Organizational Creativity and Innovation Assignment 2020

Introduction:
Creativity and innovation has always been a major factor behind the success of any organization belonging to any industry (Sujansky, 2011).

This assignment highlights the role of creativity and innovation in present scenario by using the example of Apple Inc. which has set up itself as a leader in software and hardware as well as consumer electronic industry.

It has devoted so much effort in order to make itself a creative and innovative organization (Rangaswamy, 2015). Efforts of the organization present how the approach of organization is different from current management strategies in innovation (Zylla, 2013).

Today the case organization can be considered as most innovative organization across the globe.Contribution of Steve Jobs had directed Apple in becoming discoverer of creativity and innovation.

It raises creativity in process, customer satisfaction, products and leadership for the organization (Pinson, 2014).

1) Innovation and Strategy work together at Apple

The strategy map of Apple represents that objectiveof organizationmakes strategy and innovation work together.

In the view of Zylla (2013), Apple opted innovation as a theme in business strategy of each unit and then integrate innovation within the organization.

Apple is following push strategy in order to promote its product and innovation whichApple has developed after assessing the micro as well as macro environment.

Research and development department of Apple is one of the best across the globe. With its strategic move the organization gets information from customers, suppliers and competitors in order to make its offering innovative.

In Apple, innovation process is directly associated with strategies which involved finding opportunities towards innovation (Berthon and Pitt, 2012).

In the organization, Innovation is consideration regularlyin itssystem, products, processes and service.

Apple is fond of implementing 4P’s of innovation effectively. These 4P’s are position, Paradigm, Process and Product (Cusumano, 2013).

After combining Strategies and innovation, Apple served innovation and creativity to its customers.

Process:Apple integrated innovation in its process at the time it made online shopping in order to offer products and purchase of available music online by App Stores on i-tunes.

Product: Applehas come up with Iphones,Macbook and Ipod and innovative technologies such as high battery life, slim laptops and feather touch technology in their products (Gobble, 2012).

Paradigm:The paradigm of Apple has shifted from manufacturer of computers to provider of designer products.

Position: In the minds of the customers has been changed from being manufacturer of computers to a creative as well as innovative organization. Customer’s desire for Apple product developed from ingenuity to Fashion accessory.

2) Innovation Approach Apple has used to recognize needs of customers

The organization spends huge amount on the retail strategy not like other Personal computer manufacturers who are competing for position, promotion and shelf space.

Apple is fully responsive and alert of significance of interactingwith consumers for understanding what customer needs. Apple offers customer to come into their stores and give feedbacks directly about product experience.

On the other hand, as state by Apple’s Senior VPs, “consumer does not know what he/she wants, Apple has to tell them what to purchase” (Applepeels, 2005).

The organization is focused on participating customer experience in the improvement and design processitself.

Apple follows consumer contribution process in which Apple carries out testing in order to improve experience of users.

Apple has a unique and distinctive approach for identifying the needs of customers (Rangaswamy, 2015).

It performs market research about knowing the reason as to why customers have used Apple product. For that it collects experiences of existing users and collect data regarding their desires which lacks in current product.

Once the desire and needsof customers is identified the R & D team works on that desire along with additional features for enriching customers through new products.

3) Role Apple’s people and culture play towards innovative products

Apple learnt from its failure, and it became its success factor. The success of any product is an outcome of various experiences of failures along with attempts of learning as well as employee’s innovativeness.

At Apple, employees have the belief that they could bring changes in world by adding entire new values in the experiences of customers through innovation anddesign (Apple, 2019). The company not just aim for providing these values in normal ways , but also work for offering customers with features and functionalities which they require and most competitive in the market.

The company has the capability to incorporate their innovation and design in simple way in their product for meeting demands of customers. The organizational culture of Apple motivates employees to try new things (Wharton, 2012).

It is the company which celebrates its failures with no system of penalizing or any negative impact on failures.

Also, company organizes both in house and external training programs for is employees to enhance their skills and competency. Having gained the skills and knowledge the employees usetheir creativity for best possible solution to any problem.

Being a learning organization, Apple hasits own designed knowledgemanagement system for promoting distribution of information as well as knowledgefor promoting learning culture.

This allows its employees to generate new ideas and share a common vision throughout the company (Sahoo, 2012).

4) Contribution of Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs has taken Apple to an entire new height (Berthon and Pitt, 2012). The contribution by Steve Jobs in Apple’s success story is that he has played influential as well as pivotal role for taking Apple to the summit of its success as well as created the image of its product as most superior quality product in the world (Cusumano, 2012).

Personally, Steve Jobs has a unique sense of designing and a different vision about the organization, its products and the way to attain this.

The simplicity philosophy of company is a result of nature of Steve Jobs which is adopted by company to devise elegant, beautiful solutions through reaching the root cause of any problem (Pinson, 2014).

Steve Jobs view for innovation and processis that they are the path for achieving ultimate sophistication, superior quality, enhanced capabilities which are simple.

It was Jobs vision to make Apple computers as personal computers at the time when other players were focusing on providing solution for industry (Rangaswamy, 2015).

It is Jobs zeal for excellence and full involvement at each step of developing a product as well as making its presentation before customers which has set the culture of innovation in Apple and the manner the organization has come up.

References:

Apple Inc. (2019) https://www.apple.com/in/business/

Berthon, P.R. and Pitt L. F. (2012).marketing meets Web 2.0 social media and creative consumers , Kelly School of business

Cusumano, M. (2013).The Apple-Samsung lawsuits. Commun.ACM, 56(1), p.28.

Gobble, M. (2012). Perspectives: News and Analysis of the Global Innovation Scene. Research-Technology Management, 55(6).

Pinson, C. (2014). The Church of Mac: Exploratory examination on the loyalty of Apple customers. Journal of Marketing and Management Research, 14.

Rangaswamy, E. (2015). A Study on the Critical Success Factors of iPadFocusing on the Buyer Behaviour and Involvement. Amity Global Business Review, [online] pp.95-109. Available at: http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=10&sid=5ed89894-74ce-45bc-9885-900c86b544db%40sessionmgr4001&hid=4107 [Accessed 24 Mar. 2019].

Sahoo, D. (2012). Strategic Change of Campaign at Apple Inc. Vidwat: The Indian Journal of Management, [online] 5(2), pp.38-48. Available at: http://web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=17&sid=9218626e-3b80-48ff-b5a7-bf10c1c7aaa7%40sessionmgr114&hid=115 [Accessed 26 Mar. 2019].

Sujansky, C. (2011). It Only Takes A Moment To Win – Or – Lose A Customer. EHS Today, (4), p.F-J.

Wharton (2012). Vertical Integration Works for Apple – But It Won’t for Everyone – Knowledge@Wharton. [online] Knowledge@Wharton. Available at: http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/vertical-integration-works-for-apple-but-it-wont-for-everyone/ [Accessed 24 Mar. 2019].

Zylla, J. (2013), corporate strategy for Apple Company.