Forms of innovation

Discuss about the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Opportunity.

Innovation is one of the critical aspects in business today. This research paper discusses the management of innovation in business organizations. It examines the preparation, implementation and post-implementation phases of change in line with the best practices, professionalism and the goals and objectives of the company. Firstly, the paper introduces the concept of innovation and discusses different forms of changes. It further digs into the resource aspects in the management of innovation capturing human resource factor and the essential stakeholder’s involvement outlining their roles and the influence they have in the process. The research proceeds to discuss the implementation and post-implementation stages of innovation outlining best practice strategies and the backup plan. Finally, the paper digs into the ethical factors impacting on innovation management and makes concluding remarks about the whole study.

Innovation refers to re-designing processes or engineering products to achieve cost and operational efficiencies. The ultimate goal of innovation is to increase market share and profits in an enterprise. Managing innovation is a critical task in a company that needs strategies and inputs from all the stakeholders of the organization. Otherwise, the process or re-engineered product will not see the light of day because of many reasons that will occasion its failure (Siltala, Taatila and Alajaaski, 2014, pp. 280-297). Successful adoption and implementation of creative ideas in business organizations is critical and will impact positively to the organization. Failure of the process of adoption and implementation of creative ideas brings about a loss in the business.

Managing innovation is the practice of directing, organizing and evaluating the change process happening in an organization. This process is essential to the achievement of the targeted result. The exercise requires the support and goodwill of whole of the organization’s stakeholders. Their concerns and ideas need to be considered and inscribed in the features of the innovative product or services. Commanding their understanding is key to the success of the project (Silverstein, 2008). Therefore, it’s critical that the team understands what the organization is trying to achieve, why and how they should contribute. Such kind of information acts as a guideline to ensure that the innovative ideas are managed in the best way possible. The change managers will understand how to go about the process.

An organization stands to lose big if it does not manage its innovation activities. Firstly, the project will fail and result in the frustration of the team and other workers who had invested their hopes and resources in it. The employees will be demotivated, and possible blame games might ensue (Wagner, 2008). Regarding product innovation, the firm will disappoint its customers and dent its reputation if a sub-standard product is presented to them. Failure of the innovative product to impress the market will attract criticism towards the company making it lose out its market share. Reputation is built in ages but destroyed easily. Also, there will be possible lawsuits if the innovative product end up to have] occasioned harm to the bodies of the end customers (Heyne, Boettke and Prychitko, 2010, pp. 317-318)

Resource aspects of innovation

Innovation can happen in different forms including product improvement, disruptive or breakthrough approach. Whichever way a company chose to pursue, the innovation must bring value to both the organization and its stakeholders specifically the end customers. Disruptive innovation completely faces out the current processes or product and introduces a new method. It is critical that thorough employee training is done during this transition to avoid errors and downtime that will be counter-productive to the operations of the company (Ebeling, 2009). The workers will have to be taught on the concept of the innovation and experience on the job training to enhance grasping of skills.

Information needs to be sufficient to the external stakeholder regarding the invention. Further, the firm’s team will have to prove the viability and suitability of the changes to win their approval because the external stakeholders are often key to successful implementation of a project (Dutton, 2015).

There is also the product or service improvement change. Innovation can target to better the existent product or services. A critical factor to observe in this line of innovation includes consistency of the concept of innovation. Also, the improved services or product should offer more value without significant costs to the clients. Otherwise, the invention will be faced with rejections sabotaging all the efforts from the company to make sales and earn profits.

Innovation process consumes resources including funds and other material and professional expenses. In case of funds’ investments, the project team will have to convince beyond reasonable doubt why the investors pumps in more money for the project. If an organization invents a product, the end customer needs sufficient information regarding the product. The company should not run late so that the potential customers end up feeding on rumors and making negative judgments sabotaging the process. This, therefore, calls for a thorough and relentless campaign to market the product, its features, and usefulness including its technical aspects to familiarize it to the end customers.

