Discuss the significance of innovation for the competitive position of the firm. Why is innovation important for business organizations? In what areas of the business might innovation be significant?
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Firstly, an organisation needs to come up with an innovation that is hard to replicate or make a generic version as this will lead to competitive advantage that is easily sustained (Lengnick-Hall, 1992). Also, the product that is being created needs to have the technology readily available to make it as efficient as possible, this will also help retain the competitive advantage of an organisation Lengnick-Hall, 1992). Another factor that has helped 3M become one of the most innovative companies in the world is its knowledge management system (Cavusgil, et al., 2003). The reason that companies such as 3M and the like establish these types of systems is that they are so vast and unique. Figueroa & Conceicao (2000) said that many of the large organisations today are slowly being eroded by new organisations starting up with new ideas and entering new markets. They also go on to say that smaller organisations will have a greater impact on their competition. In saying that, as organisations get larger they tend to loose their ability to innovate as well as their counterparts. This is mainly due to the heavy structure of a large organisation, which in turn creates communication problems (Figueroa & Conceicao, …show more content…
For starters it has over 60 000 products, this means that they have the ability to enter many different markets and have major market penetration. To enable 3M to do this they have a vast range of employees holding many different skills and qualifications. With so much diversity 3M operates their organisation using a matrix hierarchy. This allows people from many different skill sets to work on products and establish what will work and what will not work (Figueroa & Conceicao, 2000). With these specialised technical groups communication occurs very quickly and this is what helps 3M become so innovative. Many large scale organisations struggle to keep up with the market as it moves so fast, but these small diverse groups at 3M allow a LSO to be more innovative than any other organisation around (Figueroa & Conceicao,
Firstly, an organisation needs to come up with an innovation that is hard to replicate or make a generic version as this will lead to competitive advantage that is easily sustained (Lengnick-Hall, 1992). Also, the product that is being created needs to have the technology readily available to make it as efficient as possible, this will also help retain the competitive advantage of an organisation Lengnick-Hall, 1992). Another factor that has helped 3M become one of the most innovative companies in the world is its knowledge management system (Cavusgil, et al., 2003). The reason that companies such as 3M and the like establish these types of systems is that they are so vast and unique. Figueroa & Conceicao (2000) said that many of the large organisations today are slowly being eroded by new organisations starting up with new ideas and entering new markets. They also go on to say that smaller organisations will have a greater impact on their competition. In saying that, as organisations get larger they tend to loose their ability to innovate as well as their counterparts. This is mainly due to the heavy structure of a large organisation, which in turn creates communication problems (Figueroa & Conceicao, …show more content…
For starters it has over 60 000 products, this means that they have the ability to enter many different markets and have major market penetration. To enable 3M to do this they have a vast range of employees holding many different skills and qualifications. With so much diversity 3M operates their organisation using a matrix hierarchy. This allows people from many different skill sets to work on products and establish what will work and what will not work (Figueroa & Conceicao, 2000). With these specialised technical groups communication occurs very quickly and this is what helps 3M become so innovative. Many large scale organisations struggle to keep up with the market as it moves so fast, but these small diverse groups at 3M allow a LSO to be more innovative than any other organisation around (Figueroa & Conceicao,