Innovation Theory Application: A Report on Deliveroo's Strategies

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Deliveroo's innovation management, focusing on the application of innovation theory, particularly the Diffusion of Innovation Theory. The report begins with an introduction to the concept of innovation and its significance in business, followed by a detailed description and evaluation of the Diffusion of Innovation Theory, including its principles, processes, strengths, and weaknesses. The assignment then applies the theory to Deliveroo, a British online food delivery company, examining its historical development and past innovations, such as flexible payment options and promotional strategies. The analysis includes an overview of Deliveroo's business model, partnership approach, and technological advancements. The report concludes by critically evaluating the application of the innovation theory to Deliveroo's operations and its impact on the company's success.

Managing
Innovation

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
1. Description and evaluation of the innovation theory..............................................................1
2. Application of innovation theory............................................................................................4
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Innovation refers to the new plans and ideas of individuals that can be used by the
management of a company in the improvement of the goods and services. In context of a
company, it can a n activities and process of making idea or invention into a product and service
which generate value for which the customers and clients will pay (Allen, Adomdza and Meyer,
2015). Managing innovation or innovation management indicates to a process which help in
managing the innovation standards of a company. Managing innovation is essential because if
the organisation manage their innovation process and activities then they can provide goods and
services according to their customers needs and effectively satisfying them which is beneficial
for the development of the company. Because if they fulfil their needs by providing products and
services accordingly then they also show they loyalty towards the firm. This assignment is
related to Deliveroo which is a brand of Roofoods Ltd that is a British online food delivery
organisation. It was founded in 2013 by Will Shu and Gerg Orlowski and headquartered in
London,UK. This firm operates its business in the different cities of different nations like
Netherlands, France, Germany, Ireland, Spain, Italy and various others. There are 13,000
employees who are working within this company and help in running the business of the
company at global level. This assignment will be discussed about innovation management,
innovation theory and the description or evaluation of the innovation theory with the strengths
and weaknesses of it. Further will defined about the application of the innovation theory.
1. Description and evaluation of the innovation theory
There are several innovation being generated every day around the world. Some do it to
the national and international level becoming a omnipresent component of everyday life. Some
innovations are most essential for a specific group of people because they help in provide
satisfaction to the needs and demands of them. There are various theories of innovation like
Innovation Diffusion theory, Concerns-based Adoption Model, Technology Acceptance Model
and the Chocolate model which are developed to make innovation in the goods and services of
different firms. So that they can offer products and services according to the needs and demands
of the customers (Antikainen and Valkokari, 2016). The management of Deliveroo can used
Roger's innovation Diffusion Theory to make innovation in its services so that it can fulfil the
needs and demands of its potential customers.
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Roger's Innovation Diffusion Theory
This theory of innovation was developed by Everett Rogers in 1962 to offer a base for
understanding innovation adoption and the factors that affect the choice of a person in context of
innovation. This theory help in monitoring that how ideas are distribute between the group of
people (Biemans, 2018). In Deliveroo, if the management of the company can adopt an
innovation early to have different characteristics then it help in the development of the company.
Principle- There various different changes occurred in the world day by day in the needs and
demands of the customers. So the basic principle of this theory is to satisfy the needs and
demands of them by making innovation in the products and services according to their demands.
Rogers developed this theory so that the firms can make changes in their existing goods and
services and services and offer them to their target audience. The innovation can be do by
making change in the technologies, change in services, changes in processes and others.
Diffusion of innovation has been implemented to various contexts, including medical sociology,
communications, marketing. Development studies, health promotion, organisational studies,
knowledge management and various others.
Processes of Innovation diffusion theory
Awareness- It is the first step of adoption, in which the person is uncovered to the
innovation but lacks complete information about it. In Deloveroo, in this stage, the management
of the company can organise and conduct market research so that it can aware about the needs
and wants of the customers and make innovation in its services of devilry of the food products.
