Learning From Failure: Knowledge and Innovation Management - Term Paper Example

Knowledge and Innovation Management With the increasing levels of globalization resulting from liberalization of markets, efficient flow of information, and integration of economies, the level of competition in the market has increased tremendously. This results from the entry of multinational companies which have a huge financial base to segment the market, position their products strategically in the market, and attract customer loyalty towards their products and services. In order for the businesses to remain competitive, knowledge and innovation have become important aspects towards the success of the organization. This paper will therefore, discuss various perspectives associated with knowledge and innovation management. Knowledge management entails, capturing, disseminating, developing, sharing, and using of the organization knowledge. Managing knowledge in an organization is very critical in achieving the set goals and objectives. In addition, it improves the competitiveness of the business in the market. This plays a significant role in maintaining a constant flow of revenue. In addition, it motivates the employees to aim high, an aspect that is replicated in the overall performance of the business (Malhotra 2000). Innovation management is the practice of managing the processes involved in innovation. Most organizations anticipate the future based on the experiences. When the past is suspended, and the future is envisioned, it becomes easy to recognize the forces of growth and change (Pauleen 2007). A holistic view of the anticipated future experiences has a better impact on the innovation than placing emphasis on the past. It is crucial to develop a hypothesis for the future rather than predicting it. Breakthroughs rarely survive without a strong and working decision making model. This model should differ with the model used in incremental innovation. It has become increasingly clear that old models rarely work (Dess 2012). Technology dependent decision making systems have the weakness of failing to engage the vital stakeholders. Automation in decision making causes consensus to be hard to obtain. Therefore, a health decision making system seldom works without a champion who can engage teams and make decisions to enhance mutual progress. The products life cycle is drastically becoming smaller with time in comparison to the past. It is quite notable that in the technological devaluation of the products is moving at a high speed especially in the information technology industry. In a short span, a lot of changes are evident, and this brings about the need to be creative. Majority of the companies try to keep up with the competition by, bringing up new product into the market before their competitors. This increases their sale thus maximizing their profit. Competition brings in the need for companies to be innovative so as maintain and improve their market position (Darroch & McNaughton 2002). For a company to achieve all this, it must know how to identify the correct innovation management tools, which are of exceptional significant in realizing its goals. Rewarding of employees is one of the knowledge management concepts that have enabled many companies to scale into higher heights than expected. Financial reward and honorary are some of the ways that different companies uses to motivate upcoming entrepreneurs and innovators. The aspect that most of the innovative employees want is to see their idea nurtured to become a reality and their effort rewarded (Darroch 2005). The top most companies have been on the forefront in rewarding outstanding entrepreneurial achievements hence motivating them to work extra hard to achieve more. All these achievements made are for the better of the company. On the other hand, it is of concern to note that not all innovations that succeeds. Some fail and how the company handles those cases are as relevant as dealing with success (Plessis 2007). Innovative companies and any other upcoming companies should emulate such managerial strategies to improve their status and grow economically and knowledge wise. Before releasing any product, managers take time to research and know the tastes and preferences of the target market. The technical team takes time to figure out the solutions that the users and advertisers are willing to pay for and not just coming up with new products that would not sell. This process does not create a perfect product. On the contrary, it creates a lot of potential. For example, the Google team is well aware of the exceptional competition there is between them and their competitors. When they cannot come up with a product that their customers want they buy it from other companies to keep their customers thus maximizing profit. Therefore, they have managed to identify their playing field and worked hard to maintain their status. This was achievable through the use of a search engine that dominates the internet and creation of an advertising system that monetizes web pages better than any other system. Successful organizations that are known to drive innovation in their projects have a blind commitment to the consumer tastes and preferences. They are known to have a slave like dedication to the concerns of the consumers. Innovation management demands that high quality marketing plans and action to be taken with an aim have a higher rate of