Report on Innovation and Commercialisation Strategies for A1 Comms Ltd

This report provides an in-depth analysis of innovation and commercialisation strategies for A1 Comms Ltd, a company in the telecom sector. The report explores the importance of innovation, its impact on employees, and the role of leadership, culture, and teamwork in fostering creativity. It examines the 4Ps of innovation (Product, Process, Positioning, Paradigm) and the innovation funnel, illustrating how these concepts shape ideas. The report also discusses the development of frugal innovation within A1 Comms Ltd, focusing on cost reduction and efficiency. Case studies of Apple Inc. and Virgin Group are utilized to highlight successful innovation practices. The report emphasizes the need for aligning organizational values with innovation to achieve competitive advantages, improve customer satisfaction, and boost profitability. It covers topics like vision, mission, and the importance of a supportive environment for employees to solve problems creatively. Finally, it explores the role of managers in guiding innovation and the benefits of frugal innovation for identifying opportunities and optimizing resource allocation.

INNOVATION AND
COMMERCIALISATION

INTRODUCTION
Innovation is a statement which is considered to be very important in present business
scenario. It refers to implementation of something in real life that has never been done before. It
is also considered as an activity where a person modifies something that already exist and
implements it in real life. Innovation is simply considered to be an idea, device or method. It
provides business a competitive advantage over its rivals and assist in gaining a high percentage
of consumer base. Innovation basically adds more value to the existing product or services
(Adam, 2014). The report is based A1 Comms Limited, which is a innovative company and has
been listed into various forum as one of the most exciting and innovative company in telecom
sector. But still it needs to address some problems that exists in its field. This is a reason because
of which the case study of virgin group and apple Inc is utilised to state how they dealt with
same critical condition.
Task 1
P1 Innovation and its importance to employees of A1 Comms Ltd
Innovation is considered as the core values of this organisation which is one of the
fastest growing company in telecom sector. It assist in enhancing distinction of company and its
products from its competitor. It also aids administration in rising the efficiency and effectiveness
of process while enhancing quality of products and meeting customers needs (Bastalich, 2010).
Innovation includes different types of activities such as grabbing and changing a specific idea,
information and imagination for designing a product and service.
Employee's usually get confused inside organisation between two terms innovation and
invention. Both of them are entirely different and are used in different conditions and scenario's.
The difference between Innovation and Invention is expressed below:
Basis Innovation Invention
Definition It is a process where a person
executes an idea which has never
been used before practically. Also if
a person modifies existing product
and make its more valuable and
It is considered to be a activity
where a new idea or something has
been created by an individual. That
is one of its kind.
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effective then it will also be
considered as innovation.
What is it It is basically an implementation and
modification of existing strategy or
product.
Something new is created for the
first time.
Skills needed A person needs to have a good
knowledge of his field
A person needs to have a great
scientific skills.
A1 Comms Ltd is working in telecom sector that has intense rivalry among big
companies. There are numerous new entrants in the industry as it do not require huge capital to
start up and also existing player pose a high level of threat to organisation productivity and
profitability. This is the reason which makes innovative approach even more important for the
company (Chun, Chung and Bang, 2015). Apple Inc is one of the best example when it comes to
using innovation in differentiating itself in market. They developed an I-pod which was smaller
in size and could store more than 1000 songs. It was a major innovative product which changed
the concept of Walkman. They use to be huge and heavy, also very difficult to control. But I-pod
changed the whole scenario. This small change assisted Apple Inc in achieving competitive
advantage in market and establish a image of being an innovator in the mind of consumer.
There are various advantages associated with innovation to A1 comms and its employees,
like:
For employees
 It boost workers complex reasoning process and issue addressing ability.
 Improvement in efficiency and effectiveness level of staff.
 Gains new abilities and skills which leads to career development.
For organisation
 It enhances profitability and margins
 Improves customer satisfaction and fulfils needs of end user.
 Establishes a different image in the mind of consumer which is good for company.
As stated above, these are few benefits of innovation that is supported by management
and company (Clausen and Rasmussen, 2011). A1 comms Ltd needs to ensure that each and
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every activity of their organisation and employees is aligned with the core values of being
progressive and imaginative to achieve goals and competitive advantage.
P2 A1 comms Ltd vision, leadership, culture and teamwork can shaping innovation
Creativity can be integrated with the basic business procedure for better outcome.
Organisation needs to use it as an instrument that will lead it in achieving all long term goals.
Employees need to be guided by managers and leaders as to enable them in using innovative
measures to address issues and problems. There is massive need of combining expertise and
abilities of employees and push them to completing their task in more improved and efficient
manner. This has to be supervised by manager himself as he will be able to identify workers
capabilities. Basically, Company needs to establish proper mission, vision with a decorous
leadership culture where group work is promoted. There are definite factors which play an
crucial part in shaping level of conception within company:
 Vision: It refers to a long term goals which states about the thought on which company
has been established. It is a reference that describes about the position where A1 comms
Ltd wants to see itself in future (Cosh and Hughes, 2010). The vision of company should
be flexible and simple yet attractive. It aims to amend connectivity within United
Kingdom and concentrates on achieving the top place in telecom industry.
