BU7030 Managing Innovation Assignment Sample

Introduction

Innovation management is considered the topmost efficient parameter of ensuring a competitive advantage for an organisation with the help of technological advancement.

Moreover, the consideration of increasing operational efficiency can also be noted with innovation management as a foremost benefit. In this concern, the present research report will pay attention to critically evaluate Tidd and Bessant innovation process model with regards to the UK oriented global retail service provider Marks and Spencer.

Apart from that, an internal resource analysis will also be conducted on behalf of the mentioned organisation, which has been ensuring the success of the organisational innovation strategy. Lastly, the report will critically intercept the potential influence of the organisational culture behind the management of the innovation process and ensuring organisational efficiency.

Findings and analysis

Critical analysis of Tidd and Bessant’s innovation process model

Innovation in an organisation in the present generation has become necessary as this not only helps them increase the competitiveness but also helps in resolving several issues in both the internal and external environment of the organisation.

Marks and Spencer have also taken several innovative ways to manage and lead their business in the highly competitive retail industry (Tidd & Bessant, 2018).http://BU7030 Managing Innovation Assignment Sample In order to critically evaluate the steps and approaches adopted by the company, Tidd & Besant’s innovation process model can be taken into consideration.

This particular model of innovation helps in leading innovation by studying the approaches and steps adopted to reach an innovative outcome. The model has four steps that helps in the development of innovative strategies for organisational growth.

Figure 1: Tidd & Bessant innovation model

(Source: Tidd & Bessant, 2020)

Search

This is the first step of the innovation model and this requires the organisation to identify opportunities for innovation that are present both in the internal and external environment of the company (Tidd, 2021).http://BU7030 Managing Innovation Assignment Sample This is one of the most crucial aspects of the innovation strategy as the next steps of the model are dependent upon the opportunities that are identified in this step of the process.

In terms of Marks and Spencer, the organisation has identified opportunities in the development of products that they sell. Furthermore, the organisation has also identified opportunities present in sustainable business strategies. In terms of product development, the organisation has identified that focusing upon plant-based foods can effectively help the company to reach out to a large number of consumers who do not prefer meat or animal-based food sources.

Moreover, in order to achieve sustainability, the organisation has focused upon protein alternative foods that can be derived from soybeans. Products such as soya milk can be a great alternative for regular dairy milk where soya milk is much more sustainable (Paulo et al. 2017). http://BU7030 Managing Innovation Assignment SampleApart from that, M&S has also identified opportunities present in digitalisation technological advancements that can be integrated within the organisational culture and its operations.

Select

This is the second step of the innovation process model where the organisation needs to identify what innovative activity or operation, they are going to undertake in order to avail themselves of the opportunities they planned to achieve. This is a very important step, as this would determine the effectiveness and the success rate of their innovation strategy.

If the organisation is unable to come up with an action plan that can determine what they are going to do then the innovation strategy might not materialise (Albats et al. 2020).http://BU7030 Managing Innovation Assignment Sample In terms of Marks and Spencer Group plc, the organisation has effectively identified sustainable business development that led to decreasing the use of plastics used in the packaging and storing of their products.

Reducing plastic is an effective way of achieving sustainability in the business environment and this action taken by the company has added to the sustainable business development strategies of the company (Tidd & Bessant, 2020).http://BU7030 Managing Innovation Assignment Sample The organisation has also identified the increasing number of vegan consumers and in order to target them, the organisation has focused upon the development of high protein food sources that are plant-based.

Furthermore, Marks and Spencer Group has also evaluated the feasibility of technological advancements based on which the company has started their mobile service in different branches located in the UK.

The development of search mobile-based services reflects that the organisation has future plans to further expand their digital services which at present are only limited to paying for the items that customers buy. Adding to that, the organisation has also planned to reduce their carbon footprints significantly in the next few years which is a part of its sustainable business development.

Implement

Implementing the innovation strategy is the next step where Marks and Spencer Group plc need to decide how they are going to successfully implement the strategies they have decided to utilise.

During this stage, the existing resources of the organisation play a major role in ensuring that the organisation is able to successfully incorporate the innovative measures that have been decided (Bessant & Rush, 2019).http://BU7030 Managing Innovation Assignment Sample In this regard, to successfully implement their innovation strategies, Marks and Spencer have taken several steps to ensure that any kind of invention that the management decides can be implemented quickly and in the most efficient manner.

Implementation stages are one of the important stages in the entire process as this allows the organisation to identify the risks that are present and utilise risk mitigation strategies to successfully eliminate the presence of any risks that might hamper their implementation process.

Furthermore, the implementation stages are also important, as this is the stage where the innovation strategy is finally put to work, and it starts yielding results. Monitoring this entire stage is very necessary for the managers as this helps them in understanding the shortcomings of their plan.

