Innovation and Commercialization

TASK 1

P1 Explanation of innovation and its importance and comparison with invention

Overview of Ragus Sugars: The organisation is running its business effectively in Slough, England, UK and offering good quality sugar and syrups to the public there. It is also rendering sugar manufacturing services and providing sugar to food, brewing, baking and pharmaceutical industries all around the world.

Innovation: launching a new product with modification in the market so that the business can be expanded is called innovation. it is chosen by those companies who are willing to retain their existing customers and willing to acquire prospects. An innovation is very beneficial for an organisation as tastes and preferences of customers always changes with time and modifications can help to fulfil their needs. In Ragus Sugars innovations are used in the form of modification in their process of producing sugar with less artificial ingredients (Avimanyu, Reed and Jessup, 2012).

Invention: It refers to a new idea which has not been introduced in the market as yet and is going to be launched for the first time. It helps to attract higher number of customers by providing them such product or service which is new to market. In Ragus Sugars managers are using a machine which is not used by any other company and that provides such sugar syrups that are made with natural ingredients and not having any fatty acids.

Difference between innovation and invention:

Innovation and invention both are very important for Ragus Sugars but if organisation is willing to invest less money and get good result than innovation is a good option because modification in existing products costs less and there is a possibility of getting positive results. It is an element that may help to attain all the individual and organisational goals because if all the organisational objectives achieve than workforce may attain their by getting good benefits in the form of monetary and non monetary resources (Batkovskiy and et. al., 2015). Innovations is very important for the employees of the organisation because it helps to attain all the organisational goals that may help to provide benefits to the workforce of the organisation according to their efforts. It also guides the employees to attain their personal goals with the help of their engagement in the work of the organisation.

P2 The way in which vision, leadership, teamwork and culture can shape innovation and commercialisation

Innovations and commercialisation both are vital for a company like Ragus sugars because if the organisation is able to operate and execute all its activities effectively than all the employees may get benefited with this. They will be appraised for their efforts and their good performance. Organisational culture, leadership vision can help the employees to attain their goals and also shape the process of innovation and commercialisation for the organisation. The importance of all these elements can be understood with the help of following explanations:

Organisational vision: It is the long term view of the organisation where it want to stood in future. For this purpose, companies have to make effective policies and strategies so that all the long term objectives can be achieved. Vision of Ragus Sugars is to be the top of the sugar industry in future so that all the goals can be attained. If managers are going to clarify the vision to the employees then it may help them to work effectively because it is the way of their personal development. A clarified vision will also help the company to find best way to be successful. It may shape innovation and commercialisation because Ragus Sugars need to make modification in their products to rule on the minds of customers and to be on the top of the industry.

Leadership: Effective leadership can motivate and influence employees to perform with full efforts. If leaders of Ragus Sugars are very cooperative and supportive then it may increase employees trust in them and also result in enhancing work quality of their subordinates. Decentralised leadership style if followed in Ragus Sugars in which all the power is distributed among staff members and all the employees in which they are free to give their opinion. Leaders take advice form their subordinates as they have practical knowledge of market and customers because they interact with them and perform their duties in market. While managers are thinking of innovation and commercialisation than thoughts of employees may help to shape the process that are presented by leaders to the higher executives on behalf of them (Budzianowski, 2016).

Organisational culture: Effective and appropriate organisational culture may help to establish a new business and to be successful in long term by achieving all the objectives. In Ragus Sugars, task culture is followed by the managers in which different individuals are taken form different departments and then they formulate a team to find solutions for organisational issues. All the members of the team are experienced and skilled and they are able to handle all the challenges. It may help to shape the innovation and commercialisation as team members may formulate effective strategies so that this may help to acquire higher market share.

Teamwork: Teams of an organisation are the elements that are required to perform all the organisational activities and also very important for the process of commercialisation and innovation. If all the teams members of Ragus Sugars are working effectively and their leader are supporting them than it may result in favour of the organisation as good team work always lead toward success. While willing to achieve all the goals than team work can help to make it easy and also help to shape the process of innovation effectively (Cho and Lee, 2013).