For example, if people track their orders then the firm can use advance technology in which it
can use mobile application services.
Interest- This is the second step, in which individuals are interested in the new ideas and
informational. In context of any organisation, in this step, the management of the company
interested in the new ideas and knowledge of innovation. So that they can make innovation in
their existing products and services and increase the customer base and make improvement in the
economic condition of the firm. For example, in Deliveroo, the management of the company
show their interest in the information of making innovation in its services like delivery of the
food products through drones, tracking application and others.
Evaluation- This is the third step which refers to the implications of these new ideas and
information on the business operations of the firm (Brunswicker and Vanhaverbeke, 2015). In
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this step, the management of Deliveroo can implement innovation ideas according to the
demand of the customers. For example, If the customers of this company demand to make
innovation in its services in term of tracking the food service. Then the management of this
company can used or evaluate the service of mobile tracking application. It help in satisfying the
needs and demands of the customers so that they can show their loyalty towards the firm and
help in increasing the profit and productivity of the organisation in positive manner.\
Source:Diffusion of Innovation Theory,(2019).
Trail- It is the fourth step, under this step, the management of the firm can take trail
those innovation which it make in its products an services that they are effective or not
(Ciabuschi, Forsgren and Martín, 2015). In Deliveroo, the management of the company can take
trail of the innovation which it make in its services. The manger of the firm conduct market
analysis for trail that tracing application is work effectively or satisfying the demands of the
customers. If it is not working properly then they make improvement in it as per the clients
demands so that individuals can make full use of innovation.
Adoption- It is the fifth and last step, in which the management of the company decides
to continue the full implication of the innovation. In Deliveroo, the management of the firm can
fully implement the innovation within the services of the company. For example, the
management of this company can use the service of tracking application so that the customers
can easily track their orders. In this mobile application they can provide an option of online
payments because now these days people prefer internet payments. So within this app they can
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Illustration: Diffusion of Innovation Theory

make another advance innovation which is beneficial for the company because it help in
retaining the potential customers, increasing customer base and improve the economic condition
of the firm in term of profit margins.
Critically evaluation of Innovation Theory
Advantages/Strengths- This theory of innovation follows the product adoption trend for clients.
There are various benefits and advantages of the adaptation of this theory. Some of them are
mentioned as below: External appearance- It help in providing external appearance by making innovation in
the goods and services of the firm as per the customers' desires. In Deliveroo, the
management of the company can take this advantage by making technological innovation
in its services according to its customers needs (De Vries, Bekkers and Tummers, 2016).
This way it can make its external appearance and offer tracking application to its
potential consumers. Increasing knowledge and awareness- The advantage of this theory is that it help in
making improvement in the knowledge and information. For example, In Deliveroo, the
management of the company can get knowledge and awareness about the various things
like market trends, customers taste & preferences and others (Dodgson, 2018). This help
in increasing the level of the knowledge of the employees of this firm.
Disadvantages/Weaknesses- This theory of innovation basically concentrate on a few selected
innovations so there are various disadvantages of it which are as following: Cultural difference- It is weakness of this theory because there are various customers of
a firm so times it vis not possible to fulfil the needs and demand of all customers only
through a single innovation. For example, in Deliveroo, the organisation has numerous
customers and they have different needs according to their culture so it is not possible to
satisfied their demands by tacking application. The management will not retain them till a
long period of time.
 Economic difference- It is another disadvantage of this theory, like for making different
types of innovation the firm needs and required different amount of cost and fund. Some
innovation consume less cost but some consume more. In Deliveroo, the innovation
which is made by the management of the firm is cost consuming because it is a
technological innovation.
