The Importance of Innovation and Intellectual Property

The assignment discusses the significance of innovation and intellectual property in a business context. It explains various techniques for innovation, such as 4P's of innovation and frugal innovation, and introduces different intellectual property tools like copyright, trademark, and patent to protect and retain innovative work or ideas.

INNOVATION

Contents
INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................................................3
TASK 1.......................................................................................................................................................3
P1 Define Innovation and its importance in comparison with Invention.................................................3
P2 How company’s vision, leadership and culture can shape Innovation and Commercialization..........4
TASK 2.......................................................................................................................................................4
P3 Explain the 4P’s of Innovation...........................................................................................................4
P4 Describe the developments in Frugal Innovation................................................................................5
TASK 3.......................................................................................................................................................6
P5 Importance of Commercial funnel and application of new product development...............................6
P6 Business Case for Mr. Green..............................................................................................................6
TASK 4.......................................................................................................................................................7
P7 State different intellectual property tools that help in protecting and retaining intellectual property..7
CONCLUSION..........................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Innovation deals with making business process, product or services more effective and
efficient so that it satisfies diverse needs and wants of customers in an appropriate manner. It is
mainly related with implementing with new ideas, enhancing existing product or services so as to
gain high competitive edge in the market or to develop new product or services (Baldwin and
Von Hippel, 2011). It act as catalyst for company’s growth and development. This report is
based on Mr. Green Healthy milkshakes which is a UK based company that mainly deals in
providing healthy drink to customers. The report covers how innovation play key role in
increasing the sales figure of the company and how it is different from invention. Along with this
it also covers application of new product development, commercial funnel, building a business
case and different intellectual property tools.
TASK 1
P1 Define Innovation and its importance in comparison with Invention
Innovation means translating a productive idea into actual goods and services that create value
for target customer or for which the customer is willing to pay. It simply means coming up with
unique ideas for doing identical or similar things but in innovative manner. In context of
business, it can be defined as a change in workflow or business process that help company in
gaining high competitive advantage in the Marketplace. In order to make it successful, firm
consider innovation as a part of their in-built strategy which help them in sustaining in market for
longer period of time. It has been believed that company who constantly undergo innovation
process, develop more efficient and effective workflows, their chances of achieving higher
profitability tremendously increases. In order to beat the competition prevailing in the market, is
primary important for any business entity to come up with unique idea that keep their products,
process or services fresh.
In the given case, Mr. Green has figured out there is a constant decrease in their overall
sales because of change in customer taste and preferences. However in order to deal with such
situation he needs to do innovation in their product line. As a result, he decided to launch some
new flavors of juices, drinks and smoothies. Earlier the company was deals in selling only one
healthy juice but now they have decides to offer multiple option to customer that too made up
with organic ingredients. This also assist them in attracting large number of customer and as a
result their overall profitability and sales increases (Boudreau and Lakhani, 2013). Some of the
advantage of innovation are discussed below:
1. Help in building brand image
2. Help in gaining high competitive advantage in the Marketplace
3. Satisfy diverse needs and wants of customer in an effective and efficient manner
4. Increase in sale figures
5. Overall performance and productivity of a company increases
Difference between innovation and invention
Innovation Invention
It is concerned with novelty and
modernization
It deals with creating something exceptionally
new in the market
It refers to a modern idea that can applied to
existing situation prevailing in the company.
Invention can only be assessed by target
customers.

