Assessment 2 Report: Innovation and Enterprise at Marks & Spencer

This report examines Marks & Spencer's innovation strategy, focusing on their introduction of sugar-free and diet chocolate in response to changing consumer preferences and health concerns, particularly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The report begins with an introduction to the concept of innovation and its importance in a competitive market, using Marks & Spencer as a case study. It then delves into innovation theories, specifically disruptive and open innovation, and how these theories can be applied to the development and marketing of the new chocolate product. The report includes an evaluation of the chosen product, highlighting its strengths such as health benefits and potential to attract a wider customer base, while also acknowledging its shortcomings like the presence of competitors and potential customer acceptance issues. Furthermore, the report proposes an implementation plan for the innovative product, outlining stages from idea generation and mobilization to diffusion and implementation. Finally, the report concludes with recommendations for Marks & Spencer to improve the product and ensure its success in the marketplace.

Innovation and Enterprise
(Assessment 2)
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Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK...............................................................................................................................................4
Innovation theories and idea generation of innovative idea........................................................4
Evaluation of chosen product along with its strength and shortcomings....................................5
Proposal of innovative product for organisation and development of implementation plan.......6
Solutions for improvements in shortcomings of product............................................................8
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10
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INTRODUCTION
Innovation is defined as the procedure of transforming idea into products and service
which develop value for customers prevailing at marketplace. In addition to this, it is basically a
new idea or a method that attract people and fulfil their needs in a proper manner. In this
competitive environment, it is important for organisations to bring innovation so that they can
retain in market for longer time and fight with their rivals effectively (Cegarra-Navarro, 2019).
For the present report, Marks and Spencer is chosen as a base company. It is a British
multinational retailer that is located in London, United Kingdom. The company was founded in
the year 1884 and at present it has existence in more than 20 countries that shows Marks and
Spencer has high market performance. The company specialise in home products, selling cloth
and food products as well. The higher authorities of Marks and Spencer is decided to bring
innovation in its food product that is chocolate. By analysing the market trends and customer
concerned towards their health due to COVID-19, the company is planning to bring sugar free
and diet chocolate as an innovative product for customers. This will help company to attract
more number of customers and meet with their requirements in an effective manner. The report
will cover evaluation of selected product of innovation and its strength as well as shortcomings.
In addition to this, innovation theories & idea generation to products is discuss in order to
develop an innovative idea. Moreover, a proposal for innovative product is develop along with
the implementation plan that help in making improvements in shortcoming of products. In the
last, some of the recommendations were given to higher authorities of company for bringing
innovation.
TASK
Innovation theories and idea generation of innovative idea
Innovation is important which is needed to be carried out with proper consideration of
market, product and rationale. It is defined as process if bringing something new in market. It is
time consuming process because it requires deep level of expertise, knowledge and skills to
produce something new. In organisational sector, it is essential to be aware about market trends
so that new ideas , thoughts are generated properly. This is because market is flexible &
preferences, situations changes within interval of time. So, to maintain suitability of market
innovation is necessary to be done. In reference with Marks & Spencer, they have also focus on
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development and innovation. With changing period of time, they are also using innovation in
their firm which producing sugar free chocolates with natural ingredients (Jin, 2018). The ideas
has been chosen because of ongoing situation of pandemic of COVID 19 producing or
developing product people will be able to consumer chocolates without any fear of getting
affected their health. It is essential to use theories & principles so that product is placed in market
in most efficient manner. To carry out this, they uses innovation theories which are discussed
below-
Disruptive innovation-
It is being considered as crucial theory because it states the concept of adapting the change
with period of time & then displacing existing firms, products in market. In relevance with
Marks and Spencer, they can use this theory of innovation as it will help them to meet needs &
expectation of market/ customers. As new innovation is about producing sugar free chocolates,
applying this theory will assists them in fulfilling satisfaction because due to present situation of
COVID 19 people are becoming more concerned about their health which is change in market.
Through this theory, firm will be able to use their innovative product in correct way. This theory
help company to change their organisational structure with occurrence of new change or firm.
Open Innovation-
It states that in innovation, the idea is generated and collaborated with external factors,
paths, & professional people. According this theory, it reflects that there is deep learning across
the market & which can be used by organisation for developing their new change or innovation.
It is also an effective theory which assist in improving or carrying out new innovation properly.
For example- M & S can collaborate with Nestle with which will help them to use their
innovative product in efficient manner (Li, Wang and Su, 2019). Furthermore, it will be helpful
for them to use natural resources within their products & goods. This is most effective one to be
used because risk related to theory is also less as compared with disruptive. Therefore, OI assist
in proper decision making process of innovation.
Therefore, after examining of above matter it is seen that explained theory assist company in
carrying out their innovative products in most appropriate manner. Moreover, it is also
examined that by using them company is able to develop more new methods of doing
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business in market. So, market analysis & research is to be conducted so that correct form
of theory is being chosen.
