Seven dimensions of strategic innovation
Innovation in any industry is inevitable, to continue the process of growth in that particular industry. With the flourishing economy of UK, the company Pint Energy has planned to launch new services and products, which are innovative and feasible in the current market scenario. This report uses the seven dimensions of strategic innovation, to launch the new services and products. the seven dimensions of innovation includes a managed innovation process, strategic alignment, industry foresight, consumer insight, core technologies and competencies, organizational readiness as well as the disciplined implementation. Moreover, the potential risks that might be faced by Pint Energy while in progress of the innovation of the new product and its launch, has also been highlighted in this assignment. This assignment highlights the essentials that are needed for the launch of the news product of Pint Energy, along with the precautions that the company needs to take in order to make the attempt a successful one.
The seven dimensions of strategic innovation framework is an important framework, to incorporate innovation, and launch the new services and products for Pint Energy. The seven dimensions are as follows:
The managed innovation process is the first stage of innovation. The process of innovation in the Pint Energy includes the launch of a new energy product that is an environment friendly product. Since it is an oil and gas company, oil and natural gas are its core products (Schaltegger and Burritt 2014). However, using the same framework for production, a research and development product is to be launched, that could be a capable substitute of oil and natural gas, yet, environment friendly, thus reducing the amount of carbon on ignition. This process of innovation needs to be managed effectively, such that the launch f the new product is a successful one. Before, the process of innovation is initiated; it is to be ensured that the present market is ready for the innovation and the new products (El Bassiti and Ajhoun 2013). The management of the innovation process needs to ensure that the regular production of the gas and natural oil is not hampered in the spear of innovation.
The strategic alignment refers to the encouragement and the support that is obtained from the stakeholders. The internal and external stakeholder has to support the innovation and risk management such that the new products and services could be launched easily. The internal stakeholders include the employees (Kasemsap 2014). The employees need to be motivated such that they work diligently in order to support the goal of innovation. The external stakeholders such as the suppliers and contractors need to be supportive enough, such that they might be able to support the process of innovation. Without the cooperation of the stakeholders, it is impossible for the company Pint Energy to achieve its goal of innovation (Lopez et al. 2015). The stakeholders need alignment with the goals and vision of the company. Thus, strategic alignment is an essential stage in the innovation and the launch of the new products and services.
A managed innovation process
The industry foresight assists the employees and the stakeholders to understand what drives the changes and innovation of the company. This is essential since the employees and the stakeholders need to understand what drives the quest for innovation, along with the requirements of innovation (Fernando 2016). The industry foresight assists the employees to understand the new business areas. This understanding is important to align them to work towards the achievement of the goals. The benefits that the company would encounter, while the new products are launched. A clear understanding of the business would assist the employees to achieve the innovation goals (Ford, Steen and Verreynne 2014). Lack of clear industry foresight would result in confusion among the employees and they might not be able to work diligently towards the achievement of the organizational goals.
Customer insight is an essential component of innovation. The innovation challenge that Pint Energy has taken up, with the launch of new products and services, is driven by the customer requirement. Since Pint Energy is an oil and gas company, the customers have been demanding an eco-friendly substitute of the oil and gas (Ford et al. 2014). Thus, the demands of the customers are taken into consideration while the process of innovation takes place. According to the demand of the customers, the company Pint Energy has being trying to innovate its product, such that it is more eco-friendly and causes less pollution. While the innovation challenge is taken up, loyal customers could be consulted such that the exact demand of the customers could be understood (Yusuf et al. 2014). The customer perception plays an essential role, as the innovation in the product and services are made in order to cater to the needs of the customers.
The core technology already in use in the company needs to match with the technological requirements of the new product. The core technologies already in use are essential to be used in the innovation product (Perrons 2014). This would enhance the overall performance of the company. Moreover, the present competencies among the employees have to be good enough, to innovate the products and services (Banerjee et al. 2016). If the core technology and the competencies are not enough for the launch of the news products and services, then Pint Energy might recruit new employees, who are competent enough to work towards the innovation of the products and services (Badiru, and Osisanya 2016). However, the current employees could also be trained such that they develop the competence of bringing in innovation and launch of the new product. However, it is essential that the present technology be also used in the quest for innovation of the new products, such that the old technology is not outdated (Mitchell and Mitchell 2014). Moreover, before the new product and services are designed, the core competencies and technologies need to be tested, to be at par with the requirements of innovation (Banerjee et al. 2016). Pint Energy being an oil and gas company, needs to use the same technology of refinement, with some advantages such that the new product thus produced is an eco-friendly version of the existing product, yet being cost effective.
