Benefits Of Imitation Over Innovation As An Effective Product Development Strategy

Companies find opportunities in product innovation by providing new products and services to customers. This keeps current customers interested in doing business with the company and has the potential to attract new customers. Sometimes this is done by creating new products, greatly changing an existing product or by just changing the way the current product is presented. Another form of product innovation is branding. By creating a more positive brand image a company can keep the interest of consumers.

Followers create the influence necessary for a leader to have authority. Without it the organization will stagnate.

Innovations form the main sources of competitive advantages and are always of significance for the growth of a company. Companies or organizations put their greater efforts in improving their performance by finding new ideas and knowledge on the best way of beating their competitors and therefore give satisfaction to their customers. There are various factors involved in the innovation design system which can be either internal or external.

The word “emulate” is defined in the dictionary as, to try to equal or surpass somebody or something, especially by imitation.

Innovation and innovation strategies are critical to keeping companies competitive in their chosen fields of endeavor. Consumers benefit significantly from the availability of and access to the latest in technology. This paper

This is the first case study report for the course ED5317: Strategies for Managing Innovation that is based on the Harvard Business School case titled ‘Design Thinking and Innovation at Apple’. The report consists of the following question:

A new entrant is when a new business companies will enter the market and start up their own market sales in that country. A fresh company that set up will gain a lot of recognition from consumers who are eager to purchase it.

William and Fornell (1985) define a market pioneer as “a company that is the first in developing products or

This second mover strategy is a competitive response to first movers' competitive actions and is illustrated by imitation. Taking the time to monitor customer reaction to product improvements and avoiding the blunders and prices of new product launch are compatible with Dell's successful business model. This approach also provides Dell with time to develop more effective processes and technologies or create extra value for

In the text, the author mentions the similarity between Miles & Snow and Porter’s generic typology where the “prospector model in Miles and Snow emphasizes differentiation and the defender business typically emphasizes low cost” (Parnell, 2014, p. 197). Porter’s generic typology has both differentiation and low cost considerations in the model with the focus being based on economic conditions and economic influence. In light of the similarities, the difference between these two business strategies are set in their core beliefs and concepts. Miles and Snow present their four models from a “philosophical” approach to business strategy and display the models benefits through real time explanation. Considering the four conceptual strategies “prospectors, defenders, analyzers, and reactors” the first described as “prospectors” follow “a dynamic uncertain environment and maintain flexibility”, additionally prospectors are known to lead and thrive as a “first mover” (Parnell, 2014). Prospectors tend to not like their environment to change but channel their creativity to design new products for their business. The Porter’s generic typology that is similar is the aspect of product uniqueness or unusual products known as “differentiation strategies” (Parnell, 2014, p.184), and based on the aspect of specificity. In the article, “Strategy Choices of Potential Entrepreneurs” the author explains the benefits of Porter’s three generic models and states that many entrepreneurs employ

Innovation refers to finding new ways to improve the existing products, services, processes, technologies, and employee performance in an organizational setup. In today's competitive business environment, organizations have to focus on bringing innovation in each and every aspect of their business operations; like products or service offerings, enterprise resource planning systems, marketing and promotional efforts, and organizational structure. The market challenges and competitive pressures also force organizations to use a blend of all these innovation processes in their business activities. Therefore, it is vital to give an equal focus on product innovation, process innovation, marketing innovation, and organizational innovation within the limited organizational resources and capabilities.

Chapter one portrays the importance on followers and provides some insight and labels different types of followers. Riggio et al (2008), provides examples on the various styles of individuals as followers, for instance, the sheep, the yes-people, the alienated, the pragmatics, and the star followers. Furthermore, these classes of followers provide a better understanding to leaders on why one performs in an organization.

Investing in research and development to create new product line or enhance current products adds considerable expenses. Development costs will need to be re-cooped. This will keep competitors in check, but will be challenging to keep pricing competitive.

| ST Strategies: * Make innovations for being over the potential competitors. * Use their financial position for acquire new technology.

Innovation offers the companies a competitive advantage. Presently and within the future, more than any time in history, the key to competitive advantage is innovation. However innovation will facilitate businesses meet all of their strategic challenges, not simply competition; to illustrate, in confronting accelerating rates of change, globalization, apace advancing technology, a additional numerous workforce, associated a modification from an industrial to a knowledge-based economy. Meeting all of those challenges helps the firm attain competitiveness, and meeting these challenges suitably depends on innovation. Innovation allows a firm to workout its challenges in distinctive ways in which build competitive advantage either through relative differentiation, a relative low-priced position, or few acceptable level of each. Innovation cannot assure success, however success cannot be achieved within the end of the day without it.