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Introduction
In the current business world, the level of competition is high, which requires organizations to formulate and adopt new operating strategies to cope with the ever-changing situations. To be able to have a market advantage, firms need to promote the culture of innovativeness and allow their employees to contribute their noble ideas. Companies that engage their workers, stakeholders, and even customers have the potential to reorganize niches worth impacting the growth of the entire corporation. When innovation is effectively managed, the business organizations have the ability to incorporate the changes into the organization, thus making it easier to progress. The report will focus on analyzing the similarities and different ways by which Fujitsu and the University of California, (UC San Diego, n.d.) applies the collaborative innovation canvas tool to manage the intended improvement within the organization.
Organizations’ Background
Fujitsu Company
Fujitsu is a Japanese-based international company that offers information and communication (ICT) services to various customers across the globe. The organizations provide products and reliable solutions to their esteemed consumers. The firm aims to blend business expertise with adequate digital co-creation to enhance the success of every enterprise. It promotes innovation by bringing people, ideas, and infrastructure together. Its core objective is to enhance the development of a society that is full of human centric innovation. The business organization operates in Europe, India, Middle East, and Africa. It has several employees that ensure that work towards making sure new value is created, and strong partnership with clients is built. The organization enables effective connection of the customers through the transformation of their services into the internet of things, artificial intelligence, and secured cloud system. Fujitsu clients include public sector companies and an array of corporate firms.
The firm experiences some challenges which made the management to find solutions. In 2013, Fujitsu companies in Ireland and the United Kingdom (UK) wanted to inquire and understand how the business organization innovated with its clients (Fujitsu EMEIA, n.d.). Based on the availability of technology in the organization, the firm aspired to connect with its customers easily. During this period, the idea of digitalization was taking ground, and most large corporations were experiencing and feeling the tension of digital disruption. The customers then need to partner with already developed ICT firms such as Fujitsu to enable them to establish a co-creation culture to overcome the pressure from the advancement in technology.
Despite Fujitsu’s effort towards facilitating innovation, its consumers claimed that there was little to no impact of the development on their businesses. This made the corporations unable to relate and understand the programs Fujitsu was working to implement on the system. The feedback from some of the clients prompted Fujitsu to launch a project focused on developing a new technique for customer centric innovation. The main principles of the undertaking included forming an approach that would facilitate the connection of Fujitsu with its end-users development of a collaborative and continuous platform over time. The company wanted to incorporate the technique on its contracts to enable customers to benefit from it from the initial stage of the relationship to promote value for the clients (Najafi-Tavani, Najafi-Tavani, Naudé, Oghazi & Zeynaloo, 2018). It was also aimed at supporting business opportunities for the Fujitsu Company.
Fujitsu Company conducted different experiments involving clients’ accounts on the approaches they were applying to facilitate to promote customer centric innovation. After several surveys, they identified the technique that would easily meet the principles that enhance co-creation with customers. The management then developed the approach based on a cyclical eight-stage process which they named Activ8. The business organization then hired HYPE enterprise to provide the support and platform to build the idea following its capabilities and user-friendly interface (Woods, n.d.). In late 2013, Fujitsu launched the process to refine the whole proves, which proved successful, and the company approved its rollout to its clients. After a period of four years, the service was widely used in various regions where Fujitsu customers operate. The HYPE software enables Fujitsu to easily co-create with a number of clients separately with secured and private innovation campaigns.
The University of California (UC San Diego)
The University of California (UC San Diego, n.d.) is an institution majorly known for its excellence in research activities in different fields of study. It offers social sciences, arts, and humanities, physical and biological academic divisions. The organization has won over 28 Nobel Prizes through its research activities based on its history. It was developed around 1960 as a graduate and research organization in mathematics, sciences, and engineering.
The large size of UC San Diego made it a challenge for the campus to access enough funding to facilitate its operations. Since it was managed by professional individuals who had proper knowledge of management, the focus was direct, that is, to enhance the collaborative system that can accommodate new ideas and thus promote creativity and innovativeness. To continue with the institution’s progress, Melani Robertson, manager of the system program, took control of an ideation tool known as the IdeaWave to facilitate the process of innovation (“University of California San Diego,” 2022). She believed that for the organization to increase its ability to prosper, it had to be innovative in nature in