Innovation and Commercialisation: Report on 4Com's Business Strategy

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of innovation and commercialisation strategies, specifically tailored for the telecommunications company 4Com. It begins with an introduction to the importance of innovation versus invention, followed by an examination of how organizational vision, leadership, culture, and teamwork can shape innovation and commercialization efforts. The report delves into the 4Ps of innovation (product, process, position, and paradigm) and the application of the innovation funnel to shape new ideas. It explores developments in frugal innovation and the commercial funnel, including the application of New Product Development. A business case is presented for 4Com, alongside a discussion of tools used to develop, retain, and protect intellectual property and knowledge. The report concludes with a summary of key findings and recommendations, offering a strategic roadmap for 4Com to enhance its innovation and commercialization capabilities.

INNOVATION AND
COMMERCIALISATION

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1 Importance of innovation to an organisation in comparison with invention.........................1
P2 Organisational vision, leadership, culture and teamwork can shape innovation and
commercialisation.......................................................................................................................3
TASK 2 ...........................................................................................................................................4
P3 4Ps of innovation and use of the innovation funnel to examine and shape innovative ideas.
.....................................................................................................................................................4
P4 Explanation of developments in frugal innovation................................................................5
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................6
P5 Importance of the commercial funnel and the application of New Product Development....6
P6 Innovation business case for 4com company.........................................................................7
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................8
P7 Tools used by an organisation to develop, retain and protect intellectual property and
knowledge...................................................................................................................................8
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES.............................................................................................................................10
.......................................................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
The way of doing business is changing rapidly, there was a time when businessmen
wanted to find the need of society and produce goods accordingly. But in this modern era,
fulfilling the wants of customers is not enough, companies have to find future demands of
consumers so they can manufacture commodities and deliver service according to it. In simple
words, innovation means improvement or significant changes in a product, process or service.
Commercialisation of new idea play crucial role in enhancing profit of an organisation. 4Com is
a UK based company which provides services in telecommunication sector. They are popular for
making business phone, developing software & application, providing internet facilities. 4Com is
a UK based company which provides services in telecommunication sector. They are popular for
making business phone, developing software & application, providing internet facilities. Their
mission is to do innovation on continuous basis so they can make and sell modern equipment.
They want to provide quality service to their clients. Their vision is to add something meaningful
in society, they are trying to create genuine difference (Aarikka-Stenroos and Sandberg, 2012).
This report will include difference between invention and innovation, its 4Ps will also become
part of this file. Various tools for retaining and protecting intellectual property will get discussed
in this project.
TASK 1
P1 Importance of innovation to an organisation in comparison with invention.
Most of the companies in this era understand that technology is changing swiftly. They
know that if they want to lead in an industry they have to implement new ideas on regular basis
(Wonglimpiyarat, 2010). There are many sources of innovation which are as follows:
Unexpected – In order to achieve objectives of an organisation, an enterprise do various
types of experiment, sometime result of these tests comes better than what company was
expecting. This success can be known as unexpected innovation. It is not necessary that they get
desired result every time, they may face failure in this procedure.
Process need – If an organisation is not satisfied with the existing process or they want
some changes in the task they are performing than this sources of innovation take place. Addition
in system may improve performance of a firm.
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Change in perception – When the way of looking at reality of an individuals changes than
this source of innovation occurs. It starts at a small level which is very specific.
New knowledge – When an entity get some new information about an idea, process etc.
they may use it in their research, this can add something new to the work they are doing.
4Com should create an environment to promote innovation in their organisation so their
employees start thinking out of the box and innovate new methods which can help in providing
better service to their clients (Bagchi-Sen, 2010). They can initial a reward system for workers
who contribute in tasks relating to research and development. Cited company should provide
them training so they can get proper knowledge and eduction about how innovations can be
done. 4Com should transfer their employees from one department to other so they can learn new
things. They can adopt same method adopted by Virgin group, Richard Branson ask his
employees to think about new ideas, he assure them that he will invest in their notions.
Most of the people do not understand difference between innovation and invention. These
terms may look similar but there is a big difference between them, innovation is simply some
addition in existing process, product and idea. But in invention something new is created..
Mobile phone is introduced by Steve Jobs, Motorola was the company who commercialise this it.