 Mission: Mission of organisation defines short term goals which needs to achieve in
order to reach its vision statement.
 Leadership: Leadership is a process in which managers and top management escort
employees to use various creative and innovative structure to solve different barriers. It is
a skill focus on boosting productivity and efficiency of people so that they get impelled to
do the work.
 Culture: organisation culture should be positive and flexible. If working culture within
organisation is not at par then workers wont be able to perform to their full potential and
they get demotivated. Hence, Good environment in the company always leads to
generation of best outcomes.
 Teamwork: It is a concept for boosting overall organisation structure. It help in raising
co-ordination among departments and employees. It also intensify idea sharing which
motivates innovation and creativity in each individual (Edison, Bin Ali and Torkar,
2013). Apple Inc under Steve Jobs defined different teams in order to complete task and
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even when they did not achieved targets, they were impelled to follow as they believed in
the opinion and core values.
A1 comms Ltd has to laid down proper policy and procedure that focuses on employees
that also they have to integrate the whole innovation process into structure of organisation and
its business process. There is also a requirements of supporting environment which will boost
resolution of difficulty with innovative ways.
Task 2
P3 4Ps of innovation and the use of the innovation funnel for shaping idea's in employee's
The chief purpose of organisation is to exercise innovative ideas while addressing
different problems and issues. This is consummated by invention funnel that state about whole
process that has to be preceded in order to boost creativeness within organisation. Many
individuals have conducted research and and after analysing their activity, it can be said that
innovation funnel is a procedure that is used to modify theory and vision into a practical event
(Fiedler and Welpe, 2011). It assist by describing way that has to be followed by employees to
innovate as per needs:
4P's of innovation are described below:
 Products: It refers to the aspect which is very vital in creativity process. Product is a
midpoint content of the business that is prepared after collecting data regarding various
market variables and capabilities of company. A1 comms Ltd is famous for supplying
products and packages that is highly emulous and even beats the giants in its sector. This
is the differentiation point between company and its competitors. If they use innovation
Like Apple Inc, they will be competent to gain competitive benefit over their
competitors.
 Process: Invention is not an easy and simple process, it takes times and takes lot of
resources. But this cut down the cost of activity and enhances skillfulness of organisation.
Apple Inc followed a very lengthy process of innovation which was boosted by unit
working and the result was I-pod which were smaller and much more healthier than any
other Walkman in market. Employees need proper counselling from coach for acting as
per their full power.
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 Positioning: A1 comms Ltd has to keep on learning from big giants who have accepted
themself in market with the help of innovative approach and scheme (Harman, 2010).
They have to learn about positioning their product in the mind of user and accomplish
their needs and wants. Telecom sector have range of higher development rate but it has
one of the most changing marketplace.
 Paradigm: Organisation have to focus their attention on all aspect and factor which used
in developing innovation process. A proper investigation is required to make
programmes for integrating innovation into the business process of organisation. This
step is reasoned as a activity which compiles all the aspects related to these factors.
A1 comms sells products of both nature tangible and intangible as to guarantee that all
customers needs are met. Managers have to lead and force their team for innovation not just in
research and development labs but also in whole system (Hemphill, 2014). This assist
governance in decreasing cost and boosting capacity to greater heights.
P4: Explaining the process of developing frugal innovation in A1 Comms Ltd
The innovation procedure has to be planned in a manner that it assist company in right
level of efficiency and effectiveness. Frugal innovation refers to a operation which assist
decision maker in minimising production cost and complexities. Basically, all non essential
attributes and cost are identified and actual deviations are measured and solved. Complete
innovation operation is based on capabilities and prospective of organisation and types of
customers it is serving. Budgeting also needs to be done as per the ability of A1 comms Ltd so
that effective needs of the people can be marked and potential customer can be reversed into
actual consumer. If every step is conducted as per the need and demand then it can boost
efficiency and effectiveness. There are certain aspects which mangers needs to see:
 A concise knowledge of innovation process so that they can guide all employees in
agreement to the stated plans and request.
 Managers have to refer people who are capable and have proved themselves in past to
carry strength of leading others. These individuals will lead organisation and workers to
obtain results which are necessary to be achieved.
As discussed in the case study, Apple Inc and Virgin group used their resources in a
optimum manner that increased their capabilities to attain desired targets and goals in effective
manner. These company initiate Frugal innovation as to identify various activities which are
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adding to the overall company cost (Ingemansson, 2010). This also contributed in reducing time
consumption for different types of actions. Apple Inc was able was able to understand consumers
demand and requirements in a proper manner as they reduced the intermediaries who were using
finances and resources and information was not reaching in a proper style. It also assisted
employees as they were able to fix consumers issues in a proper manner which improved their
satisfaction level.
As mentioned above, there are number of advantages that are beneficial in processing
frugal innovation:
 Identification of opportunities It is the responsibility of company to identify best
opportunities that will help in achieving profits which is the basic aim of any business.