M1 Different sources of innovation

There are various sources of innovation that may be used by Ragus Sugars to achieve all its objectives. These sources are changes in perception, needs and demand of customers, modification in market structure, development in knowledge of society, changes in demographics etc. All these sources lead to innovation and help organisations to be more competitive in the market and to acquire higher market share (Datta, A., Mukherjee and Jessup, 2015).

TASK 2

P3 Explanation of 4Ps of innovation and Innovation funnel

4Ps of innovation are introduced by John Bessant and Joe Tidd. These are the elements that may help to choose right innovation in the product or services (4Ps of innovation, 2015). Theur Ps are product, position, process and paradigm that may be used by Ragus Sugars in the process of innovation to identify the best field where the modification and required and should be made. Managers of Ragus Sugars can choose any of them for the innovation that may be introduced in future. All of them are described below:

Product: It refers to the element which is sold by the company and modification is made according to the specification and needs of the customers so that higher market share can be acquired by the company. If Ragus Sugars is willing to attract more customers than it is essential for the organisation get right idea of customer’s needs so that appropriate strategies can be formulated by the managers in order to attract them.

Process: All the steps that are followed in manufacturing process are called process. It also include the activities of human resource department in which employees are hired and selected. It is vital for Ragus Sugars to make right modifications or innovation in such processes so that goals can be achieved (Datta, Reed and Jessup, 2013).

Position: It is same as the promotion in marketing mix in which organisation make strategies to aware customers about their products. Innovation in promotional activities can be made by Ragus Sugars in order to acquire higher market share.

Paradigm: It refers to the process of formulation of policies that are used to monitor all the activities of the organisation. If Managers of Ragus Sugars are planning to make innovation in this element than it may help to change the business model and help to attain success.

From all the above mentioned elements product innovation is a good option for Ragus Sugars as most of the customers are willing to use such type of sugar syrups that ay not harm their health and also used as a diet element.

Innovation Funnel: It is combination of three different essentials that are investigation, development and shipping products. Innovation funnel can be used by Ragus Sugars while implementing the plan for modification in the products. In investigation, all the information of market can be gathered. In development stage the modifications are made in existing products and in last step shipping the innovative products are shipped in market and offered to the customers. It is an effective tool that help the managers to shape the innovative ideas select right strategy for the organisation (Dereli and Altun, 2013).

P4 Developments in frugal innovation and their use

Frugal Innovation: It is also known as frugal engineering in which managers of the organisation try to reduce complexities and cost of products and services that are produced or offered by the company. This type of innovation can be used by Ragus Sugars while making modifications in its products as it may help to reduce cost and also decrease the possibility of complexity in production process of the organisation. It guides to reduce those features from a product that are not worthy and will not affect the sales. Outcome of such types of innovations is positive and help to increase profit margin of the company (Grimm and Jaenicke, 2012). A good example of frugal innovation is launching on Nano car by TATA it was the best innovation that was made by the company as it was the innovation in the cars that can be afforded by medium as well as lower class customers.

Example: As Ragus Sugars is a manufacturing company and it the organisation is manufacturing a product which is not that much attractive and not making profits for the company. This type of innovation can help to remove some old features of that particular product and may guide to add appropriate feature to that product that may help to grab attention of customers. This step of Ragus Sugars may help to reduce its cost of innovation process and product as a modification is being made in existing product.

Find possibility in hardship: This principles guides the organisations to make effective decisions and strategies to convert threats in to opportunities.

Do more with less: It depicts that organisations should make modification in the manner in which cost can be saved.

Think and act flexibly: The managers of the companies should have flexible thinking rather than inflexible.

Keep it simple: If the business entity is making innovation than it should make it simply rather than making complex for the customers.

Include the margin: Companies are suggested to conduct a market research and than make effective decisions by considering feedback of customers.

Follow your heart: The managers of the organisations should be always passionate about their work as it may help to generate innovative ideas.

All the above mentioned principles can help to make the innovation process effective and  appropriate for the customers.

M2 Application of innovation funnel in an organisation

Innovation funnel can be implemented in Ragus Sugars as it is an effective tool that may help to introduce the modified product in market appropriately. Its three elements investigation, development and shipping guides the employees and leaders of the company to gather actual and exact information of market and then develop the products according to the market trends and then launch it in the market for customers (Hsieh, 2013). in investigation stage market research is conducted for customers, in development stage modifications are made in the products that are offered by company and in last the modified products are offered to the market in shipping stage.

