Invention, creativity and innovation

What is an invention?
An invention uses technology to solve a specific problem. The technical features of an invention
have a function through which the problem – the purpose of the invention – is solved. The
technical character necessary for patenting requires that the laws of nature are used to achieve
the objective. An invention is also known as "a technical teaching".

The invention can be a product or a process.

Products include:
 Goods and tools
 Equipment such as production facilities and machinery
 Materials such as chemical substances or textiles

Processes describe activities for specific purposes such as:

 Manufacturing processes (work or production steps for manufacturing a product)
 Control procedures (process steps for using an apparatus or machine)
 Measuring methods

he three requirements for patentability

Your invention can be protected by patent if it meets the following requirements:

1. The invention is new

Your invention must not form part of the state of the art (also known as prior art). The state of
the art means all knowledge that has been made publicly available anywhere in the world prior to
applying for a patent. This includes printed and online publications, as well as public lectures
and exhibitions. As a rule, anything you yourself make known about your invention is considered
prior art – and your invention is no longer considered new. Therefore, before applying for a
patent, make sure you keep your invention a secret.
2. The invention is inventive
The invention must not be obvious to a person skilled in the art. In patent law, a "person skilled
in the art" is a hypothetical person who knows the prior art in his specialist field but is
unimaginative. If you show the purpose of your invention to a person skilled in the art and he
readily comes up with the same solution as you, then your solution is not inventive.
3. The invention is industrially applicable
The invention must be industrially applicable and practicable, and it must be possible to replicate
its implementation.

What is Innovation?
  Innovation generally refers to changing processes or creating more effective processes,
products and ideas.
 Being innovative does not only mean inventing. Innovation can mean changing your
business model and adapting to changes in your environment to deliver better products or
services.
 Successful innovation should be an in-built part of your business strategy, where you
create a culture of innovation and lead the way in innovative thinking and creative
problem solving.
 Innovation can increase the likelihood of your business succeeding. Businesses that
innovate create more efficient work processes and have better productivity and
performance.

What Creativity?
 Creativity is nothing but the process of creating something unique and new. Creativity is
reaching to innovative solutions, new ideas, unique concepts through brainstorming,
discussions and healthy communication among employees.
  Creativity is defined as the tendency to generate or recognize ideas, alternatives, or
possibilities that may be useful in solving problems, communicating with others, and
entertaining ourselves and others

CHARACTERISTICS OF CREATIVITY
(a) Imaginative: Creative thinking starts with imagination as it brings about something that did
not exist or was not known before, so it has to be imagined first.
(b) Purposeful: Creative imagination must have a purpose, an objective to serve the
responsibilities of the business.
(c) Original: Originality means inventiveness or the ability to think independently and creatively
or the quality of being novel or unusual.
(d) Valuable: It means that the product or result must be held in great esteem for admirable
qualities especially of an intrinsic value. (e) Ability: Ability is to imagine or invent something
new. It is not only qualification but also need skills to do a particular task in a productive manner

INGREDIENTS OF CREATIVITY
(a) Knowledge: Information about the problems and possible solutions that can help solving
problems. It can be gathered from one or more of the four styles, intuitive, innovation,
imagination, and inspirational.
(b) Motivation: Entrepreneurial creativity requires a combination of intrinsic motivation and
extrinsic [Link] motivation relates to tangible reward whereas intrinsic relates to
the job itself.
(c) Passionate: An entrepreneur must be passionate about his ideas and willing to take risk to
achieve his objectives.
(d) Self-discipline: Control and ability to overcome failure and rejection is crucial.
The Creative Process: The Five Stages of Creativity
It requires:

Stages in the Creative Process

Compone
nts of the Creative Process
The creative process has three district components:
1. Motivation: Initial motivation which provides stimulus for processing information and
exploring alternative solutions.
2. Skills in the Task domain: The extent of the knowledge, talents and technical skills of
the entrepreneur will help in his search for solutions, pin pointing an idea and verifying
the idea.
3. Skills in Creative thinking: These will help him to visualize different solutions,
generating a number of alternatives, se divergent uses of a single idea etc. to come up
with a workable idea or plan.

TYPES OF INNOVATION

WHAT IS DISRUPTIVE INNOVATION?

According to Christensen, disruptive innovation is the process in which a smaller company,
usually with fewer resources, is able to challenge an established business (often called an
“incumbent”) by entering at the bottom of the market and continuing to move up-market. This
process usually happens over a number of steps:
1. Incumbent businesses innovate and develop their products or services in order to appeal
to their most demanding and/or profitable customers, ignoring the needs of those
downmarket.
2. Entrants target this ignored market segment and gain traction by meeting their needs at a
reduced cost compared to what is offered by the incumbent.
 3. Incumbents don’t respond to the new entrant, continuing to focus on their more profitable
segments.
4. Entrants eventually move upmarket by offering solutions that appeal to the incumbent’s
“mainstream” customers.
5. Once the new entrant has begun to attract the incumbent business’s mainstream
customers en masse, disruption has occurred.

Requirements for Disruptive Innovation

Disruptive innovation requires access to ignored or overlooked markets and technology that can
transform a product into a more accessible and affordable one. To be disruptive, the network of
partners—suppliers, contractors, and distributors—must also benefit from the new, disruptive
business model. Certain core requirements include:
 Enabling Technology: In business, enabling technology is defined as the technologies
and innovations that substantially change or improve processes or how people do things.
Specific to disruptive innovation, enabling technology is the technology or innovation
that makes possible the affordability and availability of a product to a broader
market.4 Basically, the speed with which a market can be disrupted depends on how
quickly the technology is developed and subsequently improved upon. However, the
speed of the disruption is not necessarily a metric used to gauge the success of the
disruption.
 Innovative Business Model: The innovative business model is a business model that uses
innovations to target new or bottom-tier customers. 4 These segments generally don't drive
profits for established companies nor do they buy their offerings because they either
could not afford them or the products were too sophisticated for use. This business model
—a model not adopted by incumbents because of the disruptor's initial low-profit
margins—seeks to present easy-to-use, economical solutions.
 Coherent Value Network: The coherent value network includes the upstream and
downstream business partners that benefit from a successful disruption. 4 The distributors,
suppliers, and vendors may require process changes or reorganization to adapt or
conform to the new business model. Members of the network must subscribe to the new
business model to prevent failure. Otherwise, old network processes will yield
undesirable results by not prescribing to the goal of disruption.

