Innovation and Change
According to Hage (1999), organizational innovation can be defined as the process through which an organization adopts certain behaviour or an idea which is new to the organization (p. 3).
Innovation in an organization can be reflected in terms of a new form of technology, new practice in administration, new service or a new product. In the current business world, most top management leaders are paying extra attention on innovation in their individual organizations. This is in an effort to come up with necessary changes in order to improve on performance of their respective organizations.
On the other hand, change is the result of innovation in an organization. For instance, development of a new management practice may lead to changes in the management structure. Also, an introduction of a new technology may lead to an improvement on organization’s level of efficiency which may be followed by radical changes in an organization.
These changes are characterized by increased efficiency and productivity in an organisation. This discussion gives an analysis of innovation and change in organizations and its importance to individual organizations. In other words, innovation is the central subject in business prosperity.
Importance of Innovation to the Business; Why It Matters To Companies
In every organization, the level of innovation plays a critical role in determining its performance. In the modern business world, changes and innovation level has increased significantly due to changes in the nature of the market.
In the modern business world, the market is characterized by a very high level of competition. The market has become more customer oriented, the factor which has increased a need to innovate in order to meet these changes (Mariposa, 2010, par 1). For instance, the phones’ market has become very competitive in the current mobile phones market. Different companies have entered into the market with different varieties of mobile phones.
Nokia Company is one of the oldest and successful companies in the mobile phone market. Due to increase in level of competition, the company has heavily invested in innovation as a strategy to remain above its competitors. Therefore, organizations are paying more attention on innovation in order to survive in such kind of markets.
One of the major reasons for innovations in organizations is to improve on its performance. For instance, new technologies can significantly help in improving the level of performance in different areas. For instance Nokia has improved on its products through an innovation in technology. In other words, innovation enables an organization to survive in a competitive world.
In connection to this, innovation can significantly contribute in development of competitive advantage. For instance, when a company manages to innovate on new technology, it will be able to produce more efficiently and therefore reduce on its operational costs. New technology may also help in increasing quality of the products in a company.
Consequently, such kind of producer will gain competitive advantage over its competitors. The company will be able to offer higher quality products in the market at lower prices and still retain its profitability.
Innovations can also delight the customer which leads to increase in the level of sales (Mariposa, 2010, par 2). For instance, Nokia Company has maintained its high level of sales through innovations. For instance, the company has been adding different features on its products through innovations.
The company has managed to add features like radio, MMS and blue tooth in order to delight its customers. This has increase the level of sales. Such innovations entice consumers to buy the product. Up to date, the company stills invests more on research and development in order to retain high level of innovations.
Nokia Company has managed to remain at the top of its competitors like Samsung through its innovative nature. It has developed a good reputation in the market through its high quality products. The company has also managed to provide a wide range of its products which has significantly attracted the attention of its customers.
Innovations can also help an organization to shine in a market where there is high supply of similar goods. In some cases, there may be several options available to customers in the market for a certain product. In such cases, innovations can make the organisation’s goods to stand out from many other similar goods in the market (Mariposa, 2010, par 3).
For instance, there are several companies which manufacture watches. However, a watch from a certain company can stand out from the shelf among other similar watches due to innovative features applied. Nokia Company conducts an intensive research on the needs of the customers in the market and then conducts innovations with respect to consumer’s tastes.
This is unlike other companies which have heavily been relying on imported technology in order to make new developments. For instance, through research, the company recognized that consumers preferred smaller phones to big ones. On realizing this, Nokia came up with new developments which led to increase in sales. The company developed a technology to reduce the size of its mobile phones. This approach in innovation has significantly contributed to the success of the company.
Difference between Innovation and Change
The concepts of change and innovation overlap each other. The two concepts diverge in some point and converge on another. However, both innovation and change plays a very significant role in every organization.
According to Osborne and Brown (2005), change is a broad aspect which involves growth and development of one or more elements in an organization (5). Change reflects a difference between two time periods.
For instance, an organization may make developments on the management or administration. An organization may also involve the development of changes in the goods or services provided by an organization. For instance, Nokia Company has been making developments on its products which have led to changes in the company. For instance, a new product may require a change in the production process. This may require adjustments in an organisation.
On the other hand, innovation can be seen as a specific form of change (Osborne and Brown 2005: 5). Innovation can be described as deliberate efforts which are applied by an organization in order to realize improvements.
Innovation Management; Methods of Managing Innovations in an Organization
In order for an organization to retain a high level of innovation, it must have a clear management of innovation. As already noted, innovation is an important component of success in every organization. It provides a company with new opportunities (Mullen 2008: par 1). It also enables an organization to remain above its competitors. It is therefore important for every organization to have a clear change management process.
