A Comprehensive Case Study on Innovation Problems at Carrefour

This case study examines the innovation problems faced by Carrefour, a major retail organization. It identifies key issues such as lack of employee empowerment, inadequate motivation, poor innovation strategies, centralization of innovation, insufficient collaboration, lack of diversity, weak customer connections, and the complacency resulting from successful product lines. The analysis explores the relationship between these innovation problems and Carrefour's organizational culture, structure, and leadership. The study highlights the importance of fostering a culture that supports innovation, decentralizing innovation efforts, embracing diversity, strengthening customer connections, and adopting effective evaluation strategies. Carrefour's hierarchical structure and rigid culture are identified as impediments to innovation, emphasizing the need for a more flexible and adaptive approach to facilitate change and growth.

Running head: CASE STUDY 1
Case study
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation

Running head: CASE STUDY 2
Innovation Problems at Carrefour
Introduction
Today, organizations strive to outdo each other by making their processes more
effective and efficient that encourages more flexibility in operations. The effectiveness and
efficiency in operations is mostly achieved through innovation or embracing of new technology
in the organizational setting. Innovation is fast becoming the most significant factor in
organizational growth and development upon ensuring success. It is therefore critical that
technological advancement is embraced by every organization that values growth and success.
According to Bessant (2003), innovation presents an opportunity for an organization to renew its
processes, it is therefore significant that organizations focus on ways of managing innovation in
its processes.
The success and milestones achieved by most organizations today are highly dependent
on the nature of technological advancement in its possession. Technology and innovation,
therefore, essentially seem to be the determinant of success in most organizations today,
innovation would somehow break or make an organization. According to Timmerman., et al
(2014), most organizations have realized the need to foster innovation among their employees
since it turns out to be to their own benefit. The end goal of innovation in organizations is to
keep up the pace with the ever-changing world ensuring effectiveness and efficiency which in
turn would steer such organizations to achieve a competitive edge in the global world of
business. Because of the end goal of competitive advantage, it is essentially recommendable that
organizational stakeholders foster a culture of being creative in their employees both at an
individual level and at a team level.

Running head: CASE STUDY 3
According to Sernack (2016), organizations that embrace opportunities for change
through innovation in the volatile and highly uncertain business environments, are not only likely
to survive the harsh business environments but also are tipped to compete favorably and flourish
even at the verge of fluctuating and harsh business and economic times. Furthermore, such
organizations would benefit from their pursuit of innovation as a systematic, strategic and a
human-centered shift for engaging an innovative routine and culture in their underlying business
lines.
Also notable is that innovation in organizations come in different dimensions. Fenwick
(2003) identifies three dimensions of innovative learning; level, rhythm, and magnitude. Level
dimension is more concerned with whether the innovation in mind is at an individual level, group
or organization. Rhythm on the other hand is more of whether the innovation process is episodic
or continuous and finally, magnitude level innovation encompasses innovation that is either
adaptive or generative.
What then constitutes an innovation in an organizational point of view? Selwyn et al.,
(1967) in their journal article on the Innovative Organization define innovation as a procedure
that pursues invention but distinct from an invention by time and location. In their definition,
Selwyn and company identify that innovation that takes place inside an organization for instance
in the research department is not likely to put in use by that same organization or at the same
time the invention takes place but rather, at a later time, the organization or a different one
altogether may implement the first use of that particular invention. In this context, therefore, the
first user or implementer of the innovation becomes the inventor. Further, Selwyn et al., (1967)
also assert that innovation does not necessarily need to occur in an organization but rather an
individual initiative.

Running head: CASE STUDY 4
Challenges to organizational Innovation-Case Study: Carrefour
1. Most employees in an organization are not empowered to innovate
According to Playford (n.d), most organizations do not offer a conducive
environment around which innovative employees can put into practice their innovative skills.
Carrefour is no exception. The fear is that in the event that an employee gets involved in a task
outside his/her own, s/he may get distracted and deviate completely from his normal
responsibility which may affect the organization’s output. As a result, most employees at
Carrefour do not feel supported when they want to put to task their innovative ideas. The
outcome of this routine in lack of creativity in the organization fostering the culture of a
centralized manner of doing things.
2. Inadequate motivation to employees to innovate
Motivated employees are known to be very productive and ready to share ideas
that can have a long time positive influence to an organization. Empowering employees is one
way of motivating your labor force, if employees feel lack of empowerment and support in their
undertakings, they become demotivated hence draw back from any effort to implement
innovative ideas. This is also seen at Carrefour. Carrefour therefore needs to design development
oriented programs such as inventor program training, encouraging competition using contests
and even training and exchange programs so that employees can learn new things and implement

