How do you define innovation?

The innovation is a term that can be defined as the changes or alteration with the vision to improve experience. Innovation can be in the same existing product and it can be related to the invention of a new product with new ideas and features. Basically the innovation is to bring betterment and required changes in the products to improve the user’s experience. In short the innovation is application of best solutions that enable the device or the product to meet the customers’ needs and requirements. Basic purpose of the innovation is to bring improvement.

What are different types of innovation?

There are several different types of innovation that are different from each other in regards to characteristics. The major types of innovation are enlisted below:

·         Incremental Innovation (The incremental innovation is about the change in the currently existing products.)

·         Disruptive Innovation (While the disruptive innovation is about creating a new network and market)

·         Architectural Innovation

·         Radical Innovation

 “How do I spot opportunities for innovation?”

The opportunity for the innovation can be spotted by the analysis of the market and finding the gap. The person or company who want to spot opportunity for innovation have to directly study their customers and target audience in their targeted market. Then they have to collect the information about the requirements and needs of the customers. After that they have to collect the information about the products or solutions available to the customers for their needs and problems.

Then at the end they have to make comparison between what is required by the customers and what is offered to them. The difference and gap between the required and offered is the opportunity. To make the innovative product the person or the company will consider this gap or opportunity. Thus they can win the market easily by need analysis for the innovation and full filling that need with the highly satisfying products.    

Why is innovation so hard?

Innovation is not always easy in all fields of life. Basically innovation is so hard when the organizations are not encouraged and motivated to bring innovation in their products. Most of the time organizations oppose the idea of changes and innovation in the products because it demands the complete change in the system engineering and processes that seems difficult to the organizations. Therefore most of the time organizations prefer to follow up the same path and process for the production that is already in use rather than adopting the changes.

However, innovation is also hard because customers do not switch to the new products easily. Customers ever prefer to purchase the old products that give them high level of satisfaction rather than trying the new one. Therefore whenever a new innovative product comes in the market customer do not willingly response to it unless it is backed by heavy marketing.     

What is disruptive innovation?

The disruptive innovation is one of the major type of innovation. Disruptive innovation is concerned with the convenience, accessibility, simplicity and affordability of the market.  In the disruptive innovation the innovation changes the existing network or market in the new market or network through adding simplicity and affordability in it. According to the concept of the disruptive innovation the new market should be simpler than the complex. Disruptive innovation brings changes in the network to make it more affordable for the target audience thus the innovation can be made.

Is timing important when innovate?

Yes timing is a very important factor in the innovation. The innovation should be on the right time before or after the right time of innovation the companies cannot earn the high return. If the decision of innovation is made in time than the startup of the new business or products will definitely get success. A right idea on the wrong time cannot be considered as right and never results into the success.

Innovation in the products or market takes time in taking place. However, it should not be too late. The more time the innovation will take the more the chances of the success goes towards decreases therefore the companies should take the decision of the innovation at the right time.  

What is the best way to disrupt a market?

The best way to disrupt a market for the innovation is to hold the strength of the tradeoffs. To bring innovation or disrupt a market there is need to find out to the new benefits while keeping into consideration the historical performance. The benefits can be related to the accessibility and affordability that are the core concepts of the disruptive innovation. While disrupting the market the “good enough” performance from the past should not be ignored.   

In the disruptive innovation the term good enough refers to the outcomes or the performance that score above than the minimum threshold. The steps to disrupt the market are mentioned below in the list:

1)      Study the market and competitors

2)      Understand the trajectory

3)      Study the buying behavior of the customers

4)      Find out the gap or opportunity

5)      Develop the products or services according to the demands.

Thus through all these steps the market can be disrupted easily with innovation.  

What are the principles of disruptive innovation?

The disruptive innovation has 8 vital principals that are mentioned below in the list:

 Take the lessons from the past and let the past go

        i.            Create aims

      ii.            Bring the possibilities in your imagination

    iii.            Boost courage

    iv.            Reject limits

      v.            Put yourself out of business

    vi.            Accept failure

  vii.            Do the opposite

How do existing organization survive disruption?

The existing organizations can only survive disruption by adopting the required changes in the market. In the past the industries were not using the software and modern technology. But now with the change in technology now companies are using the software for their management systems. Communication system is updated therefore companies are using the modern technology or innovative devices for the communication purpose. The innovative new devices and the software system application in the organizations was the disruptive innovation in the market and the companies survived by adopting these changes and innovation. In the disruption companies only survive when they adopt changes otherwise innovation causes for their failure in the market.

