From time to time, Legal Current will provide a closer look at some of the leaders at Thomson Reuters, Legal to help you learn more about them and their priorities for our business.
Today we bring you a Q&A with Helen Owers, our chief operating officer.
Based in London, Helen is responsible for ensuring that Thomson Reuters, Legal executes on the three core elements of our global growth strategy: to continue to build out our Westlaw platform around the world; grow our global position in high-value commercial law through the Westlaw Business platform; and build out a global suite of business of law solutions.
Thomson, and now Thomson Reuters, have run legal businesses around the world for some time. What’s different about our approach to the global legal market and global customers, now?
At Thomson Reuters, Legal we are working together to expand our reach throughout the world. We’re creating an organisation that transcends geographic boundaries, can grow rapidly, serves our customers better, and provides new opportunities for our many talented people.
In getting to know our customers in the 23 countries where we currently operate, we’ve explored areas of commonality and are identifying how their needs differ. We recognize that the way many of our customers do business is changing and the demand for truly global products and services is growing, but we also understand that demand for relevant, local services continues.
Our capability to deliver on both dimensions is strengthened by bringing together our resources and talent to work both locally and globally. We will share our common technology platforms, infrastructure and business models across markets and tailor our products to local customers’ needs. Whilst pursuing global opportunities, we will continue to invest in our core business and services, taking existing products to new geographies and developing market-leading and innovative products and technologies.
Thomson Reuters’ legal businesses have a long legacy of support and partnership to the profession. What does this say about the commitment of each Thomson Reuters colleague to customers and the overall legal marketplace?
We believe in putting customers at the heart of our business. For instance, we seek to engage customers in our new product development efforts to ensure our products and services fit their specific needs. Whilst our largest customers are operating globally and demanding global services, the greater number of our customers want to interact with us at a local level. Key to our success will be our unique ability to develop products and services on a global basis and deliver them locally.
How is this support and partnership brought to life in your work?
We have a legacy of embedding customer needs deep within our strategy. Our established research methodology, Front-End Customer Strategy, enables us to understand not only our customers – but also our customers’ customers. This clear view of our end users enables us to think creatively about how to deliver products and services that facilitate partnership between our customers and their customers to deliver real value.
How do you intend to extend brands such as Westlaw across the globe?
Many of our brands are already global. For example, Westlaw, Elite and Hubbard One are already in law firms across the world. For those brands that are primarily local, we will leverage their success and popularity for the benefit of customers worldwide.
Posted by Kevin Hunt in:
Company Current | Voices |
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