Contemporary Debates and Issues in Innovation and Technology Management - Case Study Example

?Contemporary debates and issues in innovation and technology management Introduction The concepts ‘innovation’ and ‘technology’ are of greater significance in today’s business environment because they are vital to withstand the growing level of market competition. Today, larger organisations particularly focus on technological and product innovations to expand their business internationally and to raise potential challenges to small and domestic operators who lack strong technological background. At the same time, domestic and other small/medium level marketers strive to generate innovative ideas to confront with corporate giants. Evidences suggest that many companies have achieved a strong global presence within a short period of time over the last two decades on the strength of their technology and innovation management. The explosive growth of Apple Inc over the last decade is a good example of how a company can create an insanely loyal customer base and dominate the market. This paper will discuss the current significance of innovation and technology management using normative literature and critically analyse the case study to identify contemporary issues in international technology management and hence to justify the arguments. Innovation and technology management Today, companies give specific focus to innovation and technology in order to enhance fast business growth and to master the intense competitive practices brought about by the globalisation forces. In developed countries, innovation is considered as a key tool to address the challenges raised by the low cost producers from emerging economies. A number of the economic reforms introduced over the last few decades have led to the development of new economic powerhouses like India and China, which maintain strong scientific capabilities. In addition, the emergence of globalisation eliminated cross border trade barriers and enhanced the cross border movement of capital, labour, cultures, and ideas. Even though globalisation promotes international trade, products manufactured internationally need to comply with particular needs of targeted markets. Hence, when a multinational corporation markets its products in technologically developed countries like US, UK, or China, it must be able to meet higher level expectation of consumers. Therefore, many of the today’s organisations have established special departments to foster innovation and technological advancements. Innovation management is a recently developed branch of management that particularly deals with execution of various processes in innovation. Generally innovation can be of two types; product and organisational innovation. Innovation management addresses a set of tools that assist business managers to work together with a common understanding of different objectives and processes. Management experts claim that innovation management greatly benefits an organisation to timely and effectively respond to external or internal growth opportunities and to use its resources to develop new ideas, products, or processes (Rossini 1978, p.45). It must be noted that the scope of innovation management is not limited to research and development activities. In contrast, it encourages frontline workers to top executives to contribute their creativity to the firms’ growth, especially in the areas of manufacturing and marketing. By practicing effective innovation management tools, management can foster employee creativity and gather combined employee efforts towards the sustainable development of the firm (Clark 1980, pp.23-24). Technology management is another set of management disciplines that defines a clear way for organisations to deal with their technological landscape successfully and hence to obtain a competitive edge over their market rivals. The common concepts employed in the technology management are ‘technology strategy, technology forecasting, technology roadmapping, technology project portfolio, and technology portfolio’ (Technology management, n.d.). In addition, effective management of technology is essential for an organisation to identify when to make investments in technology. Technology management generally addresses areas such as project management, production and operations management, quality control, computer applications, health and safety, and statistics. Conceptual aspects of innovation and technology management A number of theories, concepts, and methods have been developed to address innovation and technology management. Although the concept of innovation was greatly enhanced by globalisation, today innovation drives global business activities. However, it is noted that technology is innovated only in some parts of the globe and other countries/firms are technological adaptors (lecture note, week 12). There are static and dynamic models of innovation. The static models of innovation include radical innovation, incremental innovation, architectural innovation, and disruptive innovation (lecture note, week 3). If a product, service, or technological innovation completely replaces the existing one, it is called a radical innovation; and it requires fresh knowledge and/or resources and therefore it is considered as ‘competence destroying’ (Mahajan 2000, p.35). In contrast, an incremental innovation requires existing knowledge and resources. More precisely, if a product, service, or technology is innovated through a series of small improvements to an existing one, it is called an incremental innovation. Finally, disruptive innovation can be referred to a product/service innovated for a new set of customers or a new market segment. As the name indicates, this type of innovation disrupts and existing market. The seven mechanisms for adopting an innovation are international development, acquisitions, licensing, internal ventures, joint ventures or alliances, venture capital and nurturing, and educational acquisition ( lecture note, Week 3). The technology S- curve better illustrates dynamic models of innovation. The S- curve indicates the transition of a technological change. Initially, the technology is better understood and is capable of meeting the needs of the organisation or its customers. As the technology matures and reaches a natural limit, engineering efforts product limited returns. In this stage, technology is eventually suspended and switched to a new technology (technological innovation) (week 4). Tiwari et al (2007) provide simplified innovation model. This innovation process consists of three phases such as conception, implementation, and marketing. The conception phase is characterized with requirement analysis, idea generation, idea scrutiny, and project planning whereas the implementation phase encompasses activities like prototype development, pilot application, and testing. Product, market launch, and market penetration are carried out during the marketing phase (Tiwari et al 2007). The linear model of innovation is a traditional model that indicates that technical change occurs through three phases, namely invention, innovation, and diffusion. Under this model, each phase involves a series of steps so as to ensure that the innovation process does not move to the next phase unless it cleared the previous phase properly. In addition, many new models of innovation like user innovation and open innovation have recently been developed. Critical analysis The given case study (Innovation at Apple) is really inspirational and illustrates the scope of innovation in the