Disruptive technology

There are many examples of the disruptive technologies available that changed or transformed the whole market with little innovation. One of these examples is Cell Phone that is discussed below in the detail. 

a)      Background information

The mobile phones are also known as cell phone because mobiles using the modern technology operates in a cellular network architecture. The idea of the cell phones was presented about more than 40 years ago. In 1973 the first call was made by using the cell phone. Basically the cell phone is an innovated form of the telephone technology. The idea was to develop a portable telephone with the wireless system that people can carry away easily to the different places. The ideas was developed in the physical form by the Motorola Company.

In accordnace to the Lacohée, Wakeford, and Pearson, resarech study the the cell phone was first introduced in the Tokyo in 1980. According to the historical information about the cell phones, the inventor of the first cell phone was Martin Cooper. The first cell phone was basically a commercial portable cell phone. The name of the first mobile phone was DynaTAC model. In accordance to the history of the cell phone the first model of cell phone was more than 2 kilograms in weight.

In the past it was not easy for the business man and the households to carry the telephone outside their house or somewhere else from the installed location. The telephone sets attached with the wires were unable to move around. Therefore there was need to develop an innovative device that people can move from one place to the other.  (Lacohée, Wakeford, & Pearson, 2003).

b)    Why do you think it is a disruptive technology?

Cell phone is a disruptive technology in my views. The technology of the cell phone has been changed over the time. With the time new features and options are being introduced in the cell phones. In accordance to the Madsen and  Hartington resaerch conducted in 2015 the disruptive innovation,( particualary related to the technology) completely change the market all of the sudden, that sometimes generate issues for the survival of the big companies also. the change generated by the cell phone invention was just simliar to this change. invention of the cell phone compltely changed the market thereofre it is known as disruptive technology.

The introduction of the cell phone was supportive for the companies and business man as the cost and network of the cell phone was almost same like the telephone but the new invention was providing the extra benefits also. The cell phone invention is not only the cause that proof that it cell phone is a disruptive technology. In fact the modern features and new innovations in the cell phones are also playing the role of market changer as disruptive technology (Madsen & Hartington, 2015). Here a graph is mentioned below that provide the information regarding the market shares of the various operating systems in the cell phone during the last few years.

Figure 1 market shares

During the last few years various operating systems are introduced in the cell phones that are improving the overall performance of the cell phones. Now cell phones are able to deliver more satisfaction because of the changes and innovation. The operating systems are RIM, iOS, Android, and Symbian.  Said and Adham also held a reasarech study on the mobile phones as the disruptive innovation, the findings of the resarch claim that cell phone as the disruptive technology casues to bring changes in the organizational structure (Said & Adham, 2016). organizations are gettting change and transformation in response to the change and innovation in the cell phone technology as the whole communcaition system of the organizations depends upon the cell phones.

Markides conducted reaseach in 2006, in accordnace to his resaerch business model innovation is relatively different from the disruptive technology innovation. the cell phone is disruptive technology as it is about the innovation in the technology that also causes chagnes and innovation in the business enviroment. however the prime concern of the cell phone innovation is not to effect the workplaces and communciation system of the organizations (Boccardi, Heath, Lozano, Marzetta, & Popovski, 2014).

Cell phone is not only changing and infleuncing industries only, in fact, it is also infleucing the agriculture fields as fishing. with the invention and innovation of the mobile phone now the fishers are able to communicate with each other. the results of the resarch conducted by the Aker and Mbiti in 2010 elaborate that the fishers are developing competitive advantage in the Africa by using cell phones for hteir business. thus the agriculture is getting bettermnet with the changes and innovation in the cell phones technology (Aker & Mbiti, 2010).

Studies by the Padgett and Mulvey held in 2007, explain that disruptive technologies alter the nature of the market. the mobile phone use is altering various industries, communication and business markets. because of the cell phones the interaction between the employees and cutomers are getting change. therefore as a result of this the service makret is getting inlfucne from the change and innovation in the cell phones. In accordance to the findings of the article written by the Sharples in 2002, innovation in the cell phone technologies is also causing changes in the e-leanring system in the educational institutes (Sharples, 2002). cell phone as the disruptive device is effecting the conversational leanring in the students. 

a)     Market size analysis (including followings)

The market size analysis for the cell phone as disruptive technology is stated below in accordance to its target market and audience.

