B205 Exploring Innovation And Entrepreneurship: Assessment Answers

The questions in this assignment are about different dimensions of the concepts of entrepreneurship and innovation.You are advised to use the AOU e-library to locate additional relevant resources, which can support your analysis and argument.

Answer all the following questions

• Is innovation important for organizations? Discuss the importance of innovation for Proctor & Gamble supporting your analysis with evidence from the case study

• Does having clear goals and objectives affect an organization’s innovative capability? Assess the role of goals and objectives at Proctor & Gamble in promoting its innovation capabilities and support your analysis with evidence from the case

• Assess the role of organizational culture at Proctor & Gamble in developing its innovative capability supporting your answer with evidence from the case.

• Assess the role of organizational structure at Proctor & Gamble in promoting its innovative capability supporting your answer with evidence from the case.

• Discuss the types and sources of innovation at Proctor & Gamble supporting your answer with evidence from the case

• Discuss the role of entrepreneurial teams, in promoting innovation and organizational success at Procter& Gamble
  

1.

Innovation has due relevance for the organization. Innovation is introducing any new idea related to product, service, or process in an organization, which is helpful in developing unique concepts while providing the innovator a confident attitude, a proactive towards risk-taking and getting things done (Okpara, 2017). Procter and Gamble is an international corporation, serving around five billion customers worldwide, operating in more than fifty countries, and selling its products and services in 140 nations. The relevance of innovation at this enterprise is very much, as outlined by the chief executive and the president of the company.

The major motive of the company includes the development of the organization, where “big ideas attract the capital and talent they need,’ which leads to the equation of innovation. For such objective, innovation in products is necessary, the idea generation is key to success for an enterprise, especially when the company is serving a range of diverse brands such as snacks, shampoos, juice drinks, laundry detergents, which contributes in making this brand “world’s largest consumer goods company.” Through innovation, a company can gain a competitive advantage, by introducing new product development, or product differentiation. Through an innovative process, the operating cost can be reduced and gain a competitive advantage for product’s price. Therefore, to increase the company’s market share and net profits, innovation is important in the workplace (Hafenbrack, Lu, & Wang, 2017).

2.

Clear objectives and goals of an organization affect its innovation capability, if the goals of a company are not clear, the creativity and innovation cannot be promoted in an organization. There must be a clear direction for the employees of a firm to generate new ideas and bring creativity to their work. Procter and Gamble's goal are to “embrace its future” for which explosion of technology and globalization it relevant. Recently, the goal has been restructured as enhancing the creation of new products, set goals, quick decision making speed, and stretching targets for business development (Coulson-Thomas, 2017).

The goals are responsible for the stimulation of innovation in an organization, as it is helpful in keeping creative people active and challenged, and guiding them on the correct path. Moreover, it provides a purpose, and all together leads to innovation. This can be done by setting deadlines, hard goals, to keep employees challenged, and make the employees committed to innovation in the organization. Setting goals for creativity can also be helpful while evaluating employee’s performance, to check whether the performance of an employee or its innovative idea is compatible with the set goals of the organization. Setting goals will be helpful to build and inspire employee confidence. Goals help in provide attention to what requires to be done and affect several cognitive activities required for creativity (Gilson, Lim, & Gilson, 2015).

The reflection of innovation through clear objectives and goals are done through various principles provided to employees to help them in setting a base for the activities performed. The goals include:

• Respect for all individuals

Both company and employees work for their mutual advantage, for which the objectives of the company and its employees need to be inseparable. The employee’s uniqueness and contributions must be valued.  

• Strategically work focused

The company can gain a competitive advantage among other competitive organization through product development

• The cornerstone of organizational success is innovation

The organization is proactive in prominent the portion of product development, it the product which will eventually attract new customers and innovation in the product is the only key to retain existing customer.

• It is focused externally

The company is indulged in listening to consumers and analysis the markets. It the market where A company is existing, the goals need to be set as per the environmental change

• Personal mastery is valued

The company nurtured its employee’s skills

• A mutual interdependence is an approach to life

The organization is dependent upon consumers, markets, and employees

3.