contemporary business environment. This case scenario is really important in the context of debates in international management including the use of external sources of innovation. Many of the management professionals argue that an organisation should not use external sources of innovation as this practice is likely to affect the firm’s competencies adversely. The Apple case indicates that this view is absolutely wrong because the idea for the development of the iPod- Apple’s one of the most terrific product innovations- came from an outside consultant who had been hired to work on a particular project of the company (Case study, p.4). The case study also reflects that Apple used to source ideas for new product innovations from outsiders including start-ups and researchers. In addition, the company has practiced different type of innovations like disruptive innovation and supportive innovation. It seems that Apple really thinks different as its motto indicates and gives a new face to traditional models of innovation (Forbes 2011). Under the linear model of innovation, the innovative product/service idea is kept frozen with intent to eliminate risk factors. Although Apple intensely follows this practice to take advantages of the ‘surprise factor’, sometimes the firm deliberately leaks its product development ideas with intent to identify the market pulse. In short, the company does not follow any particular innovation model but it fosters idea generation that would add value to customer experiences. The seven principles of innovation inspired by Steve Jobs are “do what you love; put a dent in the universe; kick start your brain; sell dreams, not products; say no to 1,000 things; create insanely great experiences; and master the message” (Case study, p.8). The whole company personnel, from frontline workers to top executives, specifically emphasises the motto ‘think differently’. In other words, they are encouraged to be creative in their workplace and do things that would create insanely great experiences (Stanleigh, n.d.). Unlike what most other companies do, Apple does not believe in the idea of target market and focus groups because it strongly holds the view that consumers are unaware of what they really needed. Hence, the Apple’s management believes that it is their responsibility to show customers what they really wanted. Even though the company fosters innovation in every area of its business, it pays particular attention to technological innovations (Sandholtz et al, n.d.). Experts indicate that Apple was keen to follow a self-contained operating style that provided the company with a range of competitive advantages over its competitors. Unlike what many other leading organisations do, Apple does not follow its customers but try to lead them. In short, Apple is the best answer to contemporary debates and issues in international technology management. Critical evaluation The case study clearly indicates that an organisation can overcome barrier to business success effectively if it possesses competitive innovation and technology management capabilities. The most important thing identified from the case evaluation is that it is not necessary to follow a specific model to enhance innovation and technology management. Referring to the Apple case, a customer centric innovation strategy can really benefit the business if it has strong innovation potential. More precisely, it is better to design products/services based on the needs of the user but not demand of the technology (case study, p.6). The most potential advantage of such an innovation strategy is that consumers would never realise that they needed the product until just it is launched in the market. If the customers recognise that the company has strong innovation capabilities, they would eagerly wait for the firm’s new product launches. To illustrate, Apple’s customers are very curious about what the company is going to introduce next and many of them are even ready to pay even a price premium for the product. Product diversification is one of the widely accepted traditional management philosophies because it is commonly believed that this concept is better to meet a wide range of consumer interests. In contrast to this view, the Apple case scenario reflects that it is not advisable to spread the business with the development of an array of products but to focus on designing a selective set or products in each category. It is identified that Apple could re-boost its business growth by the end of the 20th century after the company withdrew a number of product categories and limited its product lines. In order to ensure that the company develops products/services that greatly contribute to consumer experiences, it follows the policy ‘say no to 1,000 things’ (Mirchandani 2012, p.164). Furthermore, it is essential to identify consumer expectations so as to develop products that would meet their needs. For this, every marketer has to establish proper mechanisms that would assist the company to make an emotional attachment with its customers. Finally, an innovative leadership is vital to deal with innovation and technology efficiently. The leader must ensure that the innovative ideas generated are clearly aligned with the vision and long term goals of the company. At this juncture it is important to quote the words of Steve Jobs; “you need a very product-oriented culture, even in a technology company” (Case study, p.7). Conclusion From the above discussion, it is clear that innovation and technology management is a key area of the modern business. Static and dynamic models of innovation suggest different ways of innovation. The Apple case study strongly opposes a common argument that it is not better to source innovative ideas from outsiders. It is also identified that Apple tries to lead its customers instead of following them. The fundamental reason behind this practice is that the firm believes that customers do not actually recognise their needs and therefore it is the responsibility of the marketer to suggest customers the products/services they needed. References Clark, C. H. (1980) Idea Management: How to Motivate Creativity and Innovation. Amacom. Mahajan, V. Et al (2000) New-Product Diffusion Models. Springer. US. Mirchandani, V. (2012) The New Technology Elite: How Great Companies Optimize Both Technology Consumption and Production. John Wiley & Sons.UK. Forbes. (2011) ‘The Real Story Behind Apple's 'Think Different' Campaign’. [online] available at http://www.forbes.com/sites/onmarketing/2011/12/14/the-real-story-behind-apples-think-different-campaign/ [accessed 5 Jan 2013]. [accessed 5 Jan 2013]. Rossini, F. A. (1978) Technological innovation: a critical review of current knowledge. San Francisco Press. US. Stanleigh, M. (n.d.) Innovation: A Strategic HR Imperative. BIA [online] available at http://www.bia.ca/articles/InnovationAStrategicHRImperative.htm [accessed 5 Jan 2013]. Sandholtz, J. H. Et al (n.d.) The Relationship Between Technological Innovation and Collegial Interaction. [online] available at http://images.apple.com/nl/images/pdf/acotlibrary/rpt13.pdf [accessed 5 Jan 2013] Tiwari et al (2007) Innovation via Global Route: Proposing a Reference Model for Chances and Challenges of Global Innovation Processes. Working paper. [online] available at http://www.tuhh.de/tim/downloads/arbeitspapiere/Working_Paper_49.pdf [accessed 5 Jan 2013]. Technology management. Advance Solutions of New York. [online] available at http://www.asnyonline.com/?page_id=332 [accessed 5 Jan 2013]. Lecture Notes. Case Study. Innovation at Apple. Read More