Benchmark Study
5
Suitable Process for Managing Innovation in a Changing External Environment
Nipa Patel
MBA-580-R5034
Dr. Alyssa Dassa
29th August 2021
Most suitable process
The first thing to consider is determining the business' position, especially how the products, services, and competitive advantages compare with the competitors. At this point, it is essential to depend on frameworks that promote the probability of success, such as stage-gate, agile, lean, and discover-iterate-pivot. Stage-gate acts as a road map for the implementation of a new idea. The stage-gate challenges the conversion of innovative ideas into practical applications (Cooper & Sommer, 2016). Next, agile accommodates accountability and teamwork, facilitating adaptation to the desired outcomes (Cooper & Sommer, 2016). The best practices need to promote sustainability. Therefore, it is imperative to consider the lean process to eliminate wasteful practices and enhance efficiency (Jekiel, 2017). For instance, the new idea could explore ways to enhance safety in the vehicles, which could help compete with luxurious prototypes from the competitors. Finally, discover-iterate-pivot promotes flexibility where changes are allowed in a business concept to focus on the most promising idea. Out of the above processes, the Lean process is the most suitable in this case.
The rationale for the recommendation
The first advantage of considering the lean process is the room to welcome all suggestions before working with the one promising sustainability (Jekiel, 2017). Secondly, the lean process encourages teamwork and trust among the team players involved, which is critical in promoting cohesiveness and unity when working on an idea or concept. Another advantage of the lean process is promoting communication and deliberations while evaluating the most suitable approach to enhance competitive advantage (Jekiel, 2017).
The lean process can address the changing external environment by promoting a unified approach and practice across the organization. Such instance optimizes performance and efficiency. Secondly, the process is essential in maximizing value as well as fast deliverables. The continuous improvement cycle is also encouraged where an idea is identified, planned for, executed, and reviewed for successive organizational changes, which facilitates sustainability (Cramp & Lodge, 2019).
Ensuring functional team effectiveness in the Lean Process
Team effectiveness in an organization revolves around efficient communication. Open communication also helps define the employees' attitudes, which affects teamwork (Potoczek, 2017). From another perspective, the employees' attitudes influence the organizational culture, which can help withstand the pressure and the courage to face the risks involved with a new concept implementation. Another thing to consider is encouraging alignment, which is fundamental for sharing a common understanding of both the internal and external stakeholders intending to deal with changing external environment. Team success can be determined by evaluating the above factors and matching the progress with the goals established (Potoczek, 2017). Reviewing and implementing changes from the success measurements should be handled by the continuous improvement cycle identified in the previous section. Finally, signs such as increased interests from the investors and the customers are likely to emerge once the project is done. Such instance indicates that the concept works and is ready to promote business sustainability.
Plan for addressing the concerns of the key stakeholders
The directors who will be the audience include research and development and human resources since their main goal is to ensure that the best practices are carried out, which promote profitability and sustainability of the business. The key stakeholders to use the report include the two directors from the above departments, investors, and suppliers.
One of the possible concerns is the financial implications of the development of a new concept. The new idea has to promote a competitive advantage for the company hence the need for financial resources availability. In such a case, the financial implication needs to be addressed holistically, including the costing of the products to promote profitability and success of innovation. Another concern is the sustainability of the new idea and the possibility of enhancing the idea. In this case, the continuous improvement cycle will help address any concerns related to quality improvement and efficiency enhancement (Cramp & Lodge, 2019).
References Cooper, R., & Sommer, A. (2016). The agile–stage‐gate hybrid model: a promising new approach and a new research opportunity. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 33(5), 513-526. Cramp, C., & Lodge, M. (2019). Culture, Change, and Continuous Improvement: From Bankruptcy to Industry Leadership A True Aerospace Story. Morrisville, North Carolina: Lulu.com. Jekiel, C. (2017). Lean Human Resources: Redesigning HR Processes for a Culture of Continuous Improvement. Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press. Potoczek, N. (2017). Sources of Socio-economic Development. Bohaterów Tobruku: Cognitione Foundation for the Dissemination of Knowledge and Science.