What I have learnt.

I have learnt that in a business everything will be better if there is some form of innovation. Innovation can be a small thing but it can make a very big impact. Initially before my research i thought that innovation was just about inventing a new product but now i know that innovation is about the organisational structure the employee environment it is about everything in a business. It has opened my eyes to what i think the best sort of innovation in a company is and that is to have a narrow span so small teams but also have a flat structure so that when the boss walks into the room it does not all go quite because most employees will have spoken to the boss whether it via email or around the office about idea that they have for the company. This has been eye opening for me about what innovation can actually do for a company and i now know that it is a very valuable asset and when I become a manager i should use my employees for ideas rather than getting a consultant in.

CIPD and innovation

"Innovation is widely regarded as a key driver of success for both private and public sector companies. But innovation is not just about the development of new products and technologies- it is about management innovation, which includes new ways of working, new organisational structures and new management methods" The CIPD stands for the Charted Institutes of Personnel and Development. The facts that i am going to present to you i have found from the CIPD innovation survey of 2008. Management innovation needs to be focused on more in businesses as "Fewer than 25%of respondents stated that innovation management and HR systems was given a high level of attention in their organisation" innovation management is to do with the organisational structure as i have discussed in my blog on organisational structures and innovation. It is a very important part of innovation which companies are obviously not paying much attention too. So from the CIPD survey i have been able to see that this is an area that needs improving. Although "65 who said their organisations were given a high level of attention to product and services" this shows that companies are becoming more innovative but are yet to see that it is not just about the product and service it is about the employees.

The survey also found that "overall, the research suggests that most organisations have not yet fully embraced the needs of generation Y employees" generation Y employees are those born after 1980. Companies are yet to realise that employees want more freedom and flexibility to be able to work from home around their children this is another area that needs to massively improve in the innovation sector as this type of innovation will benefit the company. If you give employees the trust to work at home they will show you respect and do above and beyond their work. Companies have to realise just how important jobs are to people in the current climate and that times are changing and heading towards more flexible working.

The CIPD survey has allowed me to look at some statistics that back up what I thought that while companies are trying to be innovative they are thinking big rather than small and they need to be doing both.

CIPD. (2008). Survey report September . Available: http://blackboard.lincoln.ac.uk/bbcswebdav/pid-583833-dt-content-rid-243994_2/courses/MGT2012M-1112/innovation_workplace%20CIPD%20Survey%202008.pdf. Last accessed 19th January 2012

Innovation Models Apple vs Google

There are many different ways of innovating in a company and as i have explored in my blog both Apple and Google are very good at innovating however they both do it in a very different way. One of the first main question asked before you start innovating in a company is should the innovative ideas come from external or internal sources or maybe both. Most of the time companies will opt for both as then they will be able to get the feedback from what the employees think but also what the customer and other external audiences think.

The next question to be asked is should the innovation team by a "small secretive group removed from the rest of the organisation"(OVO Innovate on purpose, 2008).  and centralised like what Apple have. Or should it be "broadly participative across the organization"(OVO Innovate on purpose, 2008).  and decentralised like what Google have.

So which one is better a centralised small team of people like Apple have or a decentralised broadly participative team like Google. I think they are both excellent company but i do feel that the better innovative company is Google as they are asking for all there employees ideas and keeping an open mind to ideas. Whereas Apple are a selected bunch of people who do come up with some fascinating ideas but could other employees have better ones that the company do not know about.

OVO Innovate on purpose. (2008). Defining your innovation model. Available: http://www.ovoinnovation.com/pdf/Innovation%20Model%20Facets.pdf. Last accessed 19th January .

Truly inspirational innovation

This poem has been written by a six year old girl with terminal cancer in a New York Hospital

Slow Dance -

Have you ever watched kids

On a merry-go-round?
Or listened to the rain
Slapping on the ground?
Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight?
Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?
You better slow down.
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.

Do you run through each day
On the fly?
When you ask "How are you?"
Do you hear the reply?
When the day is done
Do you lie in your bed
With the next hundred chores
Running through your head?
You'd better slow down
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.

Ever told your child,
We'll do it tomorrow?
And in your haste,
Not see his sorrow?
Ever lost touch,
Let a good friendship die
Cause you never had time
To call and say "Hi"?
You'd better slow down.
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.

