Innovation Management in Unilever: Semester 1 Report

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Innovation and Commercialization
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Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................3
LO1..............................................................................................................................................................4
Explain the context of innovation and determine the difference between invention and innovation........4
LO2..............................................................................................................................................................6
Explain the different types of innovation.................................................................................................6
LO3..............................................................................................................................................................8
Discuss the process required to commercialize innovation......................................................................8
LO4............................................................................................................................................................10
Evaluate the range of methods for protecting ideas and understand their advantages and disadvantages
...............................................................................................................................................................10
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................................12
Reference..................................................................................................................................................13
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Introduction
This report is based on the concept of innovations and commercialization. In today's world, it is
difficult to have a balance between innovation on product offering and the process to have
survived in this competitive environment. Unilever is a London based company which is dealing
in consumer products. It is founded in the year 1929.in these beauty products and personal
products are manufactured as sold worldwide. In this report, there is a discussion on a different
topic related to innovation and commercialization. Different tools and techniques are also
discussed in this report regarding innovation and commercialization. The focus of this report is
on providing a brief knowledge about the ways of organizational goal. This report aims to focus
on innovation management in a company. With the help of different techniques, the company is
focusing on achieving the organizational goal by Appling their theories to have effective
working in the organizations.
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LO1
Explain the context of innovation and determine the difference between invention and
innovation.
Innovation processes for creating something new and offering it to the people. Innovation is a
way of bringing change in the product or the technique which is used in making the product to
increase the sales of the product and to improve the quality of the product. It is a concept in
which new ideas and way of performing a task are involved. It is a concept in which some new
things and theories are added to the existing product and it is a mixture of different theories and
concepts to make the product more innovative (Donate and de Pablo, 2015)
Difference between invention and innovation
Basis Inventions Innovations
Meaning It refers to the occurrence of
an idea
It refers implementation of an
idea
Product formation Formation of a product Adding value to an existing
product
Concept Creation of new ideas Practical implementation of
the idea
Skill needed scientific skill is needed Marketing and strategic skills
are required
Actions Research and development Spreading this concept in
organizations
Related to Single product Multiple products and
processes
Existence New ideas creation Implementation of idea on an
existing product
Innovation management
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Innovation management is the mixing of management principles in the innovation process.it
helps to add innovation in marketing and organizational innovations in the company. It starts
with choosing an idea to implementations that idea into the organization. It helps in the
development of new creation, procedure, technology and helps in improving the existing product
so that the company can achieve its organizational goal and can work effectively in this
competitive market. Innovations help in solving the problem which occurs in the business. It
also helps in increasing the productivity of the business. It helps in using and making unique
qualities which are helpful growth and development of the business. It also helps in beating the
competition which is arising by Applying the innovative techniques of growth and expansion of
the business. This helps in the growth of the business and helps in solving the problem of the
business (Donate and de Pablo, 2015).
The company can shape its business according to its vision, culture, mission, and teamwork with
the help of innovation and commercialization. It helps in making a vision for the future by
setting long term goals. It also helps in establishing trust in the company towards the
management and the human resource for the overall growth of the organizations. It also helps in
setting and achieving the organizational goal of the company. It also helps with training
employees to work effectively by creating coordination among team members (Donate and de
Pablo, 2015).
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LO2
Explain the different types of innovation.
Innovation is an art of adding some value to the existing product to improve the sales of the
company. There are different types of innovations that are useful for the growth and
development of the business.
1. Incremental innovation is an innovation that tries to find ways to improve the things
which already exist and helps in making change faster and better.
2. Process innovation is an innovation in which new ideas and strategies are implemented to
improve the production of the company.
3. Red ocean innovation is an innovation type in which space is made to balance the growth
of the company.
4. Service innovation is an innovation type in which a client interaction channel for the
development of something new and innovative(Dereli, 2015).
5. Business model innovation is a model that helps in creating and reinvention of something
for the business.
6. Sustainable innovation means eco-innovation which helps in sustainable development.
7. Frugal innovation means doing more with less which means high returns at low costing.
8. Blue ocean innovation signifies unknown market space(Dereli, 2015).
9. Radical innovation means providing something new by changing customers’ expectations
.it results in replacing the old techniques and methods (Dereli, 2015).
The uses of innovation funnel to examine and shape innovation ideas
Innovation funnel is a tool that helps in the constant stream of ideas .it is an approach that is used
by most of the company these days for achieving the organizational goal and making a realistic
action plan for achieving the organizational goal of the company. This is an innovative tool used
by individuals and companies to innovate successfully. In this, there are certain criteria and rules
for the proper working of the company. In innovation funnel management there is a generation of
new ideas and also the generation of innovative processes and scrutinizing the project to achieve
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the organizational goal. There must be time management to achieve the plans which are made by
the manager to achieve the organizational goal. The measure is grounded on the suggestion
which is made by the manager to achieve the goal of the company.
