INNOVATION PLANNING AND DESIGN
Innovation Planning and Design
A significant source of companies' competitive advantage, as well as, growth, is embedded on the concept of innovation. The concept requires the personnel of an entity to become involved in several functions of the business e.g. marketing, manufacturing, distribution and also sales. During the process of innovation, organizations require workers with multiple and broad skills for testing, developing and commercializing the new products, as well as, services. For purposes of foreseeing innovation, companies must make an analysis of both the external, as well as, the internal factors that have a relationship with the strategies of design and innovation. They must also comprehend the manners in which they relate to each other along with the general innovation. Companies may, as a result, make decisions based on the parts of its design that require innovation e.g. processes or commodities or the combination of them all.
Internal, as well as, external factors related to design and innovation
In matters related to external, as well as, internal factors affecting the operations of an entity, one can only exude control upon them to a certain degree. Newsletters, training resources, mission statements, and regulations form part of internal communication strategies. Workers, therefore, require enough information for the efficient performance of their jobs. This sufficiency of both information and communication in the organization comes from the entity's managers through the mission statements and its aims. There is also the aspect of structure that also forms a basis impacting on the daily business operations. The development of departments and also teams forms part of the structure existent in the company.
External factors, on the other hand, commences with the economy and the manner that it impacts on the organization. The factors within this domain occur without the entity in ways that are beyond its control. They encompass the competition, economy, clients, technology and other significant resources to the organization. Notably, these factors will interfere with the growth, long term sustainability and also the operations of the firm. The external and internal factors mentioned above are related to the concept of design and innovations as they have to be fully studied, as well as, investigated for purposes of achieving and meeting the goals of the company. Developing and also creating their whole potentiality, designating the required resources together with the creation of partnerships in relation to the concepts described above are significant for the attainment of the company's success.
The recent concepts in the business world have led to the development of a highly untamed environment. The advantages enjoyed by organizations do not, in most cases, last for a long time because the tight competition never stops to advance and also overcome the operations in the market. It is because of this sort of competition that companies have created price wars amongst themselves just for maintaining and gaining more customers. It is, as a result, fundamental for entities to have knowledge of the factors involved in the innovation systems considering the existing situations in the market. An organization should constantly remember that every commodity served in the market has its name.
The perception of the customers regarding the product is thus very important. The factors that should, therefore, be considered in product innovation and planning encompass product package and its design, the messages, as well as, ideas conveyed by the product, its brand and even the market share held by the product. The whole company should, as a result, be involved in both the utilization and the processing of its assets for full maximization of its potential in coming up with innovative products, as well as, management styles.
Importance of innovation systems
Most research has confirmed that every business desires to become innovative for the maximization of its processes. Presently, innovation has become fundamental in impacting strategic planning. In fact, it has been acknowledged that the concept culminates in massive creation of wealth. Innovation has also led to the production and development of new commodities, as well as, services together with technological revolutions in a variety of industries. Through innovation, businesses have become globalized, enabled migration and increased the knowledge in the society. Innovation has thus widened the base of employment and also added value to the important ways of life. Through this, the world has become a better place to live in particularly for the younger generation.
Steps in the innovation and planning process
There are several existing models in the creation of innovative planning processes in an organization. The steps as mentioned by Baumgartner (2009) have been listed below:
Determination of the existing challenge- this is the first step in the innovation process as the organization will seek to find the challenge or the goals which should be accomplished.
Team-work- this step makes use of the intellectual assets of the concerned parties where every party to the innovation brainstorms for discussing and debating on the manners of fixing the innovation challenge.
Combination- a summary of every idea that has been discussed and brought up in the process of brainstorming is made.
Research and development- the solutions chosen will undergo this process for the determination of whether they are viable and will possibly yield the required favorable result that is likely to increase the profits of the business, market share and its expansion strategies.
Implementation- this involves the execution of the ideas available to the team and consequently bringing them into reality.
Review- a consideration of the data got from the results of the business, feedback and also the leadership of the business is made.
Recycle- new challenges will be imposed by the review conducted above. These challenges should, as a result, be considered and the process started all over again.
Conclusion
The idea of innovation is something that is not new to the world of business as it has been practiced for a long time. However, it has currently become an antidote for achieving prosperity, as well as, business growth. While initially an organization dared to venture into innovation just for the purposes of cutting an edge in the operation’s industry, today it is important in the business design for the maximization of the profits and survival. Therefore, for an organization to survive in the current competitive market, then it has to maintain an entirely innovative culture to keep up its profitability. The above article has thus conclusively presented a discussion on business innovation and design planning. It has mentioned the external and the internal factors associated with the concept described the factors and steps involved in the process, and also explained the significance of the innovation process. (Shukla, 2009)
References
Baumgartner, J. (2009). The eight steps of Innovation Process Management – now Europe. Now Europe. Retrieved 7 August 2016, from http://noweurope.org/2009/06/30/innovation-process/
Shukla, A. (2009). What is Innovation? Why Innovation is important?. Paggu.com. Retrieved 7 August 2016, from http://www.paggu.com/getting-into-roots/what-is-innovation-why-innovation-is-important/