Introduction
We currently live
in a digital world where information can be conveyed rapidly and most
efficiently. Furthermore, images (Kelley, 2001) , sound and texts are
far clearer and well distinct than ever before. Innovation can be defined as
the generation of new thoughts, the continuing growth of products, processes
and services and their commercial application. The most vital process of being
innovative is being creative; this is the initiating process of innovation.
In the previous
years, several organizations have been in a position of surviving with very
inadequate amounts of innovation. Their aim is to provide quality products as
well as simply updating them to a level that upholds their competitiveness in
the market. Currently, some products are still favoured by this method because
they have long lifecycles and rare chances for innovations. However, in yester
years, we have witnessed the emergence of different trends that drive the
process of innovation. Factors like outsourcing and globalisation have led to
increased push to improve effectiveness and efficiency of organizations. For an
organization to survive in current markets, they require not only innovative
progressions but also effective management that will improve productivity and
bring about low costs of production alike (Downes, 2009) .
Innovation is
vital since it is one of the key methods to differentiate one product that is
competing with another one. For instance when the business person become the
first to market a new commodity, he/she is provided with the significance
advantages of building a huge customer base. I can be extremely rough for a business
person or a firm having out-dated technologies to compete with such a business
with a big customer base. Consequently, one important thing to note in business
is that a lot of businesses survive I the market not by coming up with fresh
innovations, but by copying and acclimating or by improving on the innovations
of competing businesses.
What is Continuum of
Innovation?
Innovation continuum refers to coming up with
very fresh ideas and describing them, articulating the ideas into a conception
that can be substantiated and tested, doing the
invention work, and lastly getting the final results to the market as a
fruitful innovation. As a summary of these descriptions, we can say
innovations=inventions+ commercializing or implementing
Under continuum of
innovation, we have: imitative innovation, incremental innovation, evolutionary
innovation, radical innovation and revolutionary innovation (Kelley, 2001) .
I.
Imitative innovation
This can be simply
described as copying a technology that is well known and recognized. An
organization applies a certain innovation exactly the same way as used in a
particular organization without improving anything (Kelley, 2001) .
For effective
resources management, the process of imitative innovation is analysed into 4
distinct phases and 3 chief sub-processes that are namely, bundling,
structuring and leveraging activities (Kelley, 2001) . Also, we have 4
modes of effective resources management that ensures a successful process of
imitative innovation, these are: to identify position and confirm innovation
strategies; to examine principal competencies and to explore breaches in
imitative innovation; to deploy complementary assets and specific resources;
and to restructure ecological environment of the industry.
Examples of
imitative innovations include many firms in China that have simply adopted
cost-cutting strategies and, as a result, have operated quite successfully both
offshore and onshore. Most Chinese firms have adopted imitative strategy due to
a defective institutional atmosphere that shrinks the fortification of
intellectual property right and this right is the necessity for any innovation (Downes, 2009) .
II.
Incremental innovation
This type of
innovation can be described as a sequence of trivial improvements to an already
existing product line or product that typically helps in maintaining or
improving its competitive position in the meantime (Downes, 2009) . Such kind of
innovations is repeatedly used in the high expertise business by companies
aiming at continuing to improve their line of product by incorporating new
features that are highly desired by their customers.
Generally,
incremental innovation not only withstands a business, but it is also a key
foundation of positive returns. In essence, they are absolute profitable, most
returns from worthy innovation programs are incremental innovation oriented.
However, it is a
huge challenge to convince the market those trivial improvements is important
additions to a product. Breakthroughs are perilous and with much that can go
wrong. Oftenly, they suck up more cash as compared to their returns both in the
short run and in the long run (Kelley, 2001) . Therefore, it’s not
a surprise some companies have done excellently, focusing on this type of
innovation.
An example of a
well-known incremental innovator is Toyota Company. It was founded in late
1930s; Toyota began commercial passenger car manufacture 10 years later, and by
1980s it always maintained higher rankings than any other manufacturers. This
can be linked to their attention to trivial details as well as small
improvements and changes to leave lasting improvements. By 2007, Toyota was the
largest manufacturer on the globe. It is clear that incremental innovation
pays, even in a situation where individual changes don’t excite and are not of
high profile (Kelley, 2001) .
Consequently,
Apple Inc is known for utilizing incremental innovation; the innovation has
time and again helped them realize huge profits. For instance, Apple has come
up with various game changers as compared to any other company. Immediately
after the opening release, the company witnesses colossal returns from
incremental innovation.