But Apple made some addition in this product and then introduced it in market. Below is the
difference between innovation and invention:
Innovation Invention
 Addition in a product, idea or process.  Creation of something new.
 Normally it is done by group.  In most of the cases it is done by
individual.
 Solves problems of customers.  Find solution of complex problems.
 Technical knowledge, competence,
market needs is required in order to do
innovation.
 It requires knowledge, financial aid and
high curiosity.
 Eg. I Phone, LED TV etc.  Eg. invention of electricity, car,
telephone etc.
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P2 Organisational vision, leadership, culture and teamwork can shape innovation and
commercialisation.
A company like 4Com who is operating in an industry which is related to technology can
never ignore importance of innovation. They are doing various types of researches in different
fields. This is the main reason that they are making a business phone which is getting very
popular in business world. Strong leadership is necessary for an organisation if they want to give
something better to their customers. Both Steve jobs and Richard Branson are perfect example of
this case. They force their employees to think in a different way, they provide them freedom so
they can make product and deliver services according to their perception (Boger and West,
2010). These leaders do not impose their ideas on workers of company. In Virgin group, there
are many companies which are incorporated by people who were working under Richard
Branson, he provides all the necessary resources which are essential in converting an idea into
reality. If same strategy is adopted by cited organisation than they can become a big firm in
upcoming time.
4Com has a clear vision, they want to add something meaningful in this society, this
work is not possible without doing innovations.(Walsh, 2012.). Commercialisation of new
product and idea is necessary because if cited organisation do not charge any amount for goods
and services they are providing are providing to society than they will not have money to expand
their business and deliver better items to potential clients. It is very difficult for a single person to
innovate something and then commercialise it. Every individual has a limit, he/she cannot do all
task. Their are many organisations who are investing lot of funds in research and development
but they do not have good team which is the main reason that they are failing to cope up with
new challenges relating to technology.
Process of commercialisation – First step is to find the problems which are needed to be solved.
Then they need to analyse various resources which are necessary in process of developing a
solution. After taking important data from analysis development and designing of product is
done. A prototype is made in next step, this will provide significant information about costing of
commodity. In last step, the biggest question arises that where this innovation can be tested and
developed (Ettlie and Rosenthal, 2012). There are some other points which some should be taken
in account while performing this task like verify whether the idea or product is new, in this world
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there are many people who are working on same idea. Company need to acquire rights relating to
patents and copyrights. A product cannot be sold by convincing people that it is new, company
need to tell potential customers about its utilisation. Proper marketing strategy is necessary in
order to commercialise a commodity or service. If innovation is giving returns according to
expectation of firm than they should make an expansion plan so sale and profit of enterprise can
be enhanced in short period of time.
TASK 2
P3 4Ps of innovation and use of the innovation funnel to examine and shape innovative ideas.
The process of doing research in an organisation is very complex, team who is working in
this field may move on wrong path because they can get confuse in this complex procedure.
There are 4Ps of innovation, first is product, second is process third is position and last one is
paradigm.
Product innovation – Cited firm need to manufacture items which attract clients without
doing much promotion. New feature in their products should be introduced in regular interval of
time. They should make business phones with attractive designing, size and shape of phones
should improve.
Process innovation – Their are various process involved in manufacturing and delivery
of a product. Cited company and its clients both will get benefit from it. Automation in
production of business phone is a good example of this type of innovation, it improves overall
effectiveness of organisation (Thore, 2012).
Position innovation – In this point, existing product or service is repositioned. 4Com do
not need to introduce a new commodity in market, they just need to launch their goods in
different segment or industry. Re-branding of item can done in order to achieve goals of
organisation.
Paradigm innovation – Sometime a firm need to ignore views of society so they can
produce something which this world has never seen. This is very different type of innovation as
it is connected to mental models. Henry ford once said that “if I ask people what they want than
they will tell me to make a horse which has five legs”. Imagination of employees in cited firm
may assist 4Com in innovating some items which are way better than existing items.
