Innovation and Its Role in Society - Essay Example

INNOVATION Student’s Name Course Professor’s Name University City Executive Summary Innovation is the advancement of ideas by way of implementation and execution. Businesses must keep innovating to remain relevant in the market. The role of innovation in the society is based on the quality of goods and services produced, the business is mandated to keep innovating so as to enhance their products and offer great customer services, innovation is centred on people, hence business must maintain constant interaction with the people surrounding it as well as discover avenues in the national and global arena that help with the innovation processes and management. The Australian innovation system is lagging behind as compared to other developed countries like Scandinavia, this is because the large firms as well as the government do not foster talents and skills necessary in innovation, and therefore innovations are only experienced in large firms that compete internationally. The benefits of innovation are experienced in enhanced services, quality goods, increased market penetration, increased revenues and maximization of available resources. The report recommends that management should interact with their staff and provide avenues for generating ideas; they should also reward and train the employees in order to maximize the available resources and maintain loyalty and finally the business must make innovation a primary objective. 1. Innovation Innovation is the growth of new ideas, products or processes. In business, innovation means translating an idea into a product that generates value for either the business or the customers or both. Innovation is not limited to inventing rather it could mean changing the business model and adapting to environmental changes to deliver improved products or services. An innovation is defined by the idea being replicable at an economical cost and the innovation must satisfy a particular need. Innovations increase the chances of a business success because it creates efficient work processes and enhanced performance and productivity. Innovation is tantamount with risk-taking and successful organizations take greater risks by creating new markets (Schulz 2008, p.1). 2. Role in Society Different situations demand different approaches and solutions, innovation enables flexibility in the way of thinking and ones approach to problems. The solutions and approaches lead to establishment of new and fresh products in the market. Innovation also plays the role of quality assurance because products and processes are improved and there is a set standard through competition that assures of high quality goods (Sasvari 2013, p.9). Innovation benefits the society when firms compete for market share because there is introduction of fresh products and enhanced services, and the uncertainty in market leadership makes it a norm for the firms to keep innovating and this benefits the society through improved products and services. Innovations also make a business accountable to the society around, and the business has social responsibility to play an active social role in the society. Social innovations have led to global solutions like fair trade, zero-carbon housing and so on (Yockey 1993, p. 26).  According to UNESCO (2003, p.4), the role of innovation in the society is to create networks. Innovations connect different regions together through knowledge, because innovations attract new interactions and partnerships that involve actors from the public and private sectors globally. As a result, activities on different levels from local to international create networks that exemplify a sustainable tradition of innovation. The organization further states that innovations are people-centred, this means that there are social interactions in the society and this fosters personal understanding which is a key element in the society. Thus, innovation policies must be people centred (UNESCO 2003, p. 5). Therefore, innovation benefits the general society in terms of new products and services that enhance individual lives on the national and international level. Process innovation significantly increases economic growth by offering cost competitiveness and attracting investors. Innovation is responsible for the growth of most national economies through improved manufacturing and sell of end products in the global market. This increases revenue, increases the GDP and creates employment in a country. However, there is a negative effect of innovation on the society because it wipes out traditional industries that become obsolete (Sullivan 2016, p.11) 3. The Relationship between Ideas and Innovation An idea is an unrefined thought that is useless in its own accord. Innovation starts with an idea and can be defined as the transformation and implementation of ideas into action. In business an idea is ineffective if consumers are not willing to readily buy the end product or services. On the other hand, innovation pulls different strings together to ensure the quality, price and usefulness of the product for the customer which leads to sales (Furseth & Cuthbertson, 2016, p.72). Innovation means the ability to connect ideas to the customer’s wants and needs to create the ideal product or services in the market. As a result, consumers will willingly pay for more if the value of the product is great, and this gives the business a competitive advantage or its rivals in the market. New idea that can be turned to great products or services are needed to enter emerging markets, satisfy consumers demands, keep up with competition as well as gain a competitive edge (Morrison & Henley Management College 2003, p.7).  Technological advancements have revolutionalized the generation of ideas, traditionally, innovation required insight from a small number of creative people, however with modern technology, and businesses can engage multiple stakeholders in the innovation process. As a result, consumers, employees, suppliers and so on provide ideas on their needs and preferences and this information leads to innovations that take advantage of the opportunities provided (Sullivan 2016, p.9) Innovation includes new ideas; however, the success of the new idea is based on the execution strategy. Therefore innovation is the end product of a practically implement and executed idea that yields positive results and results to success. According to SymOrg( 2012, p.322), idea management is a sub-process of innovation and in business a proper idea management system allows the management to effectively communicate the need for idea generation, motivate employees to come up with creative ideas, collect the resulting ideas and use them as a basis for innovation (International symposium SymOrg, Levi-Jakšić & Barjaktarović 2012, p.322). 