When you run so fast to get somewhere
You miss half the fun of getting there.
When you worry and hurry through your day,
It is like an unopened gift....
Thrown away.
Life is not a race.
Do take it slower
Hear the music
Before the song is over
(Anonymous author, 2012)

Why is it that that six year old little girl has to think this way she has such an open mind to the world and deserves to live. Innovation is not just about a business and it becoming a success. Innovation is about changing peoples life for the better and one day there will be a cure.  "Pharmaceutical discovery has benefited from a remarkable revolution in technology, from its early beginnings with the introduction of aspirin to the discovery of drugs that target specific genes that cause disease. Today, pharmaceutical innovation looks very different than it did 100 years ago, 50 years ago, or even just 10 years ago." (Innovation.org,2012) because of innovation we will one day find a cure and save life’s.

Anonymous author. (2012). Slow Dance. Available: http://www.cancernet.co.uk/poems.htm. Last accessed 19th January 2012
Innovation.org. (2012). Innovation Today. Available: http://www.innovation.org/index.cfm/InnovationToday/Innovation_Today. Last accessed 19th January 2012.

Small Ideas make a BIG impact

When most people think of innovation they think of a brand new product never been seen before made by the brightest person you have ever met. But this is not the case many company’s struggle to innovate and that is because they don’t realise that it is not just about making a new product it can be about a small everyday task. It is the small things that make a big impact look at the butterfly effect "the idea, used in chaos theory, that a very small difference in the initial state of a physical system can make a significant difference to the state at some later time"(Farlex,2012).

A staff member may feel like there is a need for the schedules to be put up at an early date than what they are because she does not feel that it gives her enough time to get child care sorted and ends up not turning into work when she cannot get childcare sorted. This is a relatively small issue to the senior directors at the top of the organisational structure but is a large issue for many shop floor employees. However this small staff timetable issue may escalate to the company having to get agency staff in to cover people who are not able to work .It may also lead to people getting sacked for not turning into work. This could then lead to a higher staff turnover for the company. Which ultimately means the company has to spend more money promoting jobs and retraining staff. This could all be avoided if the employees were listened to and the schedules were put up 2 weeks earlier than what they are. This would save the company money and is an innovative idea which will help the company massively. This shows innovation does not have to be about a new invention it can be about a small matter as they do make big differences.

Farlex. (2012). Butterfly effect. Available: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/butterfly+effect. Last accessed 17th January

Innovation and change

"The lesson is clear: if you settle for the status quo, if you believe you can't change anything, you might as well stop reading right now! Business unconventionalists develop new value creation strategies, and that is not possible without passion and the determination to change things" (Foerster,A ,2009) Change is vital for a company success. In business you must keep up with the times the biggest change that has influenced businesses around the world most recently has been the technological change. This change has enabled companies to use more machines than humans which have been to companies benefit, as they are paying less for labour. However you could also argue that the technological change has put people out of work leaving them with no money to buy the goods the company are supplying.

Change can be highly demotivating for employees as it changes what you know and like. Innovation is a better way of dealing with change as the employees will feel like they are the ones who have made the change to the company and this could be very rewarding and therefore motivational for employees.
Communication is key for change as if the changes that are being made in a company are not told to every employee so that they fully understand then this would lead to demotivation and reluctance to change as they become unaware of how the business is running. If you tell the employees clearly why the changes are happening and what it is going to do for the business there should be no reluctance for change as a benefit for the business is a benefit for them.
Businesses especially in the economic climate need to make sure they are changing as being the same as another company is not going to keep them in the market any more. They need to make the most of what resources they have so making sure that the staff are aware of the company goals and asking them for innovative ideas as this will lead to success because 100 ideas are better than 1.

Foerster, A and Kreuz, P (2009). Different Thinking. London: Kogan Page Limited. p60-61

Virgin innovation



Virgin is a very successful innovative company and they say "We believe in making a difference. Virgin stands for value for money, quality, innovation, fun and a sense of competitive challenge. We deliver a quality service by empowering our employees and we facilitate and monitor customer feedback to continually improve the customer's experience through innovation." (Virgin,2012) This shows that to be successful you have to listen to your employees and your customers as they are you most treasured assets. The most innovative product i think Richard Branson has produced so far is Virgin Galactic. This really is fulfilling people’s dreams it backs up what Steve Jobs said about "sell dreams not products".

Virgin. (2012). About Virgin. Available: http://www.virgin.com/about-us. Last accessed 17th January 2012