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Innovation Assignment
Innovation Assignment
Student’s Name
Institution
INNOVATIVE TOOLS REPORT 2
Innovation, which is derived from a Latin word ‘nova’, is the process of introducing a
new technique or mechanism. Innovative ideas usually come from various sources. There some
which have been developed from an inspiration, while others come by accident. In most cases
however, most of these innovative ideas are developed with an intention of solving a problem, or
achieving customer satisfaction. It is from ideas that innovative knowledge and products are
established. One estimate once showed that for a single successful commercial, it took three
thousand ideas. With this ratio in mind, it is therefore essential for companies to generate more
Innovation has four main classifications, which a company can choose to adapt:
I. Incremental
II. Radical
- This type phases out an existing method or knowledge, and gives way to a new one. It is
III. Sustaining
- This can be either discontinuous or incremental in nature. The common thing however,
for the sustaining innovation is that it seeks to improve on a product that has already been
established.
IV. Disruptive
INNOVATIVE TOOLS REPORT 3
-In this type, a different proposition that once existed is introduced to the market. In most
Doblin (2009), has presented another model of innovation, which comprises of ten
different types. In the introduction of any new methodology, there exists a system that is simple,
and has a fundamental structure, which dictates what works for the organization, and what
contributes to its failure (Keeley, L., 2013). The ten innovation types in this case, seek to create a
framework that supports the development of innovative ideas. This makes the process of
innovation effective.
The ten innovation types are further classified into three categories:
1. Configuration
iii. Structure – It ensures ones talents are aligned with the company’s assets.
2. Offering
3. Experience
vii. Service – This is the support provided for what is being offered by an organization.
viii. Channel – It is the media in which what an organization is offering is being delivered
to their customers.
INNOVATIVE TOOLS REPORT 4
ix. Brand – This is how the products or the services offered by a given company are
represented.
customers.
For an organization to effectively use the ten innovation types, the following principles are to be
followed:
1. Understanding the ten innovative types- Nearly all the projects can develop simply by
2. Avoiding the emphasis of relying on technology – This is the easiest capability that a
3. Think about Types and categories - Always try to develop new methods of configuring
4. Using the types which matter the most – Carefully diagnose the types which your
5. Understanding the need of the customers- Research on the users can be used to determine
the products or services that are relevant to the customers. This can help an organization
6. Making good use of the innovation types – the use of more types, while carefully
integrating makes it easier to reinvent a new category and make a kill in the market.
For improved innovations, executives are required to view the procedure used in the
transformation of ideas into profitable outputs as a unified flow, rather than as value chain for the
INNOVATIVE TOOLS REPORT 5
transformation of raw materials into finished products. The value chain comprises of three
phases:
i. Generation of ideas
- All executives know that any innovation begins with the development of good ideas.
Managers usually look for creative minds in their units or departments and bring them
together to have a brainstorming session for brilliant ideas. External partners can also
different entities in the same organization is the first step towards the development of
b. Lead users – These is another category of people who are very valuable o any
business. They are the people who will modify an off-the-shelf product to suit
their personal needs. They are usually head of what is trending in the market.
competitors.
c. Customers – They are the best people to give product feedback because they
are the consumers. It is therefore very important to listen to their needs and
complaints.
d. Invention factories – This mainly used by the large organizations which carry
testing them out in the market to see how they will perform. In some cases, it
- This is the phase where all the ideas that were generated during the idea generation
are carefully screened to choose the most effective ones. At this point, the cost of
- This is the phase whereby the vetted, financed and developed concepts are
implemented and integrated into the system for the adoption of the employees as well
Tesla is one of the many organizations that has adopted the use of innovative ideas to
create an edge against its competitors. In the past before the inception of Tesla, the idea of
having electric cars was not envisioned by many. Tesla has inspired consumers with the massive
shift in the automotive industry (Sulumov, I. O., 2019). Apart from developing electric cars that
have high performance, they are strong advocates of going green. Tesla chose to employ radical
Currently, Tesla can be compared to “Apple”, because they were the pioneer in the
manufacture of the first electric car that made a breakthrough in the automotive industry. There
INNOVATIVE TOOLS REPORT 7
has been some electric vehicles that were manufactured for a while, but Tesla went an extra mile
of taking it into the mainstream. They are active in creating a market for the vehicles.
Tesla has an advantage over its competitors mainly because they are selling to the
people’s dreams. Apart from the fact that the vehicles operate on a lesser cost and that
they have lesser breakable parts, their speed attracted more people than before. It is
The biggest innovation by Tesla is the ability to manufacture electric vehicles that are
clean environment by going green, they vehicles are stylish and have the ability to beat a Formula
1 car, as well as drive themselves. That is the reason why Tesla is on the forefront as being the
first electric vehicle company to compete with the mainstream vehicles in the market and win.
For Tesla, the idea generation techniques that have been used are the;
New knowledge – Electric cars is an idea that was not visualized by many, and those who did
didn’t take it to the mainstream level. Elon Musk thought of the idea and begun working on it. It
was a new technology in the automobile industry and many people are buying into the idea. Elon
also knew that by going green during the manufacturing of the vehicles, his company stood a
Invention factories- The brilliant idea of manufacturing electric cars was generated tested and
implemented in the Tesla Company before the assembly begun. It took years of testing the
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