The idea of producing and offering sugar free and diet chocolate is coming after
conducting the market research. It is analysed that the taste of customers has been getting
changed as they prefer to consume products that is good for their health. Due to this pandemic,
the needs of customers is change as they did not eat sugar and products associated with it
because of disease such as diabetes. In relation to Marks and Spencer, bringing of such product
will help company to attract large number of customer and enhance their performance level at
marketplace (Liao, 2018). It is determined that there are various competitors of product
prevailing at marketplace so for this, it is important for respective organisation to develop
effective strategy that help in attaining competitive advantage at marketplace. This innovation in
chocolate help company to attract young people along with people belong from age group 35-60
also that has positive impact on the sales and profitability of company.
Evaluation of chosen product along with its strength and shortcomings
Marks and Spencer is offering chocolates that is Belgian chocolates, Swiss chocolates and
so on. It is analysed that the sales of company is decline because of change in taste and
preferences of customers as they are concerned towards their health and fitness. For this, the
company is bringing sugar free and diet chocolates that is good for their health and also remain
people fit and fulfils their cravings of eating sweet and chocolates as well. The strength and
shortcomings of sugar free and diet chocolate product are as follows:
Strength:
 One of the major strength of the product is, it is sugar free and diet chocolate that is good
for the health and fitness of customers which help company to attract large number of
customer in an effective manner. In addition to this, it help Marks and Spencer to satisfy
the requirements of customer that help in engaging customer for longer time period.
 Another strength of product is, it is consumed by all the age group of people whether it is
young people, old age and children as well. This help company to increase its customer
base level that has positive impact on sales and profitability level of Marks and Spencer.
 The product can be consumed by diabetic patient as it is sugar free that provide fewer
carbs and calories as well (Mazzarol and Reboud, 2020). This help company to offer
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something unique in market and fight with its rivals in a competitive manner which in
turns leads to increase in profitability and revenue level of company.
Shortcomings:
 One of the major weakness of product is that sugar free chocolate does not mean fat free
and carbohydrate free so it is important for a person to consume it in a limited manner
and not to overdo it.
 In addition to this, there are various competitors of product in market such as Ayurvedic
chocolates, low sugar chocolate smoothies and so on. Therefore, it is important for
company to develop an effective strategy and then bring such innovation at marketplace.
 Another weakness is acceptance of product by customers as there are lot of people who
did not consume chocolate or not even sugar free chocolates as they have the mind-set
that chocolates high calories, carbohydrates and fat whether it is any type of chocolate
(Monroe-White and Zook, 2018).
 Moreover, there is a risk associated with the new product that whether it is accept by
customer or not. Due to COVID-19, people are not consuming such things and prefer to
eat and drink juices and fruits that is good for their health. This might decline the
performance of company and consider as product failure at marketplace.
Proposal of innovative product for organisation and development of implementation plan
Stage 1: Idea Generation as well as Mobilization: The generation stage refers to the first stage
where innovative idea is generated by the organization. It is the process which can effectively be
performed by the pressure of competition arise at the competitive market. After a new idea is
being generated by the business entity it will pass on mobilization stage, in which idea then
travels to various physical as well as logical location. In reference to the present organization,
Marks and Spencer bring sugar free and diet chocolate after examining the market trends and
needs of customers. Therefore, it can be said that this is the stage which is important for the
successful progression of innovative idea.
Stage 2: Advocacy & Screening: After completing the first stage, second stage includes
examining the weighing of idea’s pros as well as cons. Advocacy & screening need to take place
during weed out of the ideas where stakeholders can reject ideas after examining the positive and
negative aspect. In addition to this, if the process is more transparent then the rate of success
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becomes high as employees feel comfortable in order to provide their efforts. In relation to
Marks and Spencer, managers of the company identify the positive and negative impact of the
idea generated by them when launch at the marketplace .
Stage 3: Experimentation: If talking about the experimentation stage this phase holds the test of
examining the sustainability of the innovative ideas related to a specific organization at a specific
duration and at a particular environment. During this phase, it becomes essential to identify who
are their target customer. By keeping the requirement of customer it can be said that company
can easily experiment the idea. In reference to Marks and Spencer, the idea generated by them
experimented by them in an effective manner at the marketplace.
Stage 4: Commercialization: In reference to the commercialization stage, the business entity
need to look to their customers in order to verify that the innovation bring by them actually
solves the issues and problems. In relation to Marks and Spencer, higher authorities come to this
phase where they understand that whether their product is satisfying the needs and requirements
of customer in an effective way.
Stage 5: Diffusion as well as Implementation: It has been said that diffusion refers to the
procedure of attaining final acceptance of the innovation whereas implementation is the setting
up of the structures, resources as well as maintenance which are needed to produce the product.
