Softwire's Innovation and Commercialisation Report: ENT201 Module

This report examines the concepts of innovation and commercialization within the context of Softwire, a software and consultancy services provider. It differentiates between innovation and invention, emphasizing the former's role in developing new products and services. The report explores the importance of organizational vision, leadership, culture, and teamwork in fostering innovation and commercialization. It then delves into the 4Ps of innovation, the innovation funnel, and the concept of frugal innovation, showcasing its application in the organizational context. The report also covers the commercial funnel, the application of New Product Development (NPD), and presents a business innovation case study. Finally, it evaluates tools used for preserving intellectual property, providing a comprehensive overview of innovation management and commercialization strategies within a business environment.

Innovation and
Commercialisation

INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................2
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................2
P1 Explaining importance of Innovation in an organisation along with comparison with
invention......................................................................................................................................2
P2 Role of organisational vision, leadership, culture and teamwork in innovation and
commercialisation........................................................................................................................4
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................5
P4 Concept of frugal innovation and its use in organisational context.......................................6
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................7
P5 Importance of commercial funnel and application of NPD....................................................7
P6 Business innovation case........................................................................................................8
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................10
P7 Evaluation of different tools which are utilised by business in preserving intellectual
property......................................................................................................................................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12
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INTRODUCTION
The factors of innovations are beneficial in order to achieve success in entrepreneurial
ventures. The main concept of innovation are related with establishment of new products with
the similar purpose of the existing products. It is mainly focused towards development of new
goods and services which are valuable for existing application at business organisation. While
the concept of commercialization emphasized upon promoting the new products at market areas.
The assignment is based on Softwire which is having their operations at smaller scales and
dealing in consultancy services and software solutions (Clayton, Feldman and Lowe, 2017) The
report carries discussion about concept of innovation and making difference with invention,
different types of innoviation, commercial funnel and business case.
TASK 1
P1 Explaining importance of Innovation in an organisation along with comparison with invention
Softwire are running their business operations at smaller scales and are mainly classified
on developing software and digital design along with the service of the consultation in market
place of UK. The entity was formulated in 2000 and there are approx 150 employees who are
providing effective services to all customers in relation to software solution. The owner of the
organisation is Pete Kenny and Phil Marsden and they are involved in offering quality goods to
all their potential customers.
The innovation is related with development of new business ideas so that new products
can be developed which helps in growth and development of business organisations. It is
generally refereed to as developing new systems and maximising the values of goods which are
already available in order to achieve effective outcomes (Dutta and Hora, 2017) This is the most
important concept as it helps in getting avoiding those resources which are not usable so there
can be changes made in them in order to make improvement in organisations performance. The
different sources of innovation are team working, strategies adopted by competitors, and market
areas which helps in running business activities for long time durations. The advantages which
are adopted by business with the help of innovation are evaluated below as:
The main importance which are developed with the innovation process result in uplifting
the stature of entity so that business activities are carried out in most effectual and planned
manner.
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Innovation results in attaining competitive advantage from their business rivalries who
are dealing in similar business activities. The most important factor for business is related with
analysing the trends at market place and according manufacture goods which results in
achievement of financial gains and goals can be accomplished.
The factors related with innovation are beneficial in order to analyse the best approach of
management related to business resources (Gaddy and et. al., 2017)
. Innovation results in using the resources in effectual and planned manner so that there can be
new opportunities generated which are related with carrying out all the business activities in
effectual and planned manner.
When firms are using innovative tools then they sustain strong images at market areas
which reflects the total balance sheet of business entities.
The approaches which are developed by innovation are valuable in order to deal with the
unfavourable fluctuations which arise at the market place.
Difference between Invention and Innovation
Basis Innovation Invention
Meaning This term reflects the modifications
in the products or substitutes
available for the product
Invention is defined to be a process
of creation of product which has not
been discovered.
Invention is related with creating
new goods which have not been
discovered at market areas.
Concerned
department The factors of innovations are
applied to the whole business
entities.
The factors of inventions are related
with research and development
activities in order to use the
informations which are evaluated by
the market team.
Skills required There are no particular skills which
are needed for innovation of
There is requirement of scientific
skills and capabilities in order to
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products. The knowledge related
with marketing operations and
techniques are useful in formulation
of effective business strategy.
develop innovation in products thus
growth of business organisation.
P2 Role of organisational vision, leadership, culture and teamwork in innovation
and commercialisation
There are different ways by which commercialisation and innovation can be influenced
within work place. For Example the Mission and Vision statements which are evaluated by the
senior authorities are valuable in identifying the practices of innovation which are carried out at
work place. There is an always a determination to identify the leadership skills according to
which employees are executing their business operations. The organizer of Sowtwire have to
assure that there are emphasized on different innovative methods at work places so that
operations can be sustained for long time durations in market areas. The different influences
upon innovation products are evaluated as:
Vision: The Vision of the company is linked with what they will achieve from their
overall business operations. The major vision of Softwire is to produce effective products which
helps in fulfilling all the requirements of the clients in most effectual and planned manner. The
vision is having a direct implications on the extent to which the innovative techniques are carried
out at business organisation (Goble, Bercovitz. and Feldman, 2017) In context to the organisation
the vision statement is related with using new and innovative techniques by which needs of all
customers can be fulfilled in most planned and effective manner.