M3 Evaluation of role of frugal innovation

Frugal innovation is a process of reducing costs of a product by decreasing it's complexities. The most important role of this process is to remove unnecessary features of a product which are not useful but only increases complexities and price of that product. This process also helps an organisation like Ragus sugars to re design their product and serve their users a batter version of that goods. Frugal innovation also helps a business organisation to ascertain business models which can suit them best. This process often helps in discovering new applications for innovation as they main aim of this process is to make innovation work. Frugal innovation is a common concept of innovation and commercialisation as this process helps in commercialise the innovative product or service in the market.

D1 Analysing development and measurement of innovation  in an organisational context

Innovation is a process of creating new things in an organisation. In order to innovate an idea or product, it is important to develop an innovation plan which can include all the aspects of innovation such as costs, scope, risks and other attributes. Innovation is not a thing which can be brought and everyone at the organisation stated using it, this needs to be embedded by bringing the familiarity about the idea which is going to be used and its benefits so that maximum support can be attained. Innovation can even be measured by the organisation by the process of innovation frugal. This process ensures that it doesn't result in inappropriate and extra features of a product which only increases its complexities. This is how the process of innovation is developed, embedded and measured in an organisation like Ragus sugars (Vishnevskiy, Karasev and Meissner, 2015).

TASK 3

P5 Importance of commercial funnel and application of new product development process

Commercial funnel which is often known as purchase funnel is a process of buying a product by a customer using all the information they have about the products. The concept of commercial funnel is important for an organisation as it enables to ascertain demand and supply of the product. The process of commercial funnel is categorised into five stages which are important for increasing demand for the product. The first stage is awareness in which all the features and characteristics are used to aware people about the product's benefits. The second stage in this process is opinion in which opinion of the costumers is gained about the product and it's innovative approach so that feedback can be recorded and be further used for improvement in the product. Consideration is the another stage in this process of innovation funnel in which value or price of the innovative product is set. The price is set after getting feedback of the customers so that price optimisation aim can be fulfilled and customers can be satisfied. Another stage in this process is preference, in this step preferences of customer is ascertained in order to ensure that preferences and choices of the customers can be matched with the product so that fifth stage can also be gained which is the final purchase stage.

The process of commercial funnel is conducted for new product development. NPD is a process of developing a new innovative product to fulfil the basic aims of an organisation that is client satisfaction and profit maximisation. This process of development is used in Ragus sugars to develop the  new sugar processor in this company. Idea generation is the first stage of NPD in which idea about the sugar processor is deceloped. In the stage of Idea screening, this idea is further analysed. In the stages like concept testing and business analysis, idea of the company is evaluated from the business point of view. The last stage of this process is commercialisation in which idea is further utilised and executed to attain commercial benefir from it. Application of NPD is to develop the attributes of a product in such a way that it will benefit a customer with the features. In the process of new product development, process of product which is developed by the organisation is introduced in such a way that it will attract maximum of customers and aims of the organisation can be fulfilled which are even the application of NPD. These objectives are productivity, profitability and client satisfaction (Jacobsson, Lindholm-Dahlstrand and Elg, 2013).

P6 Innovation business case for an organisation

Innovative business case is a concept of preparing a business strategy and plans to ensure high profitability from organisational products. There are various aspects which should be considered while making a business case that are scope, cost, risk , quality and managing operations. Business case for Ragus sugars is developed below:

Executive summary - Ragus sugars is planning to  introduce an innovative process of processing their sugar products in order to serve better quality products to their customers.

Scope of this innovation is limited to the machines of this company as this process can not be used in other type of machineries.

Quality - The basis of the innovation of Ragus sugars is quality. In order enhance the processing of their sugar products, this company decided to use innovation process. This can be said that quality of the innovative product of this company is high.

Risk - Risk factor which is involved in the process of using that innovative process in the manufacturing of organisational products. It is considered that a reasonable amount of risks is involved in every innovative idea as that idea is not previously used by any other individual. In the case of Ragus sugars, there is risk involved in the using of method of processing sugar as it can result in high cost and low customer satisfaction. Risk involved in this innovative project can be minimised using techniques of evaluation and budgeting.