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Innovation funnel play crucial in development of a product or service, it describes various steps
that are needed to be taken in complete process (Gambardella and McGaha, 2010). Ideas are
converted into reality by analysing demand of market. In normal case, there are three steps
involved in this procedure, if more people are included in this process than company will get
more information about various ideas. The suggestion given by worker should match with
mission and vision of 4Com. There is no point in giving importance to the recommendation
which do not have any connective with goals of firm. After this step, screening of all the ideas
should be done so risk and return relating to it can be determined before its execution. This firm
is a SME, they have limited resources which cannot be wasted on plans which do not assist in
accomplishment of objectives.
Last step is very important, best idea that cited company can convert into reality in
chosen in this process. Virgin group is using this concept from a long time, they take views from
their employees which can be considered as the prime reason that they are doing innovation in
continuous basis. They are presence in many industries because of proper utilisation of
innovation funnel.
P4 Explanation of developments in frugal innovation.
In this type of innovation, an organisation does not produces some goods or produce new
and better service. It mainly focuses on easing the process of production by decreasing
complexities in operations. Reduction of cost of commodities is also included in this concept, it
is done by eliminating non-essential task. Business phone of cited organisation is very popular in
industry because it contain some special features. (Godin, 2012). The industry in which 4Com is
operating is highly influenced by the changes in technology. In future, they have to update their
phone by removing some unnecessary features. The current piece has many ringtones which are
of no use for clients. They should remove it in order to reduce extra cost. They can also diminish
the size of phone, nowadays people do not like to place a telephone which occupy lot of space on
a table. This will play crucial role in minimisation of cost. Use of the raw material in production
process will also go down. Right now at some production units they are using using automation,
they need to apply this process in all the factories so they can reduce wastage of resources. In
long run, it will become significant factor in generation of profit.
Apple adopted this kind of innovation a long time ago, when they introduced their iPod in
market it had limited storage capacity (Teece, 2010). Other music players in industry could save
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more songs in their storage. But Steve job analysed that people do not want more storing
capacity, in most of the music players most of the space was utilised by buyers. When Apple
launched their iPod it was very small compare to other products, this is the key reason that its
price was competitive but quality of music system was better than all the music players. Frugal
innovation assist Apple in capturing more than 50% market in was a huge success for them at
time. They were earning more profits than other players in industry who were making same type
of items, key reason behind this achievement in less cost of production. Apple also open their
store in locations which were near to the production house so distribution cost can go down.
Frugal innovation help in development of sustainable product at low cost. It also consider
importance of natural resources at the time of manufacturing of a commodity. Below are six
principles of frugal innovation:
Engage and iterate – This principle says that a company does not need to work on new
innovation every time. They can repeat same idea and executive creative thoughts in better
manner.
Flex your assets – 4Com can divert some of the amount of their retained earning in
towards innovation because it will help them in better execution of idea and provide financial
support in long run.
Sustainable solution – Focusing on root cause of problems in essential for finding a
sustainable solution.
Shape behaviour of customer – By analysing buying process and attitude of customers,
4Com can make necessary changes in their product. This can change the behaviour of customers
in long run.
Creation of value with customers – Regular and proper communication with customer
assist in fast development of various organisational process.
Innovative stakeholders – If stakeholders like employees, customers, suppliers etc. are
creative then they c an help company in better and fast innovation.
TASK 3
P5 Importance of the commercial funnel and the application of New Product Development.
Commercial funnel concentrate on finding the ideas which can provide assistance in
generation of money for the organisation. Their are various plans and thought that cited company
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can execute but they do not know about the return they will get in future. This funnel help in
finding the idea which can deliver best results in short period of time. It main is to maximise the
profit of an enterprise by enhancing their sale.
First step in this process is to identify all the thought that can increase revenue of a firm.
Evaluation of all the ides is done by considering various factors like conversion rate (Huizingh,
2011). Company may find a thought which can earn huge amount of money but if it involve
heavy investment in initial stage than there is no point in considering that idea. Some profit can
be earned by execution of plan but it take lot of time which most of the organisations do not
have, specially small and medium enterprises. In last step appropriate idea is selected which can
enhance the revenue of an organisation in short period of time and do not involve lot of
investment. Conversion rate of a plan play crucial role in its selection.
In this era changes in products ,produced by an organisation, should be done in regular
interval of time so they can cope up with new challenges and technological changes. It play
crucial role in increasing revenue of an enterprise and also provide great assistance in achieving
objectives of an organisation. Sometime a successful product is taken out of the market because
company feel that its sale will go down in future. They do not wait for failure of that commodity
they pull it out from the market. Below are some steps of product development process:
Idea generation – All the items that are present in market were idea of an individual. An
entity need to analyse marketplace if they want to understand need and demand of society.
Idea screening – An organisation need to check the resources will be needed in execution
of idea. If they don not have appropriate resources than their is not point in taking that thought
forward.
Testing and development – Sample product should be tested by experts so they can find
the lacunas that are present in that items. This will reduce the risk of failures as most of the
shortcomings will be removed at the point of its generation (Kim And et.al., 2011). Some sample
products are developed which may be given to employees in order to find correct feedbacks.
Product development – In this step mass production of an item starts. Sometime minor
changes are done after testing which can be related to designing, etc. Correct method of
production is chosen in this step.
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Commercialisation – Nowadays customers do not buy a product until seller convince
them to purchase. Company need to do use various promotional tools so they can tell all the
important features about an item to potential customers.
Launching – Product is launched in market so consumers can buy it. After sale service an
also be given in by an enterprise.
Significance of commercial funnel
Enhance quality – 4Com is directly connected to the business of technology. Business
funnel help them in production and innovation of better quality product which is essential in the
industry where 4Com is operating.
Promote creativity– Most of the companies want creative people in organisation. 4Com
can use the creativity of their employee by using commercial funnel. This will motivate workers
to work hard because if their ideas will convert into reality then it will be a proud moment for
them.
Increase growth and efficiency – The products like Business phones become realtiy due
commercial funnel. When 4Com asked their employees to think about new ideas then they think
about offers some of the features of mobile phones in business phone. Commercial funnel help a
company in development of new and unique product which is necessary for earning more
revenue in this business environment. It also enhance efficiency of the employee because when
managers execute their idea in the company they get extra motivated which ultimately get
reflected in their performance.
P6 Innovation business case for 4com company.
4Com is an Small and medium enterprise who deals in telecommunication industry. They
make application, provide broadband services and internet facilities. But business phone is the
most popular product which has significant contribution in revenue they are earning. Below are
some steps of innovation business case:
Executive summary – Cited company operate in telecommunication industry so they target all
the consumers relating to this sector in UK (Snow And et.al., 2011). They want to make product
by using innovation techniques so they can offer something new to service users. Most of the
organisations who do innovation get good reputation in industry as well as among customers.
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Target – Corporate clients are their main target because business phone are not in households.
Prime objective of this phone is to improve the business communication. Business of broadband
and application development is for all the interested customers.
Solution – Features of product must be easy to operate so buyers do not face any difficulty at the
time of utilisation of an item. Commodity should concentrate on delivering the results buyers are
expecting by fulfilling their need.
Why product is innovative – Most of the customers want to the special feature for which they
are paying extra. Cited company recent launch HiHi, this is a business phone which can do video
calling. This is the main feature for which clients are ready to pay addition amount.
Customer research – In this step, 4Com need to demands of potential clients so in future they
can make necessary up gradation in their product. 4Com should target multinational
organisations because they badly need an innovation like business phone and they can give big
orders. Business clients know importance of these types of phones because they play crucial role
in minimising miscommunication (Lindič and et.al., 2011). Technology and needs of corporate
clients are changing in very short period of time, this is the main reason that cited firm should do
customers research on continuous basis.
Funding – For an small and medium enterprise it is quite difficult to gather the resources for
doing innovations. Cited organisation has very limited resources, they do not have much retained
earning so they have to explore other options. Loan from bank is considered as the most feasible
option but they can lend money up to a limit. 4Com need to check that whether their finance
department can pay interest on borrowing because this amount has to be paid on monthly basis
which is a big disadvantage of this option. But on the other side getting loan from bank is
considered as the easiest way of funding. Angels investors and investment groups are other
options, benefit of taking funds for them is that they can give as much as find cited firm need but
one of the major disadvantage of this option is that 4Com has to give shares of company to them
in return for money (Schoonmaker and Carayannis, 2010).
Expected benefits – The return that they will be getting in future is determined in this step. Past
information and data is used in performing this task.
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