Leadership: The leadership is identified as the most important aspect which results in in-
cooperating commercial and innovative ideas at business organisation. The father of Innovation
who is known by the name of Steve Jobs is taking initiative in order to make modifications in the
products thus their needs can be easily fulfilled in effectual and planned ways. Leadership skill
helps in developing plans and strategies and code of the conduct which helps in developing
innovative practices thus achieving different results which are beneficial. There are elements of
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reinforcement that have been taken into thought process thus results in uplifting the innovative
practices in relation to the selected business organisations.
Teamwork: The term teamwork refers to achieving the predetermined business goals and
objectives in most effective manner with the help of all group members. The team is developed
by making group of people who belongs to different specialization in order to achieve goals in
desired time. There should be plans formulated and ensure effective working environment in
order to develop innovative ideas which ensures that services are being offered in most effectual
manner.
Culture: The culture is the most vital factor for an business organization as it results in
supporting the innovative ideas and encourage people to develop more innovative ideas. The
organization have to ensure that business culture should only be relied upon discovery and
experiments so that new and innovative practices can be easily adopted at business organization.
The innovative culture includes people who develops innovative ideas and strategies by which
firms can achieve effective results thus achieving growth in business. The view points which are
given by people are taken into consideration so that there can be changes in the products thus
enhancing their sales and profitability ratios. (Henttonen and et. al., 2017)
TASK 2
P3 Explaining 4P's of innovation and use of innovative funnel
4P's of innovation model is a special tool that is used by marketing managers in order to
generate ideas. It has given by John Bessant and Joe Tidd in order to analyse need of innovation
as well as its complete procedure. In addition to this, present model also aid in determining what
types of modifications are needed. Therefore, it includes following procedure:-
Product Innovation: This step entails a company with either manufacture a new product
or find an alternative to sale the existing commodities in different market area. In addition to this,
associations are required to deliver highly creative goods as per demand of customers. Thus, in
this regard managers of Softwire use to deliver its services in unique manner. This would help in
gaining more attention of people. They formulate a proper plan for marketing its services by
identifying techniques of competitors used to sale their commodities.
PROCESS INNOVATION – This factor shows entire process of manufacturing a new
product to till its delivering in the market. This would help in reducing error of manufacturing
especially when a company deals in software business like Softwire. Management of this firm
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needs to focus more on each and every activity of developing technologies. Along with this, they
are needed to consider on further process of production and operational activities.
POSITIONIONG INNOVATION – When a new product has launched in market era,
then this phase shows that how this would going. In this manner managers can evaluate success
of innovative goods if such company gets a good position in marketplace. Further, in order to
sustain such position, it is also needed for management of Softwire to keep improvement in
continue basis.
PARADIGM INNOVATION – This is the most important phase of innovation in which
an enterprise needs to make proper action plan. It includes how to make alteration or add value in
products as well as the way to launch in a market in a systematic manner.
Innovation Funnel: After understanding the whole procedure of 4P's of
innovation model, this funnel is used as a refinery tool. Generally a company generate various
ideas for increasing growth of company and deliver high services (Khan and et. al., 2017)
. So, innovation funnel is used to refine all ideas and choose best out of them. It includes three
stages for creating modification in production like-
1st phase: It is an initial stage in which entrepreneurs of Softwire are required to make a proper
research for analysing the situation of marketplace. It would help in grabbing complete
information through which various ideas can be generated.
Second phase reflects that if mangers have gathered information’s from the market place in
relation to their products then it results in achieving success in their operations..
The third face indicates that managers of softwire are confident about the new ideas and they will
achieve their objectives in desired time that have been allotted to them.
P4 Concept of frugal innovation and its use in organisational context
The Frugal innovation are the most important contemporary factors which results in effective
utilisation of all resources which are available in the economy in relation to factors such as
human resources, finance and material required. The services and products which are
manufactured with this concept are consuming less number of resources available and they are
successfully fulfilling their assigned duties in respect to selling customised products to
customers. The approaches have achieved momentum by the innovative tools otherwise
customers cannot purchase them. The initiative taken for innovation in the products are achieved
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through momentum other they are beyond the capacities of customers in order to purchase the
products. The innovation techniques are formulated in order to fulfil all the social responsibilities
towards customers and these can be utilised for the effective means of manufacture of goods.
The concept has been developed from the healthcare and transportation sector thus they have
also spread into technological sector.
