Leadership and Innovation in Tesco and Apple - Case Study Example

Case Studies and Assignment Table of Contents Table of Contents 1 Leadership and Innovation 2 Sources and processes of innovation in Tesco 2 How I will design the process of innovation in Tesco 2 How I will manage and foster innovation strategies at my company 3 Importance of intellectual property 3 Case study 1: Design thinking and innovation at Apple 4 Question 1: Why Apple to Be So Successful 4 Question 2: Systematic approach to innovation at Apple 5 Question 5: Innovation at Apple and how it Apple’s success 5 Question 6: The role of a CEO in charge of an organization dedicated to innovation 6 Question 7: Changes that Apple will brig into my organization 6 Case study 2: Conflict over leadership in family business 6 Question 1: Why there was no business succession plan at Lakkard 6 How CFL could have better managed succession planning 7 What I would have done if I were CFL or Peter 8 Leadership and Innovation Sources and processes of innovation in Tesco Tesco like majority of its competitors has expanded into online grocery sector. For numerous years, the company has been looking for ways of instilling some excitement into internet shopping while making it cheaper, faster and easier for its customers. Developing applications is a costly and time consuming process and so the company has decided to use an open innovation model to utilize imagination and creativity and imagination of the multitude to drive innovation. The company has established an open innovation jam, known as the TJAM and invited customers to brainstorm. Chesbrough (2003) notes that the TJAM scheme of open innovation can help Tesco to deliver an effective outcome when the appropriate participants and partners are chosen to dynamically and creatively work together. Participants might include consumers, scientists, suppliers, amid distributors and staff members. An outcome of this range of backgrounds is that the jam will leverage and benefit from diverse viewpoints of the participants. Through open innovation, Tesco will be able to speed creation of new services and products, and therefore increase market share. How I will design the process of innovation in Tesco As a leader at Tesco I will design a process of innovation by creating an organizational environment where other people will apply innovative thinking in solving problems and developing new services and products. Leaders are catalysts that develop and manage the organizational culture, strategies and the environment that promote and maintain effectiveness, innovation and success within the company. Sloane, (2007) states that for creativity and innovation spirit to develop in Tesco, it is the task of the leader to encourage creativity through designing a favorable climate for creativity to thrive. This is achieved through building an inclusive and friendly working condition for organizational members. In addition, innovation leaders value, respect and exploit richness of backgrounds, perspectives and ideas of every member and permit them to utilize their distinct personal experiences and assets for the benefit of the company. How I will manage and foster innovation strategies at my company As an innovation leader at Tesco, I will ask individuals to offer new ideas, like proposing a wide idea generation process, which will act as an open minded, practically universal strategy. As a leader I will consider a bigger percentage of suggested ideas and clearly articulate innovation strategies in the overall business strategy of the company, and utile network of partners and others to assist nourish their innovation channels. An innovation leader rapidly moves from generation of ideas to benefitting from them and igniting and sustaining a company wide fervor for innovation. When creating new ideas, an innovation leader relies on business partners, competitors and customers to complement their own interior functions (Decamps, 2008). Importance of intellectual property Intellectual property such as Tesco’s TJAM fosters imagination and creativity in the development of improved or new products, services, or processes. When a company’s intellectual property generates results, employees are able to timely recognize these results. Spinello (2007) argues that protection of intellectual property is vital in fostering innovation. Without forticication of ideas, Tesco will not be able to reap the full advantages of its inventions and will focus less upon research and development. Intellectual property rights provide numerous opportunities which facilitate successful completion of innovation. These opportunities include licensing, sale and several forms of strategic business alliances or partnerships in commercializing it. Intellectual property scheme plays an important role in assisting a company to attain and maintain an innovation based advantage. Case study 1: Design thinking and innovation at Apple Question 1: Why Apple to Be So Successful Apple has been successful because it as used platform strategy to envision a family of products at earliest phases of product concept and planning. At this point, the company has been able to think ahead on what is needed in the initial release of products and what is needed after a product is released. Through this, Apple has been able to design initial products as a platform, utilizing an architecture that accommodates development and production of derivative products. A platform strategy provided big benefits and advantages to an organization, customers and suppliers. Apple has set a premium on design, on basis of time and resources. This design effort for original product is leveraged for the derivative products, which are then created and ramped up swiftly since they build upon and utilize subsisting design elements within the platform (Thomke, & Feinberg, 2009). Question 2: Systematic approach to innovation at Apple There is a systematic approach to innovation at Apple Company. The company continues to develop and integrate its own software and hardware. Apple has been designing its personal chips for iPhones and iPods, a backward movement that that seems to be out of step with the way the business has been evolving. Web cams focus upon landing docks to detect products that come form other manufacturers, since the organization offers no clues on their innovation plans. With a globe that celebrates collaboration, open platforms, community design, third party developers and transparency, the company appears