Examples of Disruptive Innovation?

Amazon provides a clear example of disruptive innovation. Jeff Bezos, in 1995, subscribing to
the notion that the internet could significantly boost commerce, launched Amazon to sell books
to a growing, but largely ignored online shopping community. In doing so, he forced many
bookstores to go out of business. Netflix is another prime example. After they disrupted the
media industry, the dominant player, Blockbuster, went from having 9,000+ brick-and-mortar
stores to 1, which is now an Airbnb.

WHAT IS SUSTAINING INNOVATION?

Sustaining innovation occurs when a company creates better-performing products to sell for
higher profits to its best customers. Typically, sustaining innovation is a strategy used by
companies already successful in their industries. The motivating factor in sustaining innovation
is profit; by creating better products for its best customers, a business can pursue ever-higher
profit margins.
One example discussed in the online course Disruptive Strategy is the introduction of laptops in
the computing industry. Laptop computers were a sustaining innovation that followed the
personal desktop computer. The computers’ qualities and abilities were roughly equal, with the
laptop offering novel portability. This leveled-up version of the same product catered to desktop
users willing to pay for the increased flexibility the laptop provided.
In a vacuum, relying on sustaining innovation is a sound strategy that involves continually
creating better versions of your product to gain higher profit margins from customers who are
willing to pay. Yet, some of the most successful companies built on sustaining innovation fail.
“Why is it that good companies run by good, smart people find it so hard to sustain their
success?” Harvard Business School Professor Clayton Christensen asks in Disruptive Strategy.
“In our research, success is very hard to sustain. The common reason why successful companies
fail is this phenomenon we call ‘disruption.’”

SUSTAINING VS. DISRUPTIVE INNOVATION: KEY DIFFERENTIATORS

1. Product Quality and Performance
The first differentiator between sustaining and disruptive innovation is product performance
relative to existing products in the market. Sustaining innovation strives to create products that
perform better and are of higher quality than those that already exist. Disruptive innovations, on
the other hand, aim to create “good enough” products.
This “good enough” quality appeals to customers in low-end and new market segments and
typically doesn’t take business away from high-paying customers who expect the best quality
products.
2. Target Audience
Closely related to product performance and quality, another key difference between the
innovation types is their target audiences.
While sustaining innovation targets customers willing to pay relatively high prices for high-
quality products, disruptive innovation caters to those who are overserved by current product
offerings—meaning they don’t need all the features that come with an expensive price tag. These
customers, found in low-end and new market segments, are in search of a “good enough”
product at a reasonable price.
3. Business Model
The final differentiator between sustaining and disruptive innovation is the business model.
Disruptive innovations rely on a low-cost, low-profit business model, whereas sustaining
innovations rely on a high-profit business model.
This difference is essential, because if a disruptive innovation yields a higher profit margin, the
incumbent business would be motivated to fight for share of the segment.

Product Innovation versus Process Innovation

Product innovation:
 it involves new product and new characteristics of old products.
 A product innovation is the act of bringing a new to the market  place that improves the
range and quality of products on offer
  The process that makes them may be much the same but the  product has changed
incrementally or radically
 Product innovation may be tangible manufactures goods, intangible  services, or a
combination of the two.
 Tangible product innovation that has had a very significant impact  on the way people
live and work are personal computers, mobile phones, and microwave ovens.
 Product innovation is a type of innovation that is more noticeable for  the consumer and
it is related either to the enhancement of a company’s older products, either to the
development of new products which are based on new technologies or which solve new
needs of a consumer
 Product innovation occurs as a reaction to multiple factors – for  example, a consumer
needs are determined by social, cultural or economic factors, while at a business and
organizational level, product innovation is performed when its purpose is the expansion
to new market segments or the attainment of competitive advantage.
Product innovations are embodied in the outputs of an organization – its goods or services. For
example, Honda‟s development of a new hybrid electric vehicle is a product innovation. Process
innovations are innovations in the way an organization conducts its business, such as in the
techniques of producing or marketing goods of services. Process innovations are often oriented
toward improving the effectiveness or efficiency of production by, for example, reducing defect
rates or increasing the quantity that may be produced in a given time.

Examples of product innovation:

1. E-reader: E-readers are innovative products that meet an older need in a new manner and a
new need, which occurred as a result of the evolution of the social, cultural and economic factors

 The older need is that of reading.

 Until the first E-readers emerged on the market, reading was happening in the same way
from the beginning-on paper or other physical surfaces.
 Well, with the evolution of technology the possibility of creating this  type of digital
solution to an older problem emerged.

2. Apple: Apple is probably one of the companies which have the most wellknown product
innovations. Starting from the role that the company had in evolution of the first personal
computer in 70’s, to all the types of smart phones they released in the last 10years
Why is product innovation Important?
 Product innovation is important because it can help to create new spaces in a seemingly
crowded market.
 By identifying the gaps and imposing into a new space, designer can find an audience and
satisfy consumer needs in a way that is new and refreshing.
 It is also important to note that product innovation does not always involve the creation
of a completely new product that addresses a completely new issue.
 When the first I phone was launched, it established a previously non existing market and
satisfying needs that consumers didn’t even know they had. Same with the kindle also
 But Amazon managed to re-invent it with new models, for instance, introducing the touch
screen
  Innovation may happen when designer improve an existing product or add a new feature
to an existing product. E.g when phones got cameras, they gained a new feature
 When talking about product innovation it not only a product, but also to services,
processes or business models.
 Airbnb, uber, and Netflix are examples of huge innovation

Process innovation:
 It refers to new way of doing something. The products may be the same but the way of
producing is new, better, more efficient or more reliable
 Process innovation focuses on the innovation of facilities, skills and technologies used for
the production and delivering of products and services.
 As opposed to product innovation the effect is not as noticeable to the consumers.
 Most of the times, process innovation is performed either within equipment used, either
within the technologies used for developing the product or even within the methods used
by the employee
Examples:
 Going to visit the doctor and recording that arrived for appointments  by touching a
screen instead of talking to a receptionist
 Computer-aided designs and computer aided manufacturing are process innovations.
 Google:
 Process innovation does not need to be present only the production’s process case. It
can be carried out in any type of the process involved in a company, including processes
that are related to the employees and human resources.

