Ask most people to name a few sectors which are highly innovative and the chances are you’ll find the usual suspects – pharmaceuticals, aerospace, medical electronics, computer games and so on. But turn the question to those sectors for whom innovation is most important – and the list may change. In particular there are many sectors which – having survived and prospered without much change over many years – suddenly find themselves facing new and significant challenges which demand new responses.
One example is the legal profession –for centuries a highly regulated professional field in which change came slowly, if at all. Indeed, much of the image of law firms is about stability and consistency. But here as in so many other sectors there is change – and opportunity for those organizations which can embrace and pursue innovation. The sector is waking up to the need for change – driven partly by growing competition, partly by rising costs, partly by de-regulation. And there is plenty of activity – for example, the ‘Financial Times’ runs an annual series of awards for the most innovative law firms!
In a series of short reports (http://www.codexx.com/knowledge.php) Alastair Ross of Codexx discusses some of the ways in which legal firms have been able to take advantage of some of these opportunities in the area of process innovation.
It forms part of a larger research project which we’re involved with – and we’ll be reporting more in due course. Watch this space!
