The paper is dedicated to the role of innovation as the implementation of a new system in the company’s operating objectives, management, and business goals.
In general, the concept of innovation as a managerial and business concept implies the introduction of new approaches for the improvement of operational processes. With its growth, a company cannot rely on internal processes without addressing external needs for competitive development (Lopes et al., 2016; Üçler and Yavuz, 2019). For PowerDoc, the implementation of technologies presupposed the improvement of managerial processes, optimization, a decrease in bureaucracy, and employees’ performance (PowerDoc, no date; Clegg, Harris and Hopfl, 2011). As the client base expanded, the company’s management implemented a word-processing system to increase secretaries’ productivity, centralize operational processes, and reduce business costs.
It is absolutely unclear whether a new system implementation provided any benefits to PowerDoc. It aimed to increase productivity and reduce costs, however, the centralization of the system decreased the quality of the product, did not create additional support for secretaries but could contribute to the disproportion of performance and payment (PowerDoc, no date). In turn, a successful system implementation may be observed through the example of Fulton & Roark. This company did not have a centralized system and attracted external accountants before its growth, which determined the necessity of an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system implementation (Strutner, 2022). As a result, it substantially increased its sales without increasing headcount, stopped using external services, and optimized operation processes (Oracle, no date; Beal, 2019). While Fulton & Roark’s management benefited from a new system, for PowerDoc, it created additional challenges but did not significantly improve the existing situation.
The implementation of new technologies aims to impact the business’s strategic and operating objectives positively. In the case of PowerDoc, its objectives were the efficient management of increased workloads by secretaries and the enhancement of their productivity, the reduction of costs, and the centralization and optimization of working processes along with the preservation of the high quality of the company’s products and services (PowerDoc, no date). According to Goncalves et al. (2010), the use of modern technologies and systems allows businesses to promote cooperation between stakeholders and focus on interactions between team members. The aim of technologies should be in the optimization of business processes for the avoidance of unnecessary or repeated activities, increase in productivity, and the attraction of new consumers by time-sensitive and high-quality services (Dodgson, Gann and Satter, 2008; Goffin and Mitchell, 2017). In PowerDoc, while the introduction of a common word-processing pool raised output, it decreased the quality of products and employees’ performance through the necessity to control the achievement of standards. Thus, it did not release workforce tension and did not reduce costs.
In order to avoid crucial mistakes, the company’s management could approach innovations slightly differently. First of all, it could organize innovation auditing to identify opportunities, variants, strengths, weaknesses, advantages, and drawbacks of innovation (Frishammar et al., 2018). In addition, the position of all stakeholders in relation to changes should be considered (Hayes, 2018). Moreover, management could implement the most appropriate system on the basis of auditing results and form a team of secretaries who could be responsible for the quality control of all documents that enter the pool. In this case, the company could cut its costs through the absence of secretaries and assistants for every project team. In addition, all products would be reviewed through a centralized system that would avoid non-cooperated activities.
Reference List
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Clegg, S. R., Harris, M. and Hopfl, H. (2011) Managing modernity: beyond bureaucracy? Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Dodgson, M., Gann, D. and Satter, A. (2008) The management of technological innovation: strategy and practice. Oxford: OUP Oxford.
Frishammar, J. et al. (2018) ‘Opportunities and challenges in the new innovation landscape: implications for innovation auditing and innovation management’, European Management Journal, 37(2), pp. 151-164.
Goffin, K. and Mitchell, R. (2017) Innovation management: effective strategy and implementation. New York, NY: Red Global Press.
Goncalves, A. et al. (2010) ‘How to use information technology effectively to achieve business objectives,’ Chapter 1.2, pp. 1-16.
Hayes, R. (2018) The theory and practice of change management. Basingstone: Palmgrave Macmillan.
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