Running head: CASE STUDY 5
the same given resources. Carrefour is coming up with ideas on how to motivate its employees
for example by designing a health and safety program for its employees at workplace, training on
hygiene, accident prevention and conducting regular facility audits to ascertain safety working
environment (Carrefour Group, n.d).
3. Lack of innovative strategies
Playford (n.d) asserts that it is a crucial practice for an organization to develop an
innovative strategy which will determine the direction of invention in the organization and the
means to implement it. Carrefour has to come up with an innovation strategy that focuses on
globalization. The focus should be to produce goods and services that are internationally
oriented. Pisano et al., (2015) identify that a proper innovation strategy would promote adequate
alignment of activities in a diverse group of employees, identify and uphold the organizational
objective, and help put concentration around the organizational objectives and priorities, this
approach lacks at Carrefour. It is therefore a requirement that Carrefour aligns its innovative
strategies alongside their business strategies to achieve harmony of activities that support the
main objective.
4. Centralization of innovation at Carrefour
Carrefour’s marketing strategy is purely dependent on retail markets which gives
the marketing department all the liberty of setting innovative pace at the organization.
Centralizing innovation to one group of employees or stakeholders in an organization contributes
greatly to lack of motivation to an organization’s labor force. It breeds specialization rather than
encouraging diversity in the organizational setting in which everyone feels included in a process.

Running head: CASE STUDY 6
Centralizing innovation to say for instance Research and Development or Product Development
departments in the pretext that innovation is solely their responsibility is not only mythical but
also a big hindrance to innovative ideas in the organization being exploited. An organization
should have a decentralized means of encouraging innovation by offering equal chances and
platforms for encouraging innovation (Bucic & Gudergan, 2011).
5. Inadequacy in collaboration and partnerships
Most organizations concentrate majorly on internal collaboration in regards to
innovation and ignore the external collaboration which is equally important. Internal
collaboration in most instances encourage innovation up to a certain level in which all ideas are
exhausted, at this point, the organization becomes deficient of innovative and inventing ideas
internally. Carrefour has initiated means of external collaboration with Goodman group for
logistics development. Embracing external collaboration brings on board industry partners,
competitors and organization clients to drive forward innovation (Lassen & Laugen, 2017).
6. Lack of diversity at Carrefour
Initially, Carrefour concentrated its products at one place encouraging consumers
to find all they needed at one central point, but with the evolution of the business environment in
which people can even purchase items at their home comfort, this strategy had to be reinvented
(Balasescu, 2016). Carrefour should further focus efforts in employing diverse team in the
organization to steer innovative ideas in different departments of the organization. Hiring and
engaging an innovative team in the organization will encourage and provide innovation
initiatives with diverse ideas generated from different perspectives. Dionna (2017) identifies that

Running head: CASE STUDY 7
an organization should be prepared to ensure diversity in its workforce which is significant
inbreeding and implementing innovative ideas. Further, organizations should ensure diversity in
different levels such as ensuring cultural/ethnic diversity, diversity in gender, and diversity in
capability.
7. Lack of customer connections at Carrefour
Carrefour’s customer connections had issues when the organization concentrated
more on centralizing its products to one point (Balasescu, 2016). Customer is the king, goes the
old business say. Customers are the important stakeholders of every organization’s business.
Traditionally, it is the role and mandate of an organization to provide good and quality customer
service. Alien (2011) assert that customer is the king means a lot and not just giving the
customers the best service, but also knowing their power, do not tell them what to do because
they are the king, make things easy and in their way of preference and allow them dictate what
they desire. Carrefour has reinvented this strategy by encouraging innovative ideas such as
Carrefour Planet which gives customers all-new experience by ensuring efficiency. Staying
connected to your customers would help one understand their demands and staying alert for any
deviations in the future. Actually, staying connected to your customers gives a clear
understanding of the problems to solve using innovation in the organization.
8. Carrefour’s successful product lines

Running head: CASE STUDY 8
The strategy of having products at a central point encouraged doing the same old
thing over and over at Carrefour which did not give customers new experience in shopping with
Carrefour hypermarkets, this was an example of successful product lines. Successful product line
in an organization breeds complacency in innovation. When an organization realizes that the
products it offers completely satisfies the needs of its clients in the market, it becomes
complacent in improving the products further or offering something different to its esteemed
clients. This move makes the organization to encourage a routinized approach to its business
which in essence does not encourage innovative culture (Decision Innovation, 2018).
9. Incorrect innovation evaluation strategies at Carrefour
Innovation is a crucial initiative in an organization which seeks to have a better
platform for measuring and evaluating the outcomes of the whole process. It is important
therefore that Carrefour establishes an effective benchmark for evaluating the effectiveness of
the innovation in any process which in the process will help the organization is also evaluating
the business success. Playford (n.d) further identifies that it is crucial to measure the amount of
new ideas generated in the business by the workforce, measure the amount of time spent in
innovation and also the value of investment as a result of the innovative initiative.
Relationship between the innovation problems with:
a) The Carrefour’s organizational culture
Organizational culture is a significant aspect of an innovation process because it
contributes to the effects on the innovation process. Carrefour's culture of diversity of the
workforce recently implemented came with challenges in the structuring of communication to
ensure a hierarchical flow of information from top management to the low-level employees.

