Protecting Innovative Ideas and Funding Options

The provided document discusses the importance of innovation in a competitive business world. It explains that innovation is a continuous process different from invention, which can be achieved through product, process, position, or paradigm changes. The document also touches on funding options such as venture capital, angel funding, banks, personal savings, and crowd funding. Additionally, it covers intellectual property protection methods like patents, trademarks, and design registration rights to safeguard innovative ideas.

INNOVATION AND
COMMERCIALIZATION
1

Introduction....................................................................................................................................3
LO-1: The context for innovation and the difference between invention and innovation......3
Task-1: Explaining innovation and determining its importance to organizations in comparison
with invention..............................................................................................................................3
Task-2: Explaining how organizational vision, leadership, culture and teamwork can shape
innovation and commercialization...............................................................................................5
LO-2: Explaining the different types of innovation....................................................................6
Task-1: Explaining the 4Ps of innovation and the use of the innovation funnel to examine and
shape innovative ideas.................................................................................................................6
Task-2: Explaining developments in frugal innovation and provide examples of how it is used
in an organizational context.........................................................................................................8
LO-3: Discussing the process required to commercialize innovation.......................................9
Task-1: Importance of the commercial funnel and the application of New Product
Development (NPD) processing for commercialisation of innovation.......................................9
Task-2: Building an Innovation Business Case for an organisation, including ways to access
funding.......................................................................................................................................11
LO-4: Evaluate the range of methods for protecting ideas and understand their advantages
and disadvantages........................................................................................................................13
Task-1: Evaluating the different tools that organisations can use to develop, retain and protect
knowledge and intellectual property..........................................................................................13
Conclusion....................................................................................................................................14
References.....................................................................................................................................16
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INTRODUCTION
One of the basic needs of today’s world is to be progressive in nature. Internationally this
is very important for an organization to survive. A company which is innovative is always ready
to change. They have set objectives in their mind and build up strategies to achieve those
objectives. They do thorough research on the creative idea and implement it in real world. This
report does a detail analysis of innovation and commercialization. It highlights the factors that
are responsible for bringing an innovative idea, the misunderstandings about innovations in our
mind, strategies that will be helpful to implement hose innovative ideas and the process of
innovation implementation. Innovation is a solution for the organizations to survive in today’s
world. One of the essential components of innovation is novelty. One of the famous scientist said
that disruptive innovation is the key to simplicity. An organization has to show how they are
different from others. They have to be competitive and always ready for change in the
organization. The smart thoughts that the individual have in their mind can be converted into
innovative idea. These innovative ideas are further refined by the organization to make them
competitive different from others. An organization need to be disruptive in nature if it wants to
be successful. But not all ideas become successful. Therefore an organization needs to do
intensive research before implementing a innovative idea.
LO-1: The context for innovation and the difference between invention and innovation
Task-1: Explaining innovation and determining its importance to organizations in
comparison with invention
One can be innovative even by best utilizing the recourses available. According to past
believes, innovation is bringing something new product or service in the market
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(enterprise.gov.au, 2017). But this has changed; one can produce the same product and still be
innovative. Innovation can be done to the current product and service in the market. The usage of
current way can be changed and one can be innovative. If the resources are used in better way
the overall cost of the product can be decreased and the demand of the product will increase.
This will lead to increase in the profitability of the organization. This is the way all the
organizations in modern time should try to work, so that the demands of the customers can be
fulfilled on time. The organization that will produce the best quality product in least cost will be
always in advantage. The organization will always remain in positive situation who is always
ready to change. Invention is one time but the innovation is continuous in nature (Spulber, 2014).
Innovation helps the organization to achieve the long term objectives of the organization. They
help to have a competitive advantage in comparisons to others. The organization which is
innovative helps to be revolutionary in long term duration. The organization which is innovative
will concentrate on the future demand of the customer but the organization which is not
innovative will concentrate only on present demand (business, 2017). Therefore cannot survive
in long duration of the market. Internationally organization has to keep them changing according
to the international demand of the market. Invention is bringing a new idea to the market but
innovation is the implementation of the new idea into new product. Invention can be done to s
single product but innovation can be done to two or more product simultaneously. There can be a
single department in the organization for the work of invention but innovation cannot be limited
to single department. The organization need to be risk taking if they want to bring innovation in
their organization because sometimes the innovation may not be successful.
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Task-2: Explaining how organizational vision, leadership, culture and teamwork can shape
innovation and commercialization.
The innovation and commercialization is affected by the organization vision, mission,
objectives, goals, organization culture, employees, employer and the values of the organization.
