Page 71 - Grow from Within Mastering Corporate Entrepreneurship and Innovation

58 grow from within

lence that had come to distinguish the company. With Wood’s
blessing, Bluebello assembled a cross-functional “shadow
team” of 10 people from across Wawa.
The shadow team had to determine how to build a gasoline
offering without detracting from the welcoming Wawa profile
that supported its high-quality food offering. To incorporate
gasoline retailing, the new stores would require a new layout and
more floor space. They would also be much more complex to
manage: larger staffs; environmental and regulatory restrictions;
and differing economics, pricing, and management requirements
between gasoline and food offerings. The profile to the street
would emphasize the store rather than the gas pumps. Wawa
provided more space per pump for cars and people. The staff
consistently evaluated customer flow to ensure that the experi-
ence remained true to the Wawa brand. The company was even
able to boast industry-leading environmental practices.
This time, the foray into gasoline retailing succeeded. Why?
Because Wood and his team understood that adding gasoline
retailing was not simply a matter of adding a new product line.
Fundamentally, they were designing a new business. Introducing
gasoline service affected numerous ways in which the com-
pany operated, requiring redesigns of the supply chain, man-
agement processes, branding, location selection, customer
service—really, everything involved in managing and sup-
porting an integrated location.
What can we learn from Wawa’s experience? When build-
ing organic growth through significant new business creation,
consider the entire business system.

Innovation beyond Products and Services

While most academic literature and management thinking
about innovation focus on inventing new products and tech-