MGT5MIO Managing Innovation In Organizations

Introduction

Wesfarmers is an organization that is a farmers association located in Australia to provide satisfaction to the shareholders and investors at large. The organization is among the largest business in the continent; they are determined to ensure that their service delivery is satisfactory to their esteemed clients. Their primary core values are integrity, openness, and accountability. (Biddle, 2016)The company has been operating in the ancient culture, and due to the upraising technology, there is a need for innovation to occur. Some aspects are considered before deciding on the reasons for innovation.

Digital transformation: in the modern age, many companies undergo a digital transformation to ensure that their production rate increases gradually. At Wesfarmers, the entire processing of the products is digitalized with the help of new and advanced technology in the organization. The digital transformation has provided the company with a clear objective that has helped them monitor all the required production and management processes (Westerman, Bonnet, & McAfee, 2014). Through the change, the organization has a planned system that enables them to upgrade following the demand of their respective clients.

Employee centricity: is also among the hot topics of innovations trending in the world today. Most companies tend to concentrate on the technology part of innovation rather than the participant in the organization. The employees play a primary role in the production of every organization. Therefore the organization should focus on the substantial energy the workers will be using during the production when deciding on the best innovation ideas; the company employees should be involved in the process, especially when they will spearhead the innovations (Sparrow & Cooper, 2014 ) The products of the company can determine the type of technology. In this case, farming products can be considered while digitalizing the organization.

Innovation culture: real innovation starts with a particular culture. For instance, a starting point triggers the company to try the new digital moves. A better innovative culture offers both the employees and the organization a favourable environment that supports critical thinking and innovation. The employee's mindset can easily affect the entire transformation process since their perception of a particular product can determine whether they will be willing to use it or not (Campbell, 2017) the innovation can be driven by the company’s goals of production or introduction of new cultures in the production industry.

The idea for an innovative product or service

Introducing a new product in the market can be a long and costly endeavour.  The basic process required to have the product will require proper research without jeopardizing the organization's financial status being a bigger innovative organization; the Wesfarmers organization deal with a wide range of products such as; chemicals, fertilizers, and energy. Some of the ideas include digital assembling of farm products through machines rather than hand-picking (Spieth, Schneckenberg, & Ricart, 2014). Another creative idea includes delivering the product to the clients at the comfort of their homes using drones. The introduction of drones and cameras to monitor and survey the production process can be easier than walking through the place.

How to streamline the innovation in the organization

To introduce new products and services, they will have to consider their core values and the market demand. In this case, the farmers who depend on their products can be consulted to determine the possible market gap. Implementation of the ideas requires the company to invest in the new digitalized systems that can help them improve production. The company will have to hire additional staff members who will easily deliver the product to the clients (Anderson, Photonic, & Zhou, 2014). Developing a long-term technology plan can be among the best ways to handle the entire idea before implementing them.

Report 

Design thinking approach

 

User involvement

User involvement in the fields of any organization is considered an essential mechanism that ensures successful system implementation. In the modern-day's market, the growth of the production in an organization relies on the involvement of the consumers and the clients of the product. Their reviews and comment on the quality of the services provided and the product can always bring bigger differences in the market gap. The users can only participate when given a chance to access the relevant information concerning the particular product at stake. The information obtained can help the organization increase the quality for them to attain the user's satisfaction. It is always crucial for the user to be given the right to access the essential and detailed information on the products and services of the company. These can boost the trust and bond between the users and the organization.  

User involvement can offer the company the best ideas that will be helpful in the entire innovation program (Palanisamy, Singh, & Liu, 2014). The company will access the expert opinion from the users with the required skills and knowledge. Although some people may have opposing views, the company should concentrate on positivity to ensure that they have the right information to start the innovations. The beneficiaries should be consulted and given time to present their opinions on the project to avoid future misunderstandings due to the difference in views.