Mullen (2008) asserted that innovation is not just about good ideas in a business, it also include management of these new ideas as well as making adjustments on the old ideas taking the market and technology into account (par 2). In other words, the magnitude by which an organization benefits from an innovation will significantly be determined by the company’s efforts to manage these innovations. Otherwise, an organization will gain very little from new ideas and developments.
In order to benefit from innovation, leaders must create an innovative environment. The modern business world is characterized by a very high level of competition. Therefore, it calls for high level of performance in all the areas in an organization. Therefore, in managing innovation, managers should ensure that every area in the company retains high level of excellence in order to retain a high level of innovation.
Every component part of the business including product management, manufacturing, product management, sales and service and design, and design and development should record a good performance in order to have effective innovations in a company (Mullen 2008: par 4).
Co-operation is also an important element in innovation within a company. Managers must also encourage meetings, teamwork and committees in day to day activities in a company (Mullen 2008: par 8). Members representing different areas in the company must come together and co-operate in order to have effective innovations in an organization. Lack of co-operation may lead to disagreements which may threat innovation within an organization.
Lack of clarity and conciseness in business processes discourages innovation. It is therefore important for every organization to have a clear and concise business processes in order to encourage innovation. Every process must be clear and easily understood in all levels.
Organizational Change
Organizational change is another important element in business. Changes in organizations are now more frequent than before. Change allows a business to move from one level to another. Change leads to improvement in the level of efficiency, profitability and the overall productivity.
Therefore, change is very important factor which determines the success of an organization. Every leader in an organization has a responsibility in facilitating effective change in a company. Failure of any one of the departments can significantly affect the success of change process.
There are different types of organizational change. In an organization, we can have planned or unplanned changes. Planned changes are those changes which result from day to day operations in an organization. They are not planned. On the other hand, planned changes are changes in an organization which result from efforts made by the management in an organization.
We can also have slow and gradual change on one hand and radical change on the other. Weick and Quinn (1999) observed that the ability of an organisation to defeat its competitors is significantly determined by its ability to sustain change in the company (9).
Skills to manage and lead changes effectively are of great significance in organizations. Leaders should be able to convince every party in an organisation about the value gain through a specific change in order to reduce opposition to change.
It is necessary to keep open mind in order to have effective change. That is, one should not assume that a change will have negative impacts on an organisation. In other words, it is advisable to be optimistic towards change. Pessimism will undermine the success of change process.
Flexibility is also important in change management. An organisation should be ready to discard the old methods and embrace new ones. This can be encouraged through interactions among employees. It is also necessary to be patient has change takes time.
Change Management
Change plays a very important role in every organization. As already seen, change implies growth and development in different operations in an organization. However, these changes do not just occur automatically. Managers should come up with strategies through which to manage and boost change processes in an organization.
When change takes place in an organization, it is not always welcomed by all employees. Some may reject while others may welcome it. Therefore, managers should be able to foresee such reactions before implementing changes in order to be able to tackle the situation effectively.
Change management is the process through which an organization attains its future goals. As an organization does this, the traditional system pulls these efforts on the opposite direction. Past studies have indicated that 90% of the change initiatives which affects the past culture in an organization fail to meet their objectives (Atkinson 2005:13).
The success of an organization in realizing change depends on its ability to manage change. Atkinson (2005) observed that most big companies fail in implementing change in their organizations due to their inability to manage these changes well (16).
One of the ways which managers can use in order to come up with successful changes is by developing a methodology and attitude necessary to implement changes in an organization (Atkinson 2005:17).
Conclusion
In conclusion, this discussion has clearly shown that innovation plays significant role in an organization. In the modern business world, the market is highly competitive. There are many competitors, the factor which has raised the need for innovation. Innovation is the major factor which helps an organization to remain ahead of its competitors. Therefore, it is necessary for every business to have clear innovation and change management in order to remain profitable. Otherwise, it will be difficult to remain in the market.
Reference List
Atkinson, P., 2005. Managing Resistance to Change. Institute of Management Services. Volume: 49, Issue: 1, ISSN: 03076768
Hage, J.,1999. Organizational Innovation and Organizational Change. University of Maryland. Annu. Rev. Sociol. 1999. 25:597.622.
Mariposa, A., 2010. Importance of Innovation in Business. Web.
Mullen, C., 2008. Innovation Management. Web.
Osborne, S. & Brown, K., 2005. Managing Change and Innovation In Public Service Organizations. New York: Routledge.
Weick, K. & Quinn, R., 1999. Organizational Change and Development. University of Michigan Business School. Annu. Rev. Psychol. 1999. 50:361.86.