Advertisements can be utilized to fast track awareness of the product in the market and make it familiar to people. More importantly, the organization needs to bring out the real value of the product to the customers who give it an edge over other products in the market. Not forgetting compliance issues to ethics and other legal regulations; the firm will have to give due considerations to these problems to save its reputation and potential costs of legal suits and losing out in business due to lack of compliance.

Human factor in managing Innovation

Organizations differ in culture, size and human resource; a factor that makes the successful implementation of innovation to become challenging. Firstly, there is the human factor impacting the management of innovation. Organizations have workers with different skill sets, attitudes, and education. Selling an idea that will gain their traction and approval is a task that needs ethics and best practice. Stakeholders support to the project will achieve a smooth process of rolling out and implementing the innovation.

Some of the employees might reject the introduction of innovation for reasons linked to their job security, the comfort of status quo or difficulty in mastering new skills and processes excreta. Expounding, some workers will resist innovation for fear of being replaced by technology. They understand that technology will make processes efficient reducing the human labor required thereby declaring some of their duties redundant (Bessant and Davies, 2007). Also, some workers have the phobia of changes because of their inability to master new skills and knowledge (Fuglsang, 2008). They fear that their colleagues will have an advantage of understanding the re-alignment subjecting them to contempt and under-performance. This therefor needs a diplomat approach with sufficient information provided to the employees. Stakeholders meetings have to be introduced during the pre-implementation phase, implementation and post implementation to gain feedback. Holding these meetings will achieve transparency in the process and inspire a sense of ownership of the innovation to the members. This will boost their morale and drive commitment.

Innovation management requires high-level commitment from the top, middle level and operational levels of the organization. The management of the company will have to drive the course through selling the idea to their junior and seek their feedback. Further, firm’s leadership will have to commit a reasonable amount of time towards the learning and exploring the anticipated innovation. It is through these sessions that consensus is sought and issues clarified to the users in a bid to win their approval and support (Paul, 2007, pp. 55-76). Departmental leaders will play a significant role to drive the idea to their juniors because of their frequent daily interaction in the course of their duties.

Managing innovation requires a broad perspective from all the functions of the organization. All the stakeholders need to channel their input contributing ideas on the aspects of the innovation that fall in their profession (Fuglsang, 2008). This will ensure that an ideal product or process achieved is agreeable and adds value to the company. Further, this inter-departmental team will provide an avenue for brainstorming to introduce more ideas that will better the process or product of innovation. The diversified input of this unit will be harnessed to improve the quality of the outcome and save a considerable amount of time for readdressing and correction of the project while in maturity level (Dessington, 2017).

Every idea is appreciated and evaluated against the corporate culture, goals, and objectives to ensure consistency. The team will be transparent and genuinely give feedback to ideas raised as brains behind ideal suggestions given recognition. This experience is crucial as it will leave memories of witnessing the success story of innovation activities and bring the sense of ownership of the project to the whole team (Malerba, 2008).

To enhance the effectiveness of the rolling out innovation, the management needs to apportion different roles and bits of the process to critical members of the organization. These functional leaders can be mandated to champion the project and ensure the overall goal and objective is achieved (Jason, 2013). They will monitor and present progress of their assigned mandate to the task team which will be able to integrate and evaluate the overall level of the project implementation.

The essence of the team leaders in this project is to fast-track the process and give guidance and direction to his team as well as noting the feedback and contribution to share with the task team (Cappellin and Wink, 2009).

Further, communication structure and plan is well articulated and actioned. Every member has the privilege of regular and privily of updated information. Besides time commitment, the organization will have to invest in both material and human resources to achieve success (Damanpour, 2014, pp. 1265-1285). Example, if the company chose to launch innovative process, it will require equipment and tools to complement the process making it efficient. This will cost the company funds for buying these types of equipment and devices.

