Understanding Innovation & Change in an Organisation Benefits of Change and Innovation Innovation

Innovation may be linked to positive changes in efficiency, productivity, quality and competitiveness, among other factors. Benefits of innovation could be the improvement in the workforce. By improving the workforce an organisation will benefit from increased productivity and improved morale and lower staff turnover. Employees will feel more valued which therefore increases motivation. This is beneficial to employers because it provides the organisation with knowledgeable, reliable staff who will have a more positive contribution to the needs of the organisation. Staff are a valuable source of innovation, even if it is not expected as a major part of their job. An innovative work environment means being creative and try new techniques. As Albert Einstein said “if you always do what you’ve always done, you will get what you’ve always got.”

Additionally, better understanding of these barriers by top-level managers within the organization will allow for better formalization of communications. These barriers include:

These barriers are found in the organizational setting and they can be broadly divided into barriers from employees and barriers from employers. Barriers from employees are low levels of motivation, refusal to cooperate as well as strained relationships with he employer. On the other hand, barriers from employers include inadequate trust in their workers, inadequate knowledge of clues of a nonverbal nature such as posture as well as facial expressions etc. For effective communication to take place, the listener can enhance his listening skills. Fully developed listening skills guarantee the successful receipt of the message that is heard (Schwartz 2001). Another way of enhancing effective communication includes avoiding multiple communication channels and doing away with the various intermediaries.

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.

A wise man once said, “The only permanent thing in the world is change,” an adage that rings especially true for organizations in this fast-changing era of technology and communication. Daft very deftly puts the inescapable need for change in three simple words, “Innovate or Perish” in his book “Understanding the Theory & Design of Organizations” [2].

The environment of an individual including culture of the company, management style, level of stress at work, etc…are also very important factors.

Practical ways of overcoming the two or more identified barriers are explained although the various suggested ways are similar in nature

This century has been full of innovation. New technologies, new products, new services, whole new industries have emerged. Yet the call for innovation in business has never been more intense. Why? Here is my list of the top ten reasons for why we need innovation. 10. For economic growth This is the most often cited reason for needing innovation. Innovation is the route to economic growth. Industries are maturing. Products are maturing. Innovation is the creation and transformation of new knowledge into new products, processes, or services that meet market needs. As such, innovation creates new businesses and is the fundamental source of growth in business and industry. 9. For

Technological change is a fundamental driver of economic development and performance, not only at the level of firms and industries but also economies. Innovation is the organizational process through which new

Innovation is not a single activity; it is a process. For businesses, innovation means fresh ideas, developing new products or services and its effective processes. Innovation can be key to any business or company in the future. Bringing innovation into your business can help you save time and money and gives you the competitive advantage needed to grow your business.

Many companies look to salaries and benefits as the first places to cut back when looking to make changes that involve cost-saving. When this happens, it is inevitable that some employees will leave the company to seek employment elsewhere. The employees that remain, whether they stay voluntarily or because they could not find employment elsewhere, are often resentful. Motivation decreases, taking job performance along with it. Employees lose their company loyalty and may even become angry enough to purposefully sabotage the company.

Tidd and Bessant (2009) argued that “Unless an organization is able to move into further innovation, it risks being left behind as others take the lead in changing their offerings, their operational processes or the underlying models that drive their business”.

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.

Innovation is the process by which ideas are created, selected and implemented to bring about profitable change to organisations. Innovations come as a result of an identified need for organisations to change their current processes, activities or operations. Andriopoulos and Dawson (2009) explain that organisational change is ‘new ways of organizing and working’. They explain that change occur in two dimensions – movement of state and scope of change.

It has to change dramatically and adapt faster; otherwise by the time you will be ready to embrace a new technology, it will be already obsolete. This reminds me of Kodak. They were the inventor of digital camera much before the actual digital camera came to market. However they did not pursue the project further fearing the downfall of their film business. They treated digital as a distant possibility. The rest is history everyone knows. In order to stay ahead of competitors, businesses need to identify future opportunities and be ready for wave of changes that will be coming towards them. They should not hesitate to make big bets and be the innovation driver themselves else their competition will go ahead.