Business and Technology: Innovation Report for Williams Ltd.

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of innovation in business and technology, specifically tailored for Williams Ltd., a retail business transitioning to the online market. The report delves into various innovation theories, including incremental, radical, and disruptive models, evaluating their relevance to Williams Ltd.'s objectives. It also examines the application of web-based technologies and user-experience design principles to create an innovative front-end website, emphasizing the importance of user-centered design. Furthermore, the report assesses the potential impact of future disruptive innovations on Williams Ltd. and formulates an innovation strategy for a new technology-based product or service venture. The report concludes by considering the broader consequences of technological innovation on society, environment, and political agendas, offering strategic recommendations for the company's future.

INNOVATIONS IN
BUSINESS AND
TECHNOLOGY

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
Innovation Theories.....................................................................................................................1
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................5
Web-Based Technologies and User Experience Design Principles to create an innovative
front-end website.........................................................................................................................5
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................9
Identification and evaluation of impact that future disruptive innovations may have on
Williams Ltd................................................................................................................................9
Formulating and evaluating an innovation strategy for a new technology-based product or
service venture...........................................................................................................................10
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................12
Application of web-based technologies and user centred design approach...............................12
Consequences of technological innovation and its impacts on society, environment and
political agendas.........................................................................................................................16
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................16
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................18

INTRODUCTION
Innovation is an integral part of organizations in the present case scenario. An individual
or corporation can implement innovation in the marketplace by successfully implementing
business idea regarding an existing or new product or service that would induce formation of
new needs and markets (Biemans, 2018). Rapid increase in accessibility to technological know
in recent years developed innovation as a critical key in determining the success or failure of an
organisation. Williams Ltd. is a small retail business that wants to move into online market space
by launching a website in order to transform itself into an innovative organization.
This report introduces critical evaluation of innovation theories and their role in
enhancing value for businesses.
It aims to demonstrate the applicability of web-based technologies and user-experience
design principles in the context of Williams Ltd. Thereafter, recommendations are made to
senior stakeholders that mainly reflect on the consequences technological innovations in the light
of society, environment and political agendas.
TASK 1
Constant changes in business environment have led to an advent in business competition
in various sectors, pushing business houses to adapt to such changes by coming up with
innovative ideas. Thus, companies have shifted from simplified profit making business processes
to those that are enabling the organization's to grow sustainably as well as enhancing capturing
value. Creating Value through innovation is an integral part of an organisation's success today.
Innovation Theories
Similar to other models, concept of innovation has also undergone some changes
regarding its meaning, framework and application in different situations. The objective of
business innovation is to create, deliver and capture value through implementation of innovative
strategies and business processes in the organisation. Here, creation of value is mainly concerned
with feasibility whereas deliverance of such value is concerned with interest generation among
the target audience (Bouda, 2012). Lastly, Value Capture is related to the profitability, scalability
and repeatability of product or service offered to the customers, both potential and existing.
Some of the main innovation theories have been given below which are suitable for Williams
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Ltd. in achieving its goal of transforming into an innovative organisation by entering into the
new web market space:
 Incremental and Radical Innovations Model:
This theoretical framework of innovation model bifurcates innovations into two main
categories viz. incremental and radical. The Incremental innovation says that the phenomenon of
innovation results in formation of new product offerings in a business based on the extension of
current knowledge resources of the firm. This concept focuses mainly on competence
enhancement of the organisation (Corsi and Di Minin, 2014).
Illustration 1: Incremental Innovation, 2019
(Source: Incremental Innovation, 2019)
In the context of Williams Ltd., the retail business already owns two high street stores,
mainly dealing in the clothing and accessories segment (Incremental Innovation, 2019). It wants
to expand to the online market space by creating, delivering and capturing values through
identification of various enablers of innovation. This is achieved by creating a customized
business model on the basis of knowledge gained on their customers and industry trends.
