Innovation is an important concept to understand as a manager and for an organisation as a whole. Used in the correct manner, innovation can give an organisation the competitive advantage they need to be a success in their market. Firstly, it is useful to look at innovation in general. Innovations are ideas that are developed into new products or processes. They result in changes that customers recognize as new. Put in even simpler terms, innovation is the process of making improvements by introducing something new. Therefore, the two words that sum innovation up are ‘process’ and ‘new’. Defining Innovation Innovation is doing things in new ways in order to achieve significant results and make a huge difference in performance compared to others. Innovation’s goal is to have a positive change, to make someone or something better. Testing and evaluation of ideas is critical in achieving this goal. The ideas that Continue reading
Modern Management Practices
Synergy Map
The Synergy Map method was developed in 1998 by Martin Eppler. It can be used to find synergies between various activities or goals. The synergy map facilitates the visual discussion of the main goals and sub-goals necessary to move the implementation of a strategy forward during a particular time frame. In this method, goals and activities are defined and prioritized and then introduced into a timing circuit. The objectives will be distributed on the circle according to their temporal component, ie, short, medium and long term and permanent. With the connection of the individual targets are shown with arrows indicating the synergies and conflicts. Each identified goal synergy (i.e., how one goal can help another or how two goals can be used for mutual benefits) and each goal conflict are captured as arrows on the map that connect two goals. The Synergy Map can be used on a personal level Continue reading
Developing the Internal Capability for Change Management
One of the fundamental challenges facing leaders today is how to regularly transform the business through major change initiatives, with minimum disruption. Change is changing: it is becoming more frequent, radical and complex. Research suggests that 70% of projects fail to secure their anticipated benefits because organizations install new systems, processes or practices, but fail to implement the change fully–people are not sufficiently personally committed to the new ways of working to sustain them. Developing the internal capability for Change Management is an essential step in assuring the successful implementation of any change project. It is also a factor that will enable the organization to continue to optimize its performance in response to changing service demands and new strategic drivers. To develop the internal process management capability organizations should: Define the roles in Change Management, and where possible, involve the future change managers in the analysis and re-design Establish and Continue reading
An Introduction to Blue Ocean Strategy
Blue Ocean Strategy Blue ocean strategy was coined by professors W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne in their book “Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and the Make Competition Irrelevant” (2005). Based on 15 years of research, the authors used 150 successful strategic moves spanning 120 years of business history and across 30 industries to bring the Blue Ocean Strategy theory to life. This strategy gives a new approach to the formation of new business strategies for all businesses. Blue ocean strategy is a way to make the competition irrelevant by creating a leap in value for both the company and its customers. Blue ocean strategy is to defined, in red oceans, existing industries and businesses, an unknown market space that has never been tapped by any player in the current industry. In Red oceans, competition is severe; existing players try to outperform their rivals by using Continue reading
Competitive Intelligence (CI) – Definition, Need and Benefits
The growing competition in the business industry has made it necessary for any company to stay in competition or have a competitive advantage over its competitors, adequate and relevant information about the competitors need to be received or known at the right time in other to make a good strategic business decision. Competitive intelligence is defined as a systematic process that transforms random bits and pieces of data into strategic knowledge. This information comprises about competitors, customers, technological, environmental, product and market in. other to make a good strategic decision. Competitive intelligence is described as those activities a company undertake in determining and understanding its industry as well as identifying and understanding the competitors, also determine and understand their weaknesses and strength and anticipate their next move(s). This definition of competitive intelligence tends to identify/determine, understand and anticipate industry and competitors. Furthermore competitive intelligence is a process of monitoring the Continue reading
Case Study on Corporate Entrepreneurship: Steve Jobs of Apple
Corporate Entrepreneurship is broadly described as the process whereby an individual or a group of individuals, in association with an existing organization, create a new organization or instigate renewal or innovation within that organization. This definition includes two aspects of CE, a new business creation within existing organizations and renewal of the current strategy of the corporation. The vital notion is that corporations must capitalize on the entrepreneurial thinking of the managers to chase future evolution under changing and uncertain environments. Overall, studies suggest that Corporate Entrepreneurship activities are composed of three areas: idea generation, selection, and implementation or retention. Autonomy is an integral and central part of CE. Under conditions of change and uncertainty, providing autonomy to enterprising managers and encouraging them to elaborate on their own experience and ideas is a more promising approach than formal strategy development that relies solely on top management. It has been argued Continue reading