Innovation and Technology - Assignment Example

BIG Ideas Group Case Study Name: Grade Course: Tutor’s Name: 22nd, December, 2009 Part A (Word limit: 300: Word count: 291) For an organization to ensure success is achieved with its innovations, barriers to innovation have to be overcome. There are two aspects of the BIG process that help breakdown the barriers to innovation. These are; Having a systemic innovation process Involving different and experienced staff/professionals in the decision making process According to Loewe &Dominiquini, an organization needs the correct process in order to succeed in being innovative. The process should be explorative and should allow divergence so that the new ideas are not just a repeat of the previous ideas (2006). The process should also create individual ideas into bigger proposals before selecting ideas for further development. BIG has a systemic innovation process with four steps of finding, developing and selling the ideas. The steps are; Generation of ideas, winnowing, refinement and capturing value. The first step allows divergence and is also explorative. It has six primary sources of generating information all which are different and diverse. BIG gets ideas from; Hunts, professional investors, orphaned products and ideas, internets request programs, outsourced flow and industry outreach. Step three changes the individual ideas into bigger proposals for target companies. The selected idea is then sold to potential companies. The other barrier is lack of time resources or staff. BIG’s process indicates that the company hires experienced inventors and experts (a panel of industry experts) to help in the winnowing. In order to sell the best ideas to different companies, it has to get different opinions from different staff members. By employing qualified workers, the company is eliminating lack of staff or human resource as a barrier to innovation. BIG has a systemic innovative process which encourages innovation and ensures experts are involved in its decision making process for successful innovation. It also hires experienced kid industry experts to help in development of ideas. Part B. (Word limit: 300: Word count: 299) The similarities and differences between the Lead User process and the BIG’s process of product development is as follows: Similarities In both processes, there is laying the foundation. BIG’s laying of the foundation is its first step of the process which is generation of ideas that involves collection of ideas from six different sources. The lead user laying of the foundation is meant for identifying the types of markets a company wants to target with a product. In both processes, a team of experts are consulted in decision making. BIG consults experts at the winnowing stage and the lead user process requires consultation of the experts at the second phase where determination of the trends is required and at the fourth phase where the final concepts for the development of the product are designed. Both processes involve identification of new ideas from a variety of sources, involve experts in decision making and produce refined results based on organizational concepts (Preston, 2009; Stephan & Ashok, 2001). Differences Lead user’s research is based on target markets and level of innovations while BIG’s process is based on researching ideas on an already established market (the kid’s industry). The BIG process has all the product concepts at the first stage and refined in the third step while in the lead user process, the preliminary product concepts are developed at the third step and refined in the fourth step (Preston, 2009; Stephan & Ashok, 2001). It is clear that the basics of the lead user process have been used to develop a process for the BIG Idea development. The differences are only in the market and the development of the concepts. The similarities show that in product development, there is identification of new ideas/markets, there is analysis and there is production of refined results. Part C.1: (word limit: 300: Word count: 295) Processes and Values framework requires identification of the factors that affect the capabilities of an organization. According to Christensen and others, an organization’s capabilities lie on its resources, processes and values. Resources: With high quality and readily available resources, an organization’s capability of coping with change is increased. At the start of the business, the organization’s capabilities lie on its resources. With time, these changes and the capabilities depend on the processes and the values. BIG is a startup company and has its capability relying on its resources. Processes: In an organization, there are processes are used to convert the resources into products (processes). These processes govern the development of products, manufacturing of goods and budgeting. If these processes are used to perform the tasks that it was designed for, it will perform efficiently, but if the process is used to perform a different task the efficiency reduces. BIG has a process of developing its product (idea) which when used in a new market can reduce in efficiency. Values: The rules the employees follow determine the values of the organization hence the organization’s business models. It is not easy for an organization with a well defined model or well defined values to cope with change since it is not easy to change the values. BIG is a new company but has values that can be affected by change. BIG plans to expand to the home and garden market industry and based on the above framework, BIG has the capability to embrace the new idea of expanding to the new market. It is a start up company and so its values can accommodate small markets, the cost structure can accommodate small profit margins and the process allows effective management when careful research and analysis is done. Part C.2: (Word Limit: 300: Word count: 292) From the above analysis, it is clear that BIG is safe to venture into another market area. Processes and Values (RPV)' framework indicates that; whatever the type of innovation an organization chooses to undertake, it has to consider ways of coping with the changes brought about by innovations. One way of coping with the changes is through creation of organizational capabilities considering the fact that values and processes are not as flexible as resources. BIG should however consider the following: 1. Because BIG’s capability lies in the process, a change in the structure of the organization is required in order to accommodate the new processes. The process of finding, refining and selling idea will be the same except that the number of inventors will be few, the number of hunts will be reduced and the pace may be reduced too. The interaction will not be the same as that of the previous process and so BIG will be required to draw a new boundary around the relevant employees and experts (Christensen et al, 2000). 