Analysis of Innovation - Garden Sensor - Literature review Example

Analysis of Innovation Student name: Class name: Instructor’s name: School name: Date: Innovation characteristics Introduction Garden sensor is characterized by events which are critical. The events are critical in that, they are capable of reshaping the designs which are currently employed in a particular garden, the events can also reshape the knowledge which is applied in gardens and finally, the events that characterize this kind of innovation can reshape the market of the product which has been established, maintained and harvested under the rules and regulations of this kind of innovation (Abu Dhabi Schools of Management, 2016). This kind of innovation is not common in many firms that emphasize in Agricultural products. The innovation can open new potential applicants since it is technology based and has been advised through the internet where many farmers can access the information (Macmillan 2004). It can also open new product market for the agricultural products that are produced with the use of this kind of innovation (Abu Dhabi Schools of Management, 2016). However, this innovation is capable of creating difficulties for the firms already established since it requires capital and time to be implemented. This kind of innovation opens up new entries’ opportunities since at the end, high quality products are harvested hence opening up new opportunities for new entries. This kind of innovation may require engineering set of principles which are different or/ and different scientific set of principles before the product cycle is completed (Macmillan 2004). Description of the innovation Garden sensor is a machine that is used in gardens to help farmers establish healthy plants at the minimum cost possible while utilizing the scarce resources that are used in farms and also regulating the environmental conditions of different gardens so as to favor the kind of plants and crops grown on it. Garden sensor makes the farmer to stay connected at all times to his or her garden since it is planted in your garden’s soil hence continuously monitoring the different conditions of the environment that surround your garden. Garden sensor is able to track humidity, light, moisture, soil nutrients and temperature and cross refer the information tracked to the plant’s databases, weather and soil science hence giving the gardener a customized guidance to garden his or her garden. Garden sensor helps the gardener to know what is happening and what will happen next time beneath the garden’s soil by monitoring the changes that occur in soil moisture and soil nutrition every minute (Abu Dhabi Schools of Management, 2016). This helps the gardener in anticipating and resolving problems early before they encounter the plants. Garden sensor keeps the gardener up to date by taking snapshots of your garden’s current conditions. Finally, this kind of innovation provides data to the gardener on what his or her plants need most by automatically controlling the existing system of irrigation using the data provided by local weather forecasters. By so doing, this innovation saves water, reduces gardener’s worry on thirsty plants and lowers utility bills of the gardener (Macmillan 2004). Type of innovation According to the information provided by Christensen (2013), the kind of innovation exhibited by garden sensor is called product innovation. It is a product innovation since it entails variations to at least one component of the system of the product without affecting the overall significant design of the product system (Abu Dhabi Schools of Management, 2016). Garden sensor ensures that the farmer uses the minimum resources possible to gain better yields by utilizing the available resources but it does do change the design of the product system. Whether it could be disruptive According to Lucas and Goh (2009), it could be disruptive since it disrupts the existing market by ensuring that the products realized under it are of high quality that before hence attracting more customers and also changing the various time periods when the products are take to the market and affecting the customers’ expectations. It can also be disruptive in that, it is cheaper, smaller, simple and convenient for use by gardeners hence attracting many customers and hence disrupting the market share and pattern (Christensen, 2013). It can also be disruptive in that, it entails new features hence fringing new value to customers and in performance, it has fast improvements hence disrupting the period that the products are availed in the market for sale Product life cycle analysis According to Lucas and Goh (2009), the life cycle of a product follows three phases: fluid phase, transitional phase and specific phase. Under the fluid phase, the producer of the product is said to be uncertain about new technology at his or her disposal and also he or she is said to be uncertain about the future market if in case he or she uses the technology. This uncertainty necessitates experimentation of as many product designs as possible as one tries to come up with the best design (Abu Dhabi Schools of Management, 2016). During the second phase, transitional phase, market expands as the industry under which the product is produced stabilizes around designs which are dominant. At the third phase, firms are expected to focus only on improvements which are incremental to the manufacturing efficiency and design. The garden sensor used in this kind of