Open Innovation Benefits for Fiat - Assignment Example

Fiat Mio Case Study Name: Institutional affiliation: Fiat Mio Case Study 1. What did both Fiat and the participants gain from the open innovation experience? Draw up a list of benefits for each. Benefits for Fiat Fiat benefited from the open innovation project by gaining access to resources such as skills and ideas from the extensive suggestions that were fronted by participants. Outsourcing to the crowd even though typically associated with small tasks can benefit a company when they take it large scale. There was a significant amount of innovative information that was made available to the company that the company can use and integrate into their systems for future use. By tapping into public knowledge, the company was able to gain knowledge and learn some new things that they would have no otherwise taught. This is because every participant had some new set of skills and even expertise to bring to the table. In this respect, the company was allowed a large universal set of resources, which can be used to advance their business and bottom line. The company also benefited by having access to a scale. Imagine if fiat in their innovation project failed to invite participation, they would have been forced to hire people to come up with the concepts of the project. This route would have meant hiring a manageable number of people that the company would have paid. In this respect, they could not hire the same number of people like they got in the innovation project. This means that the scale of participants was a beneficial aspect since they had more numbers that could work to advance the idea rather than a limited number of people. This access to scale drew up huge numbers of suggestions that a small hired team could not have managed to come up with in the time limited for the project. It does not make sense for a company to hire hundreds of people for a project directed to benefit the clients and not make the clients part of the project. Also, crowdsourcing gave Fiat access to a large workforce for the particular project, which means the company had the advantage of numbers and access to a large scale of people. By engaging the word through a innovative crowdsourced project, Fiat strengthened the image of their brand by making synonymous with transparency and accountability. When you open the doors of your company to the people, you make them believe that the company is transparent and had nothing to hide and that they are welcome to be part of the process that the firm deals with. This in effect makes the brand name stronger and continues giving Fiat a strategic competitive advantage in the industry. One of the strategies of strengthening a brand name is to make it visible, accessible and available to a large number of people. The innovative project did this through the use of the internet. As known, the internet has made the world a global village meaning that everyone in the world could access the information on Fiat as a brand. Even the people that did not know about Fiat got to know more about it. Another benefit for Fiat as a company is the fact that the project enhanced their advertisement aspect by making sure that they could use the internet effectively to expand their marketing objectives. A project as big as this is bound to stir the attention of clients in the auto industry as they would like to be part of it. Consequently, the popularity achieved can be used as an advertising strategy. In this respect, Fiat advertised on a large scale without actually advertising in the real sense. The project was an advertising platform for the company by showing the business in an innovative and developmental light. One of the biggest benefits of the project for the company is the fact that Fiat, through the project was pitted as a company that cared about the input of the people. This made it easy for people to identify with the enterprise. Even the name of the innovative project ‘my Fiat’ makes people feel connected or linked to the company on a personal level. Clients like to feel that a company cares about their needs and are not only there for profit or commercial benefit. By involving people in the innovative project, Fiat enhanced their image as a company that cares and listens to the clients’ needs. Incorporating the ideas given by participants reinforced this image for the enterprise by showing a commitment towards involving people in their processes. The company benefitted from the project by tapping into the target market and knowing what the people wanted without instituting a costly study or project to find out what their clients would have wanted from them as an auto company. Interacting with participant made information available to the company about the market needs in addition to mapping the industry for the enterprise. Benefits for the Participants Participants of the project also benefitted from the innovative project by having the opportunity to use their creative knowledge to affect n innovation that would benefit the whole world if it came to the realization. People have many creative and innovative abilities that are not exploited for the benefit of the world. Fiat through initiating the project gave participants an opportunity to have a real effect on the world by giving them a platform for airing the various innovative ideas they had. Participants of such projects are not people who are chosen through any criteria but are otherwise volunteers who would like to give their input through progressive ideas that can have an impact in the world. People would like to affect the world in a positive way even if it is a small capacity but they avenues through which to express their ideas and contribution. The project thus benefitted participants by giving them the chance to contribute and make a change. Another benefit of the project for the members is in having a say on a product they would later be purchasing. Consumers rarely have a say in the manufacturing industry. They are consumers of products that are already produced, and their business is just buying. It is a benefit for the participants The innovative project also enabled participants to interact with one another on a massive scale in looking for the best way to develop the Fiat Mio. The platform brought together thousands of people to work together through getting the best possible vehicle that would serve their needs. The interactive aspect where people were throwing in different kinds of ideas was a benefit to the knowledge pool of the participants. People were able to expand their scope of thinking, get new ideas, borrow knowledge from others, and learn, In essence, the project was a learning opportunity for the participants. It is rare to get such a learning opportunity even if one has interacted with and read thousands of books. The insight from real people is a fresh pool of knowledge that does not come easy every day. In as much as people may gain knowledge from books, the human mind interprets experience differently and ha different way of processing information which means that one idea can be interpreted in numerous ways by different people. This rich scope of knowledge is a real benefit for the participants of the project who had a chance to participate and experience the divergent view that was fronted during the project. Networking is also another benefit that participants encountered through the project. In such a plan, people will meet other of like mind and they may form professional relationships and other forms of progressive relationships. Through the project, participants had the chance to encounter and interact with others people who maybe were in the same fields as they are. It is highly likely that a lot of professional interactions and contacts were formed as a result of the project. Participation in such a project has immense benefits for the participants as well as the company that initiates the project. 2. If the Fiat Mio was merely a prototype that would never be produced or marketed, what was the real innovation? The real innovation in this respect is in embracing technology as a way of interaction between the clients and the company. Technology has made it easier for people to interact and as such, companies realize the untapped potential of technology in advancing the company and meeting the needs of the clients. Through avenues such as crowdsourcing, companies such as Fiat ca reach and interact with the clients to know their needs and act on them. Companies no longer want to rely on internal expertise without consulting or having feedback from clients and potential clients concerning their needs and suggestions. This is because products made by a company are intended for purchase by the customers and as such; their input is a bigger part of the company than any other thing. The real innovation, in this case, is instituting an open avenue of input and communication and reaching wide network of people globally who consume the company’s products. There is no better way of reaching such numbers of people and getting good feedback without using technology and finding effective ways of using technology. A project such as the one instituted by Fiat manages to incorporate this aspect into the innovation to make it a reality. The project managed to do this by having structure, feedback, and instructiveness aimed at advancing the company’s bottom line. Such a project also opens the avenue for the creative problem the company can engage in. Creative problem solving is also an innovation that can be achieved through the means that Fiat instituted. A company can innovate creative methods for problem solving by engaging a larger platform the way Fiat has done with this project. There is no better way of engaging people from different aspects of life than using crowdsourcing to achieve this objective. Read More