Process innovations have primarily internal focus, require developing new competences and
routines. This is true for process innovations that are led primarily by effectiveness. Beside them,
companies can introduce process innovations that improve process effectiveness which includes
compliance of the process with customer demand, as well as compliance of the process with the
strategy, processes between themselves and with other components of a business system. Process
innovations can also help product innovations. Product and process innovations can be new to a
market or new to a company.

Design thinking for process innovation

There are four stages of design thinking for making process innovation: There are four stages of
design thinking for making process innovation:
1. Inventing the future This involves analyzing the situation in your industry and finding a
solution based on what people really need but don’t have yet. The focus of the process
innovation for your organization can be either on your internal customers or external customers.
2. Developing a prototype Create a sample of the product or service idea you’ve come up with
to test the waters.
3. Testing Put your prototype to use and collect feedback from your end users to adapt your
product or service to their actual needs.
4. Implementing Once you’ve defined the attributes of the new process, replicate it in your
organization to bring about real change.
What is ‘platform innovation’?
Platform innovation is like a spring board. Once you have found and established your platform,
you can use it to propel new business concept to market easier, cheaper and faster, entering new
markets and increasing the frequency of sales transactions.
Take Amazon for example. From the innovative distribution of books, now, the question is not
what they can sell, but what they don’t yet sell. Recently Amazon added the super successful
online shoe retailer, Zappo’s to their stable. Books, shoes… why not anything that can be
packaged and delivered to the endless “matrix” of customers who know and trust the
“platform’s” capabilities?
Platform Innovation is about taking a set of two to three strongest elements of your
Competitive Advantage and making it one, stand-alone, salable market offer – building the
Brand as soon as the foundations emerge to prevent early competition. NOTE that, just like with
product innovation, to succeed, platform-based business needs to lead with marketing excellence.
Without marketing, the best product or concept will not reach the market fast or consistently
enough

Who uses innovation platforms?

Various types of organizations use innovation platforms:
 Agricultural research organizations use innovation platforms to help make their research
more relevant and to facilitate the adaptation and dissemination of findings. They force
researchers to look beyond their own disciplinary or commodity boundaries and consider
the whole picture
 Development agencies and NGOs find them useful to identify areas for interventions, to
ensure that the interventions are appropriate for particular situations, and to enable
stakeholders to influence policy making and development activities
 Local and national governments use them to improve policy making, links with clients,
and their outreach services for citizens
 Donors regard innovation platforms as a way to improve the targeting and effectiveness
of development interventions. While they may sponsor innovation platforms, they are not
normally members themselves. Some stakeholders are crucial members of innovation
platforms:
 Farmers and other rural people use innovation groups to express their interests and guide
activities that are intended to benefit them.
 The private sector, including traders, input suppliers, service providers, processors,
wholesalers and retailers, can benefit from innovation platforms that aim to boost
economic activities and make value chains more profitable

What makes them “platforms”?

Amazon: the mother of all modern day platforms. It found a niche that could be filled with
technology and logistics’ innovation. Add marketing and voila – a platform that can
accommodate trains going in many directions.
EBay: Like Amazon, it is capable of distributing almost any product or service. The difference is
Product creation and Distribution model on the Platform. Unlike Amazon, who sources and sells
the products on its platform (one-to-many), EBay has created platform for multiple users to
create their own ‘shops’, fill them with products and do their own ‘marketing’ (many-to-many).
The strength of EBay, now supported by the global Brand recognition, is in having a large
network of users who depend on and there for support the platform. In this way it is very much
like Facebook, which has inseparably tied ‘lives’ of millions of users to its platform. Microsoft:
Although there are now other alternatives and a lot of alienation towards this sometimes
‘unfriendly’ product, businesses are tied to it through sheer cost and convenience of change.
Dior / Chanel: Both brands can be described as an oldie but a goodie! The platform the Brand
Name associated with a specific market segment (world-wide) for personal luxury. This
unwavering focus enables them to consistently ‘spring-board’ into adjacencies: in both, the range
of product categories and in new market segments (age and geography) within the personal
luxury market.
InfusionSoft: It’s one of the fastest growing CRM systems for Small-Medium business. There
are dozens of CRM systems out there, so why do I think InfusionSoft is a platform? Apart from a
very good product initially offered to SMEs – a fully integrated sales and marketing solution for
building a sales pipeline – the company is truly marketing-led. It managed to create an ecosystem
of satellite businesses that derive their livelihood from assisting InfusionSoft’s customers with
using this great but complex software. These businesses became the Brand’s evangelists,
ensuring that customers would stick to the platform.
Jim’s Mowing: The ultimate franchise specialist. The platform here is a system that allows them
to “Jim” every mobile residential consumer service.
Teespring: Watch this space. Already showing signs of great commercial success and the
leaders are fully conscious of the platform they have created. Even the name says it all –
presumably playing on words referring to a winning movement