success with it come to consumer response. Market studies show that such products are blessed with double success rates and over 70 per cent high share in the market than those with poor marketing strategies. Therefore, marketing has a place in the management of innovation. A strong customer focus and marketing orientation is noticeably lacking in the modern business conduct what new products launch. Delivering a differentiated product with unique customer benefit with a strong appeal to clients is one of the success factors in innovation. Superior products have a significant influence in the management of innovation (Dalkir 2011). It is said to meet customer need in a better way compared to ordinary non competitive products. Superior products have a high success rate and stronger appeal to customers unlike products that lack this ingredient. Not many firms can point to the facets of the new products that show uniqueness of their new products. Most organizations are known favor repetitive production and straightforward procedures that do not cost much. Inexpensive products are known to cause inferior products in most cases. Companies are beginning to influence the process of design with an aim to fan products superiority a way of enhancing innovation management. The concept of superior concept is a critical success factor in the innovation management (Trott, 2005). Defining products and target market have a major impact of the management of innovation. The concept of the product, positioning and benefits, are necessary to define the impact of the management of innovation. Depending on how this concept is handled, it can lead to failure or delays of newly innovated products. Products specs and features need to be well defined to lessen ambiguity and a strong an authentic appeal to the clients. A definition gate is necessary for the success of the innovation process and its management. Research shows that despite the fact that stable and early definition of the product being cited as one of the major ingredients of success and innovation, not many organizations are embracing the concept (Burden, MacIntosh, & Srikantaiah 2000). Innovation and knowledge management cannot be successful without successful product launch. The concepts of innovation and knowledge management must be seen as a process rather than an event. It is not enough to have a superior product. New product successful launchers are known to spend twice the amount that is spent by the companies that fail. Therefore, it’s vital to conduct a quality launch of the new product. It entails well planned strategies to facilitate innovation management (Starbuck, Holloway, Whalen, & Tilleman 2008). However, research shows that launches that are done as an afterthought demonstrate poor innovation management plans and strategies. Innovation and knowledge management entails packaging products and services and making it acceptable to the customers. Organizations have a tendency to let product development to go far without serious scrutiny. This leads to misallocation of resources (Becerra-Fernandez & Leidner 2008). Innovation management necessitates tough decision points for success to be achieved. Scrutiny in innovation management is a vital factor needed for success. Scrutiny does not necessarily advocate for bureaucracies. It is a strong demand for accountability and transparency in the process of innovation. Teamwork is extremely necessary when it comes to products innovation management. Management takes team collaboration and sharing for successful results to be achieved (International, 2005). As a result, it has become accepted that for innovation management to be successful, strong and dedicated teams should be used. This also demands sequential problems solving techniques. Problems should be shared and addressed with a holistic approach. Good innovation management demands that projects be organized as a cross functional team. Numerous studies show that a strong project leader is necessary when it comes to innovation management. Organizations should ensure that innovation managers are qualified or experienced. Team leaders can affect the success of organizational innovation. Top management should be able to oversee projects from start to the end. A strong team should be able to be consistent and steadfast while managing or implementing the process of innovation. Therefore, qualified teams are a critical success factor in innovation management (Goh 2005). According to research, 88 per cent of successful management of innovation requires able teams that are familiar with the nature of the innovation process. Successful innovation management requires that the products that are being launched get an international outlook. This means that innovation should aim at international markets as opposed to domestic markets. A critical factor of success in innovation management is the ability if the process to develop products or services that meet international standards and that appeal to international clients. Companies in North America are known to miss the international dimension. This could mean developing different products that appeal to different markets in the world for the same innovation team. International innovation management approach means adopting transnational approach in the process of innovation (Trott, 2005). It also entails utilizing cross-functional teams in which members come from different cultures and