The Role of Innovation and Change in Management - Assignment Example

? Innovation and Change s 21st June Introduction This present paper mainly focus on the concept of innovation, which has been described by Dehoff (2005, 1) as “the ability to define and develop new products and services and then deliver them to the target market.” Additionally, Dehoff (2005, 1) stated that through innovation a business organization is able to obtain competitive advantage and it also act as a source of value creation. Innovation is entwined with the issue of changing business environment that is influenced by various forces that include political, social, economical, technological, and environmental forces. In normal sense, because of the fact that these forces are external to the environment it means that an organisation has to innovate and change to realign itself with these forces in order to stay relevant in the market and on top of the market competition. According to Dehoff (2005, 1-2) the internal factors that influence an organization’s ability to innovate and change is the decision making process within the organization, the amount and nature of information available, motivators within an organization and the structure of an organization. Furthermore, Dehoff (2005, 1) stated that organizations focus their innovation efforts on development cost, quality of services and products, and the time it takes for products and services to reach the market. This present assignment will provide answers to questions regarding innovation and change, drawing on readings and research that were previously provided. The hallmark of strategic innovation Philips et al. (2006, 175-196) conducted a research on the innovation process as well as the effective management of innovation and the findings overwhelmingly indicated that there is are set of good practices or the hallmarks for innovation that denote an effectively managed innovation process. However, these good practices are only applicable in times when there is stability in the market as well as on the products and hence, the innovations are only required to make the market and the product better. Philips et al. (2006, 183) stated that in case there is a realignment in political force, market force, and technological force an organization will be required to implement discontinuous innovation that has its own distinct set of good practices. Philips et al. (2005, 176) listed the hallmarks of strategic innovation and they include close monitoring and evaluation at each stage of innovation, active involvement of users in the innovation process, the early identification of problems with the innovation, simultaneous engineering to assist in the speedy development whilst retaining cross-functional involvement. Other hallmarks of strategic innovation are incorporation of teamwork into the process and utilization of tools such as rapid prototyping or CAD to increase speed and quality of the innovation process. In case of discontinuous innovation, Philips et al. (2005, 183) listed some of the good practices and they include exploring alternative future scenarios and then identifying different possibilities and building the capacity for exploring different innovation strategies at the same time. Importance of organizational features in encouraging innovation Kontoghiorghes et al. (2005, 185-2005) conducted a research study that aimed at exploring the relationship between some characteristics of learning organization and adaption of change, innovation, and the financial performance of an organization. From this study, it is possible to extract the importance of some organizational features in encouraging innovation within an organization. For example, in their study Kontoghiorghes et al. (2005, 197) stated that open communication and information sharing within an organization are the leading organization feature that have an influence on change adaptation, innovation, and improvement of a company’s profitability. These features encourage innovation in the sense that different stakeholders within an organization are able to share freely innovative ideas. The other feature that encourages innovation is risk taking and promotion of idea, this is because if an organization easily accepts to take risk then it is likely to explore different innovative ideas that it will further promote. Thirdly, innovation within an organization is encouraged if there is information, time, and resources that can enable employees to perform their duties more efficiently. Usefulness of linkage analysis in helping managers to visualize change processes and overcome barriers to organizational improvement Goodman and Rousseau (2004, 7-19) presented in their article the linkage approach that offers organizational change that produces results. Goodman and Rousseau (2004, 9) described the linkage analysis as the analysis that focus on ways through which low levels improvements can be transferred or spread across the organization in a uniform manner. This is to say that, linkage analysis explores how an improvement within a department can equally translate to an improvement of the entire organization more so in regards to profitability without affecting the output of other departments. Linkage analysis is useful to managers in order to visualize the change process because it identifies a pathway that shows how a change within a sub-unit will be reflected in the department, and the entire organizational performance (Goodman and Rousseau (2004, 9). From this pathway developed through linkage analysis, managers are able to visualize clearly how any change they implement within the organization will be reflected at each level of the organization. Goodman and Rousseau (2004, 9) further stated that from this visualization, managers will be able to see any potential problem that will create a barrier to organizational improvement and thereafter, they will be able to apply corrective measure such as introducing another change in order to ensure the entire organization experience improvement. The application of a Linkage analysis in a traditional organized company For a traditional company that is wishing to promote innovation and become customer-focused, the linkage analysis can be applied to measure whether improved customer care service will increase customer satisfaction and thereafter increase the company’s profitability. For example, the customer care department can introduce an innovation for ensuring that there is not congestion on the line and therefore, all calls are answered promptly. The linkage analysis will be used to test whether eliminating the call congestion on the line leads to increased customer satisfaction and thereafter increase sales and profitability. If this innovation does not positively affect all levels within an organization then it will be replaced with a different innovation that has the potential to improve the entire organization. Conclusion Conclusively, it can be stated that innovation is a sure way of remaining competitive and even add value to a company, but it is critical for innovation to be implemented in a correct manner and ensure that it improves all functions of a company. References Dehoff, K. Jaruzelski, B. and Kronenberg, E. (2005). Innovation’s OrgDNA. USA: Booz & Company Inc. Goodman, P. and Rousseau, D. (2004). Organizational change that produces results: The linkage approach. Academy of Management Executive. Vol. 18 (3) 7-21 Kontoghiorghes, C. Awbrey, S. and Feurig, P. (2005). Examining the Relationship between Learning Organization Characteristics and Change Adaptation, Innovation, and Organizational Performance. Human Resource Development Quarterly. Vol 16 (2) 185- 207 Philips, W. Noke, H. Bessant, J. and Lamming, R. (2005). Beyond the Steady State: Managing Discontinuous Product and Process Innovation. International Journal of Innovation Management. Vol 10 (2). 175-196 Read More