innovation is at the first phase since the gardener is not yet certain about the future market of the products produced with the use of the market sensor. This market sensor will just help the gardener move from the introduction stage to the growth stage. A graph of sales against time according to the slide for types of innovation A B C D A, B, C and D represent introduction, growth, maturity and decline stages respectively. During introduction stage, there are low sales and high costs hence no profits as it is before this kind of innovation is implemented. B is Growth stage characterized by increased sales and reducing costs hence making some profits (Lucas and Goh, 2009). The garden sensor has been invented to help farmers transit from introduction to growth stage. Adoption attributes According to Lucas and Goh, (2009), garden sensor has a relative advantage since it is of great value as compared to the preceding innovations and it is also better that the recently used innovations. Garden sensor is compatible to all product systems since it fits with things and does not require changes once planted beneath garden soil. Garden sensor is not complex to use in the garden and it can work well when installed well. There is no trial allowance for this machine since it cannot be tested before use because installation is expensive. Innovation strategies Based on the information provided by Lucas and Goh, (2009), the strategies taken for this kind of innovation include: producing snapshots of garden’s current conditions so as to help the gardener know the exact happenings in his or her garden, use of a water valve to tailor watering in the garden hence ensuring that, only the needed water is supplied and minimizing water wastage and monitoring in minute bass the changes occurring in nutrition and moisture of the soil so as to let the gardener know exactly what is going on beneath the garden soil and finally (Abu Dhabi Schools of Management, 2016). First mover approach Edyn’s innovation, the garden sensor is a first mover since it has the ability of building a brand loyalty followed by technological leadership’s reputation. It is also a first mover in that, it captures garden’s scarce resources pre-emotively hence exploiting switching costs for the buyer. As a first mover, it carries a huge burden of expenses and it induces the gardener to uncertainties about the preferences of the consumer and contemporary’s technologies poor supply (Macmillan 2004). Protection strategy According to Yang and Maskus, 2001, this case has used patent to protect its innovation from external influence. It has the required properties that are observed for an innovation to be patentable. It has industrial application capability, it has utility, it is capable of offering positive impacts to the society, it has followed the correct practical form of device, product and industrial process and finally, it is not obvious hence patentable. The case has also used copyright as a way of protecting the idea from being snatched by other companies that emphasize on agricultural improvements. Complimentary assets According to Yang & Maskus (2001), complimentary assets are those assets that are needed so that an innovation translates into commercial based returns. This innovation has distributed its machine, the garden sensor through the website hence employing distribution as one of the complementary asset (Christensen, and 2013). It has a brand name, the garden sensor, different from other garden machines recently discovered hence employing marketing as another complementary asset. It has used complementary technologies of capturing snapshots beneath the garden soil to help the gardener with information concerning what is happening between his or her garden soil. Finally, it has supporting complementary assets such as weather forecasters that help them with data for regulating different weather conditions around the garden sensor. Appropriability strategy According to Christensen (2013), appropriability is the extent to which a business organization is able to tap benefits from its existing innovation. In this case, copyright and patent Appropriability strategies have been used to ensure that the innovation is protected. Also, the case has employed capture appropriation mechanism to ensure control for its complementary assets and use of exclusive licensing for the purpose of own use. Edyn has blocked other firms from using this kind of innovation with the use of patent and copy right: this is another Appropriability strategy. References Abu Dhabi Schools of Management (2016) Entrepreneurship in Action. A slide for Diffusion of Innovation. Retrieved on 27th October 2016 from. www.adsm.ac.ae Abu Dhabi Schools of Management (2016) Entrepreneurship in Action. A slide for Types of Innovations. Retrieved on 27th October 2016 from. www.adsm.ac.ae Christensen, C., 2013. The innovator’s dilemma: when new technologies cause great firms to fail. Harvard Business Review Press. Lucas, H.C. & Goh, J.M., 2009. Disruptive Technology: How Kodak missed the digital photography revolution. The journal of Strategic Information Systems, 18(1), pp 46-55 Macmillan, G.M., 2004. York University rooftop garden storm water quantity and quality performance monitoring report. Greening rooftops for sustainable communities. Portland OR. Yang, G.Y. & Maskus, K.E., 2001. Intellectual property rights, licensing and innovation in an endogenous product cycle model. Journal of International Economics, 53(1), pp. 169-187 Read More