The monitoring helps the managers to understand how the implementation process is working out based on which they can identify shortcomings in the implementation plan, which can be eliminated by making changes (Boonkua, Tuntinakorngul & Tungkunanan, 2020).http://BU7030 Managing Innovation Assignment Sample

Capture

This is the last stage of the innovation process and this allows the organisation to identify how they are going to achieve the benefits from the innovation they have utilised. In this regard, it is necessary for the organisation to understand what are the different departments and areas in the business the innovation strategy is concerned with (Bigliardi & Galati, 2018).http://BU7030 Managing Innovation Assignment Sample

Innovation has been done on the product that the company sells and the benefits can be gained by increasing the amount of sale and generating a higher percentage of revenue. Innovation has been done on the manufacturing process of a particular product then the organisation can aim to benefit from the increased rate of the production process.

In the case of Marks and Spencer, the organisation has utilised the innovation process in the form of product development where they have designed products that can be consumed by consumers of varied tastes and preferences. This has allowed the organisation to effectively increase the sales and influence consumer buying behaviour towards their new product this is particularly beneficial for the company and its competitiveness in the market.

Internal resource analysis for succeeding with the innovation strategy

The innovation strategy of Marks and Spencer’s is usually dependent upon different internal resources, which has ensured the success of the organisation. The topmost concern in this aspect reflects the technological advancement obtained by Marks and Spencer’s in order to innovate their irregular operations. For example, the launch of an innovation hub from the perspective of Marks and Spencer’s can be recognised.

This innovation hub is created with a new specialist team focusing on disruptive innovation for creating industry-leading products and services (Corporate, 2020). http://BU7030 Managing Innovation Assignment SampleHowever, this innovation hub is also supportive to the organisational food strategy in terms of protecting the magic whilst modernising the rest.

This resource is also notified to galvanise emerging market trends and consumer insights along with the latest technologies in order to help spearhead sustainability solutions with regards to the organisational food strategy. This might include Soya alternatives proteins for plant-based foods, material science for cutting down plastic packaging and others (Corporate, 2020).http://BU7030 Managing Innovation Assignment Sample

Different technological resources can also be reflected in this context including the consequences of maintaining the partnership. For example, the alternative protein supplier 3F Bio can be considered (Corporate, 2020).http://BU7030 Managing Innovation Assignment Sample

On the other hand, the company was also noticed to consider technology transformation programs as an integral part of their 5-year transformation plan.

This program is acting as the topmost resource behind the consideration of digital-first business and improving customer experience delivery (Corporate, 2018). http://BU7030 Managing Innovation Assignment SampleThe consequences of more agile, fast, and commercial technology function features are included in this program for experiencing business growth.

Several relational resources can also be analysed from the organisational perspective including the creation of an emerging technology operating model for driving significant efficiencies behind the exploitation of new technology in Marks and Spencer (Corporate, 2018).http://BU7030 Managing Innovation Assignment Sample

The organisation was also initiated to create a joint venture with one of the leading technology companies across the globe Tata Consultancy Services. With this technology transformation program, Marks and Spencer’s is expecting to deliver annual efficiencies of £30 million by the year 2021-22 (Corporate, 2018).http://BU7030 Managing Innovation Assignment Sample Apart from that, Marks and Spencer also began to extend their mobile pay-go service across 50 branches in the UK (McDonald, 2020). http://BU7030 Managing Innovation Assignment SampleThe company considered a successful trial of this innovative service in six organisational stores.

This checkout less technology also defines the consideration of innovation within Marks and Spencer’s operations with the help of technological resources. Moreover, this technology might also allow potentially organisational customers to enable a comparatively faster transaction process with less than 40 seconds (McDonald, 2020).http://BU7030 Managing Innovation Assignment Sample Because of this, greater customer satisfaction aspects might be obtained by the organisation.

A more customer-centric approach might be undertaken by Marks and Spencer by depending on their technological resources as mentioned. However, the management of Marks and Spencer also confirmed their plan in terms of scaling the organisational online capacity for Christmas through proactive involvement of the automation technologies across their Leicestershire distribution centre and Castle Donington (Galea-Pace, 2020).http://BU7030 Managing Innovation Assignment Sample

Along with this, Marks and Spencer’s had also paid attention to obtaining adequate human resources with extensive knowledge and skills level in order to maintain the organisational innovation strategy.

In this concern, the introduction of the emerging innovation hub from the perspective of Marks and Spencer included the retention of technical and commercially focused team members (Corporate, 2020). http://BU7030 Managing Innovation Assignment Sample

The prime concern behind this initiative was to lead and drive technological innovation in order to support extensive business growth on behalf of Marks and Spencer. Moreover, the organisation also confirmed the increase of their starting numbers by 30% in order to support their online capacity for Christmas in different UK stores and distribution centres (Galea-Pace, 2020).http://BU7030 Managing Innovation Assignment Sample

On the other hand, Marks and Spencer’s management has been noticed to include adequate financial resources as an integral part of obtaining success through their innovation strategy. Sufficient investment can also be notified from the organisational perspective in order to support their innovation strategies.