How innovation platforms work

Innovation platforms generally follow several steps.
 Initiate. Any stakeholder group can initiate innovation platforms, but it is usually a
research or development organization, a government agency or an NGO that does so.
This organization identifies the broad focus area of the innovation platform, identifies the
various stakeholders, brings them together, and convenes the first few meetings. It
identifies someone to facilitate the innovation platform: perhaps one of its own staff, or
someone else from outside.
 Decide on focus. The platform members discuss the focus area and identify bottlenecks,
problems and opportunities. They may refine the focus further, expand it, or shift it to a
different set of issues. They gather information from various sources, including research
findings, current practices, local knowledge and policy guidelines.
 Identify options. The platform members decide what they want to do to solve the
problems or take advantage of the opportunities that they have identified. The range of
options may be wide. For example, they may decide to test new varieties of a crop,
explore ways to improve supplies of inputs, promote the marketing of a product, or press
for a change in government policy
o Test and refine solutions. Solutions must be tested and adapted to make sure
they work. Farmers may test new farming methods; traders may try offering more
for higher grades of produce; an input supplier may market-test a new type of
product. The innovation may be a new technology (a new type of seed or farming
technique), or an institutional change (a policy adjustment or a new way to
manage marketing). The innovation platform coordinates these experiments and
monitors whether they are successful
  Develop capacity. In most cases, it is necessary to develop the capacity of different
actors in order for the solutions to succeed. Farmers may need training in a new
technique; cooperatives may need help with organization and bookkeeping; new ways
may be needed to multiply and distribute seed or to manage the marketing of produce.
The innovation platform identifies these needs and finds ways to develop the capacity
required.
 Implement and scale up. If the innovation is successful, the innovation platform works
with its member groups to get it adopted widely. That may mean documenting and
publicizing the innovation, arranging training and study visits, persuading other groups to
adopt it etc.

Benefits of innovation platforms

Strengths of innovation platforms include:
 They facilitate dialogue and understanding among stakeholders and provide a space for
them to create a common vision and mutual trust. They offer a neutral space to air
disagreements and conflicts, and for members to state their needs and requirements.
 They enable partners to identify the bottlenecks hindering innovation, and develop
solutions beyond what individual actors can achieve alone, for example, in infrastructure,
institutional change and policy development.
 They create motivation and a feeling of ownership of the solutions that they develop:
People readily buy into solutions they have been involved in developing.
 They facilitate upward communication. They enable weaker actors (such as small-scale
farmers) to express their views on an equal basis with powerful actors (such as processors
or the government). They empower communities to demand and negotiate for services
from the government and support organizations.
 They lead to better-informed decisions. Innovation platforms enable joint learning and
cooperation among diverse actors to solve problems and reduce uncertainties. Farmers
can learn how to sell their products; policymakers gain evidence to use in creating a more
enabling environment where innovations can happen.
 They contribute to capacity development. By improving communication, learning and
exposure to new people and ideas, innovation platforms help members to clarify their
roles, organize themselves, and adapt to unforeseen changes and new opportunities
 They make innovative research possible. Innovation platforms create opportunities for
research to be demand-driven, to find critical issues for investigation, and to disseminate
research outputs. Platform members are involved in the research process, and are more
likely to be convinced by the findings.
 They enhance impact. Farmers can improve their agricultural productivity and
profitability and improve how they manage natural resources. Value chain actors can
engage more effectively in the market. Policy making can be more participatory and
appropriate for solving issues on the ground.

Open Innovation & Closed Innovation

Open innovation means opening up the innovation process beyond company boundaries in
order to increase one's own innovation potential through active strategic use of the environment.
Innovation therefore arises through the interaction of internal and external ideas, technologies,
processes and sales channels with the aim of the company to develop promising innovative
products, services or business models. Own employees, customers, suppliers, LEAD users,
universities, competitors or companies of other industries can be integrated.

Place of innovation = inside and outside the company

However, the exchange of knowledge and the networking of know-how typical of open
innovation do not mean free access to a company's knowledge and technology. The term refers
only to collaborative networking. Open innovation can therefore involve high costs for the use of
licenses and other intellectual property.
One example of a successful open innovation is the IBM InnovationJam platform, which
cooperates on a network basis with other companies and universities from various countries such
as Switzerland and Saudi Arabia. The internet music exchange [Link] invites its users to so-
called "hacker days" to develop new applications.

Closed Innovation
A closed innovation is based on the view that innovations are developed by companies
themselves. From the generation of ideas to development and marketing, the innovation
process takes place exclusively within the company.
Place of innovation = within the company
Opening to the outside is therefore impossible. Innovations are only developed within clearly
defined company boundaries. Know-how, technology, processes and intellectual property remain
under the control of the innovative company. The function of this approach can be compared to
that of a perpetuum mobile: [
 Companies invest large sums in internal research and development (R&D) in order to
establish it as a know-how centre.
 These R&D departments provide significant technological inventions that lead to
innovative products and solutions.
 As a result, the innovation process is characterized by a closed system, with fixed
company boundaries and internal R&D activities.
In order to successfully implement a closed innovation in the company, certain factors must be
taken into account. Closed Innovation places very high demands on employees, for example, so
the company should always strive to hire highly qualified employees. It is also important to
protect one's own intellectual property accordingly.

Radical Innovation versus Incremental Innovations:

Radical Innovation
New Technology, New Market
Even it is the stereotypical way most people see innovation; it is the rarest form of them all.
Radical innovation involves the creation of technologies, services, and business models that open
up entirely new markets.
Example
The best example of radical innovation was the invention of the airplane. This radical new
technology opened up a new form of travel, invented an industry, and a whole new market.
 One of the primary dimensions used to distinguish types of innovation is the continuum between
radical versus incremental innovation. A number of definitions have been posed for radical
innovation and incremental innovation, but most hinge on the degree to which an innovation
represents a departure from existing practices. Thus radicalness might be conceived as the
combination of newness and the degree of differentness. A technology could be new to the
world, new to an industry, new to a firm, or new merely to an adopting business unit. The
introduction of wireless telecommunication products aptly illustrates this – it embodied
significantly new technologies that required new manufacturing and service processes.
Incremental innovation is at the other end of the spectrum. An incremental innovation might not
be particularly new or exceptional; it might have been previously known to the firm or industry,
and involve only a minor change from (or adjustment to) existing practices.

