Source of Innovation - Case Study Example

 Source Of Innovation Question 1: Innovation is a phenomenon that has revolutionized the way humans are living their lives today. The change that has taken place in the lifestyles of a normal man is huge; the difference can be seen just by comparing the lifestyle of a common man 20 years from now with that of today. The visible differences are only cause of sustaining innovations that have taken over our lives, simplified them, increased our life sustainability and provided us with alternative ways to live life. Innovation is the driver of change in our lives today; whether the innovation is need based or technology based, it is still changing our lives even today (Tony, 2006). Just like the changes in our lifestyles, innovation has revolutionized the health sector as well. With newer medical technologies being introduced every day, life is becoming healthier, more lives are being saved, and more people are being cured. Following case is an example of such a sustaining technology that will save more lives than ever before. Innovation may be radical, revolutionary or just incremental; all kinds change our lives in one way or the other. The development of Given Imaging’s camera pill was in itself a great innovation, fusing the medical need with the technological advancements (Tony, 2006). The fact that Iddan, who was an engineer, ended up developing an endoscopic/ camera pill with the help of technological advancements is an achievement in itself. Gavriel Iddan was an electro-optical engineer; somebody who had no information regarding medical processes and tools. There were a number of reasons due to which, he was able to be the one who developed the camera pill to end the suffering of many. The case of Given Imaging is a case of product innovation. Product Innovation is when there has been an improvement in a product already present or the development of an entirely new product for the customers. In this case, similar medical devices were present, such as endoscopes; however, they were unable to serve the purpose of viewing the walls of the small intestine. Therefore, product innovation took place in the form of the camera pill, where they were able to focus on an entirely new area of the human body through the product. One of the biggest reasons that made Iddan the pioneer of this technology was the fact that he knew people in the medical science. When he travelled to the US, in 1981, to work at a place which produced X Ray tubes and ultrasonic probes, he was able to familiarize himself with the basic tools which were being employed in the medical arena for the treatment of patients. He also befriended a specialist in gastronomy, Eitan Scapa. This friendship exposed Iddan to various issues that the gastronomical area of medical science was facing due to lack of tools and technology present. Scapa, who was a friend of Iddan, at that point in time, tried to persuade Iddan to develop such a technology that would help with this cause. Therefore, exposure to the field of medical tools and technology was one reason Iddan was able to understand the importance of such a pill. Secondly, his friendship with Scapa also motivated him to work for this. Another factor was that there was a need in the market for such a product for a very long time. Although the product was officially launched by the name of PillCam no later than 2002, there was a dire need for the development of such methods through which doctors would be able to view the inside of the small intestine, since 1981. A huge gap was present in the medical gastronomical technology that was needed to be filled. Even then, the product took about 19 years to fill the gap. Iddan’s dedication to the cause was also one of the reasons the innovation was successful. There was a lot of time involved in the development of the process. This was probably because of the lack of knowledge that was present related to medical knowledge in Iddan. After joining teams with the others people who were working on similar technologies, joining the resources, they were able to focus on the product more and less of resource gathering. Over such a long time period, only a dedicated person would work till the end of the project. Iddan’s high sense of motivation towards the product and the need in the market was one of the driving forces for this product to be alive and successful today (Eric, 1994). Iddan had no prior medical knowledge in his career; however, he still was crowned the founder of a medical innovation. Another phenomenon that would contribute to this fact is the joining of man power. His diversified team included engineers as well as doctors; hence enabling the pooling in the best information or knowledge from both ends of the respective sciences. One would also argue that it was Iddan’s luck that helped him develop the wireless endoscopy being a pure engineer. At the time he went back to the US, advancements in technology had taken place in such a way that such a product was thought of and could be developed. It was the right time for somebody to head the research, gather the necessary resources, build the appropriate team and work on the project. Another factor that led to the development of the product under his name was the company that he found while