Management of Innovation - Essay Example

Course Institution Instructor Experimental Date Submission Date Explain how innovation can be managed and discuss the organizational characteristicsthat have been identified as facilitating innovation. Introduction Innovation management can be defined as that process of governing new ideas in an organization going through the stages of the innovation cycle (Downey, 2007). Innovation is important especially with the current competition intensification. Innovation can lose its meaning if it is not managed. Managing innovation will help in ensuring that the organization is not diverted from its goals. There are many approaches that have been developed to manage innovation. The idea of these approaches being different does not mean that each of them is unique. They all center on the same idea; marketing, research & development and operations (Ettlie, 2012). Managing Innovation There are many ways in which innovation can be managed under these three main domains. It involves creation and sustenance of a culture that allows innovation to prosper. Culture includes both physical and organizational space where experimentation, evaluation and examination will take place (Tidd & Bessant, 2011). Innovation management will also involve formulating different strategies that can be employed to enhance innovation. Managers who are responsible for the management of innovation are required to choose the right strategy to use with the right tools. Additionally, innovation management involves creation of the right innovation reward system that will stimulate a suitable behaviour necessary for innovation. Striking a balance in resources is also an important factor in innovation management. This will help in averting tension between creativeness and value capture. Characteristics of Innovative Organizations Innovative organizations have the same characteristics. Some characteristic features possessed by these organizations facilitate innovation. Flexibility is the most important characteristic known to stimulate innovation. Flexibility is the capacity to change and to adapt to a challenging environment (Georgsdottir & Getz, 2004). Flexibility helps an individual to adapt irrespective of the complexity of the environment. They are different types of flexibilities such as adaptive and spontaneous types. Various innovative organizations have either one or a number of them. Adaptive and spontaneous flexibilities are known to have a lot of influence on creativity. Market orientation is another characteristic of an organization embracing innovation. It comprises of three behavioural components; customer orientation, competitor orientation and inter-functional orientation (Slater & Narver, 1994). In customer orientation, the organization tries understand the customer’s supply chain analysis both currently and in the future. Competitor orientation entails researching on the current competitors and the probable future competitors. Inter-functional coordination is the incorporation of various tasks in an organization to enhance problem solving abilities and communication. Another important characteristic known to facilitate innovation is reward system. Innovative organizations are known to have a steady reward system (Gold, 1987). This critical in establishing well defined goals of innovation and the subsequent reward mechanism. Similarly, these organizations incorporate multifunctional teams in their management. Multifunctional teams facilitate innovation due to the fact that it enhances trust and free flow of information across the members (Quinn, 1985). Conclusion As a matter of fact, innovation is crucial for the success of an organization. However, poor management of innovation can derail its intended purposes. It is therefore important to manage innovation. What is the role of intellectual property within innovation management? Use the Dyson case to illustrate why some firms view IP as a benefit and others view it as a hindrance. Why is James Dyson so critical of patent law? Introduction Many economists and strategists have had different opinions on the specific role of intellectual property relative to innovation. A number of them have argued for while others have argued against the idea of being helpful in innovation. Ricketson (1991) argues that intellectual property is necessary in encouraging creative intellectual undertaking in the public interest. On the other hand, Boldrin & Levine (2002) argues that intellectual property hampers competition which is crucial in innovation. Intellectual property itself is the unique, value-adding creations of the human intellect resulting from creativity (Kalanje, 2012). Role of Intellectual Property Innovation creates new markets for businesses with no competition as long as its innovative advantage remains. The intellectual property plays an important role in assisting businesses gain or retains innovation based advantage (Kalanje, 2012). As earlier stated multifunctional teams enable innovation and for this case, a number of players are involved in the process. Using intellectual property tools in the right way will enhance reduction of risks among players involved in innovation process. Similarly, it stimulates the use of innovative technology among the organizations. Innovation resulting from partnerships such as joint ventures in most cases lead to future conflicts. Intellectual property provides a good ground for negotiation. The ownership of intellectual property provides a strong negotiation position in the process of getting into such partnerships (Kalanje, 2012). For innovations bringing in new ideas to the market, the biggest challenge has been from the period of innovation to that of launching it in the market. Having intellectual property in place will help in preventing organizations within this period normally referred to as ‘valley of death’. Kalanje (2012) points out the fact that new ideas protected by intellectual property, are more likely to survive the instance of ‘valley of death’. James Dyson argues about intellectual property and he regards this idea as non-supportive to some innovators in the market. However, he successfully used the patent system which is an intellectual property tool to protect his innovation of vacuum cleaners (Jolly & Philpott, 2012). Before achieving this, he had invested a lot of money on patenting. It is for this reason that he critiques the patent law basically because it is an expensive undertaking. Research has shown that few companies in the United Kingdom have ever applied for a patent (Jolly & Philpott, 2012). Intellectual property is seen by other firms as a benefit while others look at it as a hindrance. Small scale firms view intellectual property rights as a hindrance basically because the whole procedure is long and by the time it is achieved; competitors would have already seen the idea and worked around it. Securing intellectual property rights can be a slow and expensive process, particularly if other parties challenge your applications in the courts (Morris, 2009). Small enterprises prefer to hide their ideas rather than securing intellectual property rights. Conclusion Intellectual property plays an important role of helping individuals their efforts of innovative ideas. It can be an expensive venture to secure intellectual property right, but the returns are impressive. References Downey, J. (July, 2007). Innovation Management Vol 38. London: The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. Tidd, J. & Bessant, J. (2011). Managing Innovation: Integrating Technological, Market and Organizational Change.4 th Edition. West Sussex, England: John Wiley & Sons. Ettlie, J. (2012). Managing Innovation. Edition2. New York: Routledge. Georgsdottir, A. S. & Getz, I. (September 2004). How Flexibility Facilitates Innovation and Ways to manage it in Organizations. Creativity and Innovation management, 13(3), 166-175. Slater, S. & Narver, J. (1994). Does competitive environment moderate the market orientation-performance relationship? Journal of Marketing, 58(1), 46-55. Gold, B. (1987). Approaches to accelerating product and process development. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 4, 81-88. Quinn, J. B. (1985). Managing Innovation: Controlled Chaos. Havard Business Review, 63, 73-83. Ricketson, S. (1991). New Wine into Old Bottles: Technological Change and Intellectual Property Rights, ed. Drahos Peter, “Intellectual Property”, Second Series, P. 389. Boldrin, M. & Levine, D. K. (January 2002). The Case Against Intellectual Property. University of Minesota. Kalanje, C. M. (2012). Role of Intellectual Property in Innovation and New Product Development. Retrieved on 27 th November 2012 from < http://www.wipo.int/sme/en/documents/ip_innovation_development.html> Jolly, A. & Philpott, J. (2012). The Handbook of European Intellectual Property Management: Developing, Managing and Protecting Your Company's Intellectual Property (3 rd ed.). London: Kogan Page Publishers. Morris, R. (2009).The Fundamentals of Product Design. Worthing: AVA Publishing. Read More