Managing Product and Service Innovation Assignment

Running head: MANAGING PRODUCT AND SERVICE INNOVATION
Managing Product and Service Innovation
Name of Student
Name of University
Author Note

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MANAGING PRODUCT AND SERVICE INNOVATION
Table of contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Background of the company......................................................................................................2
Concept of innovation................................................................................................................3
Types of innovation....................................................................................................................4
Developing an innovation framework........................................................................................6
Application of the innovation framework..................................................................................8
Gaps in the application.............................................................................................................10
Addressing area of weakness in organisations.........................................................................12
Conclusion................................................................................................................................12
Reference..................................................................................................................................13

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MANAGING PRODUCT AND SERVICE INNOVATION
Introduction
In the age of competitiveness, it is necessary that every organisation develop
innovative techniques that can help it to satisfy customers and gain global recognition.
Drucker (2014) stated that product and service innovation is important so that customers do
not feel monotonous about buying the same product or using the same service. The
assignment focuses on the development of an innovation framework necessary for gaining
success in the business market. For the purpose of the assignment, Woolworths has been
considered. Woolworths is an Australian retail store specialising in various types of products
used for daily life (Woolworthsgroup.com.au, 2018). The assignment sheds light on the
concept of innovation along with its types and provides an overview of the application of the
innovative framework in Woolworths. The gaps in the application are identified and the area
of weakness of Woolworths is discussed. Recommendations are provided to bridge the gap
that exists and improve on the weakness of the company.
Background of the company
Woolworths is a famous and major retail company situated in New South Wales,
Australia. The greatness of the company is determined by the fact that it has over 995 stores
all over the country. The number of employees in the company is about 202,000 with team
members exceeding over 115,000 (Woolworthsgroup.com.au, 2018). The company looks
after the welfare and health of the people in the country and because of this; it manufactures
and produces fresh vegetables and fruits. The mission of the company is to produce and serve
the best quality food to the customers so that they remain satisfied. This strategy allowed the
company to set up Woolworth’s Australia’s Fresh Food People (Woolworthsgroup.com.au,
2018). It is considered as a type of social responsibility of the company wherein the company
strives to maintain its mission. At the same time, Woolworths indulges in innovative factors

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MANAGING PRODUCT AND SERVICE INNOVATION
to help in the satisfaction of the customers. In this regard, it can be seen that the vision of the
company is to gain international recognition in the market and promote unity among the
employees (Woolworthsgroup.com.au, 2018).
Concept of innovation
According to Johnston and Marshall (2016), innovation is a process to develop new
ideas, devices and methods. At the same time, innovation is also considered as the application
of solutions that are better than the existing solutions so that new requirements of an
organisation can be met. The needs of the market, as well as the customers, are met with the
advent of innovation in the market. Innovation can be achieved by using a more effective
approach towards marinating the products, process, service and technologies. Innovation is
mainly created in the models that are available in the market, Government policies and in the
society in which an organisation functions. However, Christensen, Raynor and McDonald
(2016) pointed out the fact that innovation is different from invention.
This mainly because of the fact that invention deals with the discovery of a new thing
or process that can help an organisation or individual get the desired recognition in the
society. Innovation, on the other hand, makes changes to an invention once it is monotonous
to the people. The originality of ideas of individuals that highlights the effectiveness of their
skills is considered an innovation. Dutta, Lanvin and Wunsch-Vincent (2015) is of the
opinion that in management science innovation is considered as a process that unites various
ideas of individuals so that satisfaction of customers can be attained with an increase in profit
for the organisations.