NORDP 2018 Opening Keynote: From Tweaks to Transformation with Saul Kaplan

From Tweaks to Transformation: Do Research Development Professionals need to explore new business models to ensure institutional competitiveness? 

Saul Kaplan, Founder and Chief Catalyst of the Business Innovation Factory (BIF), argues the answer is yes. For Kaplan, the barrier to delivering better value are humans and our institutions—both stubbornly resistant to change—impeding our ability to network people, resources, and capabilities within and across organizations. Kaplan calls for a safe, manageable environment to explore new business models, a real-world testbed to innovate collaboratively without disrupting current operations.

“Most organizational leaders today have only had to lead a single business model throughout his or her entire career,” says Kaplan. “And most haven’t had to significantly change a business model in order to sustain the organization competitively. Organizational leaders of tomorrow will have to change their business model several times over the course of a career and the successful leader will establish an ongoing process to explore new business models, even models that might threaten the current one.”

Kaplan started BIF in 2005 with a mission to enable collaborative innovation. BIF is creating a real-world laboratory for innovators to explore and test system level solutions in areas of high social importance including health care, education, and energy.

Before focusing on business model and system level innovation at BIF and Innomodels LLC, Kaplan served as the Executive Director of the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation and as the Executive Counselor to the Governor on Economic and Community Development. Prior to his state leadership role in economic development, Kaplan served as a Senior Strategy Partner in Accenture’s Health & Life Science practice and worked broadly throughout the pharmaceutical, medical products, and biotechnology industry.

Kaplan holds an MBA from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute focusing on the strategic management of technology and a BS in Pharmacy from the University of Rhode Island. He shares his innovation musings on Twitter (@skap5) and his blog (It’s Saul Connected), and as a regular contributor to the Harvard Business Review, Fortune, and Bloomberg Businessweek. Kaplan is also the author of The Business Model Innovation Factory.

Saul Kaplan will be the opening keynote speaker for the 10^th Annual NORDP Research Development Conference on May 7. We hope to see you at the Conference, which will be held May 7-9, 2018 at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City in Arlington, VA. Follow @NORDP_official on Twitter for all the latest #NORDP2018 updates.