III.
Evolutionary innovations
These are
innovations that bring about foremost evolutionary shifts. Primarily, they are
new structures that later lead to new functions. This type of innovations
typically seeks a solution using the existing concept. It usually asks a query:
“How exactly can I do things in the best way?” The ideas can be processes
driven like for example Lean-Six-Sigma that use a methodology called DMAIC that
stands for” Define, Measures, Analysis, Improvement and Control” (Downes, 2009) . Evolutionary
innovation is keen on alignment towards today’s clienteles. It is also
important to note that this innovation accounts for the mainstream activities
happening in various businesses. However, its shortcoming is that it only
improves and exploits existing business and protracts its trajectory.
IV.
Radical innovations
This type of
innovation is concerned about ways of exploring new technologies as opposed to
incremental innovation that explores existing technology. In essence, radical
innovation refers to the process, product, or services with either exceptional
performance characteristics or known features offering prospective for
substantial improvement in performances and costs (Downes, 2009) .
It is important to
note that the criteria employed when evaluating a radical idea should not be
similar to those employed when assessing incremental innovations. Looking at
radical ideas connected to high ambiguities from a standpoint of ordinary
business and applying out-dated appraisal methods and standards to them is
counterproductive and inappropriate at the same time. This is for the reasons
that, either these methods lead to the untimely refutation of good notions or
end up giving a false sense of confidence.
V.
Revolutionary innovations
This type of
innovation pursues to adapt a business to new ideas. It is a compulsory
revolution for a whole new system…radical, disruptive, comprehensive,
significant change. Just like, evolutionary innovation, revolutionary
innovation also has to emphasize on the orientation of today’s consumers
together with the consumers of tomorrow in order to gain traction. Both of
these two innovations are fed by impracticable foresight and are all connected
to high ambiguity (Kelley, 2001) .
It is important to
know that this innovation (speed) is only at optimum under conditions like long
commodity lifestyles, stable margin as well as relatively high sales. When
given such situations, companies can create adequate revenue to counterbalance
the high costs suffered from revolutionary innovation and speed to market.
How do changes bring
about opportunities?
No business can
operate in a vacuum. Any business must act and react to whatever takes place
outside the factory and office’s wall. All these factors occurring outside the
business are what we external environment factors. They include Social,
Technological, economic, legal, political and ethical (Downes, 2009) .
Markets are prone
to changes all the time. Actually, the changes will depend on the product type
the business produces. During such changing situations, it is either the
business react accordingly or risk losing customers (Kelley, 2001) . The main reasons
markets experience rapid changes include:
a) Changing
customers’ needs and wants
b) Development of new technologies suggesting
that new commodities can be produced
c) New
competitors are entering the market
d) A
countrywide or global event happening like gulf war
e) Introduction
of new legislation by the government
External
environment can positively influence influx of new firms in the market. To
start with, when any new business has a unique technology, the business can
perform positively in the market. It is because any advancement in technology
impacts a business positively for instance production of high-quality goods,
reducing the costs of production and most importantly saving time (Downes, 2009) . For instance, Apple
increased its sales drastically when they decided to shift the CD technology to
electronic media. On the other hand, economic factors impact can result into
business entering or leaving the market. For instance, any growing economy will
provide more opportunities for firms to make profits as opposed to an ailing
economy.
Businesses will,
therefore, enter the market and welcome growing living standards. Lastly,
social factors relate to changes in social structure and society. The changes
can be explained in terms of population structure as well as lifestyles of the
consumers and how behaviours affect buying patterns of the consumers in the
society. When the population is made up of more youths than older people, the
market will demand more firms manufacturing more youth products than those
consumed by the older population. Consequently, some products are Taboos in
some societies hence cannot allow some businesses to make the profit. Therefore, it is prudent for any business to
analyses market situation before entering the market. External environment can
favour a new business in some situation simply because of the technology they
possess or even the social changes of a certain region (Downes, 2009) . For economic
factors, it is the responsibility of the government to come up with supportive
laws that allow new business to enter the market without the long bureaucracy
and some unnecessary bottlenecks.
Reference
Downes,
L. (2009). The laws of disruption
harnessing the new forces that govern life and business in the digital age.
New York: Basic Books.
Kelley, T., &
Littman, J. (2001). The art of
innovation: Lessons in creativity from IDEO, America's leading design firm.
New York: Currency/Doubleday.
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