Running head: CASE STUDY 9
Companies that achieve great success have a clear alignment of their organizational culture and
the innovation strategies such as change of leadership and channels of communication (Grant
and Shamonda, 2018). A strong organizational culture should be one that supports innovation
within the organization by encouraging both internal and external innovation agents. It is crucial
that every organization identifies ways and strategies of managing innovation in its culture by
defining cultural characteristic that support their innovative strategies.
b) Carrefour’s organizational structure
Peters (2014) argue that the most appropriate organizational structure is that which
conforms with the operating aspect of the organization for instance the scale of operation,
environment of operation, and the technological application in the processes. Carrefour's
organizational structure follows a hierarchy of leadership from the CEO which then disintegrates
down the hierarchy. The hierarchical arrangement is an impediment to decision-making process
characterized by much time spent in the process which would require everyone's input. A rigid
organizational culture is characterized by an organization with suitable conditions under which it
operates and embraces the culture of successful product line which cannot be changed, in this
case, the management of innovation is rigid just like the structure. A hierarchical organizational
system is more flexible in its arrangements, adapt quickly to changes and encourages innovation
culture in the organization.
c) Carrefour’s Leadership

Running head: CASE STUDY 10
Organizational success heavily lies on the shoulders of the leadership. From the
key stakeholders, top management, and other management levels, the burden of ensuring
organizational growth and development thus success heavily weighs down to the type of
leadership strategies that they use. Carrefour's leadership structure is one which observes
delegation of duty from the top management to the lower level management. The hierarchy of
leadership ensures efficient and effective flow of information from the top. According to Li et
al., (2018) having a transformational leadership contributes tremendously to triggering
organizational innovation. It is important to identify leaders as per their characteristics and style
of management which are critical in fostering innovation in the organization and encourage them
to establish an environment where key stakeholders can think outside the box to come up and
implement innovative ideas.
d) Carrefour Processes
Carrefour processes are horizontally attributed. Organizational processes are
categorized into two major types; the vertical integration and horizontal integration.
Organizations that have vertical integration are involved incomplete development of the product
until it reaches the customers, in other words, vertically integrated organizations undertake and
control all the stages of product design and development chain. Whereas horizontal integration as
is the case of Carrefour, is more focused in one aspect of the product value chain for example
sales of finished products. Beltz (2013) asserts that vertically integrated organizations give a
better room for organizational innovation than their counterparts, horizontal integration. Product
development is more advanced in vertical integration due to their ability to work in a closed
internal innovation.
e) Partnerships and Collaborations

Running head: CASE STUDY 11
Partners in an organizational business include but not necessarily limited to
customers, competitors, suppliers, researchers, and consulting organizations (Simao et al., 2016).
Carrefour has a lot of partner including its customers and suppliers regionally and
internationally, for example Carrefour has a longtime partnership with CFAO in which the two
have a distribution rights together in different countries, UHD, Majid Al Futtam among others
(propertydivision, n.d). These are also referred to as business collaborators. Carrefour uses
collaboration as a way to reinvent itself by taking advantage of the competitive edge in the
market. Partnering and collaboration is a strategy that can be used by organizations to work
together towards achieving a common objective such as sharing the use of technology, unifying
their product development, sharing resources, enhancing capacity or even market access.
Partnering and collaboration is, therefore, an important factor when considering innovation in an
organization as it is a way to expose, motivate and encourage employees of a given organization
to embrace and utilize available resources in putting to task their innovative ideas (Ekawati,
2014).
f) Carrefour’s strategy
According to Pearson (2018), innovation strategy refers to the summation of long-
term plans that map the direction taken by an organization to achieve its set objectives.
Carrefour’s marketing strategy features joint venturing like the case of Chinese market access in
which it formed a joint venture with the Chinese local government to establish retail shops in
which most of the goods sold in such markets are Chinese made. This, however, came with
problems of limited outsourcing of products from other countries to sell in Chinese markets. An
organizational strategy needs to dynamic in order to realize different ways of achieving the
objectives in the best and affordable means possible. Abdul et al., (2016) identify that the

Running head: CASE STUDY 12
dynamics of organizational strategies would encourage innovation that focuses majorly on
changing with the changing of consumer demands and preferences. Businesses cannot survive in
a changing environment if they do not embrace innovations that are in line with the changes in
the operational environment.
Recommendations to Carrefour
Innovation, according to Forbes (2016), is the key to organizational success, the most innovative
companies are the most successful. It is, therefore, a requirement that every organization
embraces innovation. For this reason, therefore, it is recommended that;
1. Carrefour should focus energy on encouraging innovation and remove fears of failure as
a result trying new things. There should be attempts to overcome the fears of failure and
encourage the employees to come out of their comfort zones to embrace new things.
2. Carrefour management should encourage research and allow their team to be able to
carry out research on their areas of preferences and try out their new findings in the
organizational process.
3. Encourage their teams to be included in the organizational processes without limitations.
The encouraging inclusion of all employees in the organizational process encourages
motivation and feeling of satisfaction and have a better platform for embracing
innovation. Conduct training to team members, listen to their concerns and address them
effectively to find amicable solutions. In the cases of fears in the organization or process,
listen to them, acknowledge their fears, and support them effectively.
4. A clear, concise and effective means and channels of communication should be sought
after so as to ensure that there is no distortion of information during communication. It is
necessary therefore to explain to the team, for instance, the reason for choosing new