Description of Eskos Innovation - Case Study Example

Name Professor Course Number Date Description of Eskos innovation Ekso is a 21st-century innovation in which the power of intelligent exoskeleton technology machine is utilized to empower people. The devices are simply wearable robots. When worn, they enhance someone’s endurance, strength, and mobility. They are used in many areas such as in hospitals where patients with spinal problems can use them to walk, in the industrial sector such as the construction industry to protect the workers from any form of injuries, and during a war to help the soldiers endure. The original developer of this product is Ekso Bionics. They founded the gadget in the year 2005 at the University of California. It is such a great innovation that it was number two in the wired magazine and among the best top fifty changes 2010 in the time magazine. It was also featured in the Inc magazine as one of the best five big ideas for the next fifteen years (Anthony, 2008). TYPE OF INNOVATION The innovation is an architectural change. It involved changing the way components in a robot interacted. The whole structure of the robot was modified to form something more useful. The change changed most of the underlying elements of a robot such as the head and the back structures. In fact, they were completely removed. A dramatic improvement in the performance of the robot since this innovation started to be implemented is evident. Robots which were digitally controlled and those that used artificial intelligence began to be developed back in the 1960s. Until 2005, no one had imagined that robots could be utilized by human to help him perform some critical things such as walking when ExoHiker and Exoclimber were developed. A debuted intelligent bionic exoskeleton was then developed which allowed wheelchair users to stand and walk. Eskos is now a first-class device recommended for patients with spinal problems Whether Eskos innovation could be disruptive innovation. The answer to this question is yes. The change involved changing the features of a robot to fridge new customer’s values. Before it was impossible to use robots for walking or protecting one’s self, but with this innovation, patients can now use them to move and to protect themselves; new customer’s values. The change made the robots simpler, smaller, and more convenient for the users. Robots were complicated and colossal. Very sophisticated programs were used to run the robots. No one thought that he could fit in the robot and use it as a means to move. Robots assumed the same structure as that of the humans. They could only be controlled to perform certain things but not for someone to wear them. The disruption of the whole fabric of the robot is quite evident (Anthony, 2008). Product lifecycle analysis. Eskos can be traced back to the 19th century when the science of robots started. In its fluid phase, there were very high levels of uncertainty; no one had an idea of developing the robot from its so much complicated structure to something so simple yet very helpful to man. Most robot manufacturing companies kept on trying new ideas, but no one came up with this outstanding idea (West, 2002). In the early1960’s, a dominant design of robots which were electronically controlled was developed. This can be termed as the transitional phase for the robots. No drastic change is evident until 2005 when robots started to be designed to help people move and protect them while in risky activities such as hill climbing. A smart design was innovated, and this can now be a particular phase. Over the years since 2005, firms dealing with the production of robots such as Ekso Bionics have focused on incremental improvement to the design of Ekso and their manufacturing efficiency. Adoption attributes. Rodgers (2003) came up with a very useful adoption curve. In his curve, he allocated 2.5 % of the innovation success to the originators of the idea, 13.5 % to those who embrace the innovation at its early stage, 34 % to those who adopt the innovation later and 16 % to the laggards. Associating this curve to the Ekso innovation, we have the Ekso Bionics as the innovators. They tolerated problems that came with the change and the difficulty of implementing the idea in general. They also produced new revenue for the marketers. The company employees were the early adopters who offered highly qualified sales and support. The employees were the leading opinion leaders who decreased the uncertainty of the new idea. Then patients with spinal problems were the early majority who used an already proved innovation. Hospitals that adopted the change and termed it as the most preferred device to help patients with walking problems can be said to be the late majority. Every innovation has laggards, those who do not accept change. Those who believe that a new change is not worth and can’t help in any way. Ekso still has those who do not believe in it. They can’t see any good that comes out of this innovation. INNOVATION