Developing innovation funnel
Four steps are involved in this process which is necessary for the development of the
organizations. The creation of ideas then next thing is deciding criteria for its .next step is the test
of the idea and the plans and the last thing is an external environment that affects the
organization.In this process, the first thing is the gathering of all the information and knowledge
for the organizational development .ideas are needed to survive in this competitive market and to
expand and enlarge the business. The next thing is testing the quality of the products and services
for the growth of the business .In the next step selection of the idea and using it in achieving the
organizational goal.
4ps and innovation strategy
It is an innovation strategy that is used by the organization for the growth and development of
the organizations. There are four things which are included in this that are the paradigm, product,
position, and process. It helps in giving the direction from where the company is to where the
company wants to be by improving and innovating the existing products and services.
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LO3
Discuss the process required to commercialize innovation.
It is a process of changing the ideas and the research work into viable products that are used in
the business for the growth and development of the business. It helps in finding the essential
things which are required in the business and it also helps in getting things to assemble to make a
successful project(Chang and Taylor, 2016).It also helps in clearing the roles and responsibilities
which are necessary for achieving the organizational aim. It helps in the development of the
organizations. Risk management is also one of the most important things which help in the
expansion of the company. Public funding helps in developing innovative projects for the
company
Commercialization process
This process helps in the growth and development of the organization which helps in achieving
the organizational goal of the company.
The first step is the creation of a unique and valuable idea which is used in the business for the
growth of the business (Chang and Taylor, 2016). The next step is the preparations of all the
basic things which are required in the creation of ideas for the business the next step is the
determining of the commercial value of the idea which is discussed in the above steps. Another
step is evaluations of intellectual property protection in the organizations. The next step is the
marketing and licensing which is also beneficial for the growth of the organization.
Planning innovation
In this there is the impact of technology and information management is discussed. In this, a plan
is made which is essential for the progress of the company. The next step is the assessment of the
plans which are made .understanding the market is one of the basic things which is required for
the growth of the business. The next step is an assessment of the technology which is used in this
process which consists of the advantages, disadvantages, and cost of failures, etc. which are
required in the assessment of the market (Chang and Taylor, 2016). Then the development of the
transfer strategy for the growth of the business. The methods that are to be used to convey the
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relative information. Another step is the implementation of all the plans according to the users'
information. The next step is an evaluation of the entire above step which is taken for the growth
of the business (Chang and Taylor, 2016).
Accessing findings and resources
The major finding in this is regarding the development of the product and market for the
company. The company needs to development of the product and market for the product. The
company needs to develop strategies for the growth and survival of the business. Sources of
funds used by the company are bank loans. There are two types of long which are taken by the
company bank loans helps in providing the funds to run the business smoothly (Chang and
Taylor, 2016)
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LO4
Evaluate the range of methods for protecting ideas and understand their advantages and
disadvantages
Intellectual property comprises an important position in the market. This helps in the growth of
the business. It is a kind of innovation or the invention which is made to create and bring some
uniqueness in the product. It represents the due diligence procedures that are required for the
growth of the business. There are four kinds of intellectual property which are
1. Patents: These are the rights that are granted by the person who is the inventor of that
particular product or services or by the government to use the set pattern to not allow
using the same thing to uniqueness in their business (Nambisan,et. al., 2017).
2. Copyrights: It is the same as for patents but the only difference is that the author or the
investor gets gains for the creation of that invention .like an author get the amount for the
books for which copyright is given to any publisher for selling and publishing his books.
3. Trademarks: They are the sign, logo, slogan which are there on any product, which helps
in an increase in the selling of the product and creating the brand value of the product.
4. Trade secrets: It is exclusive protection which is given for intangible assets(Nambisan,et.
al., 2017)
Advantage
1. It helps in creating a brand value for the company and helps in the expansion of the
business.
2. It helps in the creation of artificial market limitation on any products or services
3. Superiors rights are offered to the intellectual property holder
4. Long life advantage is also given (Nambisan,et. al., 2017)
Disadvantage
1. Shorter economic life is provided in case of patients with comparison of other intellectual
property rights(Nambisan,et. al., 2017)
2. Copyright protects the expression not the idea itself in some cases.
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3. Misuse of intellectual property(Nambisan,et. al., 2017)
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Conclusion
In this report, there is a discussion on innovation and commercialization in the organization.
Unilever is a London based organization which deals in consumer good and beverages. In this
report, there is a discussion of different types of innovation and the tools and techniques which
are used for the development of the organizations. Further, there is a comparison between
innovation and invention which is used in the business. The process of commercialization is also
discussed in this report.4ps are also discussed which are also discussed in this report. This will
helps in the overall growth of the organization by applying different tools, techniques, and
criteria for the development of the business. In this report, there is also a discussion of
intellectual property for the growth of the organizations.
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