The concept is very much popular among the business who are operating at
smaller scales and they are not having a separate department and they can easily carry out their
operations with the minimum use of resources (Lim and et. al., 2017)
. It is focused on producing goods which are sold at lower price and they are providing values to
their valuable customers. Softwire is mainly known for developing different types of software
resolution who are operating at bigger scales index. By executing frugal innovation the firms
have started to deliver all their services to the new ventures or the entities who are running their
operations at lower cost. The main reason behind this factor is related with making the presence
of the small business with the base of digital tools so firms can easily gain success at market
areas. The software which are formulated for those business who are operating at smaller scales
carries very normal functioning and this results in fulfilment of all the cost factors in the most
effectual and planned ways thus achieving a pathway of success. The concept of frugal
innovation carries very higher relevance towards the business organisation thus they are able to
fulfil needs and wants of customers by offering them goods according to their needs. All the
activities which are not useful and they are not adding anything to the services are removed so
that efficiencies can be achieved in business activities. This is an important factor in order to
establish strong business images thus they will offer effective services to all their customers.
There is less disruption for management an d they can easily change their actions and those
activities which are important in order to achieve business goals and objectives.
TASK 3
P5 Importance of commercial funnel and application of NPD
The commercial funnel considers the buying process of the clients while they purchases
the business products. Commercialisation is linked with offering innovative products in mass
quantity. There are different process used in order to deliver final good to customer. If firms
wants to achieve success in their operations then they have to develop market plan. The sales
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funnel reflects that customer is aware about the products and he is influenced to buy the
products. The main benefit of commercial funnel is that it makes customers aware about new
offers in goods. If firms want to develop new products then they had to follow the steps which
are evaluated below as:
Idea generation: The business is at the start of consultancy service to people so they can be part
of their business.
Idea screening:. The formost step is to identify that firm will achieve higher growth and
profits from their business operations in long time durations.
Concept testing: There is a testing about the idea of new product with the already
existing client in order to know the outcomes .( Mamo and et. al., 2017)
Business analytical: This factor is related with organising an assessment in order to
know about the positive results of new products.
Commercialise: If the business gets an idea that there operations are profitable then they
can commercially launched them at market places.
Product development: If there is proper response from the customers then it results in
identifying the weak points thus improvements can be made in the products.
P6 Business innovation case
Executive Summary The Softwire is dealing in manufacturing software and is also a digital
engineering company and they are performing their business operations
in UK. The enterprise have developed an environment in which
customers demands can be easily fulfilled in most effective manner.
Need
Softwire have made various innovations in their products and this
results in analysing the changing demands of their potential customers.
The innovation made in software products are valuable in achieving
competitive advantages and gaining different outcomes.
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Solution
The execution of innovative software are valuable in carrying out
assessment in order to analyse needs and demands of clients. The
innovation made in products are helpful in order to make changes in the
offered services (Perry and et. al., 2017)
Consumer Analysis The potential customers were satisfied with the innovation in products
which were executed by entities. The innovative ideas developed
currently are valuable for the organisation in order to achieve effective
results from their operations.
Creation and
Improvement
The innovative ideas have been captured with the help of new
techniques of communication so that ideas can be easily captured in
both the unstructured and structured format. The ideas can be chosen by
the entity from different types of filters available in economy according
to their reach ability so that new and innovative approaches can be
easily judged.
Acquisition of funds As the business activities are carried out at a smaller scale thus there is
requirement of raising funds from different sources in order to get
finance for their business operations. The major sources of raising funds
are banks and they can easily fulfil the need of finance in return of the
security amount. On the other hand other approach can be related with
business ownership can be shared for the monetary supports.
Benefits availed The values which can be gained by business with the help of developing
innovative approach are helpful in developing cultures of innovation at
work places thus it results in enhancing customer satisfaction so firms
will enhance their profitability index.
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TASK 4
P7 Evaluation of different tools which are utilised by business in preserving
intellectual property
Intellectual property are the most vital factor of business entities as it results in achieving
competitive gains at market places. Protecting of intellectual property are valuable factor as they
are preventing those property rights which are unauthorised. It results in enhancing overall
business performances thus they are offering innovative products to their customers and these
can be used for the purpose of safety and security while they are taking loans from the banks.
The major elements which have to be considered while formulation of IPR are described below
as:
Trademarks: The trademarks are evaluated as the logo or brand name which are used by
business in their operations also includes tag lines and catch phrase. Every business should apply
for the registration of trademarks so that firms can easily promote their valuable assets. The
registration of goods are useful for business organisations in order to protect them from
unauthorised usage of same logos, trademarks which are identical to the business entity.
Patent: Patents are described as the rights which are being given to the inventors related
with selling or using their new and innovated products. The patents consist of three major
elements such as design, plant and utility patents.
Copyrights: The copyrights are described as the protection and care which are offered by
government of UK. Its main motive is to prevent the authorship which is related with
unpublished and published form of the original work. The main reason behind formulating the
copyrights laws are linked with protecting creativity, creators and time and effort taken in
operations. The owner who is having copyright on the products have the power to to fully make
use of their creations.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it has been concluded that innovation and invention are different from
one another and small business can easily achieve success in their operations by utilising all the
resources available in economy in most effective and planned manner. The innovation can be
carried out with the help of new process and these can be promoted with the help of
commercialization at market places.
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