Innovation Management: Vegan Leather in Merchandise Sector

This essay delves into the innovative use of vegan leather within the merchandise sector, a field traditionally dominated by animal leather. It highlights the shift towards veganism and ethical consumerism, driving companies to adopt sustainable alternatives. The essay discusses the benefits of vegan leather, including its appeal to a broader customer base, biodegradability, and recyclability. It also addresses potential drawbacks such as durability concerns, limited availability, and pricing challenges. Furthermore, the essay connects the concept of vegan leather to innovation management theories, including lean innovation, business canvas modeling, and redesigning traditional thinking processes, emphasizing the importance of strategic planning and adaptive thinking in successfully implementing such innovations. The analysis provides a comprehensive overview of the opportunities and challenges associated with vegan leather, offering valuable insights for businesses seeking to innovate sustainably and ethically. Desklib offers a repository of similar essays and solved assignments for students.

Running head: ENTREPRENEURSHIP & INNOVATION MANAGEMENT
ENTREPRENEURSHIP & INNOVATION MANAGEMENT
Name of the Student
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Author Notes

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One of the primary ways for a company to stay within the limelight of the market is to
innovate their themes and ideas to suit with the modern world. There are a number of
innovations that have ruled the technological and service marketing with more companies
being active in developing newer and unique ways to make sure that the customers are
engaged to their company leaving their competitors behind. Innovation is defined as the way
of developing newer goods and ideas, which are not developed before (Drucker 2014).
However, there are certain arenas of products that have always been static and never shown
any signs of development. One of such industry is merchandise industry that has been
continuously using the concept of Animal Leather in manufacturing their products. Animal
leather is made from animal skin which is extracted by killing the cows, goats and buffaloes
which is cruel and inhuman at the same time (Dixit et al. 2015). The following paragraphs
deal with the innovation that is being surfaced in the recent times in the merchandise sector
which is the use of Vegan Leather in lieu of normal animal leather. The below paragraphs
highlight the various innovations that has been done using the vegan leather and the various
implications that has been caused by it, both positive and negative.
Vegan leather is defined as a kind of material that has both the looks and feel of
leather but is biodegradable, recyclable and versatile material at the same time (Kinge,
Landage and Wasif 2013). The use started in recent times with more and more people leaning
towards the vegan form of life and products. The process of extraction of real leather from
animals is horrific that needs to be done by killing the creatures and making them undergo
inhuman torture. The merchandise industry is totally dependent on the use of leather as most
of the well-known brands from Louis Vuitton to Chanel to Dolce and Gabbana are into the
manufacture of leather goods for their customers. Even in the case of local or small brands,
the demand for leather goods is on a continuous rise with people demanding more goods
manufactured from pure leather (Ghafoor, Aslam and Rasool 2012). It is beyond any doubts

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that the products made from pure leather are not only stylish but are long lasting as well. The
use of leather in merchandises like bags, belts and shoes is done since ages and is never
showing to cease in the near future.
The introduction of the vegan leather in the whole arena of business served as a boon
as now all the people of the world, irrespective of their theories and ideologies can use the
merchandises without feeling guilty or supporting the cruel practises (Dixit et al. 2015). The
introduction of these new-age leather merchandises was done by many of the high-end brands
including Kat Von D and are being transformed into smaller and local brands of different
countries. The new age leather made from plants made way for the companies to introduce
different types of bags and other merchandises that are not only against cruelty but also
promoted innovation in the field where it is supposed to be all static and mundane (Payne,
Brough and Musk 2016).
The concept of vegan leather has a number of benefits to both the company as well as
the customer. With the new concept, the companies can attract the customers who always felt
shy in purchasing the products or the customers who has theories that drive them against the
concept of leather and the product manufactured by them. For the customers, they can get a
wide variety of material choice and can accommodate the new-age bags in their closet
without promoting the concept of cruelty. The new concept of merchandises makes the
overall purchase of merchandise in the industry a different experience that along with
innovation serves the claims of being the best in the sector. The customers and clients who
are leading a vegan lift and advocate the concepts of veganism also can get the merchandises
from the companies, which can increase both the customer values and customer number.
Another aspect of the positive note is the factor that these materials are biodegradable and
recyclable which makes the whole line of merchandise friendly to the environment. The

