Managing Innovation in Business

This document discusses the importance of managing innovation in business and its impact on sustaining in the competitive market. It explores the innovation history and current performance of Marks and Spencer, a British multinational retail store. The document also provides insights into the industry trends and capabilities of the organization.

Managing
Innovation
in
Business
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INTRODUCTION
Innovation is considered as creative thoughts, a new idea as well as new imagination in
the respect of action or device. It is also consider as better solution that is native by an
organisation for meeting new requirement or unarticulated requirement of its potential
marketplace (Biemans, 2018). Now a day it is essential for an organisation to adopt innovation
for sustaining at competitive market. Organisation selected for respective assignment is Marks
and Spencer which is a public type of firm conducting in clothing retail sector. Respective
company is introduced by Michael Marks as well as Thomas Spencer in year 1884. The main
aim of conducting this assignment is to identify information about company, its innovation
history, current innovation performance as well as capabilities along with this it also include
future of respective firm.
MAIN BODY
The Organisation & Industry Overview
The Organisation and its Innovation History
About Marks and Spencer
Marks and Spencer commonly abbreviated as Marks and Spencer. It is a public firms
operating as a British multinational retail store. It is introduced by Michael Marks as well as
Thomas Spencer in year 1884 as well as its head office is located at London, United Kingdom.
Respective organisation operates its business at worldwide level as well as they have numbers
brands like Autograph, Per Una, Rosie, limited, M&S Energy, Blue Harbour and H&S
Collection. The respective company is specialize in merchandising premium quality home
products, food products, jewellery and clothings. This firm is also recorded on the London Stock
Exchange as well as it also listed in the FTSE 250 Index and in is listed at FTSE 100 Index from
its creation or innovation until 2019. Marks and Spencer have 1463 stores across the 57 countries
as well as they are operating over 50 international websites and they are considered as United
Kingdom leading retail store who offer premium quality of fashion, stylish home ware as well as
award winning food (About M&S, 2019). Respective organisation believe in constant innovation
which make tailor as well as products innovative so that its customers get delightful experiences
around the world. In addition to this, it also provide financial services by name of M&S Bank
and it include current account, saving account, credit cards, insurance facilities and mortgages
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(ABOUT US, 2020). Respective firm also provide energy related services to their potential
customers in order to provide fully renewable electricity.
Innovation History of Marks and Spencer
The main aim of Michael Marks and Thomas Spencer behind introducing Marks and
Spencer is to provide prime and advanced services to targeted as well as potential marketplace.
Year Growth and development
1900 to 1950 In 1900s is consider as growth period for M&S because at that
time they buy its number of competitors as well as they become
public. In 1915 respective company have 145 stores and in 1920
they started merchandising its most famed product i.e. underwear.
In 1930 they opened its food as well as clothing departments and
by 1942 they expanded business by opening 82 new stores
including cafes (THE HISTORY OF M&S | THIS IS NOT JUST A
STORE, IT'S AN M&S STORE SINCE 1884, 2020).
1950 to 1970 In 1955 respective company come up with innovation i.e. New
Look line which bring back glamour. In 1957 they introduced
ready to wear cloths like nylon stockings as well as in 1960
respective company introduce new structure of marketing meat
and dairy goods (Brunswicker and Vanhaverbeke, 2015).
1970 to 2010 At 1972 Marks and Spencer introduced new food innovation i.e.
frozen ready meals that are sold over 100 stores. At 1973
respective firm become first retailer who added deal by dates to
their merchandise. In 1999 M&S introduced online store and in
2001 they come up with food only store named Simply foods.
2010 till now In 2015 Marks and Spencer innovate its new logo with EST 1884
and in 2016 they announced its new CEO i.e. Steve Rowe. Till
now respective company have more than 450 store outside the
United Kingdom (Carayannis, Sindakis and Walter, 2015).
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The Organisations existing Innovation Performance and Capabilities
According to Marks and Spencer retail is changing and for they are also adopting change
so that they can introduce new innovation for attracting more customers as well as fulfilling their
requirements. In January 2019, Marks and Spencer launched plant for kitchen range where there
is collection of more than 50 non meat, snacks, drinks, non dairy meals that include prepared
meal and sandwiches. In same year at February, respective company reduced harmful material
for food products such as calories by 16 %, sugar by 17 % and saturated fat by 20 % in order to
aware their potential customers about health (Plan A Performance update 2019, 2020). Along
with this, in 2019 Marks and Spencer also come up with innovative ideas which help them in
boosting their business with profitability ratio such as they are planning to introduce 3D scanner.