This is the last and final stage of innovation process which is completed after fulfilling the
requirements of all the above stages.
The above process of innovation is adopted by the higher authorities of Marks and
Spencer in order to bring new and innovative product at the marketplace. The product which is
innovated by Marks and Spencer is the sugar free and diet chocolate which is innovated by them
after examining the current market situation (Picciotti, 2017). This procedure is implemented by
top management authority at their workplace where employees need to follow from stage 1 to
stage 5 in a systematic manner for gaining positive response.
Solutions for improvements in shortcomings of product
It is important for the higher authorities of Marks and Spencer to make improvement by
focusing and working in shortcomings of the product. This will help company to make product
success at marketplace and enhance its performance level in an effective manner. The solutions
are given below:
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 In order to improve, the company is required to make small packaging of chocolates that
consist of quantity of eating according to the specification and weight of person so that
customer does not overconsume eat and remain healthy.
 In addition to this, it is important for the company to adopt effective strategy that is cost
differentiation strategy as it help company to offer products at reasonable price and
offering something unique in market which in turn assist in attaining competitive
advantage at marketplace.
 It is important for Marks and Spencer to make use of social media application in order to
aware large number of people within short span of time (Song, Yang and Zhang, 2019).
This help company to increase its customer base level and enhance its market presence in
an effective and appropriate manner that has positive impact on productivity and
profitability of respective organisation.
 In order to overcome with the shortcomings, the company can conduct marketing and
advertising campaign which help in developing mind set of customers that consuming
sugar free chocolate is not bad for their health as they can consume it without any tension
and hesitation.
 One of the most essential thing that is required to conduct by company is market research
as it help in gaining understanding about expectation of customer from the product so that
changes can be done at the initial stage and accept in the market in an effective manner.
Moreover, creating awareness about benefits of product will increase the consumption of
product at marketplace.
All such strategies will help company to overcome with weaknesses of product and make
the product success at marketplace. In addition to this, such factors will work at the time
of innovation process so it is significant for Marks and Spencer to consider all such
factors before offering new and innovative product in market.
CONCLUSION
From the above study, it has been concluded that innovation plays an important role on
every organisation as it help retaining and sustaining in market for longer time period. In
addition to this, it also help company to attain competitive advantage at marketplace and
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strengthen its marketplace in an effective manner. There are various innovation theories that is
adopt by companies for bringing innovation such as diffusion theory and so on. It is important
for an entity to first analyse the market and then bringing innovation in market so that it is
accepted by customers in an effective and rapid manner. In the last, it is concluded that five stage
process of innovation help in bringing new idea at marketplace in an appropriate manner.
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REFERENCES
Books & Journal
Cegarra-Navarro, J. G., and et. al., 2019. An open-minded strategy towards eco-innovation: A
key to sustainable growth in a global enterprise. Technological Forecasting and Social
Change, 148, p.119727.
Jin, X., and et, al., 2018. Knowledge source strategy and enterprise innovation performance:
dynamic analysis based on machine learning. Technology Analysis & Strategic
Management, 30(1), pp.71-83.
Li, G., Wang, X., Su, S. and Su, Y., 2019. How green technological innovation ability influences
enterprise competitiveness. Technology in Society, 59, p.101136.
Liao, Z., 2018. Environmental policy instruments, environmental innovation and the reputation
of enterprises. Journal of Cleaner Production, 171, pp.1111-1117.
Mazzarol, T. and Reboud, S., 2020. Work Book: Social Innovation and Enterprise. In Workbook
for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (pp. 159-169). Springer, Singapore.
Monroe-White, T. and Zook, S., 2018. Social enterprise innovation: A quantitative analysis of
global patterns. Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit
Organizations, 29(3), pp.496-510.
Picciotti, A., 2017. Towards sustainability: The innovation paths of social enterprise. Annals of
Public and Cooperative Economics, 88(2), pp.233-256.
Song, Y., Yang, T. and Zhang, M., 2019. Research on the impact of environmental regulation on
enterprise technology innovation—an empirical analysis based on Chinese provincial
panel data. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 26(21), pp.21835-21848.
Sun, L. Y., Miao, C. L. and Yang, L., 2017. Ecological-economic efficiency evaluation of green
technology innovation in strategic emerging industries based on entropy weighted
TOPSIS method. Ecological indicators, 73, pp.554-558.
Xie, Y.,and et. al., 2018. Leadership style and innovation atmosphere in enterprises: An
empirical study. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 135, pp.257-265.
Zhou, Z., and et. al., 2020. IMAF: A Visual Innovation Methodology Based on ArchiMate
Framework. International Journal of Enterprise Information Systems (IJEIS), 16(1),
pp.31-52.
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