For instance, it can be stated that Marks and Spencer’s initiated to invest £ 25 million in their digital-first tech program changes (Strudwick, 2018). http://BU7030 Managing Innovation Assignment SampleMoreover, this investment also unveiled the organisational plan of transforming one-third of their business online by the year 2022.

From this viewpoint, the organisational commitment can be considered behind the transformation of Marks and Spencer’s operational features with the proactive engagement of their colleagues and customers, market shareholders and others. However, the organisation also accelerated their investment towards supply chain operations. This financial resource has been acting in favour of enlarging the organisational eCommerce logistics capability and supply chain aspects for managing their flow of goods and services across the globe.

The aforementioned analysis discloses the technological, human and financial resources of Marks and Spencer’s as an integral part of their innovation strategy.

Influence of culture on management’s approach to manage innovation and ensure efficiency

Culture plays a significant role in an organisational managerial approach to consider the innovation process. Several consequences can be noticed in the operational perspective of Marks and Spencer is as the organisation began to digitise as an integral part of their innovation process.

In this concern, a digital culture was generated by the organisational management. However, the organisation was notified to depend on an emerging alumni network for bringing together a community of former staff. This initiative reflects the organisational culture of depending on their former employees to provide valuable feedback on the organisational products and services.

Moreover, the consideration of a series of events with question and answer and alumni interviews were undertaken by the organisation featuring the entrepreneurs and business titans who started their careers on the shop floor of Marks and Spencer’s (Barker, 2021).http://BU7030 Managing Innovation Assignment Sample

This initiative can also be recognised as the organisational collaborative culture to proactively involve both the existing and former stakeholders with their business. The aspects of the feedback process were also undertaken by the company in order to point out the probable area of improvement with regards to the organisational products and offerings.

Apart from that, the digital-first culture was supported by Marks and Spencer’s management with the appointment of the first chief digital and data officer in 2018 (Hammett, 2018). http://BU7030 Managing Innovation Assignment SampleThe prime concern behind this initiative was to leverage data and digital for the benefit of customers, colleagues, and organisational shareholders.

In this aspect, the management of Marks and Spencer’s initiated the development of a modern digital mindset culture across their business. Moreover, the inclusion of the first chief digital and data officer was also considered by Marks and Spencer’s management in order to empower the organisational digital behaviours, digital mindsets and culture.

In this regard, different technology-focused partnerships can be suspected from the perspective of Marks and Spencer’s with renowned organisations including Microsoft, Decoded and True, Founders Factory and others (Hammett, 2018).http://BU7030 Managing Innovation Assignment Sample

With regards to improving the digital culture in Marks and Spencer, a data-led approach can be suspected which is proactively interrelated with the organisational marketing initiatives.

This approach had benefited the organisational digital culture due to which the retailer reported online sales growth of 47.5% with more than doubled full-price online orders during the previous year (Barker, 2021).http://BU7030 Managing Innovation Assignment Sample

Apart from that, a training and development culture was also undertaken by Marks and Spencer’s management in order to obtain success through their innovation process. In July 2020, Marks and Spencer disclosed their plan of launching the retail data academy (Hammett, 2018). http://BU7030 Managing Innovation Assignment Sample

The prime reason behind this initiative was to engage more than a thousand colleagues from every detailed function of the organisational business including customer service and marketing department with efficient training. The prime purpose of the training reflected to make the employees familiar with advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning and others.

Conclusion

The overall report clarifies different consequences of innovation management from the operational prospects of Marks and Spencer. The evaluation of Tidd & Bessant innovation model has also been evaluated alongside Marks and Spencer’s innovation strategies.

The internal resource analysis of Marks and Spencer’s discloses the aspects of an innovation hub and advanced technological implementation with technology forecast partnerships.

Apart from that, the consideration of creating a new technology operating model and added a greater value to enlarge the operational efficiency within the organisation. Along with this, the decision of increasing human resources and financial investments can be suspected from the perspective of Marks and Spencer’s in terms of supporting their innovation strategy under the lights of the digital-first mindset.

Moreover, the appointment of the new first chief digital and data officer also proves the organisational management concern towards driving a modern digital mindset.

