Introduction
Companies carry different types of operations as part of their strategies directed toward achieving their objectives. Operations involve activities that may lead to creativity and innovations. Analysis indicates that innovations can be helpful to a company.
This is because it incorporates new ideas in the company that can improve the performance of a company. By definition, innovations are the new ideas that give different directions on how to improve a company’s products and services (Brown, 2005).
Question
What is the importance of innovations in operations management and what should we consider before incorporating these innovations in a company’s operations?
Discussion
Innovation is the discovery of different approaches that can influence operation’s performance when put in practice. Not all innovations are helpful; some may be disastrous to an extent of damaging a company’s operations while some may positively influence a company’s operations if carefully evaluated.
When these newly developed ideas are integrated in a company’s operations, a different direction in operations is created that consequently improves a company’s performance. Although before integrating these ideas, careful evaluation, analysis and tests should be carried out to ensure that the ideas are viable for exploitation.
If proven viable, company operations will be more efficient followed by improvements in product and service sale, thus an increase in overall company’s performance. Additionally, these ideas can create cheaper way of performing a company’s operations but still maintain its maximum outputs.
This may reduce a company’s expenditure on operations consequently increasing its competitiveness with better market position than its competitors. Incorporating innovation in a company’s operations develops a dynamic culture that would help it easily adapt to any future changes.
It also helps a company cope up with the ever changing technology especially if it poses enormous impact to the company’s operations and performance in general (Lewis & slack 2003).
Not all the innovative ideas may be of help; some may be disappointing while others superb. This can only be determined by careful evaluation of each and every idea before incorporating them in operations.
One should carry out detailed evaluations of these ideas so as to understand the strength and weaknesses before using them in company’s operation. Before giving the newly developed ideas a chance in the company’s operations, strength of the ideas should be greater than the ones in use, contrary to the weakness which should be less.
Opportunities and threats should also be evaluated on the ideas with the ones that create greater opportunities being put into practice. Additionally, opportunities created should be of greater potential than the present opportunities so as to realize positive impacts on the company’s operations.
These innovations should be practically tested at small scale operations and monitored carefully, after which the results are analyzed and measured with their performances noted (Zairi, 1999).
In the event that the ideas prove beneficial than current ones, they should be integrated in the company for it to realize an improvements in operation and the company’s performance in general.
Conclusion
In conclusion, innovations are important in the management of company’s operations. It gives different directions towards the achievement of a company’s goals and objectives. It is important to carefully evaluate innovations before practically incorporating them in the business operations.
Additionally, innovations should not only positively impact operations but should also be better than the current practices for the realization of greater performance in the company.
References
Brown, M. (2005). Strategic operations management. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann
Lewis, M. & slack, N. (2003). Operations Management: Critical Perspectives on Business and Management. New York: Routledge
Zairi, M. (1999). Best practice: process innovation management. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann