Report on Innovation and Commercialization in an Organization (Unit 8)

This report delves into the critical aspects of innovation and commercialization within an organizational context. It begins by differentiating between innovation and invention, emphasizing the importance of innovation for organizational growth and competitive advantage. The report then explores how vision, leadership, culture, and teamwork shape innovation processes. It identifies and analyzes different types of innovation, including incremental, breakthrough, and disruptive innovation, along with the 4Ps of innovation and the innovation funnel. The report also examines frugal innovation and the commercialization process, including the application of the New Product Development (NPD) process and innovation business cases. Furthermore, it evaluates methods for protecting ideas and intellectual property. The report concludes by highlighting key strategies for organizations to foster, retain, and protect knowledge and intellectual property, providing a comprehensive overview of the subject.

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Unit 8. Innovation and
Commercialization in an Organization
Student name:
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Table of Contents
Table of Contents........................................................................................................................................2
Introduction................................................................................................................................................3
LO1 Difference between Innovation and Invention....................................................................................3
P1. Importance of Innovation to organisations, in comparison with invention......................................4
P2. The Ways in which Vision, leadership, culture and teamwork can shape innovation and
commercialization...................................................................................................................................5
LO2. Different types of innovation..............................................................................................................6
P3. 4P is of innovation and the use of the innovation funnel to examine and share innovative ideas. 7
P4. Developments in frugal innovation in the Context of Organization..................................................7
LO3. Process required commercialising innovation....................................................................................8
P5. Importance of the commercial funnel and the application of New Product Development (NPD)
processing for commercialization of innovation.....................................................................................9
P6. Innovation Business Case for an organisation, including ways to access funding.............................9
LO4: Range of Methods for protecting ideas and understand their advantages and disadvantages........10
P7. Evaluate the different tools that organisations can use to develop, retain and protect knowledge
and intellectual property......................................................................................................................11
Conclusion................................................................................................................................................11
References................................................................................................................................................12
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Introduction
Commercialization, a process which was initially started thousands of years ago and is
still ongoing with new modifications each day along with the introduction of new ways so as to
develop the present scenario of global business. The common thing which is worth noticing in
each successful business is the concept of developing something new, something which the
world has not seen before, something that impresses and astonishes people. This concept of
developing a new idea is called innovation. Since the beginning of human civilisation,
innovation has been wholeheartedly accepted by the consumers, and a particular inclination is
also seen towards innovation (Shaginaw, 2011). Commercialization and innovation are closely
linked to each other. Innovation often results in the commercialization of the idea and innovation
in a business often results in excellent growth and expansion of the business and also attracts a
huge crowd of customers as everyone wants to try something new.
Innovation is the ultimate key in prospering of a business whether it is small or large
depending upon how perfectly it is applied advertised. Not only in manufacturing, but also in
marketing and management, any organisation cannot continue with old and traditional ways of
administrating its employees. Innovation is a must in every department of a company it always
turns out beneficial for everyone. Commercialization of innovation helps to bring out new out
new ideas and helps an idea to develop more and more ultimately resulting in better products
and services (A. Inzelt, 2013). Thus, if we talk in brief, the commercialization of innovation has
so far resulted in the greater good of human society, and this will continue bringing more and
more development and prosperity for all of us.
LO1 Difference between Innovation and Invention
Even though innovation, in its pure sense, is the process of making new something out of
an existing idea or a service, the concept of innovation goes well beyond that. When we talk
about innovation, we talk about new ideas; we talk about pushing the boundaries and making
something new out of whatever we have which is far better than the previous product or service
(Berkun, 2010). Innovation is not only about creating something new but is also by modifying or
changing the previous concept and as we notice repeated modifications often result in the
formation of an entirely new thing.
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Let us consider the example of Apple Inc., the “Apple II” one of the first computers
launched by Apple was one of its kinds at that time but that was not enough. They kept on
working and see where they stand today “The Mac book” one of the most developed computers
of the world. This was only possible through innovation; they kept on hunting for new ideas, and
as soon as they found one, they used it to create something new which would attract customers
and soon became a company with a large number of customers across the globe. This is what
innovation can do when we start pushing our boundaries, we not only explore but we also
discover new ways to success, and this is what happened with Apple exactly.
