...Problem Solution Best Snacks, Inc is a 150 year old company that has been held publicly for more than 100 years. Although the company has enjoyed many years of success, it has recently failed sustain its success due to the lack of innovation and creativity over the last 5 years. In today’s business environment innovation is necessary to sustain success and is an integral part of the business model. The ability to learn faster, better, and more cheaply than the competitor can mean the difference between maintaining market leadership and barely surviving (Davila, Epstein& Shelton, 2006). To regain its long held standing as a leader in the snack industry Best Snack, Inc must implement a plan that focuses on creating a culture that cultivates innovation, developing management systems that are aligned with the new strategy, and creating a new product line that will bring the company back to the forefront in the snack industry. Describe the Situation Issue and Opportunity Identification Best Snacks, Inc has been a leader in the snack industry for many years. As the snack industry began to change to meet the demands of a consumer market that is more health conscious, Best Snacks has failed to meet the challenge. Best Snacks has been slow to adapt to change and stray away from its tried-and-true research, development, and marketing activities (University of Phoenix, 2006). The complacency of Best Snacks, Inc has caused it to have falling sales and stock prices. Successful organizations...
Words: 4229 - Pages: 17
...Importance of Innovation has been discussed for decades and continues to be the most talked about management issue these days. Today, knowledge in all its forms plays a crucial role in economic processes. Organizations with more knowledge systematically outperform those with less. Within the knowledge-based economy, innovation is seen to play a central role. It was believed that an enterprise can maintain competitive advantage through quality and price. However, the research at the Ernst Young Centre for Business Innovation (CBI) has revealed that innovation isone of the most valuable differentiator for sustainable competitive advantage. Firms innovate to defend their competitive position as well as to seek competitive advantage. Innovation is at the heart of economic change. In Schumpeter’s words, “radical” innovations shape big changes in the world, whereas “incremental” innovations fill in the process of change continuously. Innovation is the motor of the modern economy, turning ideas and knowledge into products and services. 1 Apple, Google, 3M, Toyota, Microsoft, GE, and P&G were the most innovative companies in the year 2006 as per the annual list of the world’s 25 innovative firms. Innovation has been mostly discussed related to technology, product and processes. It has been argued that product and process innovation are not the main bottleneck to progress. The bottleneck is management innovation. But what is management innovation? Why is it so important? And how...
Words: 711 - Pages: 3
...Level Three business students on the usefulness of innovation management and new product development in an essay format. The topic of the essay is “what skills should a business graduate acquire about innovation management in order to advance their career development and employability”. "We live in a society where technology is a very important force in business, in our daily lives. And all technology starts as a spark in someone's brain. An idea of something that didn't exist before, that once they have invented it —brought it into existence — could change everything. And that activity is generally one that's not very well supported." - Nathan Myhrvold, CEO, Intellectual Ventures From a 2010 interview with Harvard Business Review Introduction In the development of new businesses today, initiatives that spur knowledge-based competitions amplify the importance of boundary spanning activities and tactical coalitions, which cause organizations to focus more on institutional knowledge, system improvement and knowledge management (Quah, 2001). This essay will help the level 3 business school students to understand the required skills about innovation management to to advance their career development and employability. An innovation is something that is new. You are required to write a piece of advice to a group of Level Three business students on the usefulness of innovation management and new product development in an essay format. The...
Words: 2829 - Pages: 12
...Management Principles for Continuous Innovation 2 This section is about global changes—why they are bigger, come more often, and are becoming more difficult to predict. It’s also about what companies have done, and are doing, in order to take advantage of the opportunities and avoid the threats embedded in these ever accelerating changes. Certain changes are products of shifting technologies. One established technology is replaced by something new. We’ve seen this before. Steam engines were replaced by internal combustion engines and electricity, electricity grew into electronics, landlines are being replaced by mobile telephones, and newspapers and paper books are increasingly being supplied as digital files for tablets and e-book readers. These changes also affect how people live their lives. Even when they are staying home with their sick child, they are now expected to be accessible by phone and to answer your e-mail. Some experience this as a source of stress, while others find greater freedom. Most of us experience both these feelings as a result of the changes that follow in the wake of innovations. When something new appears, whether a technological solution or a change in social norms, things generally start manageably. As the innovation gains adherents, development accelerates, and finally, when the change has become widespread, the rate of change tapers off. Subsequently, a new innovation appears, and the process begins again. We often depict this process as an S-curve...
Words: 10264 - Pages: 42
...Management in all business and organizational activities is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively. But if we try to look from closer, Mothers are the best managers if one wants to learn from. Here I am taking example of my own mother. She is a doctor so she handles her hospital work and daily routine activities of my house. I have divided the activities performed by my mother on daily routine basis (weekdays) and tried to put them into management functionalities comprises planning, organizing, staffing, leading /directing, and controlling our organization (in this case my house). All this is done by resourcing, encompasses the deployment and manipulation of human resources, financial resources, technological resources, and natural resources. |My Mother “The Best Manager” | |Time |Activity |Functionality |Learning | |0500-0530 Hrs |Waking up on time despite of |Planning |Time management | | |working late last night |Organising |Organisational commitment | | | |Leading |Consistency ...
Words: 991 - Pages: 4
...Organizational changes are essential in today’s changing technological environment and economic uncertainties. It is imperative for management to understand resistance for change in workforce and implementing corrective measures for the same. Individuals have different egos and reasons for resistance of change. Individual positive attitude and negative attitude about change also play a vital role in resistance. We can categorize resistance to change in two categories like Individual Sources and Organizational Sources. Individual Sources includes like habit, Security, Economic Factors, Fears of unknown and selective information processing (Robbins & Judge, 2013). Organizational Sources includes Structural inertia (structural inertia works as a counterbalance during organization changes), Limited focus of change (limited change nullified due to large system in place), Group inertia (Group resistance to change), Threat to expertise (threatening of specialized groups) and Threat to established power relationships (redistributing decision-making power) (Robbins & Judge, 2013). There are number of ways management can help employees to overcome resistance of changes. Management can reduce the resistance by communicating and educating workforce for any changes in organization. Workforce participation is essential for any changes required within and outside organization. Positive relationship, support and commitment can reduce the resistance significantly. Management should implement...
Words: 568 - Pages: 3
...Chapter 13 Managing change and innovation Learning outline Forces for change Change process Managing organisational change Contemporary issues downsizing, employee stress, successful change structural, human resource, and cultural variables Robbins, Bergman, Stagg, Coulter Management 5e © 2008 Pearson Education Australia Stimulating innovation Change, innovation and sustainability Forces for change Change – an organisational reality managing change is an integral part of every manager’s job government laws and regulations technology economic changes strategy, workforce, employee attitudes Robbins, Bergman, Stagg, Coulter Management 5e © 2008 Pearson Education Australia External forces Internal forces Change process The calm waters metaphor the organisation as a large ship crossing a calm sea change is seen as an occasional disruption in the normal flow of events Kurt Lewin’s three-step description of the change process Successful change can be planned and requires unfreezing the status quo, changing to a new state, then refreezing to make the change permanent Robbins, Bergman, Stagg, Coulter Management 5e © 2008 Pearson Education Australia Change process Robbins, Bergman, Stagg, Coulter Management 5e © 2008 Pearson Education Australia Change process The white-water rapids metaphor the organisation is seen as a small raft navigating a raging river with uninterrupted white-water rapids. change is an expected and...
