Innovation and Business Model

This assignment explores the concept of innovation and business model innovations, including the diffusion of innovations, value creation and innovation, and sustainable business model innovations. It also touches on cloud computing and user experience design, highlighting the importance of customer engagement in technological firms.

Innovation in Business
&
Technology

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
1. Demonstrate critical knowledge and understanding of concepts and innovation theories to
enhance value of business......................................................................................................1
2. Apply web based technologies to create innovative front end website. Discuss web based
technology solution for Williams Ltd.....................................................................................4
3. Identification and evaluation of impact of future disruptive innovation which affects
Williams Ltd...........................................................................................................................8
4. Demonstrate ability to formulate innovation strategies for a new technology based product
or service venture...................................................................................................................9
5. Reflection of in-depth demonstration of application of web-based technologies and user
centred approach, consequences of technological innovations and their impact.................10
6. Recommendations to senior stakeholders........................................................................12
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................13

INTRODUCTION
Innovation refers to creative thoughts, new ideas and new imaginations in form of
method or device. It is defined as a process which involves various activities to identify different
ways for doing things (Abdelkafi, Makhotin and Posselt, 2013). Innovation in business and
technology is related with doing creativity in terms of technology by which growth of business
can be increased. This report is based on Williams Ltd which is a retail business and deals in
accessories and clothing. They are further looking forward to expand their business into online
market space by using innovative ideas. This report comprises of theories of innovation which
will enhance value of organisation. Web based technology is used for creating innovative front
end websites. Furthermore, impact of disruptive innovation technology is analysed. At last,
recommendations are given to stakeholders.
1. Demonstrate critical knowledge and understanding of concepts and innovation theories to
enhance value of business.
Innovation is defined process of making changes in existing production and distribution
methods, it includes introduction to new products, new techniques, new inventions, new sources
for production of existing products and many others. In this Williams Ltd is taken into
consideration to understand concept of innovations in business and technology. As per
advancement in technology management wants to shift into online market space so that they can
stand up with market. There are different innovation theories and concepts, some of them which
can be used by management of Williams Ltd are mentioned below:
Disruptive innovation: It refers to introduction of services and products within industry
by which they can perform in better way and provide those services at low cost, thus displace
market leaders within market space by transforming industry. Concept of this innovation was
proposed by Clayton Christensen in 1995. It basically refers to concept which creates new value
network by either creating a new market or by disrupting existing market (Laudon and Traver,
2016). Organisations such as Williams Ltd can interrupt market of large organisations by
bringing within market new versions of technology means that updated versions should be used
(like for creating website Williams Ltd can use JDK 1.8 which is latest version rather than JDK
1.7) which may seem more appealing to subset of customers. Williams Ltd can make use of
latest technology by which they can stand different among other competitors. In some cases,
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small organisations release new technology which can be inferior to that of large organisation but
focus of that technology is to provide customers with high convenience and low prices. With
passage of time, new technology will improvise to handle more demands. Large organisations
think that small organisations are making space for themselves at low end of market. This
disruptive innovation can be used by Williams Ltd very rarely. As management needs to
understand that disruptive innovation is not a tool but a force. By using this there is no predictive
power (Boons and Lüdeke-Freund, 2013). By using this theory, Williams Ltd can opt for
advanced version of any technology so that they can beat other competitors within market. This
theory is used by them as they can present their existing products in enhanced way. Consider an
example like shirts are provided by many retailers but by using animations in their website they
can fascinate more number of customers and they can also provide options for customised shirts.
Advantages: There are certain advantages of disruptive innovation, they are mentioned
below:
 It will assist Williams Ltd to expand their market via usage of market via innovations in
new and existing services or products.
 Opportunities will be present to them which will open door for possibilities for new
platform which will enable them to grow.
 Williams Ltd will evolve as learning community which will welcome alterations rather
than fear to take risks.
Disadvantages: There are certain drawbacks, which of this innovation, so it is necessary for
Williams Ltd needs to consider. They are shown below:
 Competitive products will be present within market. Existing products are updated to
meet the required standards. Like if Williams Ltd is about to bring their own jeans within
market, within market jeans are already available, there is nothing unique.
