Innovation & Commercialisation

INNOVATION & COMMERCIALISATION

Executive Summary
The project is about a company named Essence Drinks, which has introduced Mango
lassis to the UK market. Lassi being a traditional Indian beverage has been a preferred
soft drink in the UK and the company has earned a good amount of revenue in its first
year. The project will discuss and further enlighten about the different business models
and strategies used by the companies to sustain in the market.
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Table of contents
Introduction........................................................................................................................3
1.0 Explanation of innovation and determination of the difference between invention and
innovation...........................................................................................................................3
Explanation of innovation and determination of the importance to organizations like
Essence Drinks as compared to invention.....................................................................3
Explanation of how organisational vision, leadership, culture and teamwork can help
in shaping innovation and commercialisation for an organisation.................................4
2.0 Explanation of the different types of innovation..........................................................5
Explanation of the 4Ps of innovation and explanation of the use of the innovation
funnel to study and shape innovative ideas in Essence Drinks.....................................5
Explanation of the developments of frugal innovation with examples to show how it is
used in Essence Drinks..................................................................................................7
3.0 Discussion on the process required to commercialise innovation..............................9
Explanation of the importance of the commercial funnel and application of new
product development (NPD) processing for commercialisation of innovation...............9
Building an innovative business case for Essence Drinks, including ways to access
funding..........................................................................................................................10
4.0 Evaluation of the range of methods for protecting ideas and understanding their
advantages and disadvantages.......................................................................................11
Evaluation of the different tools that Essence Drinks can use to develop, retain and
protect knowledge and intellectual property.................................................................11
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................12
Reference........................................................................................................................13
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Introduction
The topic of this assignment is focusing on differentiating between innovation and
invention in business. The emphasis is on Essence Drinks, a company which started
conducting business by offering Mango Lassis to the customers. The product that has
been developed and the idea behind the development have been very effective. In its
first year of business, the company gained reputation and earned revenue more than
what was expected. But three years into the business world in the UK market, the
company is experiencing challenges from competitors. The competitors have also
developed similar products with a range of varieties and at the moment Essence Drinks
are finding ways to take effective measures and attract the customers.
1.0 Explanation of innovation and determination of the difference
between invention and innovation
Explanation of innovation and determination of the importance to organizations
like Essence Drinks as compared to invention
The process of developing and improving the existing ideas in order to design new
versions of products and services is known as innovation. Focusing on innovation
allows the companies to understand the demands and preferences of the customers
and act accordingly to manufacture products for fulfilling the needs of the customers.
Here, the company Essence Drinks had focused on a soft drink which is a traditional
drink of India. Therefore, being a new kind of drink to the citizens of UK, the drink
became very popular and the company actually experienced huge sales in its first year
(Camisón and Villar-López 2014). The idea behind the product is innovative and the need
for an organisation to be more innovative has many benefits, which are as follows:
Ability to adapt to the changes according to customer’s demands
When an organisation focuses on innovation, it understands the market trends better,
hence allowing them to understand the customer’s demands thoroughly. Therefore,
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