Do Innovations Occur Only in the Lab or in Other Functional Area - Literature review Example

May 3, 2016

“Innovation occurs only in the lab in biotechs. There is no room for innovation in marketing, management or administration of the company. Explore this assertion"

To respond effectively to the assertion that ‘innovation occurs only in the lab in biotechs. (And that) there is no room for innovation in marketing, management or administration of the company’, one needs to look more closely at two (2) extreme sides of the argument: innovation occurring only in biotech laboratories or innovation occurring in various functional areas in the work setting. Subsequently, one’s personal position on the innovation assertion would present the affirmation that innovation actually occurs, both in the biotechnology lab, as well as in other functional areas in the organizational setting. Relevant terms, such as innovation and biotechnology would assist in qualifying the essential elements about innovation, using more generalized, and then specialized, themes.

Innovation Occurs Only in the Lab

Innovation occurs only in biotechnology laboratories, as evidenced from the wealth of discoveries that have been documented from this field of study. By virtue of its definition, innovation is “the multi-stage process whereby organizations transform ideas into new/improved products, service or processes, in order to advance, compete and differentiate themselves successfully in their marketplace” (Baregheh, et. al.; 2009, p. 1334). As such, the description of the processes that are allegedly undertaken during the innovation process, perfectly matches those that are being carried out in biotechnology laboratories. The term biotechnology has been defined as “a set of biological techniques developed through basic research and now applied to research and produce development” (Bartoszek, et al., 2006, p. 5). From the definition of both terms, the outcome of both, innovation and biotechnology, are the production of something new and valuable that is deemed to be successful and useful to various clientele. For example, the biotech company, Gilead Sciences, Inc., was revealed to be one of the top innovative biotech companies in the United States (Forbes Media LLC, 2016). According to McCorvey (2015), Gilead’s R & D efforts outpaced those of its competitors, especially in the discovery of drugs for HIV and hepatitis (McCorvey, 2015). The company’s core competencies in undertakin research and development efforts, as well as in coming up with innovative product in a timely manner, increase their competitive advantage in their respecitive field of expertise. In fact, the discovery of the drug, Sovaldi, for the treatment of hepatitic C, was revealed to be one of the most effective drugs with a 90% cure rate (McCorvey, 2015).

In addition, innovation was noted to have spurrred from inventions which allegedly stem from research. Bartoszek, et al. (2006) asserted that the biotechnology industry’s main thrust and focus is in research and development which enable continued release of inventions that ultimately become registered as well as patented. For example, after Gilead’s discovery of Sovaldi, it immediately released another powerful drug for hepatitis C, known as Harvoni, with a reported cure rate of 99% (McCorvey, 2015). Further, the link between invention and innovation was emphasized as being determined by the rate of successful acceptance in the market. As revealed, “if new products, processes or services gain no acceptance of the market, innovation just does not exist” (Bartoszek, et al., 2006, p. 40). Indeed, the process of innovation in the biotechnology industry starts with research and development efforts that occur only in the laboratories or within the internal environment of the organization.

Innovation Occurs in Other Functional Areas

On the contrary, innovation had been observed as viable in other functional areas beyond the research and development (R & D) function in biotechnology laboratories. For instance, according to Loewe & Dominiquini (2006), there were apparently several organizations which perceive innovation spurring from R & D efforts only; yet, in functional areas such as manufacturing, supply chain, finance, service, and human resources, the creative ideas of people enable the emergence of innovation. An example that proved that innovation efforts went beyond biotech lab is the conceptualization made by Whirlpool in revolutionizing appliances based on responding to customers’ needs. Accordingly, Whirlpool produced a line of appliances for the garage which is more popularly known as the Gladiator (Whirlpool Corporation, 2010). In fact, the official website of Whirlpool disclosed that “the original idea for Gladiator GarageWorks was born from innovation when consumers expressed the need to somehow organize their garage clutter” (Whirlpool Corporation, 2010, p. 1). The evidence suggests that innovation occurs in other functional areas such as product development and manufacturing (Siemens, 2010). Finally, other functional units which are manned by highly creative minds are evidently behind the secret to innovation.