Words: 1373 - Pages: 6
...550-Creativity, Innovation, and Organizational Design May 28, 2012 Sara Garski Best Snacks Problem Solution The snack food industry has become increasingly commodity-based over the past ten years, and while the competition has increased, differentiation among the competitors has decreased. This gradual change in the industry has caused sales to slip, market share to decrease, and stock prices to fall. The unwillingness of the company to change to the needs of the market has put the company in a position to lose its long-held premier standing in the industry. In addition to the financial and economic problems facing the company, the employees are distressed about the upcoming changes that the president of the company has implied will soon occur. Also, the employees believe that the company has done a poor job of promoting innovation in the industry which is why the organization if declining in many areas of the industry. For Best Snack’s to succeed, they must confront the problems they are faced with, and change the corporate culture from top to bottom. Describe the Situation Issue and Opportunity Identification Several issues face Best Snack’s in the increasingly commodity-based snack food industry. In a depressed economy, consumers are more likely to buy snacks based on price rather than brand loyalty (University of Phoenix, 2012). This turn in the economy has presented several problems to the leadership, all of which the management team has decided...
Words: 3886 - Pages: 16
...forces of innovation, change and continuity underlying the diffusion of management accounting systems Ran Tao Introduction Accounting is the process of identifying, measuring and communicating financial information about an entity to permit informed judgments and decisions by users of the information. (Weetman, 2010) Management accounting is a specialist branch of accounting which has developed to serve the particular needs of management. It helps companies to formulate business strategies and make right business decisions. Many different kinds of management accounting systems are available, some include cost-accounting system, job-costing system and inventory management system. In order to make a smart business decision, it is important to select an appropriate management accounting system that integrates with the company’ financial accounting system. Management accounting innovations and origins An innovation is the successful introduction of an idea perceived as new into a given social system, management accounting innovations involve a set of design characteristics. (Hopper, 2007) The innovation aspects consist of for example types of cost objects, financial or non-financial data and allocation bases. If a proposed system leads to better decisions than the existing system, and the expected benefits from the proposed system exceed the cost of implementation, the new system is adopted. (Feltham, 1972; Demski, 1980) In this case, innovative management accounting...
Words: 1631 - Pages: 7
... 3 1.1 Evaluation of Creativity and Innovation 3 1.2 Managing Change 4 2.1 Influence of Vision and Mission on Creativity 5 2.2 Analytical Tools for Creative Management 5 2.3 Risk and Benefits of Creativity and Innovation 6 2.4 Change Model for Supporting Creativity and Innovation 7 3.1 Persuading Stakeholders for Creative and Innovative Idea 7 3.2 Communicating Innovative and Creative Ideas to the Stakeholders 8 3.3 Establishing Key Goals and Priorities for Implementing Creative and Innovative Management 8 4.1 Barriers to Implementing Creative and Innovative Ideas 9 4.2 Planning Strategy to Overcome Barriers for Implementing Innovation and Creativity 9 4.3 Strategy Plan for Overcoming Barriers to Innovation ...
Words: 3673 - Pages: 15
...EXERCISE: THE IMPORTANCE OF INNOVATION INTRODUCTION In the current dynamic marketplaces, interests in innovation are escalated by businesses as they understand that in order to maintain their market position, one has to be innovative to keep up with the changing trends in different business sectors (Baregheh, Rowley and Sambrook, 2009, p. 2). The businesses can be primary in that they deal with the extraction of raw materials, such as mining and agriculture or secondary such as being involved in the manufacturing of finished goods like foods and clothes. However, innovation is not restricted to these types of industries and entrepreneurs must also cope up with the tertiary level, which involved various service provisions, for...
Words: 1538 - Pages: 7
...Introduction: Technological change, growing competition, changes in society and culture, and changes in legislation and regulation create a complex and competitive environment for the companies in order to survive and grow. Foresight is about thinking, debating and shaping the future and thus these foresight activities play a crucial role in today’s decision making process within the organization which would influence the future survival, growth and success of the corporate.(Daheim, C & Uerz G. 2006) Corporate foresight has been defined as an ability that includes any structural or cultural element that enables the company to detect discontinuous change early, interpret the consequences for the company, and formulate effective responses to ensure the long-term survival and success of the company (Rene Rohrbeck, 2011) In particular, corporate foresight activities are an increasingly important tool to make better long-term decisions, support innovation activities, strategic planning by identifying the emerging technologies and trends which would create the future scenarios. In brief, corporate foresight can be expected to be a mechanism that enables companies to profit from fundamental change. Today, when we critically evaluate the success of the foresight activities planned and executed in the past we are generally answering the question to learn “ how accurate have been in fore sighting the change” rather than trying to understand if this foresight activity has added any value...