Incremental innovations have more modest returns, but demand lower risk level, level of
efforts and resources and are generally more successful. For example, changing the configuration
of a cell phone from one that has an exposed keyboard to one that has a flip cover or offering a
new service plan that enable more free weekend minutes would represent incremental
innovation.
Incremental innovations : Existing Technology, Existing Market
One of the most common forms of innovation that we can observe. It uses existing technologies
within an existing market. The goal is to improve an existing offering by adding new features,
changes in the design, etc.
Example
The best Example for incremental innovation can be seen in the Smartphone market where the
most innovation is only updating the hardware, improving the design, or adding some additional
features/cameras/sensors, etc

PUSH AND PULL APPROACHES

Push marketing is the traditional marketing and advertising seen everywhere. Push marketing
starts with the product or service, identifies the features or benefits that potential customers will
find most compelling, and then utilizes targeting and segmentation to “push” carefully crafted
marketing messages out via a variety of advertising, sales, and social media channels to the most
likely potential customers. Pull marketing is something else entirely (and should be in order to
maximize your investment in marketing). While push marketing focuses on the most likely
potential customers, pull marketing should be focused on a totally different group of people –
non-customers who are not yet ready to become customers at this time.
TECHNOLOGY PUSH INNOVATION

Technology Push is where the technology is available and the designers make a product to use it.
The best example of this is touch screen technology; this was first developed by the Royal Radar
Establishment. In the 80s Hewlett Packard picked up on this technology and brought out a touch
screen computer. Later as the technology became refined and could recognize hand writing,
Apples PDA and the Palm Pilot. Over recent years the technology has become more and more
advanced and is now found in the majority of mobile phones, laptops and computers. Other
examples; cassettes, products with smaller components.

MARKET PULL INNOVATION

Market Pull is where the market is need of a product, so designers make a product to meet that
need. The best example of this is cameras; they have evolved over the years to meet the changing
needs of the user. The market needed to be able to take and store a large number of images and
the size of the camera needed to be reduced. Due to this development in the design in cameras
(making them lightweight, more compact, clearer resolution and so on) the editing software
improved alongside. Over recent years they have developed to get even smaller, and have been
put into mobile phones, then as people wants changed (people wanted to be able to take photos
of themselves) the developed to be even smaller and then moved to the front of the phone. Other
examples; hybrid cars, recyclable carrier bags, low light energy bulbs.
The 8 stages of the technological innovation process
1- Basic research
Basic research is that phase of the technological innovation process that only occurs in large
companies, usually in the pharmaceutical, energy and information technology sectors, which
keeps research and development departments continuously abreast of the state of the art
technologies that most impact their organizations.
2- Applied research Management of Innovations
When it detects some specific market needs that may represent an opportunity to develop a
sustainable competitive advantage for the business, the company searches among the
technologies that dominate the way to solve this problem.
At this point, you can integrate existing technologies creatively and innovatively or really
develop something totally new.

3- Development
When reaching a solution to the market need, it’stime to develop the product, service or process
that will be marketed or employed.
For this, a prototype is developed that must be tested, preferably with the help of the public that
will use it.
Two interesting approaches to this stage of the technological innovation process can be used:

 Design thinking, which takes into account how people interact with innovative products
and services
 Scrum, which promotes small iterations, incremental advances in the prototype and the
rest of the innovation process, always based on the needs of those who will use it.

4- Engineering
With the prototype set, you have to turn it into a scalable product or service that can be
massproduced or meet the specific needs of an industry. Materials, suppliers, appropriate forms
of storage and transportation are searched, such as connecting parts and benefiting inputs,
defining which professionals will need to be hired and trained, among other measures.

5- Manufacture
This is one of the most important aspects of the technological innovation process. It is time to
define the best way to deliver the solution created to the final customer, with efficiency and
quality. 6- Marketing With the product or service ready to be released, it’s time to do concept
tests, market research and market testing to see if any adjustments are still required depending on
how their acceptance and distribution is taking place in test markets.

7- Promotion
Once the market tests are done, the product or service is launched nationally or globally,
depending on the markets the company serves.

8- Continuous improvement
Once launched, both the product or service and the process flows used to produce and deliver
them to end customers are constantly measured and analyzed, with the aim of looking for ways
to improve them even more, adding even more perceived value to the final customers.

Business model innovation

In all its simplicity, the business model is how a company functions and earns money. It consists
of core values and resources, strategy, core channels and target customers, to name a few.
Business model innovation is a fundamental change in how a company delivers value to its
customers or captures it from the market. In practice, it often happens through the
development of new pricing mechanisms, revenue streams or distribution channels but isn’t
limited to them What’s challenging about business model innovation is that the capabilities and
processes that have been optimized to make a company successful, become the targets for
transformation. To be able to create new, viable business models, you usually need to change
the fundamental decisions upon which your business operates. In other words, to work on
disruptive innovations.
Business model innovation often means higher risks for a company in the short term but is
critical to long-term survival and for not being disrupted. On the other hand, business model
innovation and especially digital services, may have higher operating margin growth, so these
types of innovations can really be worth pursuing.
Purchasing music, for example, has transformed twice in the past couple of decades. iTunes is an
interesting example of disaggregation model – a strategy that breaks down or separates
something into constituent parts or elements. Before iTunes started to sell single tracks, you
either had to buy the entire album to hear your favourite song or sit by the radio at the right time
to be able to record it.
Later, Spotify took the digital music business to a completely different direction with its
freemium streaming model by cutting out the middleman and dealing with customers directly
online.
Some industries, such as manufacturing, financial services, logistics, and healthcare are more
likely to be affected by the upcoming wave of disruption than others. However, no industry will
be completely safe.