Business model innovation: It refers to development of new, unique concepts for
support of organisation. It represents ways in which organisation can make money. Primary goal
of this innovation is to recognise latest revenue sources by enhancing value of products and ways
in which they can be delivered by customers. Digital disruption has decreased life cycle of
business model and do innovations respectively which acts as key to financial success. This is
the reason that Williams Ltd must opt for this business model innovation, this will assist them to
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remain competitive within market and attain growth (Coviello and Joseph, 2012). There are
certain advantages and disadvantages of business model innovation, they are mentioned below:
Advantages: Business innovation model will provide various advantages to Williams
Ltd, they are described below:
 Financial sustainability will be enhanced, it will assist an entrepreneur to identify how
much profit has been generated every month and accordingly formulate strategies.
 Organisation can grow or survive even if they break down every month but for this they
need to completely depend on debt financing for their expansion. Williams Ltd can build
cash reserve which can be invested to conduct research or acquire new equipment.
 By execution of unique business model, Williams Ltd can create their own reputation
within market thereby encouraging customers to first-time purchase (Joe, 2010).
Disadvantages: Certain drawbacks are there of this innovation; they are elaborated
below:
 Williams Ltd can go out of money if they make lots of investments and do not get those
products in market within time.
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 If quality of products is not maintained, then this will ruin reputation of organisation
within market.
By using these innovation model, Williams Ltd can have opportunity for growth. Though
they have certain drawbacks but nothing comes as perfect, therefore it is essential for them to
choose theory which they feel is apt for them.
2. Apply web based technologies to create innovative front end website. Discuss web based
technology solution for Williams Ltd.
Web technologies refer to package which not only addresses development of website but
it also includes software development, its maintenance, testing, database management etc. Web
based technologies are used to establish and use different mechanism by which various
computers can share resources and communicate with each other (Johannessen and Olsen, 2010).
They are considered as building block for computer network. Williams Ltd needs to have
computers by which they can communicate with network devices. It is essential for them to make
sure that messages are exchanged between sender and recipient, feedback is given and received
and it is acknowledged. There are different aspects of web technologies, they are mentioned
below:
Markup languages: These languages include Cascaded style sheets (CSS), hypertext
markup language (HTML) and Extended markup languages (XML). These languages depict
layout, format and style of programs and web pages. These are markup languages which can be
used by designer of Williams Ltd to make website. Website can be made innovative by adding
different features such as animations related with their services.
Programming language: These languages include Visual Basic .Net, Java, C# and Perl.
These languages can be used by Williams Ltd to design their applications and websites. Though
each language has their own set of cons and pros but developers know how they can use these
languages to attain their desired goals. These are programming languages which can be used for
designing of website, by adding unique features like comparative analysis of their services with
services offered by others can make it innovative.
Web servers: They comprises of different components which comprises of software
servers (consist of Hypertext transfer protocol) and hardware (comprises of Hypertext markup
language and other data). They are used to carry out communication among web servers and
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computer. These servers can be dynamic and static. By using this website can respond to
requests which are made by customers and server will send response to those request within
seconds.
Databases: Websites need database management system, they are known as database
which acts as a vault for web server data. Examples of databases are MySQL, Oracle and
Microsoft Access. Mostly CSV, XML and JSON are used. They store data in different ways. As
per their own requirements Williams Ltd can use database to store information of customers.
They can be used to store data which is present on website as well as which has been provided
by user. The content and field which will be made within website are made using database so
that at latter moment of time these details can be accessed.
There are certain technologies which can be used by Williams Ltd for front end
development. They include, HTML, JavaScript, AngularJS, Node.Js, Jquery, VBScript, Flash,
Responsive Web Design and many others (Laudon and Traver, 2016).
There are definite UX (user experience) principles which must be followed while
designing front end website. They are mentioned below:
 Acknowledge requirements of customers: The design principle UX is to focus on
customers while designing process. The centre of work is to provide customers with
enhanced experience. Therefore, it is necessary to look into what user’s requirements are
and what they want.
 Have a transparent hierarchy: UX principle makes sure smooth navigation while
carrying out design process. There are different hierarchy; initial is to identify way in
which information is organised within design. Example, when website is opened,
navigation bar will be seen which will comprise of main section. After clicking on bar
sub-categories will open which will provide more details about website or it can also be a
app. It is necessary that important content should be placed prominently.
 Acknowledge accessibility: Designer need to make sure that design is accessible by as
many as possible people. Developer can opt for contrasting colours in text on
background. By analysing different websites designer can get a view of what can be
added in their own website like colour, content, animations, drop down list and other
features innovative website can be developed (Laukkanen and Patala, 2014).
