Ricoh Europe Executive Customer Forum

Digital services company Ricoh Europe and Saïd Business School unite business and academic leadership to drive innovative thinking about the future of work.

In 2016, Ricoh Europe approached Oxford University’s Saïd Business School with a unique idea: to create a forum for its customers to gather and discuss what work will look like in the future.

The idea was beneficial on numerous fronts. It enabled Ricoh to get to know its customers on a deeper level and better understand their challenges and needs, while building a diverse community of customers, prospects and thought leaders to share ideas and information about a topic that was important to them all – the future of work.

Today, the Ricoh Europe Executive Customer Forum (ECF) is a thriving leadership network generating insights and strategies for the future. With the launch of the fourth ECF cohort in May 2024, this fruitful partnership between Ricoh and Oxford Saïd continues to evolve and deepen as it enters its seventh year.

Ricoh specialises in providing end-to-end technology, solutions and services that help organisations respond to evolving workplace demands.

As a global leader in workplace experience and process automation, the company drives transformation by connecting the physical and digital to create people-centric workspaces.

With a focus on sustainability and innovation, Ricoh adds value to customers’ services and products while adapting to changing business climates. This aspect of the business makes discussing the future of work all the more urgent.
 

Partnering with Oxford Saïd to co-create the ECF was vital to the success of the event.

Ricoh Europe Senior Customer Experience Manager Carole Archer comments: ‘We value having a partnership with a world-renowned university. Not only does it help attract our customers and senior Ricoh leaders to join the programme, but it also provides them access to industry-leading experts and academics who challenge their conversation around the future of work.’

This positive relationship has evolved and strengthened over time. The teams are led by Oxford Saïd Associate Fellow Allyson Stewart-Allen and Ricoh Europe Chief Strategy and Commercial Officer, Caroline Bright, who serve as joint programme directors. Working closely together to design a powerful programme, they continuously refine key components and combine their networks to ensure the content is pertinent.
 

The forum provides an opportunity for leading corporate executives and Oxford Saïd’s distinguished academics to create new ideas.

Together, they share best practices and embrace fresh perspectives on the future of work. The immersive experience gives members the opportunity to discuss and debate how the workplace will evolve and what challenges these changes present.

Members include C-level executives from distinguished organisations, creating an exclusive community of global business leaders. They are a diverse group from multinational companies across a broad range of industries and sectors.

The insights ECF members provide allows Ricoh to keep up with market trends, stay close to its customers’ needs and identify how it can bring people, processes and technology together to support business transformation. As well as sponsoring the forum, Ricoh is also a member and joins in the discussions.

The ECF is a two-year programme.

Each cohort, comprising of approximately 20 members, discuss the future of work with industry and academic leaders, sharing experiences, challenges, approaches and solutions. The forum includes four in-person summits in Oxford every six months, each one lasting two and a half days. Members attend workshop sessions, leverage networking opportunities and take part in team-building activities. 

Between these events, members engage in six online sessions and collaborate to share research and insights, post articles and discuss workplace trends. A dedicated executive education app offers thought leadership content, videos and executive summaries.

Discussions are facilitated by Allyson, with top academic and industry experts as guest speakers. Members are encouraged to bring topics for discussion relating to their organisations and markets.

Approximately 60 senior executives from 15 countries have graduated from the ECF so far, with the fourth cohort launched in May 2024. Members develop a relationship with Oxford Saïd and gain access to leading academics and future employees in the form of some of the University’s master’s degree candidates, who share their expectations of work and employers.

The ECF also offers a rare opportunity for Oxford Saïd faculty and practitioners to hear directly from industry leaders about the challenges they face in the context of the future of work. 

The forum allows members to deliver value to their customers while contributing to the development of society. One recent member describes it as ‘an amazing journey where I got to reflect on who I am in the office, as well as in society at large. I know that I can give a lot more than I thought possible.’

Members providing feedback on the experience rate it highly, citing quality modules and speakers, a good mixture of topics and great learnings as highlights. One recent member observes: ‘The lectures have given me many practical insights that I can apply to improve my work and grow as a leader and as a person.’

Members also cited the opportunity for leadership development as a wonderful benefit. Allyson comments: ‘It's opened their eyes to the fact that the world of work is not the same as it was when they started in their careers. They're reflecting on what they need to do differently and better as leaders, because the world has changed and is doing so at an ever-increasing speed.’

Global Chief Information Officer at Burberry Mark McClennon agrees: ‘The Executive Customer Forum team has managed to create a space where we can work through a number of the biggest issues facing leaders today, supported by great industry peers and some of the best minds in the world. For me, it has been like continuous professional development for leadership.’

Another major outcome is the active alumni community that members enjoy long after the ECF ends. The connections and the knowledge they gain benefit members’ own companies and customers as well.

Member and Head of IT Infrastructure, Services and Security at TK Elevator (TKE) John Hemming comments: 'The quality of the people who have joined us at Oxford University is outstanding, and obviously the contacts and the friends that we've made over the last two years or so has been fantastic. There are some really good lessons that people have shared with me that they do in their own companies that I can take away and work with at TKE.'

For Ricoh, the impact of the ECF is immeasurable. While enabling C-level customer engagement, it also opens new opportunities by giving the company access to members’ networks. In addition, direct contact between Ricoh and its customers strengthens their business relationships, providing deeper interactions over time.

Caroline comments: ‘We have stronger relationships with our individual customers, who appreciate having that direct contact with the Ricoh senior leadership team. If there's ever an issue, they can pick up the phone to speak with someone directly to resolve it quickly.'

The partnership between Ricoh and Oxford Saïd fuels innovative ideas and solutions about the future of work. This mutually beneficial relationship has sparked stimulating and thought-provoking discussions.

While the ECF is a significant investment, Ricoh derives great value from having such a diverse and robust customer network making the returns from this initiative highly worthwhile. It’s been a tremendously uniting force within the company and a testament to its commitment to create innovative and impactful solutions for its customers.

Building these strong, trusting relationships benefits everyone. Caroline concludes: ‘Ricoh is a thought leader in the space of the future of work. The insights we get from our customers via this partnership help us understand their challenges better so that we can adapt our future work solutions to meet their needs.’