Innovation Strategy: The Key to Organizational Success

1. The need to change a managerial strategy. For example, Coca-Cola realized in 2015 that the layer of functional management at the regional level was hampering operational efficiency. Therefore, the bottler eliminated the functional management layer and connected the regional units to the headquarters (Armstrong et al., 2015).

2. The need to adapt the organization to changes in the environment and to align to individual needs. To illustrate, the increased calls for a diverse workplace are what caused John Hopkins Medicine to introduce an Office for Diversity which seeks to create an environment where all employees feel valued (Mensah & Sommers,2016).

3. The need to change cultural norms. An excellent example of this condition is Unilever’s bold move to promote sustainability through the sustainability Living Plan (Murphy& Murphy,2018). The move called for a cultural change in the sourcing of materials as well as how the company evaluates its success.

4. The need to change structure and roles. To illustrate, many companies separate the research and development and the product development units leading to a disconnect between the two interdependent units. Therefore, the need to achieve coordination between the R&D and the product development unit may lead to change in structure and roles.

5. The need to improve intergroup collaboration. To illustrate, Miller Nursing Home, Georgia realized that poor coordination between teams led to poor patient care and outcomes (Mensah & Sommers,2016). Therefore, the facility embarked on a process of creating multidisciplinary teams to foster integrated and holistic care to the patients.

6. The need to open up communication systems. By way of illustration, Dex Media realized that to boost employee productivity and spur employee engagement; there was a need for open communication systems. Therefore, the company established a Media Intranet where employees can post questions or comments without permission (Johnson-Sheehan, 2017).

7. The need for better planning. For instance, an IT company might realize that new products are not doing well in the market thus decide to establish an innovation strategy to act as a guide in new product development efforts.

8. The need for coping with problems of a merger. For example, after acquiring Gillette in 2005, Proctor& Gamble was faced with the challenge of post-merger integration, and this necessitated significant organizational change on the side of P&G (Armstrong et al., 2015).

9. Need for change in the motivation of the workforce. To illustrate, Google realized that requiring employees to be in official attire creates a tense atmosphere. Therefore, the company gave employees the freedom to wear casual but decent clothes, and this created a relaxed work environment thus boosting employee motivation (Mishra & Mishra, 2015).

10. Need for adaptation to a new environment. In this case, McDonalds Glocalization strategy stands out since the company seeks ways to adjust to the local environment (Armstrong et al., 2015). For instance, the company sells halal foods in countries such as Malaysia and Saudi Arabia.

Question Two

            The Framework selected for this question is Gardner’s set of rules regarding achieving organizational effectiveness through self-renewal (Hayes, 2014). At the workplace, the recruitment program is not only geared toward identifying the most qualified persons but also those who have soft skills and those who demonstrate a high level of emotional intelligence. Thus, the recruitment program at the workplace leads to individuals’ who are capable of propelling the organization towards the set goals. Secondly, the non-discrimination policy at the workplace abides by Gardener’s second rule which requires organizations to be hospitable to the individual (Hayes, 2014). A hospitable work environment is one where everyone can thrive regardless of their gender, race, sexual orientation or nationality. Thirdly, my workplace requires one to set goals at the beginning of the quarter of every financial year, and this provides a basis for self-criticism since nothing is more embarrassing than failing to meet the goals which one has set (Hayes, 2014). However, my workplace fails to challenge people against becoming prisoners of their behaviors and for this reason, the level of creativity and innovation at the workplace is far from satisfying (Hayes, 2014).

            The above analysis shows that the workplace is doing well on Gartner’s first three rules. Nevertheless, the firm does not have a strategy that spurs innovation and creativity both of which are vital in gaining an unrivaled competitive edge. Therefore, there is a need for the company to introduce an effective innovation strategy that will help the firm to adapt to changing environmental needs (Thomke & Reinertsen, 2012).

Question Three

            The situation in the workplace context that is currently in the stable quasi-stationary equilibrium is the need to adopt Enterprise Resource Planning software to ease business operations and achieve decision making based on real-time data (Schein, 2017).

Driving Forces

• An increased competition which could potentially drive the firm out of business.

• Growth prospects. The company believes that achieving integration of its processes will make it easier to open new stores.

• Profitability. Leadership is keen on achieving operational efficiency thus lowering operational costs and boosting the revenues.

Restraining Forces

• The current culture does not support the use of technology in the workplace.

• The employees have a negative attitude against adoption of new technologies since they fear that they could be laid off.

• Insufficient financial resources. Adopting ERP requires significant financial resources, and currently, the firm is cash-strapped.

Figure 1: Force Field Analysis for adoption of ERP Software at the Workplace

            Driving Forces                                                             Restraining Forces

Question Four

            Lewin’s change model outlines three major actions for introducing planned change. Unfreezing refers to creating a need for change, the actions of change refer to introducing the change while refreezing is cementing change in the processes and systems of an organization (Schein, 2017).

            To introduce ERP at the workplace, there is need to inform employees on how the adoption of ERP would help the firm to achieve operational efficiency (Schein, 2017). This would show the employees that the current processes create inefficiencies which leads to work-related stress. Furthermore, unfreezing would involve a cultural change to adopt a culture that promotes adoption of new ways of doing things at the firm (Cameron & Green,2015).

            Actions to introduce change would involve looking for a vendor who would install the ERP software at the company. Also, introducing change would involve training the employees on how to use the ERP software so that they are not overwhelmed by the new system. Finally, refreezing the change would require positive and negative reinforcements to deter employees from reverting to the old method (Schein, 2017). For instance, establishing a policy that requires all employees to use ERP in the functional departments will go a long way in building ERP as part of the processes at the operational departments. Also, recognizing the employees who are leading in the adoption of ERP will motivate other employees to follow suit thus cementing the change.

References

Armstrong, G., Kotler, P., Harker, M., & Brennan, R. (2015). Marketing: an introduction. Pearson Education.

Cameron, E., & Green, M. (2015). Making sense of change management: A complete guide to the models, tools and techniques of organizational change. Kogan Page Publishers.

Hayes, J. (2014). The theory and practice of change management. Palgrave Macmillan.

Johnson-Sheehan, R. (2017). Technical communication strategies for today. Pearson.

Mensah, M. O., & Sommers, B. D. (2016). The policy argument for healthcare workforce diversity. Journal of general internal medicine, 31(11), 1369-1372.

Mishra, A., & Mishra, S. (2015). Attitude of Professionals and Students towards Professional Dress Code, Tattoos and Body Piercing in the Corporate World. International Journal of Innovative Research and Development, 4(4).

Murphy, P. E., & Murphy, C. E. (2018). Sustainable Living: Unilever. In Progressive Business Models (pp. 263-286). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.

Schein, E. H. (2017). Organization development: A Jossey-Bass reader. John Wiley & Sons.

Thomke, S., & Reinertsen, D. (2012). Six myths of product development. Harvard Business Review, 90(5), 84-94.