The vision of the organization set the short term objectives of the organization. Therefore is the
organization want to bring innovation it should be in alignment with the vision and mission of
the organization (Jonathanhalls.net, 2017).The organization need to be revolutionary and
imaginative in its ideas to achieve the goal of innovation. The employee within the organization
should also be motivated to bring changes with respect to innovation in the organization. The
organization should always be helpful in providing the employee the essentials of innovation in
the organization. This will help to remove the barriers of innovation in the organization
(Emeraldinsight.com, 2017). Innovation is greatly affected by the leader’s values in the
organizations. If the leader is innovative then the employees will be automatically innovative the
organization. The organization culture will automatically adopt the principle of innovation. If the
leader is authoritative, who believes in his own style then the employee will be never happy from
him and automatically will not follow which he advice. But a participative leader will help the
organization to build a positive environment and the employees will follow which the leader
follows (driving Creativity and Commercialization, 2014). If the leader is directive in nature it
will also help the organization to be innovative. The organization need to have good coordination
among the employees to support the innovative culture. It helps the proper flow of information
within the organization. Proper coordination and communication within the organization help the
organization to use the employee skills in a better way. The employee can give suggestions for
the better working of the organization. Therefore a better solution can be achieved if the
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employee gives suggestions for improvement. This also helps in increasing the loyalty of the
employee towards the organization. The employee feel motivated to work for the organization
and give suggestion for the betterment of the organization. This will help the organization to
achieve its objectives and goals in the stipulated time. Leader should praise the employee who
brings innovative ideas for the organization.
LO-2: Explaining the different types of innovation
Task-1: Explaining the 4Ps of innovation and the use of the innovation funnel to examine
and shape innovative ideas.
Innovation is like developing a new hobby within the organization. Some of the employee
finds innovation to be good but some employee does not favour innovation within the
organization. There are only few organization who adopt innovation in their work culture
(Veza.biz, 2017).There are fore Ps in marketing that can bring innovation in the organization.
These 4Ps are discussed as below:
1. Product Innovation: Product is made of different elements. These elements combination
is responsible for the success and the failure of the product. The demands of the
customers are never static. Now the people have shifted towards using healthy products.
Seeing the demand of the customer London Essence company is going to launch a new
soda which is less in calories. This is an example of product innovation. This product will
able to attract the attention of that customer who are demanding healthy product. People
spent there valuable time in gyms reducing excess calories. This low calorie soda will be
an innovative product in this market segment.
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2. Process Innovation: It basically makes changes in the production process of the product.
It helps in better utilization of the resources. Therefore the organization will not do
resources wastage as a result the overall cost of the production will decrease. If the
overall cost of the production will decrease then the price will decreased. This will leads
to increase in the demand of the product and the profitability of the organization will
increase (Ziarab, hussain and Sher, 2017). This innovation can be done without any
change in the technology of the organization. As a result the company will gain
competitive advantage. London Essence Company can focus on process innovation
which will help them to increase the demand of the product in the coming time.
3. Position Innovation: This innovation means making changes in the market wee the
product is targeted. For example when ecommerce industry started the companies started
targeting younger generation because these people use more of technology. But as the
time changes it was seen that the older people because of movement restriction started
using internet. Therefore they were targeted by e commerce industry companies. London
Essence Company can go on similar principle. They can expand their market by targeting
different people based on their age, sex, education etc.
4. Paradigm Innovation: It is a type of holistic innovation. In this the complete process and
the product is changed. For examples when computers were introduces in the banks it
was a holistic innovation. Though it was for the betterment of the people but whole
system had to be changed. People were not reluctant enough to bring changes within the
organization. But London Essence Company at this time cannot go through the holistic
innovation because it involves lot of capital outflow.
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Innovation is very complicated process when organization actually implements it in
organization. The research team should do thorough study on the ideas and the implementation
process to make it a successful innovation. Innovation involves lot of capital outflow. The
innovation should be in sync with the organization objectives, vision and mission of the
organization. Therefore the innovative idea has to go through a process before actual
implementation. This is called innovation Funnel. It is divided into three parts. The first’s part is
getting the maximum number of ideas. The second part is screening of the ideas based on the
vision, mission and objectives of the organization. Ideas are also screened on the basis of the
current demand of the market place. This is dumping away of the unwanted ideas. The last part is
to select the final idea, the best idea according to the resources of the organization.