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2. Application of innovation theory
Company overview- Deliveroo is the brand of Roofoods Ltd which is a British online food
delivery firm. This company was founded by Will Shu and Gerg Orlowski in 2013 and
headquartered in London, UK. This organisation operate it business at international level in
different nations of the world like Netherlands, France, Germany, Belgium, Ireland, Spain, Italy,
Singapore, Hong Kong and various others. There are 13,000 employees who are working in this
firm and help in operating the business of this company successful (Epstein, Buhovac and
Yuthas, 2015). This organisation follow partnership business model and different strategies like
brand promotion, support, technology, perks and others are help in the success of the company.
This company deliver the food products to the customers and for this they used cycles and
motorcycles to provide these kind of services to their target audiences.
Historical development of the firm- For expansion and spreading the business of the firm, to
make or do innovation in the business of the firm is highly required. There are various ways to
make innovation in the business, products and services of a company (Ferreira and et. al. 2015).
The management of a company can make innovation by making change and improvement in its
business strategies, technologies, organisation structure, making change in products and services
etc.
Past innovation of Deliveroo
In past, there are various innovation were do for the development and improvement of the
company. The management of this company were made innovation in its payment methods in
past by making flexibility in payments. Flexible payment option is highly required in the
beingness of food. So Deliveroo started to use net banking, online payments, mobile app
payments and others. In Food deliver business, riders or delivery persons are deliver products to
different customers in less time period so that they can deliver services to them on time. To make
this process more flexible, the management made this innovation in tits business.
This innovation is beneficial for both company as well as customers. Another innovation
was made by the company by making changes in its promotional channels. The management of
the company started to use various different channels of promotion to its services which aid the
feelings and emotion with them. The management of Deliveroo started to advertise its services
through internet, social media, Twitter and web advertisement etc. This innovation is helpful and
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beneficial for the company because it increase the customer base and make important in the
economic condition of the firm.
The principals and process of this innovation theory is implemented on the past
innovation of the firm. For example, in its first innovation of flexible payment option, firstly, the
management of the company according to the first step of innovation process, determine the
awareness and need to make this change. Like, now these people are working and they have not
time to go to shops and purchase food products and others. So they are interested and preferred
online shopping or online delivery services (Frow and et. al. 2015). So for paying the amount
behalf these products and services they are also like online or internet payment methods. This
thing influence the firm to make this type of innovation in its payment method. After knowing
the interest, they evaluate this changes and use it as taking trail and when they analysed that
people had requirement of it, they implement this innovation.
Market segmentation- It indicates to a process of dividing a market of potential
customers in to team and groups or making segmentation on the basis of different characteristics.
In Deliveroo, the management of this company can make segmentation on the basis of different
approach like, behavioural, geographic, demographic and psycho graphic. The segments created
are composed of consumers who will respond similarly to marketing strategies and who share
traits such as similar interest, needs and locations.
Targetting- In its targeting strategy, the management can target working people, collage
students, employees and others because they are the major customer who prefer these kind of
services.
Customer trends- Now these days customer prefer online shopping trends and online
payment methods because with the help of them they can easily order their food anywhere.
Online payment is also useful for them because with the help of it they can easily pay for their
order.
Technology improvement- In Deliveroo, the management of the company can start at the
low end of the market. Because it will help to make development in the business of the firm and
make improvement in the growth of the firm in term of profit and productivity.
Present and Future innovation of Deliveroo
In current time or days, People are more tech friendly and they have requirement of
advance technologies in their life. For example, in Deliveroo, the management of the firm make
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or don innovation in the mobile app services by providing order tracking service. With the help
of this innovation they can track their orders from their current place. For making this innovation
or change the management of the firm can follow the principle and process of Diffusion
innovation theory (Nohria, 2017). In this there are five step like awareness, interest, evaluation,
trail and adoption. According to the first step, they can monitor the needs and requirement of the
customer and can get aware with the clients desires. Like they can identified that during the
travelling and office time people can track their orders so they have requirement of this change.
After finding out customer's need. In the second step, they can monitor the interest of clients that
how much clients are having need for it. If the demand is high then the management of the firm
can make evaluation regarding it. If all are good then take a trail of this innovation then
implement it on the business of the firm.
