“Creativity is thinking up new things. Innovation is doing new things.” - Anonymous.
Change is the only constant, and so does innovation. It is often asked by global executives, “What’s one thing your company needs to improve?” The word choices may differ, but the answer remains the same: the ability to innovate themselves quickly in the transforming world.
For any company’s growth, the process of innovation can be both exciting and daunting. Your team might have many creative ideas, but how do you make sure that they are effective and going in the right direction? For that, you need a solid framework and clear direction.
Effective innovation is the heart of the business. Today, we are here to understand the importance of effective innovation, its elements, and how innovation is suited for strategic change.
Why Effective Innovation Is Important
Effective innovation is a key part of owning a successful business. It does need a mission and vision. Effective innovation can help you to:
Grow your business
Business growth means increasing your profits. Effective innovations add value to your business so that you can increase your sales and grow your business. If you don’t innovate with new ideas and execution, your business will slowly diminish.
Stay Ahead of the Competition
With the rapid growth of globalization and change, competition is increasing. Effective innovation will surely help you predict the market and keep up with the consumer's requirements. If your business doesn’t innovate, you will never be able to stay ahead in the competition of new markets. Therefore, identify your competitors and work to be better than them.
Benefits of Technologies
After the pandemic, AI (Artificial Intelligence) has evolved more than ever, which means that there are efficient technologies to make better products. It will allow you to market your business, track your performance, and market yourself.
You can use artificial intelligence and new technologies to help with your effective innovation process. It will provide you with an advantage over your competitors.
How Effective Innovation Is Suited for Strategic Change?
Effective innovation is well suited for three primary types of strategic change.
1. Innovate to Enhance Magnitude
The primary goal of innovation is to enhance your existing trajectory and perception. Change is required, but it should align with the business’s moments. The company's innovation both strengthens and attracts new customers.
You can use the following innovation strategies to enhance the magnitude:
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Investing in recurring revenue models.
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Integrating service offerings.
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Enhancing cross-selling.
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Developing new consumers.
2. Innovate to Reimagine Activity
Innovation leads to achieving the company’s goal. Companies prioritize reimagining activity zones to identify ways to reconcile their fit with their purpose. That is how their products, services, and delivery values align with the customers and other stakeholders.
Reimagination is a helpful way to focus on building a brand outside of the box. Companies can use these innovation strategies to reimagine their activities:
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Improving interaction with customers.
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Developing a complementary offering.
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Creating new values and customer service.
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Broadening distribution channels to expand access to offerings.
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Acquiring capabilities and reinforcing existing areas of advantage.
3. Innovate to Shift Direction
When companies do not deliver the desired result, they shift their direction. This form of change receives the bulk of business press attention and promotions. Usually, successful shifts do not occur at the low end of a market.
Companies can use these innovation strategies to shift directions:
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Launching cost-effective services.
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Using new technologies
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Building a consumer base.
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Reinventing collaboration norms with upstream and downstream partners.
Key Elements of the Innovation Process
Every innovation is unique! Yet after knowing the benefits and importance of effective innovation, companies fail to implement it in their businesses.
According to Sarah Kelly, the innovation program manager for a communication company, Liberty Global, “ Innovation is not just a fluffy thing that is going to happen. You have to put a lot of thought, manpower, and resources into innovation.”
So here we have got the key elements to keep in mind during the innovation process.
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Collaboration
Teamwork makes dream work possible. Collaboration is a kind of group activity familiar with community development. It has never been easy, as many conflicts and competitions among the groups dominate the landscape. It is more than just working together; it includes the ability to think and act together.
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Ideation
“Ideation without execution is a delusion.” Ideation is one of the most exciting stages of the innovation process. It helps you bring perspective and strengths to your team members. The right ideation is always based on a strong focus on your users, their needs, and your insights about them.
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Implementation
Knowledge is not power, implementation is power. It is about the execution of a plan, idea, method, or any specific policy for doing something. To make the implementation process successful, the tasks between different departments need to be accomplished in sequence.
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Value Creation
Money is a function of value creation. The greater the value creation.The more value you create for other people, the higher the sales of your organization.
Value is defined in many ways, such as product improvement, the creation of entirely new products and services, or reducing product costs. Creating joint-venture co-brands helps companies to test their experimental products and create value without damaging the existing brand.
Conclusion
Successive, effective innovation can be achieved by constant change. It will not only assist you in growing your business, but it will also assist you in developing your identity. Remember, without effective innovation, your organization can be left behind even after having clear business opportunities. Therefore ideate, execute, and grow!
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