Words: 2159 - Pages: 9
...LEVELS OF CORPORATE PLANNING AND INNOVATION Name: Institution: Date: Executive Summary One student in an Executive MBA class based his response on introduction of a self scanner in checkout terminals in a British supermarket to an assignment that required them to link a significant innovation that an organisation had introduced with strategic change in the organisation. The student failed the assignment. This report will examine the reasons why the student failed by looking at the differences between strategic, tactical and operational planning. The report analyses what causes the strategic changes in an organisation and what qualifies as strategic change. The report also discusses innovation and the different levels of innovation. This report also discusses whether the student was right to classify self-scanner checkout terminals as a significant innovation that could be linked to strategic change in the organisation. Table of Contents Executive Summary 2 1 Introduction 4 1.1 Business Policy 4 1.2 Strategic Change 4 2 Strategic, Tactical and Operational Planning 5 2.1 Statement of the Objective 5 2.2 Differences between Strategic, Tactical and Operational Planning 5 3 Innovation 8 3.1 What is Innovation? 8 3.2 Impact of innovation on growth strategies 10 4 Conclusion 11 Introduction This report will identify reasons the student failed his assignment...
Words: 2916 - Pages: 12
...| Innovation, Adapt to change and Productivity interrelationship in Telecommunications Industry. | Article Summary | for Economic Analysis(ECO740) | | | Prepared for: ASSOC. PROF. DR. AZIZ SULAIMAN Introduction The Telecommunications industry is currently undergoing changes due to globalization and new technological developments. Links between technologies within the technological system will change over time and affect the structure of the industrial network and firm behavior. Thus, organizations that successfully align service roles with advanced information technology can achieve comparative advantages in the marketplace (Youngdahl and Loomba, 2000). The deregulation and privatization of Malaysia’s telecommunications sector leads to technological innovation in the sector. Two forces drive the sector, namely technological innovation which drives the developed or matured markets; and technological diffusion which drives the developing or emerging ones (Telekom Malaysia Berhad, 2006). There is a need to adapt to developments in the global economy and local environment to strengthen the financial position and enhance service competitiveness (Telekom Malaysia Berhad, 2004). Thus, achieving the right service quality is important as it is the driving force for productivity and profitability. Good service could be achieved through empowerment (Tschohl, 1998) and the staff ability to produce more, adapt to changing technologies and to be more...
Words: 1297 - Pages: 6
...situation, the company has been forced to assess the likes and dislikes of their components in order to compete with success. Best Snacks will need to engage their stakeholders throughout the process and will have to make innovation and creativity a part of everyday life at the company. Describe the Situation Issue and Opportunity Identification In order for Best Snacks to regain its firm stand in the snack food industry they will have to tackle the issues there are currently facing. Such as, the decline in sales, market share decreases resulting in their stock prices dropping significantly, the possibility of losing their long-term popular place in the snack food industry due to the lack of their innovation and creativity. Best Snacks has the chance to integrate in a cultural change program aimed to increase employees’ creative thinking skills resulting in their increase in innovation and creativity at work. By doing this, Best Snacks would open up new realm of strategies in organizational theory, design and change. In examining and recognizing what opportunities are available, taking into account the issues it would be critical to first assess and develop a strategic innovation plan consisting of intrapreneurship and creativity. “The leaders of innovation and new product development in established organizations are intrapreneurs,...
Words: 3410 - Pages: 14