Investing in professional services is also key to the success of implementation and management of innovation. The firm can procure the services of consultants where necessary ensure smooth rolling of the project avoiding hitches and compatibility challenges with the current system and processes (Damanpour and Aravind, 2012, pp. 423-454). Sensibly, the innovation being introduced needs to allow a smooth transition and continuity in processes so that daily operations have not interfered. Otherwise, the responsible player in the team will be held accountable for negligence or not being proactive to unforeseen challenges (Edward, 2014).

The progress of the process needs to be followed closely and given both moral and resource support. In case of procedural innovation, the team championing the idea needs to single out success stories and share with the stakeholders more often. This inspires the will to perform and support the process. Also, the team members are put enthusiastic and motivated at the demonstration of the value the innovation gifts the organization thereby giving it a competitive edge over its market competitors (Chen and Qingrui, 2012, p. 35).

Stakeholder’s feedback is critical to consistent value-addition of the innovation project. The users and team interacting with the innovation need to give updates regarding the system or product regularly. Also at this stage, technical hitches can be identified and the leadership of the organization device corrective and preventive measures to fill the gaps (Edison, Ali and Torkar, 2013, pp. 1390-1407). The updates serve to enhance the responsiveness of the review team to emergent issues and also establish a common understanding across the players. Also, post-implementation feedback (Griffin, 2011)

Another prudent approach to implementing a complex innovation project involves phase implementation and test trial. This method primarily consists of the launching of innovative process or product in bits. The team championing the project can try the initial concept in testing the waters (Eveleens, 2010). The feedback from the users at this point will guide on the next course of action. If the outcome were ideal, the team would document the stage as standard operating procedure and plan for the future phase trial. If serious challenges are noted at this point, the project team will troubleshoot to find the cause of technical hitch and device measures to fill the gap and prevent similar future challenges (Donal, 2011). 

Testing the innovation in phases is important in various ways. It will save potential loses of organizational resources and time if the trial experienced gross challenges and did not work out (Markus, 2011). An opportunity is also presented to the project team to reinforce additional ideas to make the system function well. Further, the users are provided with a rare opportunity to familiarize with the anticipated innovation thereby containing workers’ anxiety.

It is essential to have a backup plan and process in the event of gross challenges with the innovative product or process to the extent of paralyzing the operation. This will save the organization from losing out business and disappointing their customers. A backup plan can be the previous system in place to intervene ensuring continuity in operations where the new process experienced technical challenges (Oswald, 2011). A backup is essential for business continuity and helps the business to have a point of connection in case of an event or failure.

Regardless of the type and nature of innovation, ethical considerations that include professional and environmental moral standards need to be observed. The deployed innovation must be consistent with the culture of the organization giving room to best practice. Issues of the safety of employees in cases of hazardous materials or dangerous equipment must be addressed with the providence of the people protective Equipment. This is meant to boost the morale and productivity of workers who will feel safe and motivated. Thus, it has a positive impact to the profitability of the company and gives ita competitive advantage over other players in the industry.

Waste and disposal from the deployed technological innovation should be handled with utmost caution. The company can make arrangements with environmental authorities to facilitate a proper environment sensitive process. Avoidance of due process in waste disposal will amount to friction with the local community and the authorities which could result in lawsuits and ultimate reputation dent to the organization. This is a practice of corporate social responsibility that the business must put into consideration. It helps create the good relationship with the people or society and also concern the environment. Thus, it greatly contributes to the business sustainability.

Conclusion

This paper reveals the factors directly impacting the successful planning, implementation and post-implementation stages of innovation. The stakeholders in an organization have been proven to be vital in innovation management through their commitment both in time, ideas and funds in case of investors. Further, the research reveals the role the top leadership of an organization plays to push forward the innovation to acceptance and approval by other stakeholders. Also, the study shows that innovation activities need to fall within the realm of ethics consideration to allow a smooth process by winning the approval of local authorities and host community.

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