Types of Innovation: 4Ps, Innovation Funnel and Marks & Spencer

This report delves into the concept of frugal innovation, emphasizing its significance in developing cost-effective and accessible solutions. It meticulously explains the 4Ps of innovation—product, process, position, and paradigm—and illustrates how these elements contribute to shaping innovative strategies within organizations. Furthermore, the report details the innovation funnel, outlining each stage from idea generation to market launch, and analyzes its application in an organizational context. The report uses Marks and Spencer as a case study to explore how the company can utilize frugal innovation to meet the needs of customers, particularly in developing markets. The conclusion highlights the benefits of frugal innovation and the importance of the 4Ps and the innovation funnel in enhancing organizational performance.

Types of Innovation-2

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
LO2 .................................................................................................................................................1
P3 Explain the 4Ps of innovation and explain the use of the innovation funnel to examine and
shape innovative ideas.................................................................................................................1
M2 Analyse and apply the innovation funnel in an organisational context................................4
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................4
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................5

INTRODUCTION
Frugal innovation is the approach to develop a useful, simple, less compound or
sophisticated device or solution to a complex problem. This approach is found to be very
economic and accessible for the people that helps the people to gain a good rise in the
compatibility and thus support the people with low financial resources. It is been looked after for
their practical approach or solution (Neumann and et.al., 2017). They have the very less profit
margin. The Globalisation and increase in core resources have increased the popularity of Frugal
innovation. The report will emphasis on the 4 P's of innovation and the use of innovation funnel
in order to promote and develop innovative ideas. Besides this, it the analysis of this innovation
funnel in context of Marks and Spencer is been evaluated.
LO2
P3 Explain the 4Ps of innovation and explain the use of the innovation funnel to examine and
shape innovative ideas
Innovations is the key approach that has to be followed by an organisation in order to
improve the product or services that are been manufactured by a firm. This helps in superior
growth and development of the innovation process within the organisation. The innovation helps
the firm to meet a complex problem in an economic and accessible manner that helps in
improving the performance and thus facilitates a good rise in capability and operations of the
organisation will help in superior growth and development of the business firm. Especially the
frugal innovation involves the strategy to remove non essential components in a product or
equipments and maintain the basic functionality of the product that will help in effective
resolution of a problem.
The measures or the strategies that are been followed by the firm for the strategies will
help in saving the resources and get the cheaper yet effective alternative solution for a problem.
The products in frugal innovation are quite accessible and affordable by a wider public which is
the major reason behind their success. They have a good approach towards the problem solving
and has the basic functioning (Winterhalter and et.al., 2014). The frugal innovation approach will
also help in suitable rise in gaining of wider understanding about problem and thus facilitates a
good rise in meeting of targeted actions and activities by the firm. A business entity has to
identify and assess the 4 P's related to innovation process which will help in developing and
shaping of the innovation strategies within the firm. The 4 P's of innovation are as follows:
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 Product: the product or the commodity is the major factor that is been taken in
consideration by the firm. This helps in the effective management of the operations that
helps in good assessment of the actions and policies which will help in meeting of the
problems for which the innovative product or good is been developed. It is not necessary
to make the alteration in the product itself. Changes or modification can be made even in
packaging, delivering and even manufacturing process that will help the entity to give out
an innovative output to some extent, in form of a new item to its customers. Besides this,
the major principle of an innovative product is to emerge as an effective solution for a
problem or issue, supporting its effective rectification (Rosca, Arnold and Bendul, 2017).
 Process: The process involves the approach of using the latest or the core technologies or
engineering skills in order to develop a product which is capable to meet the requirements
of the customers. It basically involves the effective implementation of an idea or solution
towards a shortcoming in order to get the appropriate output. The main concept behind
the development of a frugal innovative product is to solve the problem faced by a
customer and improve his satisfaction level. This will not only improve the good will of
the firm but will also support building a strong relationship of customer with the firm.
Besides this, it will also enhance the profitability of firm.
 Position: It is a perception that is been developed by the firm itself as well as the
customer towards the innovative product or services that is been developed by the firm. It
is a psychological approach. Besides this, it involves the steps taken by the firm to
increase the effectiveness of firm in development of an innovative product or services. It
will help the cited business entity to market the newly developed product and services.
 Paradigm: it is the assessment of idea by which an innovative product and services is
been developed and evaluated by the firm (Radjou and Prabhu, 2015). It is a combination
of concept, practical approaches and imagination which help in increasing the capability
of a firm to develop a good, efficient and innovative product. This helps the firm to