2. BIG has also to consider its values in relation to the new project. If the values can make it not allocate resources to the new project, the organization should consider spinning it out as anew venture (Christensen et al, 2000). 3. Another consideration that BIG should make is buying the capabilities from another organization through acquisition. If there is a company with the capabilities of managing the new project then BIG can acquire it (Christensen et al, 2000). In order to venture into the new market, BIG has to create space for capabilities that will help the organization cope with the entry into the new market. It has to consider the process, the values and the resources. Part D (word limit: 250: Word count: 245) The Process used for Innovation in InnoCentive InnoCentive is a company that deals with research and development problems. It has an open, market driven and global approach to innovation which it believes changes with time and is necessary for coping up with global advancement and productivity. The company has the following values; The customer is the top priority in its operations, Constant improvement and operational excellence Integrity A learning culture Outstanding skills in people With these values, the company gets the best solution from human creativity and intelligence all over the world. In the process of obtaining the best solution, every solver with the capability of solving any problem is given a chance to work on the problem (InnoCentive, 2009). The company collects problems from governmental, commercial and humanitarian organizations and posts them as challenges. It has an organized section for solvers, seekers, products and challenges. It does this by using technology, human ingenuity and economic incentives. Once a problem has been posted/identified by the company, it frames it into a challenge and leaves it open to solvers to find a solution (OSRI, 2009). Challenges Finding solutions to the challenges is done through four steps. It requires development of an idea, a process known as the Big Idea by the company, development of a design, production of proof of the functionality of the idea and lastly production of the final product (InnoCentive, 2009; InnoCentive b, 2009). Illustration of the Process Part E (Word limit: 400: Word count: 294) BIG Current Status BIG Ideas was formed with the aim of collecting different ideas on the kid’s industry and selling the ideas to retailers and manufacturers of children products as well as to companies dealing with services offered to kids. Since its establishment in 2000 and its first expansion on the home and garden industry, the company has expanded to other market areas. In 2001, the company started with expanding to the home and garden market. This was the first project after its establishment and a decision on whether to go on with the new project or not was difficult based on the requirements of the project, the process of the organization and the effects of change on the organization. The current status of the organization proves that expanding to different markets was a good idea; it however shows that BIG never started any business on home and garden industry. Currently, the company has only four market areas of interest. These are; Packaging, food and Beverage Consumer product goods Promotional products Personal media and technology (BIG Idea Group, 2009) There is no clear indication that BIG went further and ventured into the home and garden industry. BIG currently offers so many innovation services. The company has an established inventor network with 13,000 members and has diversified to collecting ideas on specific products and services apart from kid products and services, and home and market products. It also gives new ideas on marketing and branding concepts, naming hunts where it looks for ideas on organization names, product names, product lines, brand names, program names, taglines and retail environment names (BIG Idea Group, 2009; Inventors Spot, 2009; BIG b, 2009). The services offered reveal the extent of expansion the company has undergone since its initial idea. References BIG Idea Group, 2009, BIG Client Services, Retrieved on 20th Dec, 2009 from: http://www.bigideagroup.net/services/ Inventors Spot, 2009, Big Idea Group, Retrieved on 21st Dec, 2009 from: http://inventorspot.com/resources/big_idea_group_2942 BIG Idea Group (BIG) b, 2009, BIG Idea Group Social Media Release: Big Idea Group’s Microbusiness Hunt Seeks Innovative Products for New Ventures, Retrieved on 21st Dec, 2009 from: http://www.pitchengine.com/bigideagroup/big-idea-groups-microbusiness-hunt-seeks-innovative-products-for-new-ventures/35135/ Christensen, C., Layton, M. and Michael, O., (2000), Meeting the Challenge of Disruptive Change, Harvard Business Review, pp.66-76. InnoCentive, 2009, All About Innocentives, Retrieved on 21st Dec, 2009 from: http://www.innocentive.com/mission-and-values.php InnoCentive b, 2009, How InnoCentive Works, Retrieved on 21st Dec, 2009 from: http://www.globaldevelopmentcommons.net/files/How%20InnoCentive%20Works.pdf Loewe, P. & Dominiquini, J., 2006, Overcoming the Barriers to Effective Innovation, Strategy & Leadership, Vol. 34 No. 1, pp. 24-31, Emerald Group Publishing Limited. Retrieved on 20th Dec, 2009 from: http://www.ttmp.com/pm/Overcoming%20barriers.pdf. OSRI, 2009, Oil-spill-response Prize and InnoCentive FAQs: What services does InnoCentive Provide?, Retrieved on 21st Dec, 2009 from: http://www.pws-osri.org/programs/prize/InnoCentive%20FAQ.pdf Preston, D., (2009), Step by Step Through the lead User Process, Global Sustainable ICT Management. Retrieved on 21st Dec, 2009 from: http://homepages.uel.ac.uk/u0329296/stepbystep.html. Stephan, T. & Ashok, N., 2001, Product and Process Concept Development Via the Lead User Method, Technology and Innovation Management, McGraw-Hill Irwin, Boston, pp. 509-516. Read More