 Analysis of capabilities has to be identified by managers as to assess skill and
knowledge level of company's employee (Kianto, 2011). This will provide information
regarding potential productivity level of organisation and its workers.
 Discovering issues which survive within organisation. And strategy will assist in
reducing gap.
 Adding supportive resources to the functions which lacks in various resources.
 Re-planning will be done and all major changes will be added into the strategy. This will
allow company in meeting all desired goals and targets.
 Implementation It includes executing the strategic plans once it gets clear from the
employee's minds.
 Follow up and monitoring will be done for analysing gap that may exist even after re-
planning process.
This process will assist A1 comms Ltd in minimising all forms of non essential
components that is increasing the activity and process cost. This ultimately boost organisational
profits and productivity.
Task 3
P5 Importance of the commercial funnel and the application of New Product Development
Commercial funnel is defined by number of researcher in a distinct manner. The
combined form of explanation is pretty clear and simple, “ the commercial funnel refers to a
process that leads to transformation of potential consumers into actual end users of company's
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goods and services”. On the other hand new product development is considered to be a process
that assist superiors in developing a new product that is at par with consumers needs an market
demands (Perks and Moxey, 2011). Thus, product designing process must be carried out in
proper strategic way so that it assist in increasing competitive advantage.
A1 comms has conceived to venture in various spheres to diversify and trim risk. As done
by Apple Inc, that changed the music industry. Currently company is only furnishing services to
the business houses but now they design to cater qualitative services to the households and
colleges (Rasmussen, 2010). They need to identify loopholes that exist and make changes
accordingly. To update product there is a whole process which has to be followed:
Source 1: New product development process, 2017
As mentioned in image, new product development is a procedure which has to be
cautiously conducted as this consumes huge finance and if it is not managed innovatively then it
will lead to failure. A1 comms Ltd has deciding to move in into new market after examining its
latent. It will supply products and services at a affordable cost to new consumer. The company
will also use 4P's of marketing to succeed all the resources in a proper mode.
P6 Innovation building case for A1 comms Ltd including way of access fund
Managers need to construct case as it helps in establishing goals and purpose of activity,
such as investing time, allocating company finance in such a way that lends high returns instead
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of spending in non essential activity. (Sonne, 2012). This is a basic concept for developing new
product for organisation. There are certain steps which have to be followed by A1 comms:
Source 2: Steps for building case, 2017
 Understanding objectives: Company needs to set objectives and goals to ensure that
project is worthy for investment.
 Gathering inputs: Administrators has to collect substance to support other
organisational activities in a decent way so that it can be identified.
 Analysis: The gathered information needs to be analysed and put into a perceivable data
format.
 Stating the outcome: This is a stage where business case is formulated and stated in
front top level of management and decision makers.
A stated in case study of Apple Inc and Virgin group, used this case building to draw
various types of investors. A1 comms can used this as well (Theyel, 2013). There are two types
of investors which will assist in company in rendering investment:
 Business angels: They are well known celebrity in investment market. If they find
business enchanting then they provide investment.
 Venture capital firms: These business take shares in return of investment. They supply
big investments but on the other also postulate same number of shares till the repayment
time.
TASK 4
P7 Different tools for developing, retaining and protecting intellectual property
Intellectual property right give exclusive right to its owner to use its own idea, plans. No one has
the right to to use it without proprietors approval. (Wang, Vanhaverbeke and Roijakkers, 2012).
It includes some unique idea that an individual creates. It can includes various types of intangible
properties such as -
 Trademark
 Patent
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 Copyright
 Trade secrets
 Design rights
A1 comms Ltd which deals in telecommunication sector for which it is essential to hold
these property rights in fastened manner so that no one can take reward by using it. There are
many false people who are in order to take undue profit by using these rights without getting any
authorisation from its owner. These assets provides various types of goodness to the organisation
such as it assists in achieving competitive advantages over its challenger as well as differentiate
it from its competitors.
In United Kingdom, there are various types of legal laws which has main motive to
protect these properties from any fake people. A1 comm LTD should hire that employees who
have proper knowledge and skills to maintain these intangible assets in secured manner.
There are diverse types of IP rights which are as follows-
 Copyrights- This property is directed by Copyright act 1988 which provides exclusive
right to the owner of the work. (Wonglimpiyarat, 2011). Generally, it is for a restricted
period of time and after completion of time, owner has to regenerate it. If anyone use it
then he has to seek authorisation from its proprietor by paying royalty to him. It is seen in
the case of books, articles etc.
 Patent- When a person invents a new thing in the marketplace then he has right to get
patent which will be ruled by Patent Act. If inventor registered himself than no one has
the rights to use it.
CONCLUSION
Innovation is needed as to ensure that organisation gains competitive advantage over its
rivals. It assist in achievement of goals and objectives in a given time frame. Managers have to
guide employees so that they can attain all targets in a efficient and effective manner. Innovation
ultimately differentiate company from its competitors and enhances its capability to create a
abstracted picture in customer's mind which make them loyal towards the company.
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REFERENCES
Book and Journals
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