Concurrently, another example which proved that innovation occurs in other functional areas is the conceptualization and eventual offering of distance learning or online education by the University of Phoenix (Loewe & Dominiquini, 2006). As revealed, “others distinguish themselves by how they go to market – as when University of Phoenix provided online distance learning without investing in tenured

professors or ivy-covered buildings” (Loewe & Dominiquini, 2006, p. 31). In the latter example, it is clear that the impetus that drove the emergence of the innovation idea of offering distance learning had been spurred by the current supply of human resources (full time faculty members), in conjunction with the ability of the academic institution to market the concept to current and future students. In this regard, the administrative and human resources functions assisted the marketing function to successfully promote distance learning in the academic setting. These functional units extend beyond the biotech labs, as specifically noted above.

Personal Position on the Innovation Assertion

From the review of literature on innovation occurring in biotech labs, as

contrasted with innovation being made possible in other functional areas of contemporary organizations, one affirms the veracity of the latter argument. By virtue of the meaning of the term, as well as from different types of innovation, it is hereby acknowledged that innovation could occur beyond biotechnology laboratories. In fact, one learned that innovation could be broadly categorized into two (2) generalized groups: technological innovation and commercial innovation (Bartoszek, et al., 2006). The distinguishing factors between the two (2) types of innovation is the process by which a new idea or product emerged. For instance, the accurate definition of technological innovation is “the successful implementation of a technical idea new to the institution creating it” (Bartoszek, et al., 2006, p. 40). An example of a technological innovation is Apple’s breakthrough of the iPhone which revolutionized the smartphone industry (Brown, 2015; Drew, 2012). Likewise, a commercial innovation is allegedly the outcome of “the application of technical, market or business-model ingenuity to create a new or improved product, process or service that is successfully introduced to the market” (Bartoszek, et al., 2006, p. 40). The example of this is the creation of sofosbuvir by Pharmasset, a biotech firm, which was reported to exhibit a 100% cure rate for hepatitis C (McCorvey, 2015). From the analysis of commercial innovation, it could be seen that innovation which occurs in the biotechnology labs fall within this classification since new products or processes become the outcome of the R & D process. The examples from actual organizational settings, such as Whirlpool, Apple, Gilead Services, and Pharmasset, to name just a few, and which could be found in various fields of endeavors, affirm that innovation could actually spur where there is an encouragement of creative idea that awaits public acceptance.

In contrast, innovation which occurs in other functional areas could be understood as stemming from technological innovation. Accordingly. Bartoszek, et. al. (2006) affirmed that innovation should not only be restricted according to the two (2) types: technological and commercial. As further argued, innovation is possible to occur without significant transformation in either products or services as evidenced from leasing (through financial innovation), sefl-service shops, as well as franchising systems (Vrontis & Thrassou, 2013). In sum, it can be rationalized that innovation occuring in biotech labs result to new products (or processes) that only become successful when successfully accepted in the marke or within a more global sphere.

Moreover, from the time that the idea was initiated from the conceptualization stage up to commercialization, the process of innovation was learned to undergo a linear model. As described, “the linear model is fairly representative of the innovation process undertaken in the biotechnology industry: because of its strong influence of science, biotech industry largely depends on R&D” (Bartoszek, et al., 2006, p. 41). The linear model showcased the innovative process which includes steps such as undertaking basic research, pursuing applied research, technology development, and finally, commercialization (Bartoszek, et al., 2006). In contrast, innovation occuring in other functional areas, deemed to be classified as technological innovation, could be made possible without extensive research and development efforts. In fact, small and medium organizations were affirmed not to afford basic or even applied research due to the exorbitant costs associated with it. Some research efforts, like those undertaken by biotechnology firms such as Gilead Serviced, Inc., were also revealed to take extensive numbers of years for the entire development process. These examples evidently show that innovation occurs both, in biotech labs, as well as in other functional areas, depending on the current resources of the organization as well as the core competencies of leaders and managers who administer the company’s operations towards unprecendented success.