We often misunderstand invention with innovation and conceptualise innovation as
something else. The invention is when an entirely new product or service is formed which hasn’t
been witnessed by the world yet. It is based on the existing principal, but the final product is a
completely new thing, while in the case of innovation, an existing product or service is modified
with the help of a new idea which results in the betterment of the respective product or service
(D. Jones-Evans, 2016). Innovation may or may not give out an invention as it only works on
the principle of working with an existing concept, but an invention is impossible without
innovation, we need to have certain new ideas to bring out something new, and it all comes
through innovation. Therefore, we can say that innovation is a necessity along with proper skill
and management to prosper in any field.
P1. Importance of Innovation to organisations, in comparison with invention
Innovation, as explained earlier, is all about making something new of whatever we
have. Innovation is about ideas and ideas can shape whatever resources we have with us. As
discussed earlier, innovation is about pushing the boundaries and coming up with new possible
ideas which result in enhancement of quality and reliability of products and services giving way
to new and happy customers which ultimately results in the greater good of the organisation
(Hippel, 2005). In any organisation, when we compare the importance of innovation with
invention we find the difference of possibilities and limits. The invention has certain risks like
disliking of the entire new product or hazards posed by the product to certain natural and
artificial factors in any field. Innovation, on the other hand, is modifying a previously acceptable
product and making something new from it which is according to the needs and demands of the
current generation and that is why innovation in any organisation is widely accepted (Galindo,
2014).
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Even when it comes to different departments in an organisation, the invention in every
department is not a possible task as the results will be quite unknown. Suppose, the introduction
of new methods of management in an organisation fail to control a situation that can result in a
huge loss can be expected in the organisation at the time of emergency. Therefore, the
organisations go for innovation as it will work with the traditional ways of management and
make some modifications to it so as to adjust with the present scenario of commercialization
which will result in the benefit of the organisation.
P2. The Ways in which Vision, leadership, culture and teamwork can shape innovation
and commercialization
In any organisation the management aims to take the most out its skilled employees and
this job can no longer be done by the old methods from the time of industrialisation. Therefore
in this field to innovation is a necessity for developing new methods can provide the workforce
with high morale and better coordination then becomes possible into these repeatedly changing
scenarios of globalisation. The organisational vision of every organisation is to create more
satisfied customers, and this is only possible through changing oneself according to the changing
needs of the people. This change only becomes possible through innovation and thus companies
organisational vision supports innovation in every possible way. For every organisation, good
leadership is a necessity and with the changing needs of workers and for better results, new ideas
must originate to keep everything goes hand in hand. Leadership never ends with management,
but with how creative a person can be to get things done by the employees.
Leadership is something that can change the future of an organisation and it all starts
with a leader as for how he/she administers the work and the employees. The quality of a leader
can be only achieved through innovation. The culture of an organisation often shows how its
employees are. The organisations with innovate culture often try to modify the existing services
and this shows the hardworking and innovative faculty which are good signs of the prosperity of
an organisation (Larry Keeley, 2013). No idea can be perfect without proper analysis and
suggestions, and that is where teamwork is required. A good team often ends up making the
most of an idea which results in greater benefits in this competitive era of commercialization
(Tavassoli, 2015).
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LO2. Different types of innovation
Innovation has different types as different types of new ideas can be thought at the same time.
Therefore, innovation is classified basically into three types: -
1) Incremental innovation – Incremental innovation includes a series of small
improvements and changes made to the existing products of the company so as to modify its
quality and reduce its competitive differentiations. The incremental innovation is more effective
at the production level although it also includes the services, it is not as effective as at the
production level (Vanhaverbeke, 2013). The incremental innovation sometimes also brings out
the flaws of the product, making the product more ‘perfect’. Incremental innovation has been
seen in many a product in the companies like Apple Inc. like from the Iphone 6 to the Iphone 6s
which was a phone with a lot more features than the previous version (M.P. Feldman, 2012).
