Management Innovation and New Technology - Essay Example

? Management Innovation and new technology [Section Number] Management Innovation and new technology Introduction The term ‘Product Innovation’ has been used widely, especially in the industrial sector and has been into several discussions in the last few decades. Companies and brands have been forming innovative tools and strategies to make their products more fascinating and appealing. In reality though, product innovation is not simply an idea; in fact, it is a complete process of research and experiments (Rainey, 2005). The concept of innovation is as old as the history of earth as men have always tried to improve things in their surroundings for the comfort and ease. However, from the history of world businesses, we can see that in the run towards an “innovated product” companies often lead towards customer frustration and dissatisfaction resulting in lower sales and loss of customer trust. There are various examples in the past where companies define the ultimate objective to launch an innovative product and did not give much thought to the process and need of it. This lack of understanding of product innovation becomes one of the major reasons of product sales downfall (Light Minds Ltd, 2005). Many economists believe that with the increasing business competition, managers and executives often overestimate the need of their consumers. A new and innovative product is often more complex to use and more expensive (Gottfredson & Aspinall, 2005). Advancement in a product line needs better machineries and plentiful of company’s resources which eventually the consumer has to bear. Often the advancement made by companies is just to give the feeling of ‘new’ and is not as per the need of the customer (Rosenthal, 2099). The recent example of Facebook Timeline is relevant to highlight in this regard. It was introduced to give a new and fresh look to the users so to increase the time they spend on Facebook. Result shows that the objective was merely achieved as it increases the complexity of the product (Choney, 2011). Therefore, keeping the perspective of consumers is a key element in the success of product innovation process (Light Minds Ltd, 2005). Case Study of 3M The case of 3M’s Post-it Notes can be analyzed to justify that product innovation is not just a one-off event, but a complex organization process. The idea of adhesive notepad seemed great initially, but it turned out to be a below average invention, which the consumer kept daunting for years. The notepad went through several stages of innovation; each time the company offering something new in the product but failing to generate a massive sale every time (Nayak & Ketteringha, 1994). The issue was not meeting with the customer’s need and innovating, what might be better but not the requirement. This explains the core concept behind product innovation. Another lacking in the product was in its limited usage. People did not feel the need of having an adhesive bulletin board rather than a simple board. This brought the executives of 3M to the conclusion that this product has no future in the market (Nayak & Ketteringha, 1994). It was at this crucial time that one of the executives of the company, Spencer Silver, thought that the sticky pad can be given another try to make it more viable for people’s use. As product innovation is a summed product of the facts of previous sales and consumers’ demand, he carried a decent research to find the ways to optimize the use of the adhesive notepad. He explored the marvelous concept that an innovation does not always need to be complicated; it can come through simple means too. He used the same ingredients that were used in the notepads, but with different proportions and combinations, out of which one gave a new result. The learned people around and scientists were all conservative with their approach. Their thinking phenomenon was restricted by their knowledge of chemical properties and reactions of ingredients. However, Silver tried something the scientist called foolishness as mixing the same ingredients in a wrong proportion could never produce a productive material. Contrary to what everyone expected, the foolish experiment turned out to be a great discovery, which leads to the concept of “partially adhesive substance” (Nayak & Ketteringha, 1994). Several experiments of Silver with his colleague Arthur Fry, following the accidental discovery of the sticky substance brought the company to their final product of a sticky paper. The product was not something entirely new, but it offered people great ease and convenience as the paper can be attached to any material and replaced with ease whenever a person wanted. As a result, the product got wide acceptance with is known as one of the greatest innovations of the recent time (Nayak & Ketteringha, 1994). Managing Innovation This case study elaborates that product innovation in a real sense that could generate the desired output cannot be achieved without continuous efforts and a creative rather than competitive approach. 3M keeps on innovating the same paper every time with something that could make it more feasible to use. This describes steps and complexity involve in making a better product, not just new. The Integrated Product Development (IPD) methodology defines the core areas and issues in a product innovation (Cooper & Edgett, 2010). In a company or business, product designing and product innovation planning is often restricted to a group of thinkers. Organization culture, norms and executive’s outlook, all contribute o limiting the horizons for product innovation. In the case of 3M, an individual’s perspective and determination was not suppressed by organization’s perspective which resulted in turning a failed product into something extraordinary. Therefore, in the process of product innovation the company should not limit product innovation by its customs and norms and should provide room and resources to encourage creative thinking (Rainey, 2005; Henry, 2006). Several researches on marketing and product innovation show that the process of product innovation varies with companies and products. Innovation process should be taken through Research and Development (R&D) programs to educate executives and employees about the product type and customer demand. This will help the company in drawing the objective with which the innovation process should be commenced. Starting the process before drawing a clear objective can certainly end up their efforts and resources into smoke (Rainey, 2005). Conclusion It can be concluded from the above mentioned researches and case study that product innovation is an entire process and not a happening. Organizations trying to satisfy their customers have to be aware of this process and the technicalities involved. The practice of being first in the competitive market has decreased the importance of knowing the pros and cons of a product to people and to the environment. This practice has greatly decreased product’s cycle and worth. Therefore, contemporary companies should try to learn from the historical innovation of the sticky paper where the interest of consumers was preferred over organization’s interest. And this is the reason of their products success which is much bigger than anyone expected. List of References Choney, S., 2011. The term ‘Product Innovation’ has been used widely, especially in the industrial sector, and has been into several discussions in the last few decades. All the companies have been competing with each other, to make their products more innovating, more fas. [Online] Available at: [Accessed 30 November 2012]. Cooper, R. & Edgett, S., 2010. Develping A Product Innovation And Technology Strategy For your Business, New York: Product Development Institute Inc.. Gottfredson, M. & Aspinall, K., 2005. Innovation Versus Complexity: What is too much of a good thing?, New York: Harvard Business School Publishing Corpoartion. Henry, J., 2006. Creative Management and Development. Third ed. London: Cromwell Press Ltd. Light Minds Ltd, 2005. Understanding customer need during new product development, London: Light Minds. Nayak, P. & Ketteringha, J., 1994. Breakthroughs: How Leadership and Drive Create Commercial Innovations That Sweep The Wrold, Amsterdam, Johannesburg, London,San Diego, Sydney,Toronto: Pfeiffer & Company. Rainey, D., 2005. Product Innovation: Leading Change Through Integrated Product Development. London: Cambridge University Press. Rosenthal, B., 2099. Companies Need Customer Expectation Management Because Successful Customers Create Profitable Businesses | Article. [Online] Available at: [Accessed 30 November 2012]. Read More