Williams can adapt its existing business model with online market space requirements in terms
of collaboration, syncing capabilities, human resources, knowledge, strategies and time. Since
online market space requires time-efficient business models in terms of order placement,
approval and delivery, it is important to ensure that the online retail industry requirements in
regards to the business environment are duly met with.
Hence, instead of extending their existing business model and related processes, Williams
can undertake a business model innovation which will not only result in value creation but also
increase the profitability and scalability of Williams by acting as an enabler for becoming an
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innovative organisation. It is important to understand that an enabler is one which is helps in
facilitating innovation in a firm.
On the other hand, Radical Innovation is related to the substantial changes in the product
offerings of the business which are superior to existing product line of the business both in
quality as well as in usage (Dawson and Andriopoulos, 2014). This type of innovative change,
usually, results in rendering the existing products non-competitive, as their new counterparts are
much more technologically advanced. Hence, it is a competence destroying concept which
requires new knowledge and heavy investment in research and development projects.
Illustration 2: Radical vs. Incremental Innovation Model
(Source: Radical Innovation, 2019)
To a certain extent, Williams Ltd. can harness the advantages of this innovation
framework (Radical Innovation, 2019). As all products sold offline cannot be sold in the similar
way to the online market audience, Williams Ltd., as a small retailer can introduce new products
in clothing and accessories segment or add new product segments to online market platform
which they have not yet started to sell offline as a supplementary product to their main product
line. This would help them in gaining more attention online leading to increased sales revenue.
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The main enabler here would be product innovation strategy that is adopted by the business to
analyse and introduce new or supplementary product line to that of their existing product
offerings. In addition to this, the online retail business model can be subscription based in
regards to the website offered. This would ensure customer lock-in through leveraging of
exclusive products provided by Williams to its subscriber base.
 Disruptive Innovations:
One of the most significant theories of innovation, the Disruptive Innovation Model talks
about pioneering new ways that help in creation of new markets and capturing value networks
that eventually result in an interruption of existing markets and value networks over a definite
time period (Johannessen, 2013).
For any small size retail business which is primarily working on a well-established
offline business model, a website launching is an innovation in itself. The main reason for this is
that maintaining a website as well as an offline store can result into huge losses, if not executed
properly. One of the innovative strategies that Williams can adopt in its online business model is
related to the point system and customer experience. Although, one can argue that point system
is quite common these days, for a small business enterprise working in the retail sector, it may
not be the case in entirety. This is due to the fact that mostly large retail websites tend to foster
the idea of having a website and small size retail firms tend to avoid them due to heavy
maintenance costs involved in them. The retail business can implement a progressive point-based
system to encourage customer loyalty and lock-in for Williams. From progressive it means that
based on the price, quality and demand or supply of the product, luxurious or high-end clothing
and accessories can have more points and lower price segments can have a lower point value.
Whenever a purchase is made online by an existing offline or online customer or a new website
visitor, the company can allot them a relevant point value to their log-in accounts which would
be redeemable in future on certain sales or at a particular point of time in future (Disruptive
Technology, 2019).
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Illustration 3: Disruptive Innovation Model ()
(Source: Disruptive Technology, 2019)
In addition to this, Williams Ltd. can add an Artificial Intelligence platform to its website
through which the customer can add their photograph using simulation models and algorithms
(Kraft, 2012). The customers or website visitors can try the products listed on the site
immediately, just like the offline retailing system and make important purchasing decisions on
the basis of their needs and preferences. This will not only help in providing a much more
enhanced shopping experience to the website visitor but also generate new value network. Thus,
leading to a disruptive innovation model for Williams Ltd.
TASK 2
Web-Based Technologies and User Experience Design Principles to create an innovative front-
end website
User Experience is often overlooked element while developing a product or service or in
the context of given scenario, a website. The concept of user-centred approach or user experience
refers to the overall experience that a product or a service creates for a person. User-Experience
is the most crucial element in order to create an innovative front-end website. This is due to the
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fact that unlike offline stores, the owners or marketing executives are not available to assist the
customers or visitors to the website on a face-to-face basis (Lin and et.al., 2013). Hence, a
website needs to be appropriate and accurate enough to convey what it preaches through the
user-experience provided to its user-base. If the website is unable to convey this or provide an
enhanced user experience, Williams Ltd. would prove to have failed in its new venture.
Therefore, while creating user-experience using a website, even the smallest button click must
count as a contribution to the larger experience for the online customer. For including web-based
technologies in the website, the web-developers of Williams Ltd. can use mark-up languages
such as C++, HTML, XML, CGI, Visual Design, Google Analytics, Google Trends and APP.
Illustration 4: Different types of Web-based Technologies
(Source: Web App Development, 2019) Essentially user-experience of a product design is
related to the product's functionality (Web App Development, 2019). On the web, however, the
user experience gains an even more critical role as compared to other products and services. This
is because a website is self-service based having no instruction manual or guidance to surf
smoothly through the different elements of the website. The business requires to adopted a user-
centric design that relates to the creation of customer engagement and efficient user experience
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for them (Nambisan and et.al., 2017). Adoption of a user-designed process takes into account
various elements of websites from appearance to functioning of buttons used on the website.
This ensures that the web developers formulate a website that not only provides long customer
engagement but also gives a multi-perspective to them for overcoming any type of blockage
during the process of website development. If the developers are not able to derive a positive
experience while using the website, Williams Ltd. will not be able to do the same once its
launched and implemented online.
The User Experience Design Process ensures that the creation of user-experience and
value creation happens without an explicit intent of the developers. In context of given scenario,
this means that the website developed is a result of every minute action and its implications
being considered and thought out that could possibly hinder the user expectations while using the
intended website. For achieving this, there are some important elements that can be suggested to
Williams Ltd. for achieving the goal of an innovative front-end website (Elements of User-
Experience. 2019). These elements of User-Experience ensure that each and every decision made
while developing the website. The main elements that Williams must consider are as follows:
 The Strategy Plane: Every project or opportunity undertaken by the business is based on
a strategic decision which is essentially made to take the business forward. The Strategy
Plane relates to this aspect. The scope of website developed by Williams Ltd. can only be
outlined clearly when the strategy of the site is distinct. This element combines the
overall objectives of the business as well as the users into a single thread. As User needs
are external to the organisation, Williams Ltd. can be treated as the external goals that are
required by the business to be achieved through the implementation of the website.
 The Scope Plane: Under this head, the functional specifications and content
requirements come into play. Functional specifications are a detailed enlisting of product
in the form of its description. Whereas the content requirements includes information
enlisted for various elements which are a priority requisite for Williams. This plane forms
the scope of a website. They may or may not be present or embedded in every site. For
instance, Williams can include a feature that saves previously searched items as well as
shipment addresses used by the customers. Hence, one can say that this element of user
experience helps in conjoining of different features and functions of the website into one.
7

Illustration 5: User Experience Design Model
(Source: UX Model, 2019)
 The Structure Plane: This element is concerned with the outlining of process which a
user would undertake while using the website (UX Model, 2019). It gives a detailed
account of where the user would end-up using a definite set of website buttons or features
that result in successful check-in or check-out from the website itself. Mainly, it is
concerned with Interaction Design and Information Architecture. Interaction Design is
the interactive experience that a user undergoes while using the website. Whereas the
Information architecture is a series of content elements that help in understanding the
mechanisms of the website. For Williams Ltd., in order to develop an innovative front-
end website, it is important that the information structure is easy to understand as well as
the interaction design is highly user-centric in order to facilitate better functioning of the
website.
 The Skeleton Plane: Similar to the Structural Plane, the skeleton plane is much more
abstract in its format. It is mainly based to understand the critical placement of pages,
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buttons and coded algorithms which help in smooth functioning of the website. For any
business including Williams Ltd (Norman and Verganti, 2014). It is important to have a
distinctive and untangled skeleton of website which enable maximum effect of the
website providing highest efficiency and experience to the user. It is also considered with
decisions relating to information design, interface design and navigation designs which
take into account the presentation of information, arrangement of interface elements and
screen elements facilitating navigation respectively.
 The Surface Plane: This element relates to the one which customer sees at the surface,
which is the website itself. This component emphasizes on the needs, preferences as well
as expectations of the potential online visitors when they first use the website and how
they fit in with their other goals. It also includes product objectives or business goals that
Williams Ltd. aims to achieve through the launch of this site, which is transforming itself
into an innovative business organisation. For instance, decisions regarding the theme of
the website and their appearance would come under the purview of this plane. It can be
seen as the end result of all other planes or elements of user-experience.
Thus, with the successful application of elements of user experience and web-based
technological solutions, Williams Ltd. will be able to develop a highly successful as well as
innovative front-end website for its target audience.
TASK 3
Identification and evaluation of impact that future disruptive innovations may have on Williams
Ltd.
Innovation refer to the change in trend and innovation that directly affect the
performance of business. It is easier for the big or large organisation to adopt new innovation or
pattern of doing work as they have sufficient fund to train their existing employees and adopt
new technology (Quesenbery, 2014) which may not be the case for small and medium
enterprises. Here, the impact of innovation on small retail business, Williams Ltd, are stated
below:
 Adoption of innovation: As disruptive innovations tend to result in a new market or
technology, a future disruption may either be a boon or a bane based on the type of
disruption it is. Hence, Williams Ltd. may have to incur high cost and difficulty
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implementing the new changes. This is due to the fact that capital costs involved in the
implementation of new technology tend to be substantial. On the other hand, Williams
Ltd. may also be benefited if the business is introduced to a new market as a result of
disruptive innovation. Thus, making it a niche retail service provider to that segment
(Schiederig, Tietze and Herstatt, 2012).
 Resulting Efficiencies:A future disruptive innovation tends to improve efficiency and
overall applicability of concerned functions across organizations by bringing
improvements mainly in technology utilized by enterprises (Schneider and Spieth, 2013).
However, not all levels of organisation would be equally affected by such a phenomenon
in Williams Ltd. This is due to the fact that technology is utilized differently among
different functional departments of Williams Ltd. Being a new entrant in online
webspace, the company may have varying levels of effects on the technological aspects
of the website. Therefore, it should focus on those which can prove to be highly
profitable or cost effective for the business. Otherwise, Williams Ltd. may lose business
to other competitors present in the online marketplace.
Since future disruptive innovations are unforeseeable, one can say that they may have a
positive or negative impact on Williams Ltd. largely depending on the type of disruption it
results in.
Formulating and evaluating an innovation strategy for a new technology-based product or service
venture
Innovation strategies are related to the process of planning which help in expanding and
capturing of new markets through product or service innovations (Seebode, Jeanrenaud and
Bessant, 2012). In the context of given case scenario, the innovative strategy undertaken by
Williams Ltd. can be segregated into three main phases viz. Pre-Launch Phase, During Launch
and Post-Launch Phase. For Williams Ltd., a strategy plan has been formulated as below:
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The above strategy formulation entails all the necessary steps that Williams Ltd. must
ensure in order to have a successful technology-based product or service venture by the
organisation. An innovation strategy helps in ensuring that all the necessary objectives set by the
organisation are easily managed and controlled so that the given venture is successful.
Formulation of an innovation strategy must include important metrics critical to the competitive
advantage as well as differentiation strategies adopted by the business. For this purpose, it is
important to understand that organisational perception of customer needs are in accordance with
the actual needs. Hence, an innovation strategy must be outcome driven and customer-centric.
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Also, website structure including the elements of user-experience such as surface, skeleton,
structure, scope and strategy planes should be in sync.
Evaluation of Innovation Strategy can be done by focusing on the enablers, drivers as
well as barriers to the plan undertaken and steps followed by the web developers in forming the
website to the time it is successfully launched and problem areas are identified (Valkokari, Paasi
and Rantala, 2012). As innovation strategy provides a detailed plan in regards to the activities
undertaken or handed over to others, if managed properly, can help in ascertaining whether the
task at hand was executed efficiently or not. It is important for this strategy to indicate whether
the innovation approach undertaken by the organisation is the best it can do. Hence, in case of
Williams, it must be able to recognize whether the decision to use incremental, radical and
disruptive innovation approaches was the best way to go or not.
TASK 4
Application of web-based technologies and user centred design approach
A Web-based technology is a cluster of network applications that is accessible through
web or internet such as blogs, discussion boards, conferencing tools, online multimedia and
mobile technologies. Its main aim is to enable connectivity among individuals or corporations
with each other. A website too is a web-based technology that is being adopted by Williams Ltd.
in order to transform itself in an innovative way towards expansion and new market penetration.
While designing a website, Williams Ltd. needs to focus on the user-experience and must adopt a
designing approach that is user-centric. Mark-Up languages such as C++, HTML, XML, CGI
and APP. For creating buttons, Visual Design technologies can be harnessed so as to make an
innovative front-end website for Williams Ltd. Google Analytics as well as Google Trends can
also be implemented which will not only provide a place for the business to reduce costs in
maintaining huge databases as well as give readily available regarding the trends of their
customers as well as industry as a whole (Application of Web Technologies, 2019).
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Illustration 6: Going Live!
(Source: Application of Web Technologies, 2019)
The website screenshots have been included in the Appendices section of this report. A
User-Centred Design Approach is one which includes an iterative process of employing a
mixture of investigative and generative method or tools to understand the needs of the target
audience for the development of the website. Here, investigative methods include utilization of
interviews and survey techniques to gain valuable insights on the target audience, their needs and
preferences as well as their purchase behaviour. On the other hand, generative tools include
brainstorming ideas that help in meeting the needs identified on the basis of data collected and
interpreted through investigations.
Generally, a User-Centric Design Approach can be divided into four main phases. These
are as follows:
 Phase I [Specifying Context of Use]: Under this phase, web developers involved in
designing the website of Williams Ltd. must strive to understand the company's basic
business model and attempt to identify the key uses in the context of which the website
may be utilized by the target audience of the organisation. This phase also specifies the
primary user audience of the website along with the reasons behind using the website and
its related products such as clothing and accessories. Also, it focuses on the requirements
as well as environment in which the website would be used. Some of them have been
illustrated below depicting the various methods that are helpful in formulating user-
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centred design for the website. The table also evidences in regards to related costs, the
output of using such a method, suitable sample size as well as the most ideal situation for
utilization of the methods suggested:
Illustration 7: User-Centred Design Methods (UCD Methods, 2019)
(Source: Incremental Innovation, 2019)
 Phase II [Specification of User Needs]: Once the main objective of the website is
finalized in the previous phase. The next phase entails identification and specification of
user's requirements which may be fulfilled by the website. Here, the granular
requirements are taken into consideration that would help shape the website even better
for Williams. It is a crucial phase as the web designers include development of
storyboards, goal setting as well as related strategies such as promotion, pricing and
process which will help in the overall successful implementation of the website (User
Design Process, 2019).
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Illustration 8: User Centred Design Approach
(Source: User Design Process, 2019)
 Phase III [Solutions Designing]: The Solutions Designing Phase is all about
development of products and overall website features that would help in the fulfilment of
user's needs along with company's goals and objectives to take up such a venture. Under
this phase, the actual process of website as well as product designing and development is
carried out.
 Phase IV [Evaluation]: The last phase of this process is concluded with usability testing
which is carried out in order to evaluate website's efficiency and user-friendliness against
requirements. It also includes getting a feedback from the users regarding the website and
its product listings. This helps in knowing the improvement centres that need to be
15

focused at by Williams Ltd. and its web developers so as to make the website design
interface much more simple and user-friendly.
Hence, while carrying out the designing of Williams' website, the company must make
sure that there is a clear understanding of task as well as user requirements. This requires a high
degree of involvement of users. Also, the necessary feedback has been successfully incorporated
in the design of the final website.
Consequences of technological innovation and its impacts on society, environment and political
agendas
Even though technological innovations help shape the business worldwide, they are not
exclusive from consequences that have the potential to impact society, environment as well as
political agendas (Yang, 2012). These are enumerated as under:
 It results in resource depletion leading to erosion of environment in which the business
operates or society thrives.
 As technological innovation occurs, any intended or unintended consequence of such
change may result in creation of new problems that would require redefining of a political
agenda as a whole.
 Excessive technological innovations may reduce the sustainability of the product or
service itself leading to erosion of quality and the industrial strategy as a whole.

RECOMMENDATIONS
Looking at the above analysis, it is recommended that Williams Ltd. must focus on the
user experience as well as form the website by considering different elements of it. In addition to
this, the company must also use various web-based technologies such as C++, HTML, Visual
Basic for designing their website platform.
CONCLUSION
From the above document it can be concluded that Williams Ltd. needs a website that is
highly user-centric. For this purpose, the small retail business needs to implement incremental,
radical as well as disruptive innovation methods so as to transform itself into an innovative
business. As the company has been an offline retailer for a long time, it needs to undertake user-
centred design methods such as surveys and interviews in order to design a website which is not
16

only user-friendly but is also in accordance with innovation goals set by the business across all
levels.
17

REFERENCES
Books and Journal
Biemans, W., 2018. Managing innovation within networks. Routledge.
Bouda, T., 2012. User-centered design and evaluation of virtual worlds.
Corsi, S. and Di Minin, A., 2014. Disruptive innovation… in reverse: Adding a geographical
dimension to disruptive innovation theory. Creativity and Innovation
Management. 23(1). pp.76-90.
Dawson, P. and Andriopoulos, C., 2014. Managing change, creativity and innovation. Sage.
Johannessen, J. A., 2013. Innovation: a systemic perspective–developing a systemic innovation
theory. Kybernetes. 42(8). pp.1195-1217.
Kraft, C., 2012. User experience innovation: User centered design that works. Apress.
Lin, H. E., and et.al., 2013. Managing the exploitation/exploration paradox: The role of a
learning capability and innovation ambidexterity. Journal of Product Innovation
Management. 30(2). pp.262-278.
Nambisan, S., and et.al., 2017. Digital innovation management: Reinventing innovation
management research in a digital world. Mis Quarterly. 41(1).
Norman, D. A. and Verganti, R., 2014. Incremental and radical innovation: Design research vs.
technology and meaning change. Design issues. 30(1). pp.78-96.
Quesenbery, W., 2014. The five dimensions of usability. In Content and complexity (pp. 93-
114). Routledge.
Schiederig, T., Tietze, F. and Herstatt, C., 2012. Green innovation in technology and innovation
management–an exploratory literature review. R&d Management. 42(2). pp.180-192.
Schneider, S. and Spieth, P., 2013. Business model innovation: Towards an integrated future
research agenda. International Journal of Innovation Management. 17(01). p.1340001.
Seebode, D., Jeanrenaud, S. and Bessant, J., 2012. Managing innovation for sustainability. R&D
Management. 42(3). pp.195-206.
Valkokari, K., Paasi, J. and Rantala, T., 2012. Managing knowledge within networked
innovation. Knowledge Management Research & Practice. 10(1). pp.27-40.
Yang, J., 2012. Innovation capability and corporate growth: An empirical investigation in
China. Journal of Engineering and Technology Management. 29(1). pp.34-46.
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Elements of User- Experience. 2019. [Online]. Available through:
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APPENDICES
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