Innovation is one of the most common concepts in modern business and social relations. Regardless of a generally acceptable definition of innovations, I am strongly inclined to believe that it is perceived subjectively, not objectively. In this way, the understanding of innovation is individual. For me, innovation is not about introducing the newest technologies or upgrading operations and employee activities.
Instead, it is changing the way of thinking in order to alter business outcomes and improve output in case of manufacturing products and enhance customer satisfaction when providing services, thus differentiating among competitors. Thinking of innovation, I cannot but recall the example of Etisalat – the UAE telecommunications provider that managed to become a regional leader and one of the most influential international companies. As for now, it is actively engaged in supporting innovative products (for instance, developing virtual mall) that definitely makes it outstanding compared to other telecommunication providers not only because of using the newest technologies but also materializing ideas that others are not familiar with yet. Innovative, is not it?
Because being innovative is about altering the way of thinking, I do believe that the choice of an effective strategy for implementing changes is inseparable from reviewing the development of the current environment of a company and acting in compliance with other industries. It is the so-called evolutionary strategy of innovations. When reviewing the principles of this approach, I immediately thought of Etisalat. One may be questioning my choice of the company. However, I would like to point to the fact that the level of the company’s growth differs based on the needs and development rates of the countries it expanded to. From this perspective, it deploys currently available resources for innovating its activities instead of allocating unreasonably impressive volumes of investment in developing networks. Is not it effective?