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 Feedback matters: For this design must be interactive. This means that when user clicks
somewhere within website of Williams Ltd then an acknowledgement must be made so
that user understands that command has been addressed. This will inspire communication
between machine and humans.
 Confirm before commit: Anything can happen at any moment. With respect to digital
technology, person can place an order unintentionally like many times parents have asked
for refunds when their kids accidently order products from Amazon. This should not
occur with design of Williams Ltd as they do not want to give their customers bad
experience. For this they can have option of double confirmation (Laukkanen and Patala,
2014).
 User is in control: Focus of user is to have flexibility and control within a design so that
any kind of errors can be avoided. Like upward icon which takes user to starting can be
considered as its example. Cancel is another one which assists to cancel the action done
by user. These options must be included in design of Williams Ltd.
These are some user experience design principles which organisation needs to make sure
that are implemented in their website (Layton, 2018). As per Jesse James Garrett, user centred
approach comprises of five different elements, they are shown below with respect to Williams
Ltd:
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Figure 1: The Five Elements of User Experience
(Source: UX — A quick glance about The 5 Elements of User Experience, 2019)
 Strategy: It includes reason behind why website or application is created, for whom
it is created. Goal of this stage is to define needs of user of Williams Ltd.
 Scope: It addresses content and functional requirements. This means that it includes
what content must be present within website and what all features must be present.
These requirements need to be aligned with goals of Williams Ltd. Functional
requirements will deal with features, how they work and way in which they are
interrelated with each other (Mavros and Matis, 2013). These features will include
ways in which objectives of user can be attained. Content requirements consist of
information which Williams Ltd needs to provide value. This includes audio, videos,
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text, etc. Without content which has to be included in website, designer cannot decide
time required to complete designing process.
 Structure: It defines way in which user interact with product and ways in which
system react when user uses it. Structure is divided into information architecture and
interaction design (Mohr, Sengupta and Slater, 2010). Info architecture addresses
arrangement of content, their organisation and how humans can understand website of
Williams Ltd. Interaction design comprises of functional requirements, ways in which
user interact with website and response which is generated from system.
 Skeleton: It identifies visual form on presentation, screen and arrangement of all
elements of website of Williams Ltd which forms functionality of system with respect
to interface provided. Interface design presents and arranges elements of interface by
which users can interact with system. Navigation design assist users to navigate
throughout information present within website using interface. Information design
defines way in which information is presented to users which facilitates
understanding among them.
 Surface: It is defined as sum total of decisions and work which has been done within
website. It specifies ways in which site will look, its layout, colours, typography, etc.
It deals with visual design which includes controls, content, what user can do within
site and how they can do it. Basically it deals with interface provided by website of
Williams Ltd.
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These are the elements of user experience which were given by Jesse James Garrett. They
address what all must be included within application or website so that users can effectively
access those services through interface provided by an organisation. Web based technology will
provide Williams Ltd with large number of better options of growth. By creating website, they
can allow their potential customers to know what services they are being offering and at what
prices they are being offered. This will assist users to make comparative analysis with respect to
prices offered by Williams Ltd and other organisations for the same product. This will also assist
customers around the world to access what is being offered by them. This will also increase their
productivity and profitability by which business efficacy can be improvised (Moro Piekarski and
et. al, 2013). For Williams Ltd, they can use this web based technology to enhance their services
and increase their customer base. These web based technology solutions can be used in
enhancing online market and marketing through online sources.
3. Identification and evaluation of impact of future disruptive innovation which affects Williams
Ltd.
There are different disruptive innovations which have been occurred with respect to
technology. There has been rapid change in technology. To cope up with rapidly changing
environment organisations need to accept those alterations and execute them to gain competitive
edge within market (Laukkanen and Patala, 2014). They bring with themselves many advantages
which will assist Williams Ltd to grow. Some of them are mentioned below:
 Artificial intelligence: It has been used in spam detection, fraud protection and video
games. It is a disruptive technology which can impact William Limited. AI collects
information from transactions which were carried out in histories with respect to products
which are bought to analyse preferences of customers. They are also used in virtual box.
With respect to Williams Ltd, as they are small retailers they do not need to have
artificial intelligence as it can be expensive for them. Speech recognition can be provided
in future which comprises of Nuance communications, veriant systems, open text and
nice. This will aid in future to identify any kind of crimes which demands ransom amount
then they can be easily detected.
