UNIT 8 Innovation & Commercialization

Introduction

Innovation begins with creative ideas that can be applied to an organization to make it stand out in the market and give a good competition to other rivals in the existing niche. It is known to be a process where creative ideas can be converted into products and services and be commercialized in the market. Deliveroo is a fast food firm that is situated in London, England. The firm is spread across 200 locations across various countries. The firm was incepted in the year 2013 in London, UK (Lane and Flagg, 2010). The report will address the differences between invention and innovation and apply it with respect to the organization selected. Further the report will go about addressing the different types of innovation that exists in the market. Appropriate theories and concepts will be applied to understand the concept in depth and will be applied with respect to the organization. The process of commercialization the innovative product or service will further be addressed in the report. An innovation business case will be prepared for the food company and addressed in detail. Further, a few methods that will protect the rights of the business will be discussed along with its pros and cons.

LO1 deduce the distinction between Innovation and Invention

Innovation is known to be a process where creative ideas can be converted into products and services and can be commercialized in the market. Innovation begins with creative ideas that can be applied to an organization to make it stand out in the market and give a good competition to other rivals in the existing niche. Deliveroo is a fast food firm that is situated in London, England. The firm is spread across 200 locations across various countries. The firm was incepted in the year 2013 in London, UK (Knorringa et al, 2016). Innovation is a more cost effective process because creativity is brought within the existing product or service which would not result in losses even if the product is not become popular in the market. HP foods need to bring about innovation within its products to ensure it is giving good competition to its rivals in the market.

Invention is the method of creating a completely new and different items or service which is not present in the market initially. This helps the firm gain more attention from the customer’s end because such products and services are not available anywhere in the market. At the same time, this can be a risky process to undergo by the company because the success rates of such products cannot be pre-determined.

Role of vision, culture and leadership in organizational success

Vision, culture and leadership together play a significant part in the success of the organization and bind the employees to achieve the goals of the firm. Both invention and innovation helps in enhancing the productivity of the firm in its own ways and bring revenue and profits to the company (Keller et al, 2011). The vision, leadership and culture of Deliveroo can greatly aid in shaping innovation and commercialization and bring the desired outcomes for the company.

The culture of the company plays a significant part in enhancing employee relations and making them team work together to achieve the business goals of the company. Culture mainly involves exchanging of knowledge between the employees and the employer to ensure the goals of the firm are known to everybody. Each employee will then contribute in their own ways to bring about innovation within the company and contribute to the success of the firm. The vision of Deliveroo is to serve its consumers with innovative and excellent quality of food products which will help in raising the productivity of the company (Govindarajan and Ramamurti, 2011). This will also help the firm in gaining competitive advantage in the market. The right kind of leadership is highly essential to lead the firm and the employees working within it because it not just helps in achieving goals but also helps in reducing conflicts amongst the employees. Hence, it is greatly significant for the company to be practicing the right type of leadership to lead the employees towards success. The leadership style followed by Deliveroo is the autocratic style of leadership that helps in leading the team within the firm.

Sources of innovation

Innovation has now become an important aspect within every company to achieve the targets within the competitive environment. The various sources of innovation are discussed further.

The incongruity: this is known to be the stage where the company is not able to complete the requirements of the consumers in the market (Gorschek et al, 2010). Hence, in such situations the firm needs to innovate and develop products or services that matches the requirements and needs of the customers. Deliveroo makes continuous efforts to bring about innovation within their company to ensure the special food demands are always met within time without compromising on the quality of the product.

The unexpected: unexpected demands and situations create space for unexpected innovation in the firm. For this, the managers have to study the market within specific intervals of time and get to know the unexpected demands of the customers for it to be fulfilled on time. Digitalization is one of the unexpected situations that have pushed firms to bring about innovation within their firms. Unexpected situations can therefore have a very powerful influence and inspire the firm to bring about innovation.

Changes in perception: change in perception of customers also gives rise to situations that requires innovation within the products and services sold by the firm (Fillmore and Fillmore Peter R, 2010). Deliveroo keeps adding new dishes to its food menu that matches with the changing perception foo customers.

Industry and market structure change: the changing industry and market structure also gives rise to situation to bring about innovation within the company. The changes rules and regulations from the legal bodies of the country give rise to innovation in the firm.

LO2 delineate the different types of innovation

Innovation is the method of creating or bringing about new changes in the firm to fulfill the requirements of the customers in the market. The 4Ps of innovation model will aid the learner to understand the process of innovation better. The process is listed below in detail.

Paradigm: this type of innovation brings about changes in the processes of the firm and need not necessarily bring out positive results for the company (Ellis, 2010). It will help in enhancing the productivity of the firm and bring about growth in the firm. To accept the changes taking place in the market the firm has to plan ahead with effective strategies to adapt to the changing situations of the market and customer demands.