2) Breakthrough innovation – In Breakthrough innovation, the company shifts its
manufacturing or service providing motive to a completely different stage. This innovation is
done to expand the business and cover certain areas or to disband the previous business due to
certain factors like unavailability of resources or loss in the respective business. Breakthrough
innovation is often regarded as risk-taking. The reason behind this is the shifting to a whole new
field makes it a risky job to settle and flourish in a new business. This situation comes forward
because the new business gives no guarantee of prosperity, however, the expansion of the
business, through breakthrough innovation, is a profitable process. The overall scenario can be
observed in the case of Apple Inc. when the company expanded its production areas covering
the consumer electronics department and making a huge leap of success in it (McCraw, 2009).
3) Disruptive innovation – In disruptive innovation, a new market is created with new
values which eventually disrupt the existing market of the organisation. This is usually done to
overcome a loss which the company was bearing. This innovation is also used to lift the sales
and earn sudden profits (Needle, 2004). Disruptive often leads to a profit of the organisation but
also results in a decline in sales of other products which results in a future price reduction of the
unsold product. For example – the iPhone SE manufactured by Apple Inc. resulted in a huge
profit for Apple but also resulted in the decline of prices of the rest of the iPhones.
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P3. 4P is of innovation and the use of the innovation funnel to examine and share
innovative ideas.
The 4 P’s of innovation are: -
1) Product – In any innovative idea, what must be taken into concern is the product that we
are trying to innovate. Any product has to be brought to a point where it is just effortless
to use, and it has got hazards to worry about the product. The example of the
development of computers manufactured by Apple over time which were much more
user-friendly is an example of innovation of product (Nel, 2007).
2) Process – Whenever it comes to production, the process of production is the utmost
concern in any organisation. Every organisation aims to produce quality items at the
cheapest possible rate. Therefore, one must keep in mind the factors while thinking of an
innovative idea. The factors of production, as well as the production process, affect the
output of the production framework. As a result, an improved method of production is
the top priority of a manufacturing company (Rosenberg, 2013).
3) Position – Whenever a new product is launched, the company is always in pursuit of
innovative ideas to come with better versions of the product which would attract more
customers. Re-Positioning of the products helps in changing the features of the product
according to the changing needs of the customers and innovative ideas in re-positioning
the product often features results in better versions of the products.
4) Paradigm – While thinking of a new idea the pattern of changes must be followed in
any product. The modelled change often results in ending up with building better
versions of a particular product and not an entirely new product. The paradigm in any
innovative idea ensures that the idea is going in a particular direction and not deviating
from it otherwise, the whole concept of the product can change. Therefore, the ideas
must be considered in a sequenced manner as deviating can cause undesired products.
P4. Developments in frugal innovation in the Context of Organization
Providing cheap goods to the consumer is a company’s top priority, and this is where
frugal innovation comes into existence. The company thinks of various new ideas so as to how
to reduce the cost of a product, and this is done by thinking of new ideas so as to reduce the
complexity and removal of unessential components from the service and goods. Frugal
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innovation is very helpful when it comes to business in developing countries as providing cheap
products can cause a rise in the sales of any company (Berkun, 2010).
Frugal innovation is now very popular among the Multi-National Companies like Apple
Inc. which target the developing countries like India. The perfect example can be given by the
introduction of iPhone SE which was the cheapest iPhone and was a result of frugal innovation
which resulted in a great demand of Apple iPhone SE as the prices were reduced. Apple also
moved its manufacturing unit to China which helped it to reduce the cost of the iPhones to a
greater extent; this was also an innovative idea. Frugal innovation can be used to overcome a
loss which the company was suffering as reducing the cost usually attracts more buyers. The
frugal innovation in the case of Apple Inc. made it a strong contender in the developing
countries.