Successful business models thus take a very holistic approach by integrating these different
aspects of the business into a well-organized and thought out system.
Business model innovation, then is simply a novel way to put these pieces together to hopefully
create a system that produces more value for both customers and the organization itself.
A good business model, like any other system, is after all much more than just the sum of its
parts.
Business model innovation is simply put probably the most important tool for building a business
that creates maximal value for all stakeholders: customers, shareholders, employees, and the
society at large.
This obviously leads to a wide variety of benefits:
 Increased value creation will lead to increased growth, even for otherwise stagnant
businesses
 As business model innovation often requires new operating models and is thus often very
difficult for established competitors to copy
 …which can lead to an extend period of competitive advantage
 The right kind of business model also helps overcome objections to sales and create
positive brand recognition
 As mentioned, some business models can make the business much more robust towards
market cycles and unexpected “black swan” events, such as the recent COVID-19 crisis

Types of Business Model Innovation

Business model innovation, in theory, sound quite appealing, especially considering the fact that
it helps in adapting to new changes. However, it is also important to note that innovation is never
single-dimensional. You can attempt innovation in business models from various perspectives.
Here are some of the notable types of this innovation, which can help you understand the concept
better.
 Regular
In a regular business model innovation, the new firms use the same/existing capabilities i.e.
value chain activities and underpinning resources. The business model is such that the existing
firms in the market still remain competitive. Products of the old firm still take up enough market
share to be competitive enough.
Example:
The strategy pursued by Dell in the 90s when it introduced the built-to-order direct model.
Rather than passing their product through distributors, Dell directly sold their products to the
customers. The customers could order from Dell, informing them about their specification
needed by them. Dell brought something new in the market but the capabilities that it used for
this strategy was not radically different from the ones existing in the market. The business model
was such that the other computer makers like HP, Compaq who sold through distributors were
still in the market and earned profitability.
 Position Building
Position building business model, the product/service rooted in the new business model
overpowers the product/service in the old business model leaving the latter non-competitive.
However, the capabilities of both business models are the same.
Example
When Walmart came to a small town in the US, it was a position building business model. The
capabilities of Walmart were almost the same as retailers’ business models. Walmart rendered
many small businesses out of competition as the old business model could not offer the customer
the cost-saving offered by Walmart.
 Dynamic and Application
While dividing the business model into different types, we have assumed that the business model
is static- that is when a business model is regular it will remain regular always. Nullifying the
assumption, many business models may start off as regular but as time goes by many change into
position building, capability-building, revolutionary, etc.
Example:
Usually, disruptive technologies start off as regular and move on to become revolutionary or
position building. Google was neither the first to introduce a search engine nor the first to launch
sponsored ads. However, due to its business model innovation, it became revolutionary and
monetized more by being a search engine.

Capabilities Building
In capabilities building innovation, the capabilities needed in the new business model is radically
different from the old business model. The old business is still competitive along with the new
one. The capability needed in the new business model has to be created from scratch or acquired
in some other way.
Example:
A firm that produces renewable resources is an example of capability building innovation. The
capabilities of this firm will be highly different from the petroleum-based business model.
Creating ethanol from sugar cane, sugar beet, corn and sweet potato which is completely from
drills, pump out, refine petrol. Both the fuels co-exist in the market.
The popular example of capabilities building is of brick and mortar vs online store. The
capabilities needed for both are completely different yet they co-exist in the market share.

 Revolutionary
In the revolutionary business model, the core capabilities that underpin the new and old
businesses are completely different. The capabilities used by the old business model is
completely useless for the new business. The revolutionary business model redefines the creation
and capturing of value by overturning the way value chain activities were performed earlier. The
rule of the game is changed both market-wise and capability-wise.
Example
eBay was launched on a revolutionary business model. The online auction required radically
different capabilities as compared to an offline auction. For many products, the offline business
model is not competitive.

What is a Cross Functional Team?

Cross functional teams are groups consisting of people from different functional areas of the
company – for example, marketing, product, sales, and customer success. These can be working
groups, where each member belongs to their functional team as well as the cross functional team,
or they can be the primary structure of your organization. are made up of experts in various
specialties (or functions) working together on various organizational tasks. Team members come
from such departments as research and development, design, engineering, marketing, and
distribution. These teams are often empowered to make decisions without the approval of
management. For example, when Nabisco's executives concluded that the company needed to
improve its relationship with customers and better satisfy customers' needs, they created cross‐
functional teams whose assignments were to find ways to do just that. Although functional teams
are usually permanent, cross‐functional teams are often temporary, lasting for as little as a few
months or as long as several years, depending on the group tasks being performed.

Benefits of Cross Functional Teams

Cross functional teams are growing in popularity because of an increased demand from
customers to provide consistently personalized, high-touch customer experience. Some of the
benefits of cross functional teams include:
 Improved coordination across functional areas
 Increased innovation in product and process
 Reduced cycle times for key customer touchpoints

Improved coordination across functional areas

For many SaaS companies, coordination (or lack thereof) between marketing, sales, and product
teams can make or break the business. Often, this is an issue of conflicting interests: If marketing
is focused on landing enterprise customers to drive sustainable growth, while sales reps are
motivated to win small sales quickly, the product team can’t create a product that will meet the
needs of all of its customers.
Cross functional teams can help teams stay focused on corporate goals, so if the organization is
trying to position itself as an enterprise tool, marketers can work with sales reps to identify ways
to effectively market to enterprise executives. The product team can use insights gathered from
sales performance and marketing research to prioritize features most valued by their target
customer. A cross functional team of marketing, sales, product, and customer success
representatives can work together on assigned accounts to provide enterprise customers with a
customized, cohesive customer experience.

Increased innovation in process and product

When organizations operate in silos, it’s difficult to identify and implement improvements across
the value stream. Cross functional teams can work to identify best practices for different
processes, then cross-train other cross functional groups to promote cohesion and efficiency
across the organization. Working together to find solutions for common problems, cross
functional teams can find more innovative, more comprehensive solutions than each functional
group could develop on its own.
Cross functional teams don’t only promote process innovation; they also promote more
innovative products. Imagine if every product decision your company made included insights
gleaned from marketing campaign data, UX focus groups, sales conversations, product usage
data, and other rich sources of customer information from across the company. This is the power
of cross functional teams – creating a forum where learnings from across the company can
inform smarter decision making.
Reducing cycle times
Think again of the phone call example above, where a simple request took 20 minutes to resolve,
not because of the complexity of the request, but because of the inefficiency of the company
trying to resolve it.
Cross functional teams help organizations identify their inefficiencies, while improving their
ability to find solutions that work. In this way, using cross functional teams can drastically
reduce cycle times for any recurring pain point.
So instead of passing a customer request from silo to silo, the team can work together to resolve
the request as quickly as possible, providing a far better customer experience. This is true of
something small, like a customer request, as well as far larger projects, such as developing a new
feature to meet customer demands.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Cross-functional Teams