Task-2: Explaining developments in frugal innovation and provide examples of how it is
used in an organizational context
Innovation involves lot of trades within the organization. The organization can be
innovative even by increase the market share of the organization. This involves the minimum
cost of the organization. This is a type of frugal innovation in which the product is target in the
segment which is unexposed. This can be even done by reducing the cost of the product. If the
resources of the organization are used effectively and the total consumption of resources
reduced, then the overall cost of the organization can be decreased. If the cost of the product
decreases then the price of the product can be decreased and the demand of the product can be
increased. This will lead to more sale of the product and the overall profitability of the
organization increases. More wastage of the resources leads to more cost for the organization
(INSEAD information, 2017). This can only achieved by innovation. This also helps in
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increasing the quality of the product in minimum cost. This leads to increase in customer
satisfaction because he gets best quality product in least cost. Now he has more disposable
money to spend on other items.
Frugal innovation cannot be done in a single day. It requires lot of research to be done on
the process of manufacturing the product. The market has to be analyzed to find the current
demand of the customer. This is a big step that affects the brand name of the company. London
Essence Company can do frugal innovation. They can adopt the best techniques which lead to
less wastage of resources. This way their coat of manufacturing will decrease and the price of the
product can be decreased. With low price they can target more market share and earn more
profit.
LO-3: Discussing the process required to commercialize innovation
Task-1: Importance of the commercial funnel and the application of New Product
Development (NPD) processing for commercialisation of innovation.
The idea of innovation has to go through various degree of selection before the
implementation process. A funnel represents the process of idea selection. In the first stage the
organization need to bring a lot many solutions. These solutions need to dump for the selection
of the best solution the organization. It is a lengthy process and each step has its own objectives
and targets to be achieved. The first step is idea development. The employee gets to know about
the detail of the product. The idea need to be converted into such a product so that the customer
visits that product again and again. The final stage is converting the customer into buying the
product. This is delighting the customer.
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The new product has to go through a number of steps before the final implementation
take place. It should be better in the quality to set up a brand image in the market. This is a
valuable step to grow in the market and sustain in comparison to the customers. If the new
product is in the right place then the organization will start earning profit from it. But most of the
organizations try to avoid this process and as a result cannot survive in this competitive market.
Many studies have been conducted to see how many organizations have introduced product
improvement in their organization. Studies show that most of the organizations concentrate on
the demand of the customers. They make changes according to the demand of the customer and
are customer loyal. This is continues process.
A new product development has to go through a number of obstacles before reaching the
final stage. They have to find solution whenever the problems come in implementation process.
It provides them a framework within which the development has to take place for achieving the
goals of the organization. New products are introduced in the market to have competitive
advantage in the market. The research shows that most of the new products that are introduced in
the market cannot survive in the market and are a failure. The new product development process
involves lots of cost and time. If new product development is a failure then the organization runs
in losses. Before starting the implementation of the new product development the organization
should do full research so that the chances of failure is less. It should form effective teams which
provide a full plan for implementation. They should consider the goals and the objectives of the
organization. They `should have the understanding of the current scenario of the market.
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Task-2: Building an Innovation Business Case for an organisation, including ways to access
funding
To start a new product the organization need funding. Similar is the case with London
Essence Company they are going to launch a new product in the market. They are going to bring
low calorie soda for the health conscious customers. To bring new product they need money. The
money can be made available in number of ways as discussed below:
1. Personal Saving: It is the use of the personal saving of the individual. It depends on the
financial capability of the individual. The individuals can take help of the family and
friends and invest money in his start up. But the individual has to bear full risk of
investment. If the project is successful then the profit is not distributed but if the project
fails then the owner has to bear all the debt. It is easy in the way no legal documentation
has to be done. But Risk factor is quite high in this type of funding.
2. Crowd Funding: This is technique by which the organization can arrange money through
internet. They have to develop a website for it where people can send money. But this
method is useful for the organizations that have a brand image in the market. The
organization that has just started there working cannot make money through crowd
funding because customer are not aware about it. The companies make a link on the
website and the investors can contribute their money on it. This has its own set of rules
and regulation under which the contract is formulated. Maximum investors cannot take
the advantage because they are not aware about it.
3. Angel Investors: They are the investors who invest in the company after studying the
fundaments of the organization. If they feel that the business f the organization is good
and it will make profit in the future they invest their money in the company. They get
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equity share of the company after making investment in the organization. This is the
biggest disadvantage because the owner loss the control of the company. The decision
making is controlled by the investors because they have the voting rights.