STRATEGIES First mover approach. Esko Bionics perfectly applied the first mover approach. They were the first to move into the market with their innovation. This was a significant competitive advantage on their side since no one else had such a product in the market. After developing their innovation in 2005, it was a unique one, and no one had an idea of such a change. They only used the employees to professionally market their product without allowing other companies to get a sense of how Esko was being produced. In the words of Davila (2006), if a company lets other companies know about their plan, the companies provides devices very similar to theirs which brings around a very stiff competition in marketing the devices. Bearing in mind that at the first stages of innovation the costs are usually very high while the profits are very minimal, Esco Biotics could not have given any room for having competitors in the market. They had to strategically plan for perfect ways of approaching the market and sell their devices something which they indeed achieved. Protection strategy. Regarding the protection policy, Esko Bionics had very tactical and outstanding strategies to protect their newly innovated devices. The company never took any chances when it came to protecting their property. For instance, after they invented the Human Universal Load Carrier in 2007, they kept the device private until the year 2009 when the Lockheed Martin the then chief executive officer of the company signed an exclusive licensing agreement was reached and made the product public. Had disclosed this product without first signing the license, this product could have easily ceased from being theirs. Other companies could have come out and claimed the ownership of the product which was to mean a significant loss on the side of the Escorts Bionics. The company was private and reserved all the rights for its products until 2014 when it was made public. The company had put in place measures such as a use of copyright to ensure that its products remained safe and no one claimed their ownership. Innovators should be very keen to protect their innovations and to make sure that no one comes out to claim the change as theirs (Salge, 2012). Complementary assets. Additional assets can be defined as the downstream and upstream assets that are necessary to commercialize an innovation successfully. Esko Bionics had all that it takes for a company to market and advertises its products. The company had a professional workforce who were well trained and had the required tactics and expertise to sell the newly invented product. The company had the capital required to produce enough devices requested by the end users. Capital is usually a major problem to many innovators. At the first stage of innovation, innovators have an obligation to employ massive amounts of money to produce the invented product without which; it becomes impossible for the innovator to succeed. Hiring of capable people to market a newly invented product also requires an enormous capital (Johnson, 2012). Innovators need to be well prepared with complementary issues in the same way Esko Bionics did. Appropriability strategy. Appropriability strategy refers to the policy relates to the procedure used by an innovator to retain the added value he created so as to benefit from his innovation Esko Bionics used perfect ways to preserve the added value of the product they created. This is evident as the demand for their devices is still high enough. The cost of their devices is reasonable and gives them a good profit. From the time they invented their devices, the cost of their devices has never fluctuated. It has remained stable over the years. Some innovators fail to retain their added value for their products, and they end up making lots of losses in their businesses. According to Heyne (2012), innovators should be very keen in the same way as Esko Bionics so as to maintain the added value for their innovations. Works cited Anthony, Scott D.; Johnson, Mark W.; Sinfield, Joseph V.; Altman, Elizabeth J. Innovator’s Guide to Growth. Putting Disruptive Innovation to Work. Harvard Business School Press. 2008. Christensen, Clayton & Overdorf, Michael. Meeting the Challenge of Disruptive Change. Willey publishers. 2000. Davila, T., Epstein, M. J., and Shelton, R. Making Innovation Work: How to Manage It, Measure It, and Profit from It. Upper Saddle River: Wharton School Publishing. 2006. Heyne, P., Boettke, P. J., and Prychitko, D. L. The Economic Way of Thinking. Prentice Hall, 12th ED.2012. Johnson, Carolyn Y. With device’s aid, the paralyzed take steps anew. The Boston Globe, 2011. Salge, T.O. & Vera, A. Benefiting from Public Sector Innovation: The Moderating Role of Customer and Learning Orientation. Public Administration Review, Vol. 72.2012. West, M. A. Sparkling fountains or stagnant ponds: An integrative model of creativity and innovation implementation in work groups. Applied Psychology: An International Review.2002. Read More