It is the culture of the organization, which is held responsible for the growth of employees in the enterprise and integration of innovation. For example, if sharing new ideas and bring creativity is rigid in the organization or the organization believes more of the centralized way of communication in the hierarchy, innovation is not possible, whereas a culture of an organization where sharing thoughts and ideas with superiors and others freely, chances of innovation is increased (Nyberg, Dentchev, & Van Hoof, 2016).

At Procter and gamble, organizational culture plays an important role while developing the innovative capability. Organizational culture is useful in showing what an enterprise stands and presented through its rituals, actions, meanings, beliefs, norms, valued and language. P&G’s human resource is focused on linked vitality in an organization, which is considered by all the departments. It is helpful in removing barriers that are responsible for holding individual back. It will help employees to be energized and utilize their integrity, expertise, hunger, and drive to contribute maximum for development of new product. This will usually involve in utilizing creativity and innovation power to go beyond conventional ideas to create better methods of delivering enhanced results. This will result in accepted creative skills, and drive around 100,000 individuals within the company, which will evaluate if the enterprise can make a difference in the international market. Organization culture that supports innovation, is more prone to risk, and uncertainty, but at the same time, chances of success of the company also increase, as it is said, more risk, more profit (Libaers & Burkemper, 2015).

P&G human capital is responsible for the growth and development of individuals towards higher competency, level of skills, fulfillment, and creativity, which will eventually support each employee. Within the organization of P&G, the major focus is over people involvement across all department, either by developing their ideas or is involved in making those ideas implement and work. The heart of P&G culture involves innovative use of networks, concerned customer needs, and expectations; the energy is applied for innovation, which will support the process of research and development. This will be responsible to foster employee’s improvement in the enterprise, with an opportunity to increase work satisfaction, as every individual is capable to utilize her abilities and skills to the maximum.

4.

Three major characteristics exist at the organization that is created for innovation that is a flow of innovation is made free throughout the organization; the possibility to learn from consumers is made quickly; possibility to develop creative ideas additionally within the span of time.

Procter & Gamble has innovated with the aid of introducing proactive improvement throughout the organization. This comprises of building connections among international locations, across product levels, via unique markets and by shifting technologies utilized from one product series to other. A brand new product can also decently be made out of a minor change concerning an extension, or the improvement of a completely new product idea. One major factor is people’s ability to grasp knowledge from one another by exchanging expertise or better product innovation practice, developed in one nation to other.

Innovation took place if the customer is will to meet new ideas created by employees. In business development in a way that it integrates development with environmental concern and social development of rapid changing society, improvement sustainably is a major element. Diminishing environmental influence and improving production efficiency and manufacturing through approaches to innovation can help in developing business opportunities and enhance products (Amabile & Rigolizzo, 2015).

5.

Sources of innovation at Proctor & Gamble include:

• Salespeople – these are the members of the company who are closely related to customers and retailers, and can easily understand the need or requirements of consumers, for which new ideas can be provided by them
• Blue-sky laboratory- it is a laboratory that is working for new product development, and concepts that are new to the market and have never been explored yet.
• Combination of two products- another idea generation is through combining two different products or technologies for the development of a single new product like conditioner and shampoo
• Technology transfer- it includes transferring from one range of processes and products technologies to another series of processes and products
• Extension of products already exist- making the existing product more convenient for the consumers through innovation
• Improving current concepts- for products to constantly developing to fulfill the sophisticated customer needs increasingly(Knight & Cavusgil, 2015)

Types of innovation at Procter and Gamble are:

1. Disruptive innovation – it is also said as stealth innovation, which involves the application of new processes or technology to the current market of the company. The new technology involved is generally more expensive and is difficult to use, with fewer features and it is not pleasing aesthetically(Dewald & Osiyevskyy, 2015).
2. Incremental innovation – according to this form of innovation, the company add new characteristics or feature to existing services or products or diminishing some features, that is value through simplification. It is one of the most common types of innovation. It uses technology and enhances value to the customer in form of design change or some features within the current market(Camison & Fores, 2016).
3. Architectural innovation – this innovation involves taking skills, lessons, and technology while applying within the non-existing market. This innovation is helpful for increasing new consumers until a new market is receptive. The risk involved in this type of innovation is low because of reintroduction and reliance on proven technology. Majority of the time, the requirement of tweaking to compliment the new market requirements is essential(Park, Ro, & Kim, 2018).
4. Radical innovation – this innovation includes giving birth to a new market or industry and creating revolutionary technology, it can even swallow existing industry(Norman & Verganti, 2014)