References

Albats, E., Alexander, A., Mahdad, M., Miller, K., & Post, G. (2020). Stakeholder management in SME open innovation: interdependences and strategic actions. Journal of Business Research, 119, 291-301. Retrieved on 23 May 2021 from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0148296319304552

Barker, M., (2021). M&S sees alumni network as the latest sign of digital transformation. [Online]. Retrieved on 23 May 2021 from https://www.marketingweek.com/marks-and-spencer-alumni-digital-transformation/

Bessant, J., & Rush, H. (2019). Innovation Agents and Technology Transfer 1. In Services and the Knowledge-based Economy (pp. 155-169). Routledge. Retrieved on 23 May 2021 from https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315864228-9/innovation-agents-technology-transfer-1-john-bessant-howard-rush

Bigliardi, B., & Galati, F. (2018). An open innovation model for SMEs. Researching Open Innovation in SMEs; Frattini, F., Usman, M., Roijakkers, N., Vanhaverbeke, W., Eds, 71-113. Retrieved on 23 May 2021 from https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Francesco_Galati/publication/323127772_An_open_innovation_model_for_SMEs/links/5a93ee79aca2721405661897/An-open-innovation-model-for-SMEs.pdf

Boonkua, A., Tuntinakorngul, A., & Tungkunanan, P. (2020). Innovative Organization’s Components in Basic Education Institutions in Thailand. International Journal of Instruction, 13(3), 31-42. Retrieved on 23 May 2021 from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1259276.pdf

Corporate, (2018). MARKS & SPENCER ANNOUNCES A TECHNOLOGY TRANSFORMATION PROGRAMME. [Online]. Retrieved on 23 May 2021, from: https://corporate.marksandspencer.com/media/press-releases/2018/marks-and-spencer-announces-technology-transformation-programme

Corporate, (2020). M&S FOOD TO SUPERCHARGE DISRUPTIVE INNOVATION WITH THE LAUNCH OF DEDICATED NEW TEAM. [Online]. Retrieved on 23 May 2021, from: https://corporate.marksandspencer.com/media/press-releases/5e0f046f7880b21924350282/m-and-s-food-to-supercharge-disruptive-innovation-with-the-launch-of-dedicated-new-team

Galea-Pace, S., (2020). Marks & Spencer: Accelerating Investment in Supply Chain. [Online]. Retrieved on 23 May 2021, from: https://supplychaindigital.com/supply-chain-2/marks-and-spencer-accelerating-investment-supply-chain

Hammett, E., (2018). M&S hires first chief digital and data officer to drive a ‘modern digital mindset’. [Online]. Retrieved on 23 May 2021 from: https://www.marketingweek.com/marks-spencer-first-chief-digital-data-officer/

McDonald, G., (2020). Marks & Spencer rolls out pay-and-go technology to 50 stores. [Online]. Retrieved on 23 May 2021, from: https://www.retail-week.com/tech/marks-and-spencer-rolls-out-pay-and-go-technology-to-50-stores/7034109.article?authent=1

Paulo, A. F. D., Oliveira, S. V. W. B. D., & Porto, G. S. (2017). Mapping impacts of open innovation practices in a firm competitiveness. Journal of technology management & innovation, 12(3), 108-117. Retrieved on 23 May 2021 from https://scielo.conicyt.cl/scielo.php?pid=S0718-27242017000300011&script=sci_arttext&tlng=n

Strudwick, M., (2018). M&S to invest £25m in ‘digital-first’ tech programme changes. [Online]. Retrieved on 23 May 2021, from: https://www.thegrocer.co.uk/marks-and-spencer/mands-to-invest-25m-in-digital-first-tech-programme-changes/561989.article

Tidd, J. (2021). A review and critical assessment of the ISO56002 innovation management systems standard: Evidence and limitations. International Journal of Innovation Management, 25(01), 2150049. Retrieved on 23 May 2021 from https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Joe_Tidd/publication/344628628_A_REVIEW_AND_CRITICAL_ASSESSMENT_OF_THE_ISO56002_INNOVATION_MANAGEMENT_SYSTEMS_STANDARD_EVIDENCE_AND_LIMITATIONS/links/5f857a6ba6fdccfd7b5cd2a4/A-REVIEW-AND-CRITICAL-ASSESSMENT-OF-THE-ISO56002-INNOVATION-MANAGEMENT-SYSTEMS-STANDARD-EVIDENCE-AND-LIMITATIONS.pdf

Tidd, J., & Bessant, J. (2018). Innovation management challenges: From fads to fundamentals. International Journal of Innovation Management, 22(05), 1840007. Retrieved on 23 May 2021 from https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Joe_Tidd/publication/324720923_INNOVATION_MANAGEMENT_CHALLENGES_FROM_FADS_TO_FUNDAMENTALS/links/5adef2e00f7e9b285943aa76/INNOVATION-MANAGEMENT-CHALLENGES-FROM-FADS-TO-FUNDAMENTALS.pdf

Tidd, J., & Bessant, J. R. (2020). Managing innovation: integrating technological, market and organizational change. John Wiley & Sons. Retrieved on 23 May 2021 from https://www.academia.edu/download/37285072/0470093269.pdf