clearly an outlier (Thomke, & Feinberg, 2009). Question 5: Innovation at Apple and how it Apple’s success At Apple, innovation involves designing simple products that people are able to use. Helping individuals to see what was happening as they personally utilized their computes animated and continues to motivate the way Apple products were designed in the past and also how they are designed today. Thomke, and Feinberg (2009) note that from the initial years, Apple products were regarded as being interactive on the basis that individuals would be capable to incorporate their job with the machine devoted to assisting them do it. Designing of simple products has enhanced Apple’s success business success because the company has been focusing on what it thinks people want and need, and how they interact with computers. The company has applied a lot of ingenuity and creativity in deigning products that meet customers’ needs. Question 6: The role of a CEO in charge of an organization dedicated to innovation A CEO of an innovation organization is responsible for driving and controlling deliberate transformations in culture, process and structure so as to change them into productive, effective and creative ones. Sloane, (2007 notes that though several companies look for a competitive advantage within their strategy, culture, structure and technology, leadership is a very vital source of competitive advantage. Thus, for an innovation process to start in any company, it must have the right leadership structure and leaders in place. The CEO has the authority and power to create strategies that result to innovation and also be interested in innovation. Steve Jobs is an innovative leader and believes that innovation is as a result of different people coming up with new ideas and sharing these ideas with the rest of the organization. These ideas are then utilized in solving problems in the company. Question 7: Changes that Apple will brig into my organization As an innovative company, Apple will initiate a culture of innovative thinking in my organization and allow it to bring new energy and ideas in solving business challenges and pave way for bringing more innovation into the organization. Creating a culture of innovation, through which people can bring in new ideas, will help my organization to utilize innovative thinking in solving problems s well as developing new services and products. Case study 2: Conflict over leadership in family business Question 1: Why there was no business succession plan at Lakkard Lakkard did not have a business succession plan because Carl Friedrich Lakkard (CFL), the founder believed that he had all skills needed to manage the succession. As the company was growing, CFL run the organization alone, with his wife helping in a design capacity without taking any of key strategic or operational decisions. CFL was in sole charge of manufacturing schedules, procurement, billing and distribution and this made it to enjoy his power. Even after returning to the company after recovering from the car accident, CFL was expecting to operate the business as he always had regardless f the fact that his son Peter had already taken over the leadership position. Without minding his old age and deteriorating health, he was not ready to let go of his company to Peter. A skewed feeling of responsibility made CFL to believe that he was still the manager and was supposed to stay as a manger for the advantage of every concerned individual (Trietz, 2011). How CFL could have better managed succession planning As a family business, Lakkard should have established a business succession plan on who will run the business after CFL gets out of the manager seat. Fischetti, (2004) notes that having a sole heir would have simplified things and prevents succession conflicts. Orderly succession at Lakkard would have entailed a clear plan and possibly a written contract that could clearly define the roles and responsibilities of successor during the transition. This would have eradicated confusion and allowed for regular performance reviews. To make effective business transition, it is fundamental to consider the business needs. This implies that would have a strategic and business plan in place, and that will would have been at times reviewed and amended so as to reflect the changing familial and business needs. (McKinney, & Fager, 2007) What I would have done if I were CFL or Peter If I were CFL I would have left the leadership’s role to Peter because in had successfully managed the business while his father was away. Under the leadership of peter, the business, the business had changed dramatically, with implementation of effective improvements to manufacturing process to minimize the quantity of waste material. Peter also had good interpersonal skills, which made employees to be devoted to their work. If I were Peter, I would have let CFL to manage the business after recovering from the car accident. This is because Peter took over the business due to CFL’s inability to manage the business as result of car accident, and there was no any agreement or contract the Peter was to take over the family business. Peter knew very well that the business was legally the property of his parents and how much the business meant to CFL who had dedicated majority of his life to the company. CFL was not ready to change leadership and even his forced absence from the company in 2003; he was unwilling to tolerate a future and present leadership. The business conflicts that emerged between CFL and peter spread into their family lives, and consequently affected workplace atmosphere. References Fischetti, M., (2004). The family business succession handbook. London: Routledge. McKinney, D., & Fager, M., (2007). Succession planning for the family owned business. New York: Sub-Scribe Literary Services Spinello, A., (2007). Intellectual property rights. Library Hi Tech 25 (1): 12–22. Chesbrough, W., (2003). Open Innovation: The new imperative for creating and profiting from technology. Boston: Harvard Business School Press. Sloane, P., (2007). The innovative leader: How to inspire your team and drive creativity. London: Kogan Page. Deschamps, J., (2008). Innovation leaders: How senior executives stimulate, steer and sustain innovation. New York: Jossey-Bass; Trietz, M., (2011). Conflict over leadership and succession in a successful family business: The Lakkard Leather Company. Thomke, S., & Feinberg, B., (2009). Design thinking and innovation at Apple. Read More