The Problem of Misguided Company Growth
Companies strive to grow as large as they probably can be. Changes in the market structure and the associated diseconomy of scale have challenged organizations to come up with strategies that will help them survive in the stiff competition. Growing and finding stable feet in the industry is probably a good objective. Becoming a leader in the market is by no means a bad thing. However, the increasing efforts to continually grow in every other organization can easily lose the direction of the company. Some companies even make plans to out-do their competitors with heavy capital outlay without focusing on specific goals to promote the organization's strategy. The main concern for organizational growth ought to be based on a keen sense of innovation and creativity to enhance customer satisfaction, generate better returns on capital and ultimately open up new opportunities (Henry, 2006). This perspective of growth stands on a pure analytical viewpoint of the fact that creating growth through innovative investments has a significant positive impact on the organization as a whole.
The Need for Innovation
Market structures either support or hinder innovation. Large companies obviously have an advantage in the market because they can deploy heavy capital to repel the competition. Innovation and creativity are the tools with which new entry opportunities are created. Technology specifically is an important aspect of innovation. New businesses use innovation to attract the loyal customers of other companies. Without innovation, every other business would probably grow to become a monopoly. Monopolies are, of course, important in some situations but the more control of the market a monopoly has the most difficult it is to enter that industry. Large companies that have grown to the stature of monopolies over the years tend to relax on the supernormal profits they generate forgetting that innovation was the elemental basis for their growth (James, 1996). In fact, large companies tend to outsource various services such as processing while they concentrate on sales and marketing, a trend that kills innovation.
Research shows that small companies are more effective in applying and channeling innovation towards positive growth than large ones. Small companies try as much as possible to reduce expenses and enhance marginal profits through efficiency and customer satisfaction. This compels them to adopt the most effective methods to provide its products to customers (James, 1996). However, as they grow into large corporations and reach maturity within the industry, a measure of success begins to shift from efficiency to profits. Garber and Amazon are two companies that have taken opposite directions in terms of innovation. Garber is renowned for its lack of innovation dating back to the 1970s.The company settled on rebranding products already in the market after it had grown into a large firm.
The company's documented flop in the market in 1974 was due to its lack of innovation with a product; Garber singles carrots that received limited sales due to the existence of many similar products. Amazon other hand has built its name through its ability to innovate and to generate a loyal customer base loyalty. The company ranks among the top ten most innovative organizations in Forbes magazine (Forbes, 2014).
In conclusion, it is important that companies establish growth based on a culture of creating value for both the organization and the stakeholders. The main objective of a business should be figuring out the best ways to solve its customers' problems. Organizations that built their structures and processes based on innovation can guide the company towards efficient operations. This indeed ensures promising returns (Larry & Nunes, 2014). Managers should focus on steering their companies from growth for the sake of growth but rather pursuing the art of enhancing discovery and engaging in the science of delivery of new solutions. Large companies will avoid falling into the isle of irrelevance and subsequent failure by implementing innovation strategies.
Bibliography
Forbes Magazine. 2014. The World's most innovative companies. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/innovative-companies/list/Harvard Business Press.
Henry, W.C. 2006. Open Business Models: How to Thrive in the New Innovation Landscape.
James M. U. 1996. Mastering the Dynamics of Innovation. Harvard Business Press.
Larry, D. & Nunes, P. 2014. Big Bang Disruption: strategy in the age of devastating innovation. Retrieved from http://yourstory.com/2014/03/big-bang-disruption
