Ant Financial: Tough Boundary Choices in Innovation

Xiaoming Zhu, Qiong Zhu, Yingzi Ni, Yifan Zhu

This case describes Ant Financial's pursuit of innovation and landmark achievements in the field of finance. These innovations not only made up for its shortcomings in traditional financial services by providing inclusive finance, but also created new segments such as credit leasing. These new services posed a great challenge to traditional financial institutions and, by doing so, helped these institutions become more competitive. However, despite all these achievements, Ant Financial also faced many challenges. As a trailblazer in uncharted territory, it faced great technical uncertainties and had to overcome numerous hurdles, including regulatory blind spots, pressure from competitors, and the need to define new boundaries in innovation. Ant Financial's senior management had always been aware of these challenges: in May 2019, they held a two-day meeting to discuss the sustainability and boundaries of innovation, seeking to answer questions about the meaning of sustainable innovation today, what legacy Ant Financial would leave for posterity, and why.

Learning Objective

The learning objectives of the case include: 1. Learn to analyze the external factors that drive innovation and the opportunities and threats these factors pose; 2. Understand the digital economy's development path and the key directions of enterprise-related innovation; 3. Understand the concept of disruptive innovation and its methods of implementation; and 4. Understand the concept of open innovation and its methods of implementation.

Details

Pub Date: Jun 30, 2020(Revised: Aug 25, 2020)

Discipline: Strategy

Subjects: Computer sciences, Creativity, Disruptive innovation, Information technology, Innovation systems, Innovator's dilemma, Managing creativity & innovation, Managing uncertainty, Technological change, Value innovation

Source: China Europe International Business School

Product #: CB0033-PDF-ENG

Teaching note: Available

Industry:Finance & insurance

Geography: China

Length: 15 page(s)