In current era, there are various changes are generate related to technologies, business
operations and others. In Deliveroo, the management of the company can also make change or
do innovation after monitoring the trends and customer's requirements. The management of this
company is thinking about to shift the organisation's business model from transport only to
production and transport in future. But it is an undeniable logic behind to make this type of
innovation. The diffusion innovation theory and its principles or process also will not support
these kind of innovation. For future innovation and make changes in the business of the
company, the management of Deliveroo can do innovation in its food deliver channels and
modes. For example, they can make change in their delivery system and use various modes like
food delivery through Drone, delivery with robots, Delivery with parachute, they can use cars
and others transportation for the delivery of food products.
Another innovation and change, they can make in their business by making innovation in
their food order system. Like, in future the management of Deliveroo can offer to its customers
various different food order options and instruments. For example, they can offer an option such
as order by Tweet, order by a virtual assistant, order with a smartwatch, order with smart TV and
others (Prokop and Stejskal, 2017). These all changes help in making improvement in the
business operations of the company and economic condition of the firm. These all are different
food delivery options and food order options in which diffusion innovation theory will support
these activities like process and principle. Like with the help of awareness the management of
the firm can determine th needs of the market and customers. If they will show their interest in
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these changes then the management will evaluate the effectiveness of these kind of innovation
that they will be beneficial for the future development of the organisation (Robbins and
O'Gorman, 2015). If they are useful then the trail step will be done and after that theses changes
will be implement in the firm in term of offering different modes and options of order and
delivery of the food products of Deliveroo.
CONCLUSION
As per the above information, it can be analysed that innovation is most important for the
growth and development of a firm. Basically it is a process of implementing new ideas and
thoughts which can be useful for the effective running of the business operations and activities of
a firm. By making innovation or useful changes in the business according to the customers need,
it help increasing the customer base and positively affect the economic condition of the
company. For making these kind of innovation, Deloveroo can use innovation theory of Roger's
Diffusion Innovation Theory which is useful to make in the business activities of the company
through its process and principles. There are some advantages and disadvantages that can be
faced by the management of this company during the time of implementing this theory in the
firm. This theory suits on the past innovation of the company which are made by it as per its
clients requirements. It will also favourable for the present and future innovation of the company
which it will make in terms of food order and delivery options for fulfilling the customers
requirements and generating revenue and profit.
REFERENCES
Books & Journals
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Antikainen, M. and Valkokari, K., 2016. A framework for sustainable circular business model
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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.
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headquarters in subsidiaries’ innovation processes. In Knowledge, Networks and Power.
(pp. 264-283). Palgrave Macmillan, London.
De Vries, H., Bekkers, V. and Tummers, L., 2016. Innovation in the public sector: A systematic
review and future research agenda. Public administration. 94(1). pp.146-166.
Dodgson, M., 2018. Technological collaboration in industry: strategy, policy and
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Epstein, M. J., Buhovac, A. R. and Yuthas, K., 2015. Managing social, environmental and
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Frow, P., and et. al. 2015. Managing co‐creation design: A strategic approach to innovation.
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Nohria, N., 2017. Fast forward: The best ideas on managing business change. Business Review.
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analysis of strong, moderate, and modest innovators. Inžinerine Ekonomika/Engineering
Economics, volume 28, issue: 1.
Robbins, P. and O'Gorman, C., 2015. Innovating the innovation process: an organisational
experiment in global pharma pursuing radical innovation. R&D Management. 45(1).
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Tidd, J. and Bessant, J. R., 2018. Managing innovation: integrating technological, market and
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Online
Deliveroo Future Innovation. 2019. [Online]. Available Through:
<http://www.webloyaltyuk.com/2018/02/13/digital-retail-innovation-4-deliveroo-
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Innovation in food delivery industry. 2019. [Online]. Available Through:
<https://rubygarage.org/blog/food-delivery-trends-2019>.
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