markets. This makes it easy to gather information from different parts of the world. Multiple international markets require a different approach for a brand to make the intended impact. This may entail having new product designs which are customized for different markets in the world. Modern information technology has a crucial role when it comes to implementation of decisions on innovation and knowledge management. It helps in capturing competitors and management models and decision support systems. Through the use of information technology, successful solutions in competitive situations are analyzed. It also creates exclusive meeting or access to knowledge databases that can be of much help when it comes to management decisions. Such knowledge is helpful is implementation of decision touching on innovation management. Information technology reduces the time needed to transfer such knowledge. As a result, information technology is known to facilitate maintenance of continuance innovation in organizations. Knowledge storage and transfer are all crucial in the process of innovation management. All this is maintained through the use of information technology. It helps the teams involved in the innovation process. This happens by reducing the time needed to either search for knowledge or even transfer it. The impact of this in an organization is increased efficiency in the innovation process. It is also known to enhance the quality of products and employees participation (Albers, 2004). The role of innovation management is not confined to oversight committees. According to Ray, identification and storage roles of information technology are indispensable when it comes to the contribution done by information technology in the modern world. When organizations have a strong capacity to maintain large databases and up-to-date inventories of the resources they own, they become better innovators and managers than when they do not (Morel & Hosni 2005). Therefore, the role of information technology in the management of innovation is crucial. Information technology and innovation go hand in hand. Information technology is seen as a result of innovation (Tidd & Bessant 2011). Therefore, organizations have begun investing in the latest technology including research and innovation of cutting edge technologies. In conclusion, Innovation and knowledge management depends of many critical facts for them to succeed. Therefore, they must be seen as processes that start with a plan and the climax is the successful launch of a product. The entire processes need qualified and dedicated personnel who ensure quality work. It also requires strict adhering to the timelines and an aggressive oversight strategy. Strong, motivated teams with able leadership are a vital ingredient in the process of innovation and knowledge management at large. This is facilitated by the use of modern technology which helps is solving time, information storage and transfer. In the world, today, technology is seen as a must when it comes to successful innovation management. Furthermore, organizations that place emphasis on the superiority of the product are seen to be successful in innovation management and new products launch. This is because the success of innovation is seen through consumer appeal are response in the market place. References Albers, S., & Brockhoff, K. 2004. Cross-functional innovation management: Perspectives from different disciplines : to Klaus Brockhoff for his 65. birthday. Wiesbaden: Gabler. Becerra-Fernandez, I., & Leidner, D. E. 2008. Knowledge management: An evolutionary view. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, Inc. Burden, P. R., MacIntosh, M., Srikantaiah, T., & KM 2000 Workshop. 2000. Knowledge management: The bibliography. Medford, NJ: Information Today. Dalkir, K. 2011. Knowledge management in theory and practice. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Darroch, J., & McNaughton, R. 2002. Examining the link between knowledge management practices and types of innovation. Journal of Intellectual Capital, 3(3), 210-222. Darroch, J. 2005. Knowledge management, innovation and firm performance. Journal of Knowledge Management, 9(3), 101-115. Dess, G. G. 2012. Strategic management: Text and cases. New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Goh, A. L. 2005. Harnessing knowledge for innovation: an integrated management framework. Journal of Knowledge Management, 9(4), 6-18. International, C. M. 2005. Management of technology: Key success factors for innovation and sustainable development : selected papers from the twelfth International Conference on Management of Technology. Amsterdam: Elsevier. Malhotra, Y. 2000. Knowledge management and virtual organizations. Hershey, PA: Idea Group Pub. Pauleen, D. J. 2007. Cross-cultural perspectives on knowledge management. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited. Plessis, M. D. 2007. The role of knowledge management in innovation. Journal of Knowledge Management, 11(4), 20-29. Starbuck, W. H., Holloway, S., Whalen, P. S., & Tilleman, S. G. 2008. Organizational learning and knowledge management. Cheltenham, Glos: Edward Elgar Pub. Tidd, J., Bessant, J. R., & Pavitt, K. 2001. Managing innovation: Integrating technological, market and organizational change. Chichester [England: John Wiley. Trott, P. 2008. Innovation management and new product development. Harlow, England: Financial Times/Prentice Hall. Read More