Product: Deliveroo is offering food products to customers which are the main product of the firm. This not just brings in revenue and profits for the firm but also adds value to the firm. It proves to be a beneficial asset to the firm via which it can gain revenue and productivity. The satisfactory levels of the customers will greatly decide the popularity of the product in the market.

Process: this aspect depicts the way in which the product is commercialized in the market and the ease of access of products for the consumers (Drucker, 2014). The delivery process is considered in this aspect and the period of time that is taken for the product to get delivered to the customers. The process should be easily accessible otherwise it may reduce the success of the firm and may shift the customers to other firms.

Position: this element will help Deliveroo understand its position in the market and depending on this the firm can decide what kind of innovation needs to be brought about in the company. The leader or the manager can decide on bringing about innovation in the company and pre-determine the success rates in the company.

Innovation funnel

An innovation funnel is the process that helps in describing the steps that are taken to develop a product by the firm. Innovation is to be brought about in the company to meet the changing demands of the customers and fulfill their needs to earn revenue out of it. The employees of the firm can give in their creative ideas that will help the firm gain a competitive edge in the market. The creative ideas are then refined and sorted in the initial stages of the funnel and the ideas that match the requirements and needs of the customers are considered. The process aids in selection of the relevant creative idea for the products of the firm. The below mentioned steps will explain the process of innovation funnel in detail.

Generating thoughts: this is the initial stage in the process where creative ideas are generated that helps in increasing the knowledge of the company (Bryson, 2018). In order to gain successful results in this stage the firm needs to keep the company objectives clear.

Screening the thoughts: the creative ideas that are received in the initial stage, are put on screening at this stage to evaluate the relevance and success of that particular idea. The risks and return of a particular idea is measured and detected in this particular stage. Deliveroo measures its success rate of idea depending on the requirements and needs of the customers to enhance the productivity of the firm.

Selection of thought: the most successful idea is selected post finishing with the screening. The sources that are present within the company are allocated to the final idea that will be used by the company for greater returns. Deliveroo can gain competitive edge via this method and give a good competition to the rivals present in the same niche.

Frugal innovation

Frugal innovation is the method of creating new ideas in relation to the scarce resources of the firm. The parameters that impact the type of innovation are political, environmental, factors which are known to be the drivers of the frugal innovation process. These drivers greatly help in shaping innovation and also aids in minimizing the prices of the product via effective strategies (Bound and Thornton, 2012). Deliveroo is also looking into reducing the process of cost of delivering the products to its customers. The method is a feasible tool that aids in enhancing the efficacy of the services and make it easily available to its customers at all times. It also ensures to bring about maximum results from investing into a minimum of resources. This method also helps in reducing the costs of production and the complexities that come along with it. If Deliveroo concentrates on reducing its cost production it can easily cut down on the prices of its products and services and make it more affordable to the public.

LO3 delineate the process used to commercialize innovation

Commercial funnel illustrates the journey of the customers before they get converted into potential customers of the company. The commercial funnel is the method where the new innovative goods and the service of the company are brought in the market and the method of production is initiated within the firm. The funnel consists of four stages that are detailed below.

In the awareness stage the individual understands data about the product or the service via both offline and online methods. It creates awareness about the product in the market and offers the customers the alternatives to other products in the market (Bel, 2010). In the interest stage, the customers can be attracted by posting some great content about the product that can attract the customer to the product. In the decision stage, the prospect thinks of buying the product or not and if the product is matching their expectations and needs. In the action stage which is the final stage the consumer will purchase the product or make the decision and give a final take on the product.

Fig: Sales funnel. (Source: https://www.mailmunch.com/)

New product development

This is the process of transferring the idea into marketable products and services. The process involves eight steps that are detailed below.

Fig: New product development. (Source: https://marketing-insider.eu/)

Idea generation: this is known to be the primitive stage of the developing the item that involves creating unique ideas for new items.

Screening: The thoughts created in the above stage are then screened in this step and checked against the needs and demands of the customers (Basu et al, 2013).

Concept evolution and testing: the needs of customers are tested and developed in this stage, and the data about the items of the firm are given to the buyers.

Business evaluation: in this stage, the profits of the products sold in the market are measured and the costing and profit of the new product is tested.

Item evolution: In this phase, Deliveroo introduces its items in the market with the help of its advertising unit. The budgets for marketing these products are given by the finance department of Deliveroo.

Test marketing: in this step a small amount of items are sold in the market to access its success or failure rate in the market. If the product put out by the firm is successful then the production and sales are done on large scale. If by any chance the product fails in the market the reasons for its failure is looked out for.

Commercialization: if the product is been successful in the previous stage, the firm introduces the product in the market on larger scale. Here, the new product is commercialized and advertised for the customers to be aware of with the help of both offline and online media.

Innovation business case

Background of the company: Deliveroo is a fast food firm that is situated in London, England. The firm is spread across 200 locations across various countries. The firm was incepted in the year 2013 in London, UK.