working for the product. The financial support from Meron in the form of a dedicated company and the team of Dr. Swain which specialized in the development of similar products helped Iddan develop CamPill as an engineer. A well-diversified team was the strength of this project. There may be other reasons present that led to the development of CamPill, by a team headed by an engineer. However, these were the most important reasons for such a development to have taken place in over 20 years. Question 2: When it comes to innovation, there are various kinds of innovation that can take place. There can be product innovation through which a modification in an already existing product or an entirely new product can be introduced in the market. Similarly, there can be a process innovation in which a part of the process is changed to re-vamp the whole process. The drivers of any kinds of innovation, however, are same (Kal, 2005). An innovation can either be need based, or due to technological advancements. Experts argue that need based innovations works better than science based; however, both the factors are important for an innovation to be successful (Malcolm, 1985). The product evolution process is the process through which an innovation is developed and is commercialized through any sort of entrepreneurial activity (Robert, 2005). The process starts with the development of technology and the presence of knowledge regarding the science; in this case it was the development of CCD (charge-coupled devices) that would send wireless signals. They were small video camera and served as the basis of the technological innovation of CamPill. The process ends with the commercialization of the product or the service. The most important part of the whole process is the intersection point of the technological advancement and the need for that advancement in the society. This point is called the iterative synthesis; it is the point that presses for forward innovation. In the case of CamPill, there was a need present long before the development of appropriate technology; the congruence of the need and the technology helped forming the endoscopic pill that revolutionized the diagnosis of disease in gastronomy area. A science-push innovation is a linear model of process innovation that talks about how scientific advancements increase the research and development in a certain area, and how the product is engineered and the marketed to the masses. Science push innovation introduces the product in the market without any prior need for it in the market. The product appeals to the masses due to its newness or it opens a totally new horizon of life. The product is then marketed in such a way that it generates demand. (Karen, 2002) A demand-pull innovation is a product that comes into being because of high demand. There are gaps present between the needs of the market/ consumers and the respective tools and techniques present in the market. Those gaps are needed to be filled in order to satisfy the need of the customer. Hence, a demand pull innovation fills those gaps present in the need and the product. A demand for a product leads into related Research and Development that would trigger production if the research and development is successful. Sales come in after the product is successfully launched. (Karen, 2002) When it comes to CamPill, it should be considered as a demand-pull innovation. The need for an instrument that would enter the human body, into the small intestine, without damaging the health and well-being of the patient was being sought for many years. Since 1981, the first time when Iddan talked about this issue with Scapa, there was a need for a device. Scapa had pointed out that there were significant limitations to the tools and technology that were being used at that time to examine the walls of the intestine at that time. The small intestine, at that time, was te home of many diseases and used to affect almost 19 million people. The endoscopes were unable to reach throughout the full length of the small intestine for two reasons; first it was very painful for the patient and secondly, the small intestine was too twisted for the endoscopes to go through the entire length of the intestine. Therefore, there were limitations related to examining the inner walls of the small intestine since 1981 and before. However, at that point in time, the related technology was not present (Robert, 1984). 10 years later, when a comparable technology of CCD was developed, Iddan started his work on the project again. Various technological changes were also made; such as transmission through the wall of the body and the power related matters. The need for a product led to significant research and development. Another team of scientists, Swain and his team, were also adding significant features to the technology, which when merged together with that of Iddan and Meron, led to the birth of CamPill. In 1999, after the permission by the Ethics committee at the Royal London Hospital, they were able to test their product on the first human being, Dr. Swain. After successful human and animal testing of the product, the product was finally launched and marketed. The whole process of innovation shows clear signs of this innovation being that of a demand-pull innovation. A