Through which customers get recommendations according to their shape and size which will
capture and measure by 3D scanner (NEW WAVE OF TECH START UPS HELPING TO PUT
DIGITAL INNOVATION AT THE HEART OF M&S, 2020). They are going to linked up with
Rocketo which is subscription based health dog food firm, respective company is adopting this
for understanding about how to personalised layered on top. Marks and Spencer also going to
provide battery sharing services so that customers phones will fully charged which help them in
enjoying shopping in successful manner.
In order to evaluate capabilities of Marks and Spencer, management may adopt different
models such as VRIO analysis because it will help them in evaluating all resources which help
firm in attaining competitive advancement at the marketplace. VRIO framework is defined as
analysis technique which is developed in order to help a company for uncover its resources as
well as capabilities that aid them in attaining advanced competitive advantage at the potential
market (Lager, 2016). Analysis of capabilities of Marks and Spencer through VRIO model is
given below:-
Resources Valuable Rare Inimitable Organised
Product Quality Yes - - -
Distribution Network Yes Yes - -
Employees Yes Yes Yes -
Patents Yes Yes Yes Yes
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Valuable:- It refers to those resources which are valuable for Marks and Spencer because
through it they able to gain competitive advantage at the competitive marketplace (Möller and
Halinen, 2017). At respective company there are several resources which are valuable- Product Quality: It is valuable for respective company because through it they able to
attract more and more customers. Distribution Network: It is valuable for M&S because through it they able to supply their
products to customers as well as retailers in proper time. Employees: This resources is valuable for respective company because they are highly
skilled, knowledgable and capable which help in gaining competitive advantage.
 Patents: M&S made patents of their several products which help them in increase value
at market as well as it also help in secure their design and technology from being copied.
Rare:- These are those resources of M&S that are rare at the marketplace but there are few
resource which is not rare i.e. products quality because there are several other competitive
company who offer similar types of clothing and other products (Mousavi, Bossink and van
Vliet, 2018). There are some which rare- Distribution Network: It is rare because Marks and Spencer develop their network
according to products as well as requirement. Employees: Staffs of M&S are rare because they of high quality as well as they are also
loyal to their company.
 Patents: Respective company make patents of their design, products or technology which
are rare at the marketplace from competitors.
Inimitable:- It refers of those resources of M&S which can not be copied by other competitive
company but there are some resources of firm that can be copied such as product design and
distribution network. There are some resources of respective firm that are inimitable- Employees: Respective firm employees are inimitable because they are highly loyal to
their company as well as they are always ready for adopting innovation.
 Patents: M&S develop legal patents of their ideas, products, design and technology
which make it inimitable.
Organized:- At M&S there are some resources which required to be organized after sometime
so that it can function in effective manner (Talukder, 2016). There are some resources of
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respective company which need to be organized such as product design, distribution network and
employees but there are some which not required to be organized-
 Patents: Patents take by Marks and Spencer not required to be organised after some time
duration and it will help them in attaining competitive advantage.
The Industry in 2020
At every industry trends get change on continuous basis and it is essential for companies
to adopt those changes in effective manner because through it they able to sustain at the
marketplace successfully as well as impressively (Tidd and Bessant, 2018). Similarly, adaptation
of innovation is more essential for clothing retail industry because at respective sector trends are
changing frequently as well as it is essential for firm develop their products, design and strategies
accordingly so that they can gain competitive advantage at marketplace. In respect of developing
understanding about industry at which Marks and Spencer is operating, they may adopt different
model such as porters five force. Explanation of porter's five force model in respect of clothing
or fashion retail sector at which respective company is operating is given below:-
 Bargaining power of suppliers: It refers to that situation which describe about power of
suppliers at the marketplace. If the power of suppliers is high then company need to pay
more for low quality products whereas if the power of suppliers will low then they need
company can demand high quality material for low price. In respect of Fashion retail
industry the bargaining power of suppliers is low because there are numbers of suppliers
who offer similar martial to clothing companies.
 Bargaining power of buyers: It defined as that situation according to which if the
bargaining power of buyer will high then they can demand high quality products at low
price (Winterhalter, Zeschky and Gassmann, 2016). On the other hand if the power of
buyer is low then they have to pay high for low quality products. In respect of retail
industry at which Marks and Spencer is operating, bargaining power of buyer is high
because there are numbers of competitive companies who offer similar products.