Advantages:
 Greater speed of task completion
 Can handle a wide array of projects
 Source of unconventional ideas
Disadvantages:
 Takes a long time to develop cohesion
 Management can prove to be challenging
 Diversity can cause conflict

Self-Directed Teams Defined

A self-directed team typically manages its own workload in addition to having primary
responsibility for producing a good or delivering a service. The team members share both
managerial and operational responsibilities, as well as accountability for the team's output. Self-
directed teams date back to post World War II Britain's effort to increase economic productivity.
Self-directed teams are not right for every business situation, so it is important to understand
when an enterprise will benefit from this organizational approach. Businesses with a
decentralized decision-making culture and employees who are empowered to take full
responsibility for their work are good candidates for self-directed teams. Managers outside the
team still play a role, but more as coaches and facilitators rather than as supervisors. Self-
directed teams are also known as self-managed teams. Federal Express and 3M are examples of
companies that have used self-directed teams with positive results.
Advantages:
 Autonomy improves employee motivation;
 Team members can manage their own time and handle tasks when it suits them;
 You don’t have to pay for an office;
 Shared responsibility instills pride in team accomplishments.
Disadvantages:
 The lack of hierarchical authority can put personal relationships over good judgment;
 It can lead to conformity that suppresses creativity and critical thinking;
  An added layer of responsibility is time-consuming and requires skills that some people
simply don’t have;
 Training time and costs are higher due to a broader scope of duties.

Disadvantages:

Longer decision process

Individuals often make decisions more quickly than groups do. When the decision-making
process is the responsibility of a group of people, it may take longer for that group to come to an
agreement. This can make these teams less desirable in situations where quick decisions are
necessary. To address this, self-managed teams can create a system for making decisions
quickly, such as a voting system.

Lack of self-motivated employees

In order to work efficiently, self-managed teams need people who are self-motivated and work
well with others. However, it may not be possible to create a such a team from an existing group
of employees, depending on the skills and work preferences of those individuals. Some solutions
include hiring new people for the self-managed team or training existing employees to better
perform within a self-managed team environment.

Limited innovation

If a self-managed team has many like-minded individuals or doesn't encourage unique

ideas, you might find that the team experiences limitations with creative thinking. For
example, if a team creates a successful product, they may continue to produce similar
products in the future rather than designing new ones that consumers might purchase.
To address this, businesses can add more diverse voices to their teams or regularly
rotate members in and out of the self-managed team.

Benefits of self-managed teams

The benefits of using self-managed teams within your organization include:
Greater employee engagement
These types of teams encourage engagement from team members by actively including them in
the decision-making process. When employees have input in business decisions, they're typically
more invested in the outcomes of those decisions. In addition, these teams encourage
participation from every member of the team rather than from just the members who are in
charge of the decision-making.
Less oversight
With self-managed teams, leaders may have to perform less oversight, which can make these
teams more desirable for employees who prefer to work independently. For example, if the
founder of a local internet marketing business creates a self-managed team to handle social
media marketing strategies for their clients, the founder may not need to participate in marketing
meetings as frequently. In addition, this can allow the founder to focus on other tasks, such as
bringing in additional clients.
Reduced costs
In larger organizations, self-managed teams may help reduce overall costs, as the company may
need to hire fewer managers to oversee those teams. The organization may then have additional
funds to allocate to other projects or resources.
Better decision-making
By getting input from the entire self-managed team, employees may make better decisions.
When teams treat each member as collaborators and equals, everyone may feel comfortable
offering their input. For example, one person on the team may discuss a concern that the others
didn't consider, allowing the team to address it before making their decision about an issue.

Definition: Training and Development

Training and Development is a subsystem of an organization which emphasize on the
improvement of the performance of individuals and groups.

Training is an educational process which involves the sharpening of skills, concepts, changing of
attitude and gaining more knowledge to enhance the performance of the employees. Training is
about knowing where you are in the present and after some time where will you reach with your
abilities. By training, people can learn new information, new methodology and refresh their
existing knowledge and skills. Due to this there is much improvement and adds up the
effectiveness at work.
The motive behind giving the training is to create an impact that lasts beyond the end time of the
training itself and employee gets updated with the new phenomenon. Training can be offered as
skill development for individuals and groups.
Training Methods:
On Job Training and off the Job Training Methods
A large variety of methods of training are used in business. Even within one organization
different methods are used for training different people. All the methods are divided into two
classifications for:
A. On-the-job Training Methods:
 Coaching
 Mentoring
 Job Rotation
 Job Instruction Technology
 Apprenticeship
 Understudy

B. Off-the-Job Training Methods:

 Lectures and Conferences
 Vestibule Training
 Simulation Exercises
 Sensitivity Training
 Transactional Training

A. On-the-job training Methods:

Under these methods new or inexperienced employees learn through observing peers or
managers performing the job and trying to imitate their behaviour. These methods do not cost
much and are less disruptive as employees are always on the job, training is given on the same
machines and experience would be on already approved standards, and above all the trainee is
learning while earning. Some of the commonly used methods are:
1. Coaching: Coaching is a one-to-one training. It helps in quickly identifying the weak areas
and tries to focus on them. It also offers the benefit of transferring theory learning to practice.
The biggest problem is that it perpetrates the existing practices and styles. In India most of the
scooter mechanics are trained only through this method.

2. Mentoring: The focus in this training is on the development of attitude. It is used for
managerial employees. Mentoring is always done by a senior inside person. It is also one-to- one
interaction, like coaching.

3. Job Rotation: It is the process of training employees by rotating them through a series of
related jobs. Rotation not only makes a person well acquainted with different jobs, but it also
alleviates boredom and allows to develop rapport with a number of people. Rotation must be
logical.

