The quintessence of discontinuous innovation Essay Example for Free

The quintessence of discontinuous innovation Essay Birkinshaw et al. , (2006) discovered the quintessence of discontinuous innovation. It emphasized that businesses need to think strategically and must impede the existing course of action. They must analyze the competitive environment and the diverse threats and opportunities and must adapt to change management. Corporations must recognize true cronies, build brawny rapport and opt for set of connections and associations. A paradigm shift: Discontinuous innovation takes places in many ways like technological breakthroughs, exploring new markets or due to change in economic and political situation. Nevertheless such revolutionary changes have a vibrant impact on the overall external environment. It has been instigated that new product development is done by small players and major players adapt to those practices and outperform small players. Several corporations go through transitions and renovation and further improve their business models like IBM. Some of the major reasons due to which firms have to make lots of efforts to systematically perform with discontinuous innovation include: †¢ There exist uncertainty †¢ It is complicated †¢ Firms are reactive rather than proactive Many firms find it impromptu and bring to a close the entire business plan and try to allocate investment in a more certain project. More importantly corporations and firms find it difficult to challenge the conventional wisdom and continue to follow the existing systems, process, and procedures and resist change. It is said that long-term relationships assists in achieving success. Unfortunately such binding forces become one of the major predicaments to change. Apple Corporation faced lots of issues when it refused to engage in relationship with diverse business partners. A process for building networks: It comprises of three stages: †¢ Finding: In order to undergo some sort of partnership or relationship with an individual organization, one must first identify the right organization and gather as much information about that firm. One must keep in mind the vision and scope of business operations and challenging traditional ways of doing business. There should be no geographical, political or institutional barriers for creating a long-term sustainable network. †¢ Forming: It requires analyzing the willingness of business partner for creating the network. It also depends on reputation, worth and financial position of the firm in the industry. The research presents four generic approaches in order to undergo relationship: ? Business must opt for partner with whom it is easier to undergo relationship. The agreement must carefully solve different geographical and institutional barriers. It must be a win-win otherwise no deal. ? Firms must look for the best among thousands. It should take assistance of boundary spanners and scouts for long-term successful relationships. Businesses must take help from specialized firms to perform as an intermediary between two companies. It must be considered as a learning opportunity rather than a contract and internal customers must be empowered to opt for the applications of the knowledge gained. ? Business look for utterly unlike partners where prominence is given to shared goals and benefits. Both the firms try to bridge the gaps and look for the most appropriate and sustainable options. Both firms agree on mutual consent and look for major issues. Sometimes cross-individuals can assist as an intermediary. ? Sometimes partners neither belong to the similar industry nor do they want to engage in any sort of relationship with the firm. In such case firm must try to overcome institutional and geographical gaps between the two. It requires specialist who are network builders which can provide effective solutions. †¢ Performing: In performing their exist different set of barriers like difference of attitude regarding intellectual property, building commitment and trust and surfacing ethnic, institutional and ideological dissimilarities between network partners. A number of relationship networks reach the maturity level and understand difficult situations. Four challenges have been identified as follows: ? More often networks are formulated for future concerns and as a result they overlook most recent problems hence upshot into failure. Therefore network must be realistic and it must be updated on regular bases. ? It is all about trust, reciprocity and shared values which create healthy relationships among partners. ? The dominated firm must not perform as an authoritative and should look for dynamic opportunities. It is not a single player game and it requires cooperation and collaboration between both. ? Businesses establish and learn from relationships. Introduction: In this contemporary era, emerging players demonstrate dissimilar set of skills, unlike partners and proficiencies which are difficult to conjure up. The practice has remained as a paradigm for FMCGs and technological businesses. Companies look for long-term and profitable business models and try to create collaborations and alliances with suppliers and business partners. Big businesses strategically look for both direct and indirect competitors. Critical examination of the piece: Q. 1 Do you agree or disagree with the author’s basic premise? Why or why not? Answer. The Canvassers have elaborated successful business model for future growth, sustainability and prosperity. The concept of discontinuous innovation occupies a broader scope and one must engross the key concepts in order to gain competitive advantage. It results into incremental innovation, creative destruction and assists in gaining dynamic knowledge to understand the issue. Q. 2 Have the ideas held up over time, or do they now seem to be insufficient or incorrect? Answer. It seems creative and a contemporary philosophy. Firms will be facilitated with the notion and it has diverse implications. The realm remains that as the human race progress, it will further improve. It has introduced the concept of radical innovation. It helped British Petroleum a lot through different stages. Q. 3 Are the conclusions generalizable, or do they appear to be limited to specific types of industries, firms, activities, sectors, etc.? Answer. It is a generalize concept which has a broader scope. More importantly it requires strategic thinking. The research paper presents its implications in FMCGs, Technological industry, Pharmaceutical business, Advertising agencies and many more. More importantly it is not a one side approach and productive solutions are achieved through cross-functional approach, team work, decentralization and empowerment. Q. 4 Explain. In what way can this article be extended, i. e. , what ideas might the author address in a follow-on article? Answer. It is an interesting research paper with intellectual findings. The follow-on dissertation might include key characteristics of different network relationships. The research should highlight key reason why major companies collapsed and what actions they can take to improve. It must also involve the role of those companies which are at the growth level of the business and it should highlight the implications for new product development businesses. Q. 5 finally as a concluding comment, what idea(s) did you find to be most enlightening? Why? Answer. Most important is the true fact that businesses must discontinue and look for new business models, processes, procedures and ethical code of conducts. The highlighted barriers like geographical and institutional and they have remained major constraints among collaborations and alliances and most of the businesses are still performing transactional bases. Conclusion: There prevail major challenges for both MNCs and global corporation. It requires both systematic approach and consistency. Firms must be proactive and such follow all three states of finding, forming and performing diligently. References: Birkinshaw, J. , Bessant, J. Delbridge, R. (2006). Finding, Forming, and Performing: Creating Networks for Discontinuous Innovation