4. Australia´S Capacity for Innovation Compared To Similar Countries Australia has been left behind in fostering competitive industries as compared to other performing economies that have innovative and refined manufacturing sectors. Australia lags behind in promoting a talent mindset among its workers. Australia does not lack in talent and creativity, however, the performance of the innovation system is deficient and policy makers and management do not nurture talent or exploit potential skills of the employees. Australia has the capacity to further innovation by improving on the productivity of research and capacity innovation, all this is useful in comparing research and development to other developed countries like Scandinavia that have quality innovations. According to the Australian innovation system report, innovation is essential for business and industrial competitiveness nationally. The report affirms that Australian firms lag behind in new products innovations and the exporters also perform rather poor on innovation. On the other hand, the Australian business environment is conducive for innovation, investment and competition. Maximum innovation capabilities are witnessed in international competitive firms rather than the national ones (Australian Innovation System Report 2014, p.2). According to (Arundel & O'Brien 2009, p.330).innovation in the Australian manufacturing sector must intensify the interactions of the industry with various research institutions to benefit from public research in the innovation system. The industry must also insist on the management and workplace innovation so as to enhance competition in the economy. 5. The benefits to business of increased innovation There are several factors reasons as to why the business should innovate, and the following are some of the main benefit of innovating. The first benefit of innovation is responding to competition, innovation helps a business explore opportunities that emerge in the market as well as anticipate future trends, and innovation helps the business stay ahead of the competition as trends, markets and technologies change.Innovations are about maximizing the available resources, thereby, designing new products or enhancing services can focus on the existing processes to improve efficiency, cut cost and maximize profits as well as reduces waste. New customers are attracted to new products or improved quality products in the market which leads to a loyal customer base (Singh & Waddell 2004, p. 4).  Innovative business also experiences a rise in revenues due to lower costs and increased sales, and with the introduction of enhanced services, there is an improved customer service that attracts consumers. Other benefits are manifested through product differentiation whereby the firm produces a wide range of goods and services. Securing a strategic market position due to the competitive advantage the firm has over its rivals. The firm is also better suited to explore new business opportunities in the market due to low operating costs and exploit economies of scale (Evans 2003, p.64). 6. Recommendations A business has various methods to innovate by way of research and planning. Some of the recommendations proposed include: Fostering an innovative and creative culture, the business environment should be supportive, encourage creativity and expression, and reward success. This will motivate the employees to be more open and interactive of their ideas with no fear of criticism. It also fosters a collaborative brainstorming and sharing of ideas. The staff are the most valuable resources of any organizations, to foster innovation, management must focus and motivate their staff through listening to them, rewarding them so they feel valued and appreciated, staff development can also be enhanced through training so that the staff can easily spot defects within the organizations as well as the products before they are released in the market. The business must also conduct market analysis to learn about the consumer’s tastes and preferences as well as the various marketing strategies employed by the rival business. Constant consultation with customers and suppliers is an ideal way to get ideas on improving products and services. Using the available resources to drive business innovation is also essential, and this involves seeking advice from various stakeholders such as business advisors. The management must be open and receptive to new ideas and flexible enough to adapt to change. The business must also come up with a strategic plan that promotes innovation as a primary business objective across the organization. This objective can be achieved through training and empowering of employees to think in an innovative way. 7. Conclusion Innovation is essential for all businesses because it leads to improved products and services and the benefits are also reaped by the society through high quality goods, corporate social responsibility and so on as outlined. The Australian innovation system has been lagging behind other developed countries but the manufacturing industry is opening up opportunities for creative minds to generate innovative ideas. There are various advantages accrued from innovation by the consumers and the business as well, and in order to maintain and enhance these benefits certain recommendations have been outlined by the paper. References Arundel, A and O'Brien, KR (2009) Innovation metrics for Australia. Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, Canberra, Australia. Furseth, P. I., & Cuthbertson, R. (2016). Innovation in a consumer society. Corby: Oxford University Press. Australian Government, (2015). Australian Innovation System Report 2014. Department of Industry, Office of the Chief Economist. Evans, N. D. (2003). Business innovation and disruptive technology: Harnessing the power of breakthrough technology --- for competitive advantage. Upper Saddle River [etc.: Prentice Hall International symposium SymOrg, Levi-Jakšić, M., & Barjaktarović, R. S. (2012).Innovative management & business performance: [symposium proceedings]. Belgrade: University of Belgrade, Faculty of Organizational Sciences. Morrison, A., & Henley Management College. (2003). Going beyond the idea: Delivering successful corporate innovation. London: Grist. Sasvari, P., (2013). The Effects of Technology and Innovation on Society.arXiv preprint arXiv: 1307.3911. Schulz, K.P. (2008). The nature of innovation and implications on innovation management. Singh, M., & Waddell, D. (2004). E-business innovation and change management. Hershey, PA: IRM Press. Sullivan, O. (2016). Defining Innovation. In: 1st ed. sage publications. UNESCO, (2003). The Culture of Innovation and the Building Of Knowledge Societies. COI Issue Paper. [Online] Bureau of Strategic Planning. Available at: [Accessed 9 May 2016]. Yockey, J. A. (1993). Role of information in the economy & society: Proceedings of a workshop. S.l.: Diane Pub Co. Read More