It is an alliance of different product, services
or process.
Invention deals with single product or
process.
It requires managerial and technical skills It entails scientific skills
P2 How company’s vision, leadership and culture can shape Innovation and Commercialization
Vision: The Vision Statement of Mr. Green Healthier Drink is “To deliver high quality product
or services to customers that creates value for them or for which they are willing to pay” As per
their vision statement, the company has decided to launch new variants in their drinks, juices that
effectively satisfies customer needs and wants (Drucker, 2014). In modern era, where nothing is
constant not even the likes of customers, it becomes primarily important for company to
determine actual needs and wants of potential buyers and provide goods and services
accordingly.
Leadership: Earlier, company was following autocratic style of leadership. But now they have
embed participative leadership style. As the company is going through major downfall, it is
important for them to survive themselves in the marketplace. This can only become possible if
their employees work incredibly hard and for this company needs to make them feel valued and
important. They can involve them in their decision making process. Arrange training programs
for them which keep them motivated and retain them for longer periods.
Culture and teamwork: The Company is run by Mr. Green and he solely takes all decision and
responsibilities. Sometimes his decision are so authoritative that employee’s needs to follow it
event they are not willing to accept it. Therefore, he is required to promote open and healthy
culture where each and every employees gets equal opportunity to grow and develop themselves
both personally and professionally.
TASK 2
P3 Explain the 4P’s of Innovation
The model of Innovation mix was proposed by Joe Tidd and John Bessant. With the help
of this tool, company can discover what the process of innovation can improve and brings to
business. The innovation mix includes product, process, position and paradigm. Organization use
this tool in order to understand how they can innovative so as to enhance their product, process,
paradigm and position.
Product: This innovation is relate with how a product or services offered by firm can be
improved in order to make it more appealing and better than other competitor’s products. It
means adding extra features in existing product or launch completely new product in the
marketplace. For example: Mr. Green wants to bring innovation in their product line by entering
into different segments such as juice, smoothies. Earlier he was only selling one drink i.e.
healthy milkshake but now he is planning to launch Grape Lemonade made with real Grape fruit
and some flavors of smoothies as well.
Position: This innovation P is deals with how innovative products or services are going to
communicated or framed among target customers. This is mainly associated with a change in
terms of how a particular product is perceived and used by potential buyers. Form position
means making customer visualizing that the company deals in selling healthy products made up
of organic ingredients (Goldberg, 2013).
Process: It include the changes and ways in which goods or services are created or delivered. It
not only covers product preparation steps but also include workflow, hiring people, training etc.
and state the reason how all these factors can enhance company’s profit.

Paradigm: It is related with changing the way of doing business. The change could be radical or
incremental. For example: Earlier Mr. Green was promoting their products through print media
but now they are taking the advantage of using social media websites as well. Radical shift from
print to digital media (Huizingh, 2011).
From all the above factors it can interpreted that Mr. Green needs to product innovation. Being a
UK based firm, the company can easily take the benefit of Grapes that has been mostly liked by
all British People. This is the main reason why the company has come up with Grape Lemonade.
Innovation Funnel: It includes series of steps that is required in order to develop a product or
process. The main objective of innovation funnel is to create such goods or services that fulfil
diverse needs and wants of target customer in a manufacturable form.
Use of Innovation Funnel: Organization use innovation funnel so as to convert an idea into
specific product that meet customer requirement in an effective and efficient manner. When
company innovate, it is important to figure out market trend first and then do innovation
accordingly. There are ample number of opportunities exist in the market, only marketer knows
how to exploit it effectively. It aid in identifying current expectation of target customer and how
firm can fulfil it properly.
P4 Describe the developments in Frugal Innovation
Frugal Innovation: It refers to the process of reducing the complexities and cost of goods sold
and its production. Basically it means discover new business model, redesign products or
services, reconfigured value chain in a sustainable and scalable manner. It render functional
solutions through few and effective resources. There are large number of resources available in
the market, it is the duty of innovator to critically exploit each resources and consider them as an
opportunity instead of treating them as liability. With the help of this innovation, entrepreneurs
tries to fulfill local needs in a cost effective and timely manner. Stages of frugal innovation are
discussed below:
Find opportunity in adversity: This is the first stage at which innovator reframe the current
problem prevailing in the work surrounding. For example: In the given case study, Mr. Green has
experienced a major downfall in their sales because of rapid change in customer taste and
preferences. As the company only deals in selling one healthy drink to customers which is not
sufficient to attract maximum consumer. Now a days everyone wants variety and by selling only
one healthy drink, company cannot sustain in market for longer period. Therefore, Mr. Green has
decided to launch new flavors that instantly attract maximum consumers such as Grape
Lemonade made up of actual real grapefruit. In addition to that they also launch different flavors
of smoothies and juices as well.
Do more with less: This is the second stage, where innovators is require to assess the available
resources first and tries to utilize it in an optimum and efficient manner.
Think and act flexible: At this stage, it is important to be improvisational rather than being
rigid.
Keep it simple: It has been believed that any complexity may cause disruption in overall
functioning and operation of the company. Therefore it is always to better to have few choices
that are actually good instead of having number of choice which may cause confusion or
distraction (Jain and et. al., 2013).
Include the margin: Needs and wants of customer are changing every day. Therefore it is
important to determine what are the current likes and dislikes of potential buyer so that company
can make product accordingly and satisfy their diverse requirement in an effective and efficient