effectively leverage the profit gained over the newly developed innovative product and
services.
Besides this, the firm will follow the innovation funnel which will make the developing
process more innovative and precise. The innovation funnel that is been followed by a firm is as
follows:
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 Idea generation: this is the first step of the innovation funnel that includes the effective
assessment of the capabilities and resources possessed by the firm. The idea generation
will occur after the detailed observation and assessment of the problem statement and
finding out all the possible outcomes for its effective and precise solution. It is the
primary stage, where the problem is been presented to the team of research and
development department within a firm (Shibin And et.al., 2018.). This helps in the
effective following of the high quality products and services that will support a good rise
in the operations which will support the development of high quality innovative product.
 Rough concept: it is a good management of the business operations that will support and
innovative rise in the capability and thus facilitates a better arrangement of the innovation
process. It is the initialization of the innovation development process that will include the
implementation of the practical ideas and concepts of engineering in order to develop an
innovative solution to a problem. In major cases, this stage involves the development of a
working model or a prototype of the innovative product and its assessment to test the
feasibility for further development. Once the result obtained are satisfactory, it is been
forwarded for further evaluation and developing.
 Detailed concepts: its is the step followed by the successful and satisfactory completion
of rough concept. It includes the proper assessment of actions that will help in proper and
detailed development of high quality product or services that will help in good rise in the
operations and meeting of the targeted operations and the activities that will support a
good rise in the compatibility and this facilitates the suitable approaches of engineering
concepts and principles in order to improvise and increase the effectiveness of the
innovative products and services (Neumann, Wecht and Gassmann, 2017). Here the in-
detail assessment of the developed product will be performed in real time conditions in
order to identify its extent and enhance the productivity of the cited organisation,
adopting the innovation development process by the firm.
 Market launch: Once the product is been developed and the detailed assessment of the
developed product is been performed by the business organisation, the developed and
accessed innovative product is been launched in the market to be used by the customers
that will help in the better assessment of the organisation that will impact the
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performance of the organisation to a greater extent. The consumers will use the
developed frugal innovation and will give their perception or feedback to the firm. This
will encourage the business organisation to develop more innovative and problem solving
products and services for the firm. Even it will lead to the commercialisation of the
innovation and thus will become a good source of revenue generation for the cited
business entity (Winterhalter and et.al., 2017).
This innovation funnel helps in the better assessment of the capabilities of the cited
business entity to improve the performance of the firm and thus increase the efficiency of an
organisation to develop a better and effective solution to a problem or issue through the means of
frugal innovation. It developed the companies' ideology to come up with more elaborative and
deceptive solutions that will capture the maximum number of customers, rectify their problems
and become a good source of revenue generation.
M2 Analyse and apply the innovation funnel in an organisational context.
Marks and Spencer will use the approach of frugal innovation to cater the growing
demands and problems faced by its customers in the developing countries. As in such locations
the customers are not financially viable, the measure of developing a product or service
including the frugal innovation will be a beneficiary approach for the firm that will help in good
rise in business operations of the firm and enhance customer satisfaction level (Zeschky,
Winterhalter and Gassmann, 2014).
CONCLUSION
On the basis of assessment performed, this can be concluded that the approach of frugal
innovation is very beneficial and important for the firm that will help in increasing the
effectiveness of the organisation. The 4P's of innovation and the implementation of the
innovation funnel will help in increasing the performance of the organisation. Effective
assessment of people, product, place and paradigm will facilitate and contribute in effective
developing of a frugal innovation product. Besides this, the steps followed in innovation funnel
will help in suitable rise in performance of the cited retail business organisation.
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REFERENCES
Books and journals
Neumann, L., and et.al., 2017, June. Knowledge Transfer in the Context of Frugal Innovation.
In ISPIM Innovation Symposium (p. 1). The International Society for Professional
Innovation Management (ISPIM).
Neumann, L., Wecht, C. and Gassmann, O., 2017. Insights on Organizational Processes and
Structures for Frugal Innovation.
Radjou, N. and Prabhu, J., 2015. Frugal Innovation: How to do more with less. The Economist.
Rosca, E., Arnold, M. and Bendul, J.C., 2017. Business models for sustainable innovation–an
empirical analysis of frugal products and services. Journal of Cleaner Production, 162,
pp.S133-S145.
Shibin, K.T. And et.al., 2018. Frugal Innovation for Supply Chain Sustainability in SMEs: Multi-
method Research Design. Planning and Control.
Winterhalter, S. and et.al., 2014. Business models for frugal innovation: the role of Resource-
Constraints.
Winterhalter, S. and et.al., 2017. Business Models for Frugal Innovation in Emerging Markets:
The Case of the Medical Device and Laboratory Equipment Industry. Technovation, 66,
pp.3-13.
Zeschky, M.B., Winterhalter, S. and Gassmann, O., 2014. From cost to frugal and reverse
innovation: Mapping the field and implications for global competitiveness. Research-
Technology Management, 57(4), pp.20-27.
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