Strategic Alignment
The organizational readiness highlights the fact whether the organization is ready for the innovation challenge. The organizational readiness highlights the technological competence of the organization along with the financial readiness of the company (Djeflat and Lundvall 2016). The feasibility of the innovation challenge and the present condition of the market is suitable or not for the launch of the new product, are considered in the organizational readiness. Pint Energy needs to be ready enough to launch the new products and services (Banerjee et al. 2016). The organizational readiness is essential to be analyzed, before the company takes up the innovation challenge. Failure to identify the present barriers in innovation might result in failure of the innovation of the products, along with decrease in production of the current products (Strese et al. 2016). The organizational readiness is also measured with the competencies of the employees, the flow of fund, allocation of the funds along with the other various factors. Thus, organizational readiness is essential. In Pint Energy, the organizational readiness is analyzed, and it is observed that the organization is ready for launch of the needs of the new products.
The disciplined implementation is an essential quality for successful innovation. It is important that the company is disciplined enough, while working towards the innovation challenge. While implementing new ideas, it is essential that a strict discipline is maintained among the employees such that all of them are aligned towards achievement of the innovation goals. Indiscipline among the employees might hinder the launch of the new products thus hampering the innovation challenge. The disciplined implementation of the innovation challenge is essential for the success of the organization (Yamin and Mavondo 2015). For Pint Energy, the employees need to be disciplined enough, such that they are able to exhibit innovation in their work and produce new ideas, that are useful for the launch of the new product (Banerjee et al. 2016).
While innovation challenge is initiated, the risk management is also essential. The potential risks that might be aroused while the innovation challenge is taken up, are to be analyzed and mitigated. The potential risks that might arise includes the following:
Lack of enough fund: Innovation of the products and launch of new products requires a lot of fund from the investors. However, while the innovation is in progress, the project might face the risk of financial crisis (Yamin and Mavondo 2015). This risk is a major one. This might result in abortion of the project, before successful completion. In order to mitigate this risk, the flow of fund needs to be ensured.
Industry foresight
Launch of similar products by a competitor: Another major risk that Pint Energy might face is the launch of a similar product by another competitor company (Yamin and Mavondo 2015). The launch of similar products by another company, might decelerate the innovation challenge of Pint Energy, thus resulting in seizure of the innovation challenge (Autio et al. 2014).
Loss of competent employees to the competitor company: While the competent employees are selected for the innovation challenge, and the launch of the new products, the loss of competent employees to a competitor company might have detrimental effects to the company Pint Energy (Yamin and Mavondo 2015). In order to mitigate this risk, the competent employees need to be paid well such that they do not prefer working for another similar company.
Lack of efficient market analysis: While the innovation of the products are done, it is important that a proper market analysis is done, to analyze whether the innovation challenge is feasible or not (Banerjee et al. 2016). However, lack of effective market analysis would result in failure to identify the present market scenario, thus, lacking success in the innovation challenge (Yamin and Mavondo 2015). Hence, effective and efficient market survey and market analysis is inevitable for the success of innovation and launch of new products by Pint Energy.
Lack of organizational readiness and technical support: Lack of organizational readiness as well as lack of the appropriate technical support results in failure of the success challenge taken up by the company Pint Energy (Yamin and Mavondo 2015). The company needs to be ready for the innovation of the products, and launch of the new product. Moreover, the lack of competent technical support and employees of Pint Energy might result in failure of the innovation of the new product (Gosens and Coenen 2015). In order to mitigate this risk, the organizational readiness needs to be analyzed before the innovation challenge is taken up. Moreover, the competent technical support needs to be analyzed as well.
Conclusion
Innovation is an important aspect for any organization. In case of Pint Energy, the company has planned to launch a new product that could be a substitute of the natural oil and gas, that the company has been selling. This new product would be an alternative to the natural oil and gas and would be an eco-friendly version of the existing products of Pint Energy. An in dept analysis of the feasibility of the launch of the new product has been done, using the seven dimensions of the innovation framework. Along with the seven dimensions of the innovation framework, the potential risks that might be faced by the company, while trying to innovate is also mentioned in details. The various ways to mitigate the potential risks have also been included in this assignment. Thus, Pint Energy would be successful in launching their new product, by diligently following the seven-dimension framework of innovation.
Consumer insight
References
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