-        Is the innovation targeting people who are over served by existing products? Please Justify? (Hint: first determine who the customer is?)

The innovation in the cell phone is the targeting all that people who are over served or not by the existing products. In fact the innovation in the cell phones is just improving the customer’s experiences. Rather than replacement the focus is on the improvement. Therefore innovation of the cell phones target the both type of audience (Kukulska-Hulme, Sharples, & Milrad, 2009).

-       Is the innovation not as good as existing products as judged by historical measure of performance?

No, the new product (cell phones of the new models) are many times better than the existing. The new features and options in the new cell phones are bringing improvement in the experience and performance in comparison to the historical measures of the performance. 

-       Is the innovation simpler to operate?

Yes the new innovations in the cell phone are making the cell phone easier to operate. For instance the smart touchable screen is many times easy to use as compared to the buttons system. However there are some features that are not easy to use for everyone as people who are not familiar with the GPS system find it difficult to operate.

-       Is it more affordable and/or convenient? (e.g. do a comparison with similar or old tech)

Yes the new innovative cell phones are more convenient and affordable in comparison to the old technology of the telephone as the cost of operations for the new cell phones is less than the old telephones set.

-        Can the technology be paired with a business model innovation which makes it more sustainable?

The technology can be paired with the business model innovation but not completely. Basically the concept of the business model innovation and disruptive technology are relatively different. However by pairing it with the business model innovation we can make it more sustainable. 

-         Are existing providers motivated to ignore the new innovation and not threatened at the outset?

The existing providers of the cell phones are paying attention to the innovation. They are not ignoring the need of the innovation. While they are threatened by each other towards the innovation as each company is making innovation to win the market (Chesbrough, 2010). Therefore there is high threat of innovation in the cell phones industries.  

-       Anything else that can support your case?

The cell phones manufacturing companies are continuously updating and promoting innovation to win maximum market shares from the competitors. They are conducting research for this purpose. Therefore there are chances that soon a new device may come in the market that may change the future of the cell phone by replacing it completely.   

References of Mobile Phones and Economic Development in Africa

Aker, J. C., & Mbiti, I. M. (2010). Mobile Phones and Economic Development in Africa. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 24(03), 207-232. Retrieved 10 10, 2018

Boccardi, F., Heath, R. W., Lozano, A., Marzetta, T. L., & Popovski, P. (2014). Five Disruptive Technology Directions for 5G. Five disruptive technology directions for 5G. IEEE Communications Magazine, 52(2), 74-80. Retrieved 10 10, 2018

Chesbrough, H. (2010). Business Model Innovation: Opportunities and Barriers. Long Range Planning, 43, 354-363. Retrieved 10 10, 2018

Kukulska-Hulme, A., Sharples, M., & Milrad, M. (2009). Innovation in Mobile Learning: A European Perspective. International Journal of Mobile and Blended Learning, 1(1), 13-35. Retrieved 10 10, 2018

Lacohée, H., Wakeford, N., & Pearson, I. (2003). A social history of the mobile telephone with a view of its future. BT Technology Journal, 21(03), 203-213. Retrieved 10 10, 2018

Madsen, E. S., & Hartington, S. P. (2015). Disruptive Technologies and Networking in Telecom Industries. Journal of Global Economics, 3(4), 1-8. Retrieved 10 10, 2018

Markides, C. (2006). Disruptive Innovation: In Need of Better Theory. J PROD INNOV MANAG, 2(3), 19-25. Retrieved 10 10, 2018

Padgett, D., & Mulvey, M. S. (2007). Differentiation Via Technology: Strategic Positioning of Services Following the Introduction of Disruptive Technology. Journal of Retailing, 83(4), 375-391. Retrieved 10 10, 2018

Said, M. F., & Adham, K. A. (2016). Is a Mobile Phone a Disruptive Innovation in the Workplace? Gadjah Mada International Journal of Business, 18(02), 131-151. Retrieved 10 10, 2018

Sharples, M. (2002). Disruptive devices: mobile technology for conversational learning. Int. J. Cont. Engineering Education and Lifelong Learning, 12(5/6), 504-520. Retrieved 10 10, 2018