Credicorp
Showcasing how design can drive innovation for Peru's largest financial institution
2023
Business Design
About
Credicorp is the leading financial service company in Peru, with presence in Colombia, Bolivia, Chile, Panama and the United States. Through its subsidiaries, they have presence in banking, microfinance, insurance and pensions, investment banking and wealth management. Their main banking branch, Banco de Crédito del Perú (BCP), houses the bulk of their design capabilities, servicing their internal clients, and other Credicorp ventures.
But their design team was facing problems in translating the value that design could provide in driving innovation within the organization. For Credicorp to scale, and to achieve their goals of financial inclusivity, they needed a new open innovation model that prioritized design as a dynamic capability within the organization.
This project was completed over 7 weeks as part of the Organizational Models for Innovation class taught by Prof. Carlos Texeira (and TA’d by Deaa Batineh) at the Institute of Design. This project was done along with Arrenius Karunakaran, Jorge Martinez Arana, Morgan Ramsey, Naomi Ito and Urvi Bidsaria, in collarboration with Credicorp.
Objectives
Assess the current organizational model of BCP.
Assess the current organizational model of Credicorp.
Evaluate the design capabilities needed at BCP and Credicorp level
Re-allocate design as a dynamic capability in the context of the organization
Model an open innovation model cross-organization (design as a dynamic capability) for Credicorp
Iterate and propose use cases that show the value of scaling design and innovation capabilities for Credicorp.
Research
Extensive research was undertaken to better understand the current organization model of BCP and Credicorp. These included interviews with:
Mariela Sotomayor Former Head of Strategic Design at Banco de Crédito BCP Peru
Cinthy Revilla Chapter Area Lead Digital Product Design & Innovation at Banco de Crédito BCP Peru
Jose Antonio Bernaola Leader Service Experience Design Centro of Innovation at Banco de Crédito BCP Peru
Marianne Torres Senior Service Experience Designer at Banco de Crédito BCP Peru
Guillermo Casaretto Head of Innovation at Credicorp Ltd.
Irán Vargas Ballón Corporate Agility Leader at Credicorp Ltd.
Alana Visconti: Manager of the Innovation Center at Banco de Crédito BCP
In addition, we did in-depth secondary research into the existing processess at BCP and Credicorp, and studied a wide range of internal documents to understand the current organization model.
Why an open innovation model?
An Open Innovation Model allows organizations to combine internal and external knowledge and resources to analyze and bring offerings to market much quicker than if done by themselves.
For Credicorp and BCP, our proposed model takes this in consideration, along with addressing some internal challenges that the design team is currently facing, and addressing social issues through design.
Current Organizational Model
Current Model
Under the current Agile methodology structure, the Centers of Excellence (CoE) inside BCP house specialized knowledge and skills that are utilized across BCP (and other organizations) by assigning members to the tribes (working teams). Currently, the Design CoE handles requests for design services and assigns resources to the tribes as needed inside BCP.
For the rest of Credicorp ventures, BCP acts as a consultant for design methods and strategy, supporting each organization’s design capabilities as needed. The Design CoE resources are complemented with external agencies talent and knowledge.
Challenges of the Current Model
Sharing the value of design
As design becomes part of the daily operations of Credicorp, the value provided is not well understood or matched to traditional business metrics.
Lack of documented specialized processes and deliverable consistency
Design teams spread across all of Credicorp ventures develop knowledge that is not documented, and the deliverables vary from each project and team.
Growing demand for design with the same resources
As design awareness grows across organizations, so does the demand for its services, but the resources remain relatively the same.
External pool of talent and knowledge
Specialized knowledge and talent comes from external agencies, without a pipeline to consolidate it inside Credicorp.
Proposed New Model
Changes and Improvements
Design as the Driver of Action
The proposed organizational model clusters design into a new entity: Credicorp Design Consultancy, that tackles both the current design challenges that Credicorp and other ventures have, the design team specific issues.
Open Innovation Model: Giving Design a seat at the table
The consultancy is empowered by appointing a Chief Design Officer that engages with Credicorp governance to set design as a driver of strategic planning, and allow the design team to further manage their own resources, as currently done by the DesignOps.
From design as a service to design as a driver of innovation
The Open Innovation Model, allows Credicorp to collaborate with both internal and external stakeholders to address the challenges in a more transparent and swift way.
Developing innovative products and services
A central Credicorp Incubation Hub is created to house the innovations that result from the projects facilitated by design, and to allow all Credicorp ventures to come together to strategize and drive innovation.
The key drivers of action in the new model are:
Understanding challenges in the Peruvian community outside of the current Credicorp reach.
Synthesizing and sharing knowledge generated across all Credicorp ventures.
Building innovation capabilities by ideating new strategies internally and evaluating them as potential business ventures with potential external partners.
Learning from the global design community to tackle social issues in Peru, and providing design knowledge for socially aware stakeholders.
Driving the Open Innovation Model
Using Michael Schrage’s 5x5x5 model (from The Innovator’s Hypothesis), we worked with the stakeholders to come up with 5 initiatives that would drive innovation within this new organizational model. Each initiative would take a team of 5 people, take 5 weeks and cost less than $5000.
Understand
Listen & Learn Sessions Diseñando en Comunidad
Listen and Learn Sessions with key underrepresented community members help organizations gain a deep understanding of their needs and pain points. Insights from these sessions will ensure Credicorp products and services are rooted in user needs and help achieve its mission of financial inclusion.
Synthesize
Unconference Desconferencia
To facilitate open and free sharing of knowledge, ideas, and insights within Credicorp, which can help inform long-term strategies and improve leadership understanding of issues, stories, and culture within the organization.
Ideate
Internal War Games
Juegos de Guerra Internos
Engaging people from across the organization in the development of business strategies can improve team-building and provide a better understanding of industry opportunities and challenges. War games can generate multiple unique solutions in a competitive environment and help build a refined strategy for the company.
Evaluate
Open Pitch Tank
Pecera
Pitch tank events can drive innovation and growth by identifying new business ventures and promoting cross-collaboration, while also building confidence with clients, attracting top talent, and potentially earning returns on investment. They can also act as a gateway for educational institutions and startups to benefit from Credicorp.
Learn
Design Odysseys
Odisea de diseño
To foster a collaborative and inclusive learning environment to drive innovation, attract top talent, and create positive social impact, this program is essential for the organization’s sustained growth and success in the competitive industry.