Fast integration- time, costs, resources

For the entire project to be successful, the organization will have to extend its budget to cater to the funding of the innovation. The budget allocation is expensive, and therefore it will require the company to have a different source of income funding the project. As we all know, innovation does not come easily, especially in the already existing companies. Changing the entire system to accommodate the late stand digitalized operation systems will require both time and resources at large. (Anthony, Duncan, & Siren, 2014) The company will also have to form an innovative group of people to spearhead the changes and ensure their implementation. The group will be in charge of acquiring and the necessary recourses to be useful to the project. According to the research conducted, changing and innovating the entire company will; take attest six weeks. This will be done with an increased labour force to complete the work easily. The entire budget was roughly estimated at $80000. After the mentioned time, the entire system will be ready for a prototype test and inspection. The entire budget should be thoroughly researched to avoid mistakes while implementing.

Prototyping and testing capabilities

The prototype is useful in any organization or company that is planning on a project. For the project to be complete there must be a testing session to determine if the entire project will be relevant to the course. Creating a prototype has become one of the processes that will help determine the product's effectiveness (De Oliveira, Schweitzer, Shinoda, & Prete, 2014, June). The prototype is mainly intended to showcase the structure and functioning of the main idea. It is generated for trial and how the final product will look after completion. The prototype allows the organization to streamline the design development process, focusing only on the important interface. The company will have to generate a prototype to showcase the innovation to the clients and the workers. There will be a period that will help them determine the effectiveness of the entire innovation system. If proven useful, the company will allow the team to proceed to the final level of the entire innovation.

The prototype can ease the designer's workload since the mistake can be identified easily and eliminated before proceeding. It is easier for the company to get a clear view of the entire process through the prototype. In the presence of a prototype, the company can be able to conduct tasting for the useability of the products in adherence to their goals of production and quality of their products (Demian, Duma, Sinescu, Negrutiu, Cernat, Topala, & Podoleanu, 2014) The company can also determine the access of information of the prototype by checking the functionality and convenience of the products severally while analyzing the mistakes and correcting them. One of the major importances of the prototype is analyzing the risk involved in the entire project. The prototype can provide the possible shortcomings of the entire project and hence allows time to correct them.

Cross-functional management

Managing cross functions means coordinating the important functions of a business operation to create synergy support. This is mainly done by involving the experts to provide their opinion on the matters arising that concern the business operations. In our case, the management has to combine all departments' heads and present their opinions on the case. Grouping the team following their area of professionalism will help the company develop strategies from both directions aiming at the common good of the project presented (Dul & Ceylan, 2014). It can be easier to handle them than hiring experts to research and provide findings since there are on-ground operations. They understand the company's requirements more than the researchers.

Cross-function management can help the company to enhance creativity and innovation from the ideas provided by the managers (Hogan, & Coote, 2014). The method becomes a clear platform that will help stimulate fresh thinking and creativity among the members and help them share the relevant information to help in the entire innovation. The team can work in collaboration having in mind the bigger picture of ensuring the clients and consumers of their respective products are well taken care of and are not affected by the entire process. To develop a better working team, the company should provide policies that will govern the operation of the team for the greater goal (ÅžimÅŸit, Vayvay, & Öztürk, 2014). With clearly defined goals, the team should have the capability of discussing matters related to the specific goals of the team.  The team leaders should constantly evaluate the team's performance and if they are relevant to the set objectives.

Conclusion

In the upcoming years, the level of technology will have risen higher than the current ones. According to research by scientists, the world is headed in a direction where all the activities, both commercial and non-commercial, will be digitalized. The plan to innovate the company might suffer a big blow due to new and improved technologies that will emerge. Among the most expected innovation includes artificial intelligence, where all the operations will be handled by artificial human beings (robots) that will operate all the machines and the functions currently being done by human beings(Unger, Ranks, & Gemünden, 2014). The robots will learn skills, perform the task and solve any emerging situation in the company. This will be followed by sucking the employers whose work will be covered by the robot.

Another future invention that poses a threat is the improved standards of education. According to research, the future generation will be educated mostly about the modernism of the technology and its benefits. The kids will grow with a different perception about the current innovation that will enable them to embrace modernism more than the current one. A dozen innovations expected will always influence the current one from the access of information (Klewitz, & Hansen, 2014). As much as the innovations will bring negative effects, the positive effects tend to be more than the negative ones. The company will have access to all the information and easily connect to their clients and suppliers through the internet. All the machines will be operated easily ad that will help them improve the production of goods.

Reference

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