 Threat of new entries: It is consider as that threat which is high when any new company
can easily enter or exit at marketplace. In this threat is high when there is less rules and
regulations at the marketplace as well as there is low budget is required. On the other
hand if the threat is low then it mean that industry have high restriction on the entry as
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well as exist of firm. In respect of retail industry threat of new entries is high because
they have less rules and regulation at respective industry.
 Threat of substitutes: It is defined as situation when there is availability of substitutes at
the marketplace. If the availability of substitutes will be high then company have face
high threat at marketplace whereas if the substitute availability is low then they have less
threat (Wymbs, 2016). In respect of retail industry threat of substitutes will be high
because there are numbers of companies who operate at similar industry such as TESCO,
ZARA, NEST PLC and so on.
 Competitive rivalry: It is consider as that factor which define about competition at the
specific industry. If there is various companies operating at a particular industry then
competitive rivalry is high on the other hand if there is less companies at specific industry
then it will be low. In respect of retail industry competitive rivalry is high because there
are number of competitive companies operating at similar industry such John Lewis
Partnership, ALDI, ASDA, NEXT, TESCO and many others.
CONCLUSION
From above discussed point it can be conclude that for every business unit innovation is
necessary because through they can offer high quality as well as innovative products and services
to their potential customers. In the lifetime duration of an organisation they introduce numbers of
innovative products which help them in sustaining at their potential marketplace and attracting
more customers. Along with this, management of a company need to analyse its innovation
performance and capabilities and for that they may adopt different model like VRIO analysis. It
is also essential for a company to conduct industry analysis and for that they may adopt model
like porter's generic model because it help in understanding future of market as well as company.
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REFRENCES
Books and Journals
Biemans, W., 2018. Managing innovation within networks. Routledge.
Brunswicker, S. and Vanhaverbeke, W., 2015. Open innovation in small and medium‐sized
enterprises (SMEs): External knowledge sourcing strategies and internal organizational
facilitators. Journal of Small Business Management. 53(4). pp.1241-1263.
Carayannis, E. G., Sindakis, S. and Walter, C., 2015. Business model innovation as lever of
organizational sustainability. The Journal of Technology Transfer. 40(1). pp.85-104.
Lager, T., 2016. Managing innovation & technology in the process industries: current practices
and future perspectives. Procedia Engineering. 138(1). pp.459-471.
Möller, K. and Halinen, A., 2017. Managing business and innovation networks—From strategic
nets to business fields and ecosystems. Industrial Marketing Management. 67. pp.5-22.
Mousavi, S., Bossink, B. and van Vliet, M., 2018. Dynamic capabilities and organizational
routines for managing innovation towards sustainability. Journal of Cleaner Production.
203. pp.224-239.
Talukder, M., 2016. Managing innovation adoption: from innovation to implementation.
Routledge.
Tidd, J. and Bessant, J. R., 2018. Managing innovation: integrating technological, market and
organizational change. John Wiley & Sons.
Winterhalter, S., Zeschky, M. B. and Gassmann, O., 2016. Managing dual business models in
emerging markets: an ambidexterity perspective. R&D Management. 46(3). pp.464-479.
Wymbs, C., 2016. Managing the innovation process: Infusing data analytics into the
undergraduate business curriculum (lessons learned and next steps). Journal of
Information Systems Education. 27(1). p.61.
Online
About M&S. 2019. [Online]. Available through: <https://global.marksandspencer.com/about-
ms/>.
ABOUT US. 2020. [Online]. Available through:
<https://corporate.marksandspencer.com/aboutus>.
NEW WAVE OF TECH START UPS HELPING TO PUT DIGITAL INNOVATION AT THE
HEART OF M&S. 2020. [Online]. Available through:
<https://corporate.marksandspencer.com/stories/blog/new-wave-of-tech-start-ups-
helping-to-put-digital-innovation-at-the-heart-of-m-and-s>.
Plan A Performance update 2019. 2020. [Online]. Available through:
<https://corporate.marksandspencer.com/documents/reports-results-and-publications/
plan-a-reports/plan-a-performance-update-2019>.
THE HISTORY OF M&S | THIS IS NOT JUST A STORE, IT'S AN M&S STORE SINCE 1884.
2020. [Online]. Available through: <https://blog.s4rb.com/the-history-of-marks-and-
spencer>.
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