Mission statement: the mission of Deliveroo is to serve delicious food to each customer’s doorstep and let them enjoy their meal in peace. The mission is also to bring world’s best local restaurants to everyone’s’ home or office.

Value proposition: the firm offers five primary value propositions namely convenience, price, accessibility, risk reduction and brand (Armstrong et al, 2018). It provides accessibility to customers of premium restaurants that do not offer delivery service to home or offices.

Product and services: the service of Deliveroo is to deliver the products that are ordered online via their website to the home or office where it is ordered from. It helps in connecting the customers to premium restaurants that do not offer delivery service. It is trying to hype its services and reach out to other premium restaurants as well.

Financial pricing: an approximate amount of £10,000 is required to expand its delivery business in the country.

Ways of funding access

There are a lot of resources via which the funds can be accessed or gained from both personal and professional financial institutions. Deliveroo can make use of these funds and expand its business to fulfill its goal in the market and earn success.

LO4 different methods used to protect the company’s ideas along with their pros and cons

Intellectual property is the lawful right of the company or an individual over their goods or services such as ideas, symbols, names, logos, designs etc. all of these can be protected by various laws and regulations laid down by the legal bodies of the country (Anderson, 2013).

Patent: this is the right given to the owner of the brand or the intellectual property that prevents from other people using it to their advantage. The owner is known to be the legal holder of the property and only he or she can decide who can use the patented product or the name it has on it. This right excludes other people from selling, trading, manufacturing or transferring goods that are protected under the rightful owner. A disadvantage of this process is it is quite complex and expensive and also time consuming but on the other end its pro is it helps the owner to save their ideas and not let other misuse it in any case.

Copyright: this law is used to protect or secure the intellectual property that gives permission to the individual to create an innovative work with original ideas. Firms use this method to secure new ideas and innovations within the company and prevent other firms from copying their ideas or misusing it in any manner (Anderson, 2014). Few examples of copyrights are graphics, sound recordings; literary works etc. an advantage of this method is it secures the idea and data of the user but the con of this method is it is quite an expensive process for each company to undergo it.

Trademarks: this is another form of intellectual property that refers to unique symbols, logos, designs, phrases etc. this is used to differentiate one firm from another that works in the same niche. It helps the consumers recognize the products and services of the company from the trademark and ensure they are buying from the right company of their choice. The trademarks can appear as logos, symbols, labels on building, packaging, products or services as per the choice of the company. The advantages of trademarks are it protects the products and services from competitors and builds customer trust that also brings about customer retention. The disadvantages of trademarks are it involves long government procedures and requires a lot of time and effort to be out in by the company to get the trademark registered.

Trade secret: this relates to the confidential and secure information of the company about their products and services that helps them to gain competitive advantage in the market. This cannot be registered like the other above mentioned intellectual properties but it can still be protected by controlling the needs that are in relation to its disclosure and use of information. The pros of trade secrets are it has no expiry date that is as long as you keep it a secret it remains as a secret. The cons of this method are danger of losing your own rights to your own invention.

Evidence based evaluation of different tools in business environment

Evidence based evaluation focuses on various tools and researchers to guide the process of evaluation.

Patent filing method: Deliveroo uses this method to secure its products and services from duplication or misuse in the market by other competitors or rivals (Agarwal, 2010). This method is very useful in protecting the originality of the products and services so that the firm does not lose its position in the market. This is the right given to the owner of the brand or the intellectual property that prevents from other people using it to their advantage. The owner is known to be the legal holder of the property and only he or she can decide who can use the patented product or the name it has on it.

Copyrights: Deliveroo is been successfully running its business in the market and has been giving good competition to other rivals in the market. Firms use this method to secure new ideas and innovations within the company and prevent other firms from copying their ideas or misusing it in any manner. Few examples of copyrights are graphics, sound recordings; literary works etc.

Conclusion

Innovation begins with creative ideas that can be applied to an organization to make it stand out in the market and give a good competition to other rivals in the existing niche. It is known to be a process where creative ideas can be converted into products and services and be commercialized in the market. Deliveroo is a fast food firm that is situated in London, England. The firm is spread across 200 locations across various countries. The firm was incepted in the year 2013 in London, UK (Acklin, 2010). The report has addressed the differences between invention and innovation and applied it with respect to the organization selected. Further the report has further gone about addressing the different types of innovation that exists in the market. Appropriate theories and concepts have been applied to understand the concept in depth and have been applied with respect to the organization. The process of commercialization the innovative product or service has further been addressed in the report. An innovation business case has been prepared for the food company and addressed in detail. Intellectual property is the lawful right of the company or an individual over their goods or services such as ideas, symbols, names, logos, designs etc. all of these can be protected by various laws and regulations laid down by the legal bodies of the country. Further, a few methods that will protect the rights of the business has been discussed along with its pros and cons.

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