manner. After launching number of variants, Mr. Green can start taking feedback from customer
so to figure out whether they are liking his innovation or not.
TASK 3
P5 Importance of Commercial funnel and application of new product development
Commercial Funnel: It is a cost effective that is mainly used by organizations in order to
determine various sources that assist them in offering innovative goods or services to customers
in a structured manner. Innovators needs to select appropriate channel of distribution so that they
can easily yield higher profits and revenues. In the given case, Mr. Green has decided to expand
its product line by entering into different segments such as juices, smoothies, drink etc. The main
reason behind this is the major downfall in their sales due to rapid change in customer taste’s and
preferences (Jiménez-Jiménez and Sanz-Valle, 2011). He has decided to launch Grape Fruit
Juice, Grape Fruit Lemonade and many more flavors that is made up of organic fruits. With the
help of this funnel, they can easily launch their product in their market and gain high competitive
edge over their rivals. But for launching new product in the market, the company needs to
undergo the process of new product development. Discussed below are application of new
product development:
Idea Generation: This is the first stage where idea is actually originated. There are multiple
sources of Idea. Every company deals with plethora of Idea.
Idea screening: As the First Stage deals with plethora of ideas generation, the second stage deals
with selecting the best among them. Among the multiple ideas, which are actually best and
practically feasible. So the company needs to select those ideas and eliminate the remaining.
Concept testing and development: This is the third stage where company choose some customer
from target group and make them experience the new product or service. Basically at this stage,
some of the selected customer are selected by firm so that they can try or test their innovative
product on them. Information provided to them will assist them in visualizing the innovative
product. Their feedback plays important role here. As the success of innovative product is totally
depend upon whether customer like their product or not. With the help of the stage, Mr. Green
can easily determine whether customer will like the new variants introduced him or not.
Market development and strategy: Once the company is done with testing their product on
selected range of customer and attaining positive result from them, the role of manager is to
frame effective strategies for launching their product in the market. This help them in gaining
high competitive advantage over their rivals. Along with this, profitability associated with
innovative product is also anticipated at this stage along with branding and marketing mix
strategies.
Analysis of Business and financials: At this stage manager compare the actual sales of
innovative product with the predefined one. This help in identifying weather customer are liking
their product or not.
Commercialization: This is the last stage where company actually launch its innovative product
in the Marketplace (Rosenbusch, Brinckmann and Bausch, 2011).
P6 Business Case for Mr. Green
Companies use Business Case so as to identify the risk related with investing in
innovation. It is important for an innovator to examine each and every aspect associated with
innovation before launching new product or service in the market. It includes:

The Need: This stage define the need for innovation in company. It state the actual reason why
business wants to do innovation in their product. This can only be possible if they are aware with
the current issue or problem prevailing in the work environment. For example: Mr. Green have
analyzed that there is continuous decline in their sales because of rapid change in taste and
preferences of customers. In order to overcome such situation, Mr. Green to find a solution that
help in increasing their sales and as a result overall profitability of the company increases
(Strayer, 2012).
Your solution: Once the company is done with identifying what is the need for innovation the
next step is to find best possible solution for it. In the given case, after knowing the reason for
decline in sales, Mr. Green has decided to launch new variants of juices, drinks and smoothies in
the market. Nowadays demand for juice rapidly increasing. Taking the advantage of this the
company has decided to innovation in their product.
Why it is Innovative: In order to attain high competitiveness level in the market, the solution
find by the company must be innovative. For example: The company is launching first
Grapefruit lemonade made up with real grapefruit. Mr. Green knows that British people often
like Grapes so taking the advantage of this he decided to introduce maximum flavors in Grapes.
Customer research: Before launching product in the market, it is important to identify what are
current likes and dislikes of customer so that company can innovate accordingly. Research can
be conducted through survey, interview, focus group and questionnaire.
Investment requirement: At this stage, company evaluate various sources through which they
can easily get sufficient amount of fund that help in their innovation. There are two sources of
funding one is internal and other is external. Internal means when adequate funds are available
within the company only such as retained earnings, reserves, profits, long term assets that are no
longer in use etc. On the contrary, external sources means arranging funds from outside the
company such as angel investors, bank, creditors, individual donor etc.
Expected benefit: At this stage, innovator identify the impact of innovation on society and its
member.
The Ask: This is the last stage, where company take feedback and suggestion from customers
after implementing innovation. This stage help the company in knowing whether customer has
like their product or not (Wolin, 2016).
TASK 4
P7 State different intellectual property tools that help in protecting and retaining intellectual
property
Intellectual property rights are mainly use by creator or inventor for protecting and
retaining their discovery. It means giving exclusive right to the owner for their innovative work
or idea. With the help of these rights, innovator can gain recognition and monetary benefit for
their innovation or invention. Some of the common intellectual property tools are:
Copyright: This tool gives exclusive rights to the owner for their literary, artistic, dramatic or
musical work. With the help of this tool, creator gets the rights to copy, perform or display. No
third person is liable to use their work without their consent.
Trademark: It is mainly in the form of symbol, design, word or phrase. This tool is often used
by companies so as to distinguish its products from that of competitors (Wilson, 2014). The
selected word, mark or sign must be distinctive. The main objective of using this right is create
brand image in the minds of target customer so that they can easily compare their products with
that of rivalry firms.

Patent: These rights are generally given to person for their discovery or invention. With the help
of this tool, patent holder can eliminate other from using or selling their invention without their
consent (Huizingh, 2011).
CONCLUSION
According to the above mentioned report it can be concluded that in order to sustain in
market it is chiefly important for any company to do innovation as per the requirement of market
and customers. Needs and wants of customers are changing rapidly and companies are required
to fulfil it by providing them goods or services according to their diverse requirement. There are
various techniques through which an innovation can takes place like 4P’s of innovation, frugal
innovation etc. Along with this there are different intellectual property tools that help innovator
in protecting their discoveries or invention.

REFERENCES
Books and Journal
Baldwin, C. and Von Hippel, E., 2011. Modeling a paradigm shift: From producer innovation to
user and open collaborative innovation. Organization Science. 22(6). pp.1399-1417.
Boudreau, K.J. and Lakhani, K.R., 2013. Using the crowd as an innovation partner. Harvard
business review. 91(4). pp.60-9.
Drucker, P., 2014. Innovation and entrepreneurship. Routledge.
Goldberg, D.E., 2013. The design of innovation: Lessons from and for competent genetic
algorithms (Vol. 7). Springer Science & Business Media.
Huizingh, E.K., 2011. Open innovation: State of the art and future perspectives. Technovation.
31(1). pp.2-9.
Jain, A., and et. al., 2013. Commentary: The Materials Project: A materials genome approach to
accelerating materials innovation. Apl Materials. 1(1). p.011002.
Jiménez-Jiménez, D. and Sanz-Valle, R., 2011. Innovation, organizational learning, and
performance. Journal of business research. 64(4). pp.408-417.
Manyika, J., and et. al., 2011. Big data: The next frontier for innovation, competition, and
productivity.
Rosenbusch, N., Brinckmann, J. and Bausch, A., 2011. Is innovation always beneficial? A meta-
analysis of the relationship between innovation and performance in SMEs. Journal of business
Venturing. 26(4). pp.441-457.
Strayer, J.F., 2012. How learning in an inverted classroom influences cooperation, innovation
and task orientation. Learning environments research. 15(2). pp.171-193.
Wolin, S.S., 2016. Politics and vision: Continuity and innovation in Western political thought.
Princeton University Press.