Comprehensive Critique of JD Sports' Innovation Strategy and Practices

This report provides a comprehensive critique of JD Sports' innovation strategy, examining their practices, leadership, and organizational culture. The analysis covers JD Sports' mission, vision, strategic objectives, and how they align with their innovation strategy. The report delves into the company's leadership style, organizational culture, and structure, highlighting sources of innovation such as advertising, celebrity endorsements, and social media marketing. It explores JD Sports' approach to exploiting and exploring innovation opportunities, while also evaluating their 4 Ps (RACES) framework. The report concludes with an evaluation of JD Sports' innovation strategy, identifying strengths and areas for improvement, and suggesting that while the company is organized in stimulating innovation, they should diversify their sources of innovation and strategies to generate innovative ideas.

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Critique of innovation
strategy and practices
JD Sports
Student ID:
U1523921
U1526210
U1631944
U1618079

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We will cover:
 JD sports with having their access to huge capital, investing more on
innovative ideas.
 Employees are provided flexible workplace in order to motivate them in out
of the box thinking.
 Communication process is effective in the organization.
 Benchmarking is considered as source of innovation.
 Customer data also used as source of innovation.

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JD Sports mission and vision
 Mission-
"To be UK's best-known sports fashion retailer. To provide customers with a huge
range of products, a secure shopping experience, quality and services on huge
ranges of men's, women's and kid's trainers and footwear that 80% exclusive to
only JD.”
 Vision-
“To become the first choice retailer for branded premium menswear fashion in the
UK.”

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JD Sports strategic objectives and how it aligns
with their innovation strategy
 Strategic objectives:
 Increasing growth by promoting sportswear fashion.
Using trend setting to manipulate buying patterns.
 Acquisition of businesses to diversify the business portfolio.
As diversity in offerings will lead to wider scope for sales.
 Alignment with innovation strategy:
 Bringing new products at a cheaper price to the market.
 Persuasive advertising that connects through various media channels to reach the
target customer section.

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Leadership and culture
Leadership
 Leadership style practiced in Jd sports is democratic in nature.
 Feedback and opinion of the employees are given much importance.
 Effective communication with the internal stakeholders are considered.
 Their leadership style is mainly situational type of leadership.
 This helps them in having leadership approach according to the situation.
 However, it becomes difficult to change the leadership style frequently.
 Having motivated employees in place.

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Leadership and culture
Culture
 Organizational culture practiced in Jd sports is clan type of culture.
 Employee are having flexibility in the workplace.
 Collaboration, coordination and cooperation are the key values maintained in
the organization.
 Situational style of leadership also helps in having favorable culture.
 Clan culture helps in having motivated employees in place.
 However, directing the employees may be a difficult affair.

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Organizational structure
 Hierarchical Peter Cowgill
Executive Chairman
Brian Small
Chief Financial Officer
Martin Davies
Non-Executive Director
Andrew Leslie
Non-Executive Director
Heather Jackson
Non-Executive Director
Andy Rubin
Non-Executive Director
Head Office
management
Store managers/supervisors
Store sales assistants

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Sources of innovation
• JD is the market leader in
the United Kingdom.
• Having huge market share.
• Innovation is important to
maintain market leadership.
• Will help in gaining
competitiveness.
Advertising
• JD sports maintain
innovative approach in their
advertising strategies.
• Innovative advertising helps
to generate needs of the
customers.
• Innovation in advertisement
is being initiated according to
the taste and preference
pattern of the customers.
Source: Statista 2018
Celebrity
endorsements Accidents
• Emergence of the
social media.
• Social media
marketing constitute
a major chunk of
current business
scenario.
• It forced JD sports to
change their existing
market mediums.

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So how we search for innovation opportunities

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Old frame and new
frame

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Zone 1 Exploit and Zone 2 Explore
Zone 1 – Exploit
 Jd sports uses incremental
innovation to build upon their
products
Zone 2 - Explore
• Jd sports explores new opportunities to
indulge in R &D
• Jd sports has applied this in two ways:
Bought about fashion to sportswear and
applied market research to support decision

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Zone 3 Reframe and Zone 4 Co-Evolve
Zone 3 – Reframe
 Jd sports makes radical changes in the
product developmental process
 Engagement of all organisation
departments and partners in product
development
 The management becomes intra-
prenuers and mobilize the
organizational resources.
Zone 4 – Co- Evolve
• Jd sports comes out with out of the box ideas
and discover new products.
• JD Sports does not make use of this Zone. It
just uses member contribution to develop the
existing products