4. Venture Capital funding: Venture capitalist makes investment for a longer period in the
company. They study the working of the company in detail. If they find that in the future
the company will earn profit then the venture capitalist invest there money and take out
there at the time of liquidation. They get equity share of the company after making
investment in the organization. This is the biggest disadvantage because the owner loss
the control of the company. The decision making is controlled by the investors because
they have the voting rights.
5. Bank Financing: The organisation can take the help of the banks in arranging money.
Banks provide them with loan and charge interest for it. The small size industries are not
capable of giving securities therefore this type of funding is taken by medium and long
size companies. In this type of funding the control of the company is not lost because
there is no equity share sharing. But the biggest disadvantage is the documentation
required for loan process. The documentation process is quite time consuming. The
decision making is in the hand of the owner because bank does not have the voting
power.
The London essence corporation is launching a new product but it has its brand image.
The company can fund its new product with the help of crowd funding and venture capitalist.
They have to built a proposal and show it to different funding organization who will invest
their money in it. But the only loss it will have is loss of the equity shares. Therefore they can
take the help of bank loan in which the ownership of the company is not lost.
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LO-4: Evaluate the range of methods for protecting ideas and understand their advantages
and disadvantages
The innovation is a vital part of the organization. In order to survive in today’s competitive
world the organization needs to be innovative. The process of innovation and commercialization
is not one day task. It takes lot of time and cost to complete it. There are always chances that the
innovation idea in its nascent stage can leak out of the organization. Therefore the organizations
have to take steps to protect their innovative idea so that it is not utilized by the other
organizations. If the idea leaks out then it loses its novelty. There are number of ways to protect
the ideas some of them are discussed below:
1. Patents: This is one of the important tools to protect the idea getting utilized by the other
organization. One can registered that idea in the form of patent and the product will be
registered in your name for some time period (safety, 2017). It is quite a lengthy and time
consuming process but is safety against the theft of idea. Lot of money is spent by the
organization in funnelling of the innovation, so if idea gets leaked whole money will be
wasted. London Essence Company can get patent of the idea of making low calorie soda
drink. This will help them to preserve the idea under their name for some time period.
2. Trademarks: It is creating a symbol or line for the product and getting it registered under
the company name. There are certain rules and regulations of the government for getting
it registered. The person gets the right to use it if he registers under his name and no one
else can use it. The government register it for a period of 6.5 years and after which the
registration rights are lost by the owner (Gov.united kingdom, 2017). This is less
expensive process. The London Essence Company can form its trademark for low calorie
soda drink and get it registered under its name.
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3. Design Registration: It is getting the design of the product registered under the company
name. This restricts the right of the other company to use the same design (Gov.united
kingdom, 2017). Two companies with same design are not possible. This is the third
option available with London Essence Company to get the design of the product
registered under its name.
Therefore, London Essence Company has three options to protect the idea usage by other
organization. It can obtain patents or get trademark registered or the design registered under its
name.
CONCLUSION
To survive in this competitive world the organization need to be innovative in nature.
Innovation is completely different from invention. Invention is one time process but innovation
is a continuous process. For invention there is a single department in the organization but for
innovation all the departments has to act collectively. Innovation can be done in form of product,
process, product, position and paradigm. Paradigm innovation is starting something completely
new. To change one component of product is known as product innovation. To make changes in
the manufacturing of the product it is called process innovation. The organization should use the
resources effectively and do innovation. It leads to less cost and decrease in the price of the
product. If the price of the product decreases then overall demand of the product will increases.
To bring new product in the market funds are required. Funding can be done with the help of
venture capital, angel funding, banks, personal savings and crowd funding. The rights of the
innovative idea can be preserved by taking patents, trademark rights or design registration rights.
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The London essence corporation is launching a new product but it has its brand image.
The company can fund its new product with the help of crowd funding and venture capitalist.
They have to built a proposal and show it to different funding organization who will invest their
money in it. But the only loss it will have is loss of the equity shares. Therefore they can take the
help of bank loan in which the ownership of the company is not lost. London Essence Company
has three options to protect the idea usage by other organization. It can obtain patents or get
trademark registered or the design registered under its name.
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Available at: http://searchcio.techtarget.com/definition/business-innovation
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Available at: http://searchsalesforce.techtarget.com/definition/sales-funnel
4. Spulber, D. (2014). The innovative entrepreneur. 1st ed. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ.
Press. Available at
https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/innovative-entrepreneur/61215AB394EF7A377E
0D35F43D804B36
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consulting - Miodrag Kostic - profitable new ideas Balkans south east Europe Romania
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BizExcell. Available at: http://www.bizexcell.com/innovation-and-4ps-of-innovation/
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