from different cultures into language their target consumers understand and strategies that can be executed. Thirdly, they must have unique actions. All cross-culture innovations eventually have to be executed through the unique actions of the organization to generate value and innovation results. In short, to successfully conduct cross-culture innovation, key innovation players must rely on prior knowledge to discover innovation opportunities which can transform intangible elements into practical innovation actions.

Case 1

• Case Title: SM Entertainment / K-POP
• Cross-domain Element: Western Music and Japanese Idols × Korean Trainee System
• Value Created: K-POP music kicks off global K-culture trend

Case 2

• Case Title: Hoshino Resorts TOMAMU / Ice Village
• Cross-domain Element: Skiing in Hokkaido × Eskimo Igloos
• Value Created: Turning around the climate disadvantage by creating an igloo resort.