need was present in the market; it was catered to through research and development by Iddan, and then completed by Meron and Dr. Swain. Question 3: Resources, be that of any kind, are very important for any organization of initiative. The gathering of resources which are different from your competitors can help you gain a competitive advantage. Therefore, organizations all over the world, pool in the best resources that they can acquire, in order to compete in the market. If all the good resources are coupled together to form a product or a service, it is bound to be better in quality than the others. The grouping of Iddan with Meron and then later with Dr. Swain proved to be instrumental in developing CamPill. It seems that if such a union of resources had not taken place, there would have been no CamPill today. The alliance of three different backgrounds, three different mind sets was able to provide various advantages and disadvantages to the whole venture. The team behind the innovational venture is very important. There were many advantages of partnering with Dr. Swain and Meron. One of the biggest advantages was that all the people were from different backgrounds of the venture, yet all of them were equally important for the development of the product. Iddan, along with the help of his friend Scapa, was the mastermind regarding the development of this product. He made sure that the technology that was present at that time was synchronized with the need of the product. he made necessary changes to the overall composition of CCDs so that they were compatible enough to be swallowed and provide video signals for more than 2 hours. He carried out the initial experiment of putting transmitting antennae in the chicken and receiving antennae outside the chicken to see if the walls of the body do not disrupt any signals. He incorporated the CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductors) in the CCDs so that a fraction of the power is consumed. In short, he provided the basic technological know-how to the team. When Meron came into the picture, he provided the venture with the capital that was required to push the product further into research and development. Hence Given Imaging was formed. Dr. Swain, on the other hand, was working in the United Kingdom, along with his friends Mills and Gong. He was working on similar product, through which they could get a transmission with the product being in the gut. However, their focus was on developing spy products. When both the two intelligent heads met, they brought together necessary information and expertise that had been developed over the years together. This was their biggest advantage, the diversity of the team. The superior expertise of Dr. Swain in anatomy and imaging needs, coupled with Iddan’s technological know-how to CMOS, with the financial support of Meron, was able to generate enough research and development, motivation to bring about the development of CamPill. Since Dr. Swain and Iddan were working on similar products, it was a great idea to pool in their knowledge and work together. This greatly helped to the cause of the innovation related to CamPill. There were no major disadvantages of joining forces with Dr. Swain. The team of Dr. Swain was well-diversified. They were the best people at that point in time, to join forces with, in order to produce the perfect product for the problem at hand. One could argue, however, that a more diversified team could be chosen to develop the product. None of the scientists in the team of Dr. Swain was a specialist in Gastronomy. This can be termed as a disadvantage as the product was being developed for people who were suffering from gastronomic issues in the small intestine. The innovative process took a huge amount of time that in a way decreased the time frame for which Given Technologies could reap the profits for their research and development in the area of endoscopy. If they had included a proper medical representative of gastronomic issues in the team, they may have reached a breakthrough before time. All in all, there were many advantages of coupling with Dr. Swain and his team, as it made a well diversified team to work with, covering major areas of the product. On the other hand, there were no significant disadvantages of such a move by Iddan and Meron. Works Cited 1. Davila, T., Epstien, M., Shelton, R. Making Innovation work: how to manage it, measure it and profit from it. Wharton School Publishing. (2006) 2. Hippel, E. The Source of Innovation. Oxford University Press. (1994) 3. Hisrich, R., Peters, M., Shepherd, D. Entrepreneurship. Tata McGraw Hill. (2005) 4. Sawyer, M. The Economics of Industries and Firms. Routledge. (1985) 5. Ezine Articles/Bishop, K. “Types of Innovation” Ezine Articles. 29 April 2010 http://ezinearticles.com/?Types-of-Innovation&id=38384 6. Manley, K. “The system’s Approach to Innovation studies.” School of construction management and property, Queensland University of Technology. 29 April 2010. http://dl.acs.org.au/index.php/ajis/article/viewFile/196/170 7. Zmud, R. “An examination of push-pull theory applied to process innovation in knowledge work” Management Science Volume 30 No 6 June 1984. 29 April 2010 http://mansci.journal.informs.org/cgi/content/abstract/30/6/727 Read More