4. Job Instructional Technique (JIT): It is a Step by step (structured) on the job training
method in which a suitable trainer (a) prepares a trainee with an overview of the job, its purpose,
and the results desired, (b) demonstrates the task or the skill to the trainee, (c) allows the trainee
to show the demonstration on his or her own, and (d) follows up to provide feedback and help.
The trainees are presented the learning material in written or by learning machines through a
series called ‗frames‘. This method is a valuable tool for all educators (teachers and trainers). It
helps us: a. To deliver step-by-step instruction b. To know when the learner has learned c. To be
due diligent (in many work-place environments)

5. Apprenticeship: Apprenticeship is a system of training a new generation of practitioners of a

skill. This method of training is in vogue in those trades, crafts and technical fields in which a
long period is required for gaining proficiency. The trainees serve as apprentices to experts for
long periods. They have to work in direct association with and also under the direct supervision
of their masters. The object of such training is to make the trainees all-round craftsmen. It is an
expensive method of training. Also, there is no guarantee that the trained worker will continue to
work in the same organisation after securing training. The apprentices are paid remuneration
according the apprenticeship agreements.

6. Understudy: In this method, a superior gives training to a subordinate as his understudy like
an assistant to a manager or director (in a film). The subordinate learns through experience and
observation by participating in handling day to day problems. Basic purpose is to prepare
subordinate for assuming the full responsibilities and duties.

B. OFF-THE-JOB TRAINING METHODS: Off-the-job training methods are conducted in

separate from the job environment, study material is supplied, there is full concentration on
learning rather than performing, and there is freedom of expression. Important methods include:

1. Lectures and Conferences: Lectures and conferences are the traditional and direct method of
instruction. Every training programme starts with lecture and conference. It‘s a verbal
presentation for a large audience. However, the lectures have to be motivating and creating
interest among trainees. The speaker must have considerable depth in the subject. In the colleges
and universities, lectures and seminars are the most common methods used for training.
2. Vestibule Training: Vestibule Training is a term for near-the-job training, as it offers access
to something new (learning). In vestibule training, the workers are trained in a prototype
environment on specific jobs in a special part of the plant.
An attempt is made to create working condition similar to the actual workshop conditions. After
training workers in such condition, the trained workers may be put on similar jobs in the actual
workshop. This enables the workers to secure training in the best methods to work and to get rid
of initial nervousness. During the Second World War II, this method was used to train a large
number of workers in a short period of time. It may also be used as a preliminary to on-the job
training. Duration ranges from few days to few weeks. It prevents trainees to commit costly
mistakes on the actual machines.

3. Simulation Exercises: Simulation is any artificial environment exactly similar to the actual
situation. There are four basic simulation techniques used for imparting training: management
games, case study, role playing, and in-basket training.
(a) Management Games: Properly designed games help to ingrain thinking habits, analytical,
logical and reasoning capabilities, importance of team work, time management, to make
decisions lacking complete information, communication and leadership capabilities. Use of
management games can encourage novel, innovative mechanisms for coping with stress.
Management games orient a candidate with practical applicability of the subject. These games
help to appreciate management concepts in a practical way. Different games are used for training
general managers and the middle management and functional heads – executive Games and
functional heads.
(b) Case Study: Case studies are complex examples which give an insight into the context of a
problem as well as illustrating the main point. Case Studies are trainee centered activities based
on topics that demonstrate theoretical concepts in an applied setting. A case study allows the
application of theoretical concepts to be demonstrated, thus bridging the gap between theory and
practice, encourage active learning, provides an opportunity for the development of key skills
such as communication, group working and problem solving, and increases the trainees‖
enjoyment of the topic and hence their desire to learn.
(c) Role Playing: Each trainee takes the role of a person affected by an issue and studies the
impacts of the issues on human life and/or the effects of human activities on the world around us
from the perspective of that person.
It emphasizes the ―real- world‖ side of science and challenges students to deal with complex
problems with no single ―right‖ answer and to use a variety of skills beyond those employed in
a typical research project.
In particular, role-playing presents the student a valuable opportunity to learn not just the course
content, but other perspectives on it. The steps involved in role playing include defining
objectives, choose context & roles, introducing the exercise, trainee preparation/research, the
role-play, concluding discussion, and assessment. Types of role play may be multiple role play,
single role play, role rotation, and spontaneous role play.
(d) In-basket training: In-basket exercise, also known as in-tray training, consists of a set of
business papers which may include e-mail SMSs, reports, memos, and other items. Now the
trainer is asked to prioritise the decisions to be made immediately and the ones that can be
delayed.
4. Sensitivity Training: Sensitivity training is also known as laboratory or T-group training.
This training is about making people understand about themselves and others reasonably, which
is done by developing in them social sensitivity and behavioral flexibility. It is ability of an
individual to sense what others feel and think from their own point of view.
It reveals information about his or her own personal qualities, concerns, emotional issues, and
things that he or she has in common with other members of the group. It is the ability to behave
suitably in light of understanding.

5. Transactional Analysis: It provides trainees with a realistic and useful method for analyzing
and understanding the behavior of others. In every social interaction, there is a motivation
provided by one person and a reaction to that motivation given by another person. This
motivation reaction relationship between two persons is known as a transaction. Transactional
analysis can be done by the ego (system of feelings accompanied by a related set of behaviors
states of an individual).

Market research
Market research is defined as the process of evaluating the feasibility of a new product or
service, through research conducted directly with potential consumers. This method allows
organizations or businesses to discover their target market, collect and document opinions and
make informed decisions.
Market research can be conducted directly by organizations or companies or can be outsourced
to agencies which have expertise in this process.
The process of market research can be done through deploying surveys, interacting with a group
of people also known as sample, conducting interviews and other similar processes.
Primary purpose of conducting market research is to understand or examine the market
associated with a particular product or service, to decide how the audience will react to a product
or service. The information obtained from conducting market research can be used to tailor
marketing/ advertising activities or to determine what are the feature priorities/service
requirement (if any) of consumers

Three key objectives of market research

A market research project may usually have 3 different types of objectives.
1. Administrative: Help a company or business development, through proper planning,
organization, and both human and material resources control, and thus satisfy all specific
needs within the market, at the right time.
2. Social: Satisfy customer’s specific needs through a required product or service. The
product or service should comply with the requirements and preferences of a customer
when it’s consumed.
3. Economical: Determine the economical degree of success or failure a company can have
while being new to the market, or otherwise introducing new products or services, and
thus providing certainty to all actions to be implemented.