 Cloud computing: It is again advancement in technology which provides storage space
to organisation to store their data or information and it also furnish space for running
applications as it is not possible for organisation to have large servers where they can
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store their information and execute. This disruptive technology has various impacts on
William Limited which are mentioned as follows. Cloud provides different applications
which can be used by organisations and they can pay for it as per their requirements.
Williams Ltd is about to expand themselves into online market. For this they can opt for
cloud storage to store information about their customers. In future quantum computing
can come which will make processing rate of computers more high as compared to their
present It will also decline the usage of power and electricity in coming future. It will
have positive impact in terms of economic social alterations (Onetti and et. Al, 2012).
Williams Ltd is a small organisation which is about to expand in online market. For this
they need to have a website by which more customers can get to know about what they deal with
and at what prices different products are being offered. Furthermore, they can provide their
customers with options to buy online. This will reduce efforts of management to invest more on
labour in their stores and will also increase their number of customers. As number of customers
will go on increasing, then they can buy a space from cloud like Microsoft Azure, Amazon, etc
to store details about their customer (Paluch and Wünderlich, 2016). Depending upon needs,
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Illustration 1: Cloud computing
Sources: Cloud computing, 2019.

Williams Ltd can have more space, it’s just they have to pay for space which they are being
using.
4. Demonstrate ability to formulate innovation strategies for a new technology based product or
service venture.
Williams Ltd needs to understand certain things while formulating strategies for innovation.
Innovation comes when organisation needs to grow and they see a future. It comes when they
want to remain sustainable within market for longer duration of time and for this it is necessary
to analyse potential solutions which they can have to grow. Williams Ltd need to consider
various innovation strategies, they are mentioned below:
 Innovation strategy must be inspiring and it must clearly depict what will be the future
state after implementing particular innovation. This depicts how focussed is an
organisation, it needs aim with respect to what they expect to happen in coming future.
Innovation strategy must be attained from corporate strategies and must clearly define the
way in which Williams Ltd sees their growth.
 Innovation strategies must be ambitious which will provide break from competition, beat
them and make new space for organisation. Too many strategies will be hectic to
implement, strategies must be transparent and they must be clear. These strategies need to
aim higher by which Williams Ltd can exceed the nominal profit margins.
 Development of strategies needs must be open. It is difficult for organisation to open up
as they themselves do not whether the innovations which are about to carry out will be
feasible or not, they are just taking risk. Being open means that bar will be raised up with
respect to ambition of Williams Ltd and they will be able to have more mature plans.
Innovation strategies must be specific to time. There is rapid growth in technology and if
organisation is not able to cope up with that then it’s not worth implementing something new.
Example can be taken to understand this like if organisation is trying to build their own cloud but
with passage of time internet of things came (Windahl, 2015). So it won’t be possible to shift to
IOT as they may have spent lots of cost in cloud. So it is necessary that if organisation is trying
to implement something then it must be done within time so that they can have competitive edge
(Sorescu and et. al, 2011). By opting for online services Williams Ltd can increase their
customer base.
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5. Reflection of in-depth demonstration of application of web-based technologies and user
centred approach, consequences of technological innovations and their impact.
At present scenario, Williams Ltd is a small retail business which serves their customers by
providing them with clothes and accessories. They are about to expand their business by
introducing new web market (Abdelkafi, Makhotin and Posselt, 2013). For this they are about to
design their website. As per their own budget they can have a designer who can build website for
them for this they can use any of the languages which were mentioned above. The main focus of
designer and management of Williams Ltd must be on what content must be provided on website
and understand why and what is important. This will assist them to have essential features.
Furthermore, they can have sub categories just like drop down list. Consider an example to
understand this, clothing section can have drop down list which can contain kids, women and
male section. Similarly, it can go for accessories. They also need to put images so that their
website seems to be captivating.
For this, Williams Ltd needs to have user centred approach which specifies that focus
must be on what users want and ways by which they can access. It will give user a pleasing
experience if they do not face any problem with website, it’s easy to use and have all options
which user wants (mainly it consists of images of clothes and prices for same by which they can
identify whether it is worth spend this much amount on particular dress or not). Technological
innovations have positive impact on users as they can have things at doorsteps. In this busy
lifestyle, people hardly want to spend their time by going to market (Windahl, 2015). That is the
reason why people go for organisations which provide them with online options. Furthermore, it
is presented below with their impact on different sections.