LO3. Process required commercialising innovation
Any idea remains an idea until it is implemented and it has been observed that as soon as
an idea becomes a reality, it becomes a business. The process of commercialising innovation
starts with thinking whether the idea is possible or not. A hypothetical idea cannot become a
business and therefore it is very crucial to examine whether an idea can become a reality or not
(Deng & Hofman, 2013). The second thing that comes in the process of commercialising an idea
is checking whether the idea is affordable or not; the idea must be affordable in any case as too
much expense for an idea which is uncertain to work is a risky move that no organisation dares
to take. The third step includes checking the availability of resources; any idea or service to
work needs a continuous supply of the resource and if the supply of the resource stops then a
discontinuity in the availability of the product occurs which often results in heavy loss of the
organisation (Larry Keeley, 2013).
Therefore, it is a necessity of any organisation to ensure that the supply of resources if
abundant and continuous. The final step includes implementation of the idea; the idea must be
implemented in a short duration of time as human needs change with the passage of time and a
careful analysis id must implement the idea.
The cases of Apple Inc. and Virgin Group are there; both the companies passed every
criterion and did the innovation in a particular direction where there was every possibility of
making it happen. The case of Virgin group; the company kept on expanding according to the
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needs of the population passing each criterion required to commercialise innovation. Virgin
Group now owns Absolute Radio, Air Nigeria, Virgin Charter, and Virgin Cinemas, Virgin
Drinks, Virgin Cola and many more ventures. One thing that we found common in each venture
was every field that they are trading in is a never-ending demand of the population, and this is
where innovation played its part. There were ideas to commercialise in these fields, and they did
it. The commercialization of innovation is only possible when we think of modifying whatever
we have, as the modification is a necessity in every field.
P5. Importance of the commercial funnel and the application of New Product Development
(NPD) processing for commercialization of innovation
Whenever any product is launched, the utmost concern of any organisation is to create a
market for that product in this era of globalisation where their innumerable competitors and this
market are created by the sales department of the organisation. Commercial funnel focuses on
how a product is sold in this market which is full of competition, and the product can only be
sold through the implementation of new ideas and these ideas are a necessity to make the
product appear totally different from its competitors. Innovation also plays a vital role when it
comes to the concept of New Product Processing (NPD) processing; certain new ideas are
needed to make a product which is unique in its way (McCraw, 2009). The commercialization of
innovation is only possible when the product that is being sold is different from others, and the
product has its way of selling in the market.
When the innovation is introduced in the commercial funnel, the organisation discovers a
whole new style of marketing. The marketing strategy results in better sales. When new products
which are a result of innovation of the principal product are developed, the demand for that
product increases easily. The innovation technique makes that product unique, and thus, these
two factors are way more crucial in commercialising innovation as the whole concept of
innovation lies in these two factors i.e. what to sell and how to sell. Creating new ideas in these
fields always acts in the betterment of the organisation.
P6. Innovation Business Case for an organisation, including ways to access funding
Let us take a case of an anonymous business organisation which trades in the field of
electronic consumer goods and is currently undergoing a huge loss. The only thing that can
compensate them now is innovation; they can look for new ideas to trade and save their
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business; the ways include innovation of all types i.e. incremental, frugal, breakthrough,
disruptive. The company can do small modifications to improvise the current product that they
are selling this can also include deducting the non-essential features of the product which can
result in the deduction of the price and thus increase in the sale of the products (M.P. Feldman,
2012). The company can also try to make other goods to earn some profit as producing goods in
this field is not paying them much, this will give way to breakthrough innovation. Disruptive
innovation will also play a vital role in this case; since the older products are no longer
benefitting them, so they can disrupt the market of these products and can create a new market
of new products produced through the concept of incremental innovation and New Product
Development (NPD).
The funding is necessary to bring out the innovative. This organisation can do funding by
targeting the developing country such as India and setting up a manufacturing unit there as it
would result in funding of resources and then they will be able to manufacture cheap products.
Another way is through collaboration through the companies involved in the same field but is at
a lower level. These companies will do the manufacturing under the company’s logo, and the
company will earn without any expenditure.
