Innovation and the Organizations

Innovation can refer to something that is new, which could be an invention, or the practice of developing and introducing new things.

An innovation is often a new product, but it can also be a new way of doing something that is already existing or even a new way of thinking about somethinhg which is common.

The innovation is most commonly associated with business and the technology around, but it can happen in any other field as well, majorly in fields where people introduce change, including the arts, medicine, politics, cooking, language—even philosophy and the religion as well.

Here is a simple and easy example to understand what innovation means

THE INTERNET

internet changed society completely and hence is often considered the ultimate example of innovation, but the quick fact : it was built on the backs of many smaller, previous innovations.

Coming to the next thing, there are four different Types Of Innovation:

1) Organizational Innovation

Organizational innovation basixally refers to the development of a new organizational strategy that will a somehow or in any way will change a company’s business practices, as well as the way its workplace is organized and also its relationships with the external stakeholders.

2) Process Innovation

Process innovation is all about implementing a new or improved production or delivery approach to the existing system, including changes in operational methods, the techniques that are being used and the equipment or the software existing.

3) Product Innovation

Now, the product innovation is the introduction of an improved good or the new services. These changes may have to do with improving technical specifications of the products, the materials or the software used or even advancing on the UX (user experience).

However, the product innovations don’t need to improve all the existing functions or performance specifications. An improvement to or addition of a new function can also be merged with a loss of other functions or the downgrade of some other specifications.
Moreover, a product innovation must add to the already available to potential users but doesn’t necessarily need to generate the sales of the product. Because if it did, then innovations with low demand or, for instance, digital products like apps , or web sites that are free would be excluded. At the same time, routine changes or updates aren’t considered product innovations as they are only correcting errors or making some seasonal changes to their digital product

4)Eco-innovation

Eco innovation is a type of innovation resulting in significant progress towards the world’s 2030 goals of the sustainable development established by the UN. In practice, it means to reduce or minimize the impacts of our production modes on the environment, improving nature’s resilience to environmental stresses, and hence achieving a larger efficient and responsible use of natural resources.
In this way, we can say eco-innovation may create value in two different areas.

• First, from the perspective of sustainable development , as it promotes sustainability throughout a product’s entire life cycle, it helps to address challenges such as climate change, resource scarcity, and biodiversity.
• Second, it can also add up to a company’s performance and competitiveness.This could be done by embracing new and greener processes, technologies and services.

Eco-innovation can help organizations access new markets, increase their productivity and profitability all across the value chain, strengthen their reputation in the marketing world and also can attract new investors.

This leads to innovation becoming one of the most important factors for an organization’s success and growth. As such, cultivating innovation in one’s own company should be a critical organizational initiative. But despite that, many organizations do face internal challenges which hinder the progress of innovation.

Here are some of these common challenges and also the ways to solve them:

1. Employees aren’t regularly empowered to innovate :
Many managers do fear that innovation will distract employees from their day-to-day roles and this will make losses to the company. As a result, around 37% of employees do not feel empowered to take risks or try any new ideas.

Solution:Internal innovation requires the support of leadership and managers to take hold across the organization.

2. Employees aren’t usually motivated to innovate :
Once employees are empowered, they must also feel some motivation to innovate. Motivation initiatives like inventor incentive programs, contests, or even some extra 8time can help encourage employees to spend time innovating.

3. Opps…You’re missing an innovation strategy :
Like any other organizational initiative, developing a concise innovation strategy is crucial part of achieving success. An innovation strategy dictates the complete direction of innovation and its operational implementation. Without one, innovation efforts risk misalignment and cannot achieve higher.

4. Innovation is usually centralized to one functional group :
In many organizations, innovation is the responsibility of solely one functional group, like R&D or product development. The myth that only one functional group is more suited to innovate than others, is a severe hindrance to the pace of innovation; each department provides a unique perspective as per their views and thoughts on the problems of customers can be critical for driving successful innovation.

5. Lack of collaboration among the companies:
Collaboration is the main key to innovation. While many organizations understand the importance of collaboration internally, collaboration externally can also be equally important. Innovation brings together industry partners, customers, and even competitors to drive innovation in the industry forward and give the world new and more powered technologies.

6. Lack of diversity :
Hiring for innovation purpose and subsequently building diverse teams can provide the organization’s innovation initiatives with a great wealth of ideas generated from different perspectives with different concerns.

There are many more to discuss upon, but as of now I think these would be enough.

Hence, we can say Innovation is a crucial initiative for driving success in your organization on the long-terms. When beginning innovation initiatives, it’s important to be aware of the complete plan for these challenges. Building a strong innovation culture in your organization will not only help to avoid these challenges, but also to ensure that innovation is a strategic focus for every employee.