Impact of technology on society: When impact is taken into consideration, this means that
both positive and negative effects have to be considered. Society is dependent on technology and
each passing day our requirements are increasing. Everything has two sides, if something is
giving wide range of good aspects then somewhere it also has bad aspects, they are:
Positive impact: They are mentioned below:
 Agriculture has been mechanized which means that small number of people can
grow large amount of food in short interval of time and also input given is less.
 Transportation has been improvised. Road transportation is carried out by
automobiles, air transport by airplanes, space transportation to go to moon or any
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other planet and water transportation by speed boats & ships (Abdelkafi, Makhotin
and Posselt, 2013).
 Education and learning process have been improved. Technologies in this section
include computers, projectors, smart whiteboards and internet to depict exactly how
things are being done. Like moment of electrons and protons within electric wires.
Negative impact: They are:
 Depletion of resources is high. As demands are increasing pressure earth also goes
on increasing with respect to its natural resources. At present scenario demand for
electronic gadgets is increasing which means that Mother Nature is exploited to more
to have resources like aluminium.
 Pollution is increasing which have negative impact on growth of crops, air and water
which humans consume. Harmful gases and chemicals are released by factories or
organisations to satisfy needs of customers.
 While using website, if customers are prompted to enter their details then there can
be high risk for data privacy. If confidential information of customers is leaked, then
worst impact will be created on organisation which can make difficult for them
sustain within market for longer time.
Impact of technology on environment: It does not have any positive impact on
environment but it is drastic changes in climate around the world. This result in global warming
due to which natural species like birds are getting vanished and lots of diseases arises. Some of
negative impacts are mentioned below:
Travel rates have been increased and sometimes it is not required, this leads to air pollution.
There is high risk for environment and human life.
 Consumption of power is very high. We are completely dependent on technology
like television, cell phones and other gadgets. For this electric energy is required
which is generated by nuclear or fossil fuels (Onetti and et. al, 2012).
 Technology has created positive impact on organisations as it makes work easier,
more accurate and flexible which will assist Williams Ltd to sustain within market
for longer period of time.
Impact of technology on political agendas: Usage of technology in politics has been
greater than before. During elections different people stand, most of time people are not aware
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about whom they are, for this people can use technology like internet to know more about
candidate. Politicians can use social media channels to show who they are rather than what
others say about them (Boons and Lüdeke-Freund, 2013). By this they can gain more votes. They
mostly use Twitter to express their viewpoint on any certain situation which may be prevailing at
certain moment of time. They can carry out online campaigns on certain social issues by usage of
technology. Sustainability of technology is affected by ways it is used by organisation. Example
can be taken to understand this, like privacy issues, there are certain laws formulated by
government to ensure that information of customers remain confidential.
Williams Ltd can opt for usage of technology as it will ensure growth for them if they
provide good quality of services, then they can have strong customer base which will ensure that
they will stay sustainable within market for longer duration of time.
6. Recommendations to senior stakeholders.
As per present scenario, it has been recommended that, to enter into online market as they
have been operating since long as a retailer in market so they have their own customers. But
when they will go online their customer base will enhance. After this they can design their own
smart phone application similar to Amazon which provides their customer with online services.
By this, customers can easily check out new products which have been added to their list their
prices and may also have compare prices offered by other retailer. They can also make online
payments. This will be less time consuming. Stakeholders just need to make sure that their prices
are reasonable and their application and website contains relevant information which user looks
for. When lots of ads come user gets frustrated and irritated. Designer needs to ensure that
nothing such happens.
CONCLUSION
From above it can be concluded that, innovation plays vital role in growth of business with
respect to advancement in technology. There is different web based technologies present but
depending upon comfort of designer anyone can be used for development of website. The
website should be user centric so that focus should be only on requirements of user rather than
adding irrelevant content. Strategies must be formulated on basis of how innovation can be
carried out and in which way website can be formulated so that it looks impressive. Though
technology has wide range of positive aspects but it also has negative impact on environment.
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REFERENCES
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Online
UX — A quick glance about The 5 Elements of User Experience. 2019. [Online]. Available
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elements-of-user-experience-part-2-a0da8798cd52>.
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Cloud computing.2019. [Online]. Available through:<http://www.saguarotech.net/technical-
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