LO4: Range of Methods for protecting ideas and understand their advantages and
disadvantages
The ideas in any organisation can only be protected through an able and proper human
resource management. The management should accept ideas from any level, and a perfect
coordination should be present. The ideas can also be protected by encouraging the people who
come up it. This protection acts as a source of inspiration for other employees too. The
advantages of protecting ideas are that they can act for the greater benefit of the company as the
ideas can lead to the expansion of the company and protecting the ideas can lead to the
innovative workforce (Needle, 2004).
There are two faces of every coin, and there are a few disadvantages too; the needs of the
population changes with the passage of time and in that case, protecting the ideas may not give
any fruitful result as innovation without implementation is nothing. Too much innovation can
sometimes lead to the changing of the whole concept of the product which the organisation
would never want. Therefore, innovation should be implemented at a rapid rate and with proper
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analysing so as to keep the ideas in a certain direction and use it for the greater good of the
organisation.
P7. Evaluate the different tools that organisations can use to develop, retain and protect
knowledge and intellectual property
The different tools include the appointment of a well-skilled and able Human Resource
department which will always be present there to encourage and cooperate with the ideas of the
employees. Initiatives should be taken so that innovative minds could be recruited as skill is
something that can be taught but innovation could not. Innovation should be used to protect and
promote innovation as there is no another uplifted than innovation. Certain campaigns should
also be initiated to make the workforce more innovative. Through evaluating the Apple and
Virgin cases it has been assessed that businesses uses effective tools in regard to improve their
intellectual property rights such as trademark, copyright, patent etc. All such information needs
to be obtained so that performance of firm could be enhanced. Through identifying such
intellectual rights it results business to bring innovation and thus attract wide range of customers
towards firm. Both these businesses are required to copyright and patent so that their innovation
could not be copied by other businesses and thus improve business performance.
Conclusion
An innovative workforce is the prime policy of every organisation; we discussed
innovation and various ways to commercialise it, and the simplest way to do that is to make the
ideas come true. Therefore, every possible effort should be put to make that happen, keeping in
mind the criterion that we discussed. Therefore, innovation is modifying whatever we have and
improvising everything that is present in an organisation. Innovation is essential for every field
whether it is the sales or the manufacturing. Innovation should be the prime concept of the
workers, and the employees should implement it in work too. As discovering new ways to do
work will always result in making the employee more efficient and the company more
successful.
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References
A. Inzelt, J. H., 2013. Technology Transfer: From Invention to Innovation. s.l.:Springer Science
& Business Media.
Berkun, S., 2010. The Myths of Innovation. s.l.:O'Reilly Media, Inc.
D. Jones-Evans, M. K., 2016. Technology, Innovation and Enterprise: The European
Experience. s.l.:Springer.
Deng, Z. & Hofman, P., 2013. Ownership concentration and product innovation in Chinese
private SMEs. Asia Pacific Journal of Management.
Galindo, M., 2014. Entrepreneurship, economic growth, and innovation: Are feedback effects at
work?. Journal of Business Research, pp. 825-829.
Hippel, E. v., 2005. Democratizing Innovation. s.l.:MIT Press.
Larry Keeley, H. W. R. P. B. Q., 2013. Ten Types of Innovation: The Discipline of Building
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M.P. Feldman, N. M., 2012. Institutions and Systems in the Geography of Innovation.
s.l.:Springer Science & Business Media.
McCraw, T. K., 2009. Prophet of Innovation. s.l.:Harvard University Press.
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Needle, D., 2004. Business in Context: An Introduction to Business and Its Environment.
s.l.:Cengage Learning EMEA.
Nel, W., 2007. Management for Engineers, Technologists and Scientists. s.l.:Juta and Company
Ltd.
O'Loghlin, J., 2016. Innovation is a State of Mind: Simple strategies to be more innovative in
what you do. s.l.:John Wiley & Sons.
Philip McCann, L. O., 2012. Innovation, Entrepreneurship, Geography and Growth. s.l.:John
Wiley & Sons.
Rogers, E. M., 2010. Diffusion of Innovations. s.l.:Simon and Schuster.
Rosenberg, N., 2013. Sources of innovation in developing economies: Reflections on the Asian
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Shaginaw, T., 2011. Innovation and Commercialization. GE Global Research.
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