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companies can also engage in asking for the old bags for the new bags, which they can
recycle and present the customers with new bags.
In respect of negative impacts that can be caused by the use of the vegan leather in the
merchandise sector is the impact and the replacement of the new-age leather with the
classical ones. The vegan leather is marketed as a substitute to the real leather in terms of
looks and feel but it does not serve the purpose of durability like the real leather. The shelf
life of vegan leather merchandises are extremely short as they are prone to getting torn and
wretched. Moreover, the goods are not easily available in the market like the real leather
ones, which makes it is a con for the customers who do not have the access to the various
means of procuring the goods through internet and other services. Availability of goods and
other merchandise is really an important matter in the whole business as the customers and
clients get their due in the whole matter. Another negative side that is the price point that is
one of the most vital reasons that can hamper the popularity of the whole innovation. The
price point is one of the most important reasons for any business innovation and if the
manufacturing cost of the product is more than the present ones, it is expected that the final
point will increase which will again affect the sales of the product in a negative way (Diallo
2012). All these negative impacts will surely affect the process and outcomes of innovation
and will make the whole innovation process a failure if not implemented properly.
There are a number of management theories that can influence the concept of
innovation and the process of new product development. The theories that can influence
innovation can be stated in the lean innovation management, business canvas and also
redesigning the process of thinking (Cooper 2017). The management of innovation is one of
the foremost aspects of new innovative concepts. The new concept of vegan leather can be
correlated to the innovation management and also to the business canvas aspect. The business
canvas can help in the overall planning and strategies of the business which is being

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influenced by the thinking process (Johansson‐Sköldberg, Woodilla and Çetinkaya 2013).
The new and innovative thinking process can also be stated to redesigning the classical
concept of leather merchandise use which again influence the concept of the use of leather
goods.
In conclusion, it can be said that innovation is one of the most important process
through which the companies can do their business effectively and make sure that the sales
and profit of the company increases to a new level. The innovation in the merchandise sector
which is the innovation of the leather goods into vegan leather manufactured from plants is a
completely new approach for the sector that has a static approach in the whole area right from
the beginning. The paragraphs also highlighted the positive and negative implications that are
associated along with the innovation of the vegan leather. The management theories of
innovation that can help in the process of innovation are also stated that help to manage the
overall sales and production of the team.

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References
Cooper, R., 2017. Supply chain development for the lean enterprise: interorganizational cost
management. Routledge.
Diallo, M.F., 2012. Effects of store image and store brand price-image on store brand
purchase intention: Application to an emerging market. Journal of Retailing and Consumer
Services, 19(3), pp.360-367.
Dixit, S., Yadav, A., Dwivedi, P.D. and Das, M., 2015. Toxic hazards of leather industry and
technologies to combat threat: a review. Journal of Cleaner Production, 87, pp.39-49.
Drucker, P., 2014. Innovation and entrepreneurship. Routledge.
Ghafoor, A., Aslam, M. and Rasool, S., 2012. Determinants of leather goods exports: A case
of Pakistan. Journal of Business & Economics, 4(2), p.256.
Johansson‐Sköldberg, U., Woodilla, J. and Çetinkaya, M., 2013. Design thinking: past,
present and possible futures. Creativity and innovation management, 22(2), pp.121-146.
Kinge, A.P., Landage, S.M. and Wasif, A.I., 2013. Nonwoven for Artificial
Leather. International Journal of Advanced Research in Engineering and Applied
Sciences, 2(2), pp.18-33.
Payne, A., Brough, D. and Musk, P., 2016. Will we soon be growing our own vegan leather
at home?. The Conversation.