To execute a business case effectively, it is important to have appropriate funds of finance. There are various sources from where, Ragus sugars can acquire funds. Funds from previous earnings, savings and retained income and company funds are the internal sources which can help this company to execute their plan. In the case when, internal sources are not enough business organisation can even acquire funds from external sources. These external sources are loans from financial institutions, grants from governmental authorities, unsecured debt and raising of capital (Kilelu, Klerkx and Leeuwis, 2014).

M4 Business case that includes the measurement of all its effectiveness techniques

Business case is a concept of introducing a new innovative product or process by a business organisation. In order to measure overall efficiency of the business project it is important to analyse future demand of that product. For example: if Ragus sugars is introducing a new innovative product in market then they first have to measure its future demand with its help of present price of the product and market conditions about that product. Overall efficiency of a product can be measured by using techniques such as budgets and future estimations of demand. Efficiency of a business case is necessary to be measured as it can tell whether or not business case will result into profitability or not.

P7 Tools that can be used by the organisations to develop, retain and protect knowledge

Ragus sugars is a sugar manufacturing company which is opeartig in wholesale and retail market. It is important for this organisation to develop and retain their intellectual property as they are involved in introducing innovative processes. Innovation is considered as one of the greatest concerns fro this organisation. In this competitive market structure, to gain competitive advantage Ragus sugars uses the approach of innovation so that they can acquire a distinctive  identity. All the innovations which are developed by organisations are required to be protected so that any other company can not imitate it. There are various tools by which new innovations and inventions can be protected and are mentioned below:

Patents – These are the tools which protect every innovation related to technology and invention performed by the company. This tool enables the organisation to securely protect their information but for a limited period of time. After the expiry of that period they have to renew the their patent in order to continue security services.

Copyright – This is an another tool of securing innovative ideas of a company. Copyright helps an organisation to secure any idea which is related to art and creativity. Any third party which requires to use this information or idea first has to take the permission of inventor. In the case of Ragus sugars, they attain competitive advantage as the system which they use to process their sugar is innovated by them and can not be used by any other organisation unless Ragus sugars permit them.

Trademarks – This is an another tool for protecting innovations under which an organisation is enable to differentiate their product or processor with others. This tool provides an opportunity to business organisation to make identity of their product or process different from others. This type of tool protects the invention or innovation for a limited period if time.

The tools which are mentioned above helps an organisation like Ragus sugars to protect their innovation and inventions (Qian, and Haynes, 2014).

M5 Evaluation of tools in the context of wider business environment

Tools which protect innovation and inventions of a business organisation are trademarks, copyrights and patents. These tools can be used by every business organisation regardless of their  size and structure. Ragus sugars is a small medium enterprise in which uses these tools. Along with this company, various large scale companies also utilises these tools to secure their innovative ideas for imitation.

In the case of trademark, Ragus sugars uses this tool to develop differentiation among their process and processes used by other companies. With the help of this tool, Ragus sugars has maintained an unique identity in the market. In the case of copyrights, information, inventions and innovations related to art and creativity are protected. Ragus sugar can protect their idea of using an unique system for sugar processing cam be protected through this tool (Thore, 2012).

D2 Impact of small business on different level of the economy

Small business are the base of economic development as these businesses are generally involved to fulfil basic requirements of an organisation. Ragus Sugars is also a small business enterprise which impacts the economy of United kingdom at every level. In order to better understand impact of ragus sugars an example can be considered. Ragus sugar is a sugar manufacturing company and it generates employment opportunities at its initial level. At its medium level, they generates productivity for their development (Walsh, 2012).

Conclusion

From the above project report, it has been concluded that innovation is a process of producing a new and unique product and process by a business organisation. Various measures and techniques are used in this project in order to analyse innovative business case from which it has been concluded that0 success of innovation can be attained by specific measures. Commercial funnel and innovation frugal are the concepts which are discussed in above assignment to build an understanding about various different concepts related to innovation. Ragus sugars has adopted some innovative ideas to commercialise their products and processes. NPD has also been discussed to differentiate about the two concepts of launching a new product and establishing an innovative product. Various tools are also identified which can be used to by business organisation to manage the their knowledge of intellectual property.

References

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