New product development examples at Procter and Gamble are:

• Swiffer – it considers listening to the customer, understanding their needs, and develop a product that is quite unexpected features, that were for a cleaning system, said as Swiffer. If an individual’s immune system is very sensitive, allergies occur due to harmless substances are known as allergens. This system was designed to capture dust particles, which use to spread while using traditional methods of dusting. This product is the result of radical innovation form. As per independent testing, Swiffer has been considered to remove allergens from indoor more efficiently than other traditional cleaning methods of households.
• Flash antibacterial wipes – the concept of baby wipes turned out to be very successful, that those were based for the launch of flash antibacterial wipes that are reliable for killing germs for 12 hours or more. The technology and concept after this product were used in wipes for baby. Consumers are highly influenced with this wipe, and they use them for providing protection and cleanliness both inside and outside the home. This product indicated incremental innovation form. This product is available in different packaging to attract different customer segment, in both refill and tub pack, the utility includes usage in cars, rooms, and kitchen.

6.

Entrepreneurs play important role in promoting organizational success through innovation at Proctor and Gamble. Most importantly, entrepreneurs of P&G have created the innovative organizational culture, where everyone can contribute in providing ideas for new product development. Moreover, research and development team has always focused on vitality and commitment towards their role in the organization. Various successful innovations by entrepreneurial teams at P&G were Pampers, which is disposable nappy for kids, development of Flash, which was a revolutionary brand (Spigel & Malecki, 2017).

A major example for the role of entrepreneurial teams at Proctor and Gamble is a research by “Dr. David Francis” focused over calcium ions that based for the groundwork for various other opportunities for product, including toothpaste improvements known as Crest. The first product that is the result of innovation, the product was “Osteoscan,” used as a bone-scanning agent.

References

Amabile, T., & Rigolizzo, M. (2015). Entrepreneurial creativity: The role of learning processes and work environment supports. The Oxford handbook of creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship, 61.

Camison, C., & Fores, B. (2016). Does incremental and radical innovation performance depend on different types of knowledge accumulation capabilities and organizational size? Journal of Business Research, 831.

Coulson-Thomas, C. (2017). Stimulating creativity, enabling innovation and supporting entrepreneurship. Management Services, 2017(Summer), 26.

Dewald, J., & Osiyevskyy, O. (2015). Explorative versus exploitative business model change: the cognitive antecedents of firm?level responses to disruptive innovation. Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, 58.

Gilson, P., Lim, H., & Gilson, L. (2015). 11 Creativity in Teams: A Key Building Block for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. The Oxford handbook of creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship, 177.

Hafenbrack, A., Lu, J., & Wang, D. (2017). “Going out” of the box: Close intercultural friendships and romantic relationships spark creativity, workplace innovation, and entrepreneurship. Journal of Applied Psychology, 1091.

Knight, G., & Cavusgil, S. (2015). The born global firm: An entrepreneurial and capabilities perspective on early and rapid internationalization. Journal of International Business Studies, 3.

Libaers, D., & Burkemper, A. (2015). Examining the relationship between creativity and innovation: A meta-analysis of organizational, cultural, and environmental factors. Journal of business venturing, 714.

Norman, D., & Verganti, R. (2014). Incremental and radical innovation: Design research vs. technology and meaning change. Design issues, 78.

Nyberg, T., Dentchev, N., & Van Hoof, B. (2016). Embracing the variety of sustainable business models: social entrepreneurship, corporate intrapreneurship, creativity, innovation, and other approaches to sustainability challenges. Journal of Cleaner Production, 1.

Okpara, F. (2017). The value of creativity and innovation in entrepreneurship. Journal of Asia Entrepreneurship and sustainability, 1.

Park, W., Ro, Y., & Kim, N. (2018). Architectural innovation and the emergence of a dominant design: The effects of strategic sourcing on performance. Research Policy, 326.

Spigel, B., & Malecki, E. (2017). Innovation and entrepreneurship. Elgar companion to innovation and knowledge creation, 625.