Innovation at Alphacorp
To adequately assess the focus on innovation that AlphaCorp is pursuing, it is worth considering the lessons learned from the companies whose cases are similar to that of the imaginary establishments. For instance, one can turn to Procter & Gamble’s experience in outsourcing and innovation which is very well reflected in the well-known book “The Game Changer” (Lafley & Charan, 2008).
It appears that AlphaCorp is making the same mistake: it does not account for innovation as a scalable practice. P&G leaders have admitted they overlooked the scalability of their innovation, too. There is no innovation to speak of when an organization does not take the scalability of its innovative practices as a point to consider, does not specifically formulate it in its outsourcing contract, and does not integrate them into its business strategy.
To generalize, what has to be done is a re-make of innovative practices. Relying on the experience of P&G, it is worth investing some time in building a culture of innovation so that all the employees, particularly the outsourced, are aware of how they can contribute to that. The innovation culture has to start with the leadership which is responsible for embedding the innovation-oriented paradigm into the culture. About outsourcing, innovative ideas can – and should – be looked for outside the company, for instance, through new partnerships. Such a practice can help broaden the company’s capacity and create an open culture.
Alphacorp’s approach in Latin America
Referring yet again to the experience of other major companies, one can regard Xerox as an example of poor innovation focus. Xerox’s innovative practices have been led by science and technology rather than the consumers’ needs, which has served as a basis for critique (DeFillippi, Dumas, & Bhatia, 2014). Assuming that the services that AlphaCorp renders in Latin America are generally poor and are mostly concerned with customer dissatisfaction, the practices for this country would be as follows.
Considering that B&B already has a market presence in this country, it can outsource innovation by hiring Latin Americans who are aware of the local values and needs. Once B&B is already present in the Latin American market, its growth can only continue through the development of new products. On the other hand, expanding the target market requires a consumer-oriented approach, which means the company has to establish better relationships with the consumers. Relying on the consumers’ feedback, the company has to fix the existing service issues – and only then can it start innovating. Consequently, the practices would be different for Latin America.
Future outsourcing arrangements with other service providers to ensure innovation in B&B
In general, it can be recommended that B&B engages in further partnerships to outsource innovation. Procter & Gamble has made some clever moves for that matter; for instance, the P&G leadership can allow itself to organize small meetings with representatives of different providers and, occasionally, competitors (Lafley & Charan, 2008). The competitive information is, thus, not acquired by any unsavory practices.
On the contrary: the competitors can prove to be useful, if not collaborative, while simply hinting at new ideas for development in terms of technologies and products. Another useful step to innovate while fixing the Latin American issue would be outsourcing for HR and innovation abroad. By doing so B&B would achieve what P&G has achieved: the innovation that flows from outside the U.S. and is integrated into the innovation culture that the company fosters.
References
DeFillippi, R., Dumas, C., & Bhatia, S. (2014). Genesis and Evolution of the Xerox-P&G Co-Innovation Partnership: Lessons Learned. In R. Culpan (Ed.), Open Innovation through Strategic Alliances: Approaches for Product, Technology, and Business Model Creation (pp. 121-144). Berlin, Germany: Springer.
Lafley, A. G., & Charan, R. (2008). The Game-Changer: How You Can Drive Revenue and Profit Growth with Innovation. Danvers, MA: Crown Business.