Disruptive Innovation and Strategic Leadership: EFS Case Study Report

This report provides an analysis of Essendon Food Solutions (EFS), focusing on its capacity for disruptive innovation and strategic leadership. The analysis covers internal perspectives, examining the impact of organizational structures on innovation, and external perspectives, considering market factors. It also explores marketing-related factors influencing innovation. The report offers recommendations for improving EFS's innovative capacity, addressing challenges in team management, leadership, and the link between strategic visions and actions. The case study highlights issues within EnzymeTech and Essendon Emulsifiers, emphasizing the need for strategic adjustments to address competition and changing business needs. Recommendations include attracting top talent and promoting individuals based on skills rather than tenure.

Disruptive Innovation
and Strategic
Leadership
Essendon Food Solutions (EFS)

 The best way to
predict or create the
future is to create it
(Schoemaker, Heaton
and Teece 2018)
 Essendon Food
Solutions (EFS) faced
few problems over the
past few years
Introduction

 EFS has two subsidiaries named EnzymeTech and
Essendon Emulsifiers
 EnzymeTech supplies Enzymes to food companies
 It lacks the skilled and innovative people due to its
tendency to promote its tenure people to higher job
positions
 Essendon Emulsifiers provides food ingredients to local
as well as to few Asian countries
 Lacks effective team to govern the exporting practices
Case Study Summary

 Faces problems due to many reasons
 Lack of strategies to execute the visions
 Less flexible with changing business needs
 Disruptive innovation can only help to fight the existing
industry incumbents
Internal Perspective

 Competition has increased in the home country
 The competency of EFS has decreased
 Disruptive innovation such as New-market Disruption
can help to tap new markets such as Singapore
 EnzymeTech is troubled from its process of promoting
people to higher job ranks
 Essendon Emulsifiers lacks technical sales executives
External Perspective

 New-Market Disruption is suggested
 Establish a new facility in Singapore
Marketing Perspective

 R&D infrastructure needs to groom
 Attract the best talent to access to new ideas
 Use effective leadership to implement ideas successfully
Technology Perspective

 Must have good visions
 Must know how to execute the visions
Strategic Leadership

Conclusion:
 improved team management process
 Effective leadership capable of converting the
opportunities
Recommendation:
 Recruit the best talent
 Promote people based on skills instead of
association to the company
 Link between strategic visions and strategic actions
Conclusion and Recommendations

 Bolden, R. and O’Regan, N., 2016. Digital disruption and the future of
leadership: An interview with Rick Haythornthwaite, Chairman of Centrica
and MasterCard. Journal of Management Inquiry, 25(4), pp.438-446.
 Coccia, M., 2018. Disruptive firms and industrial change. Journal of
Economic and Social Thought, 4(4), pp.437-450.
 Holland, D.D. and Piper, R.T., 2016. High-Trust Leadership and Blended
Learning in the Age of Disruptive Innovation: Strategic Thinking for
Colleges and Schools of Education. Journal of Leadership Education, 15(2).
 Kaltenecker, N., Hess, T. and Huesig, S., 2015. Managing potentially
disruptive innovations in software companies: Transforming from On-
premises to the On-demand. The Journal of Strategic Information
Systems, 24(4), pp.234-250.
 Schoemaker, P.J., Heaton, S. and Teece, D., 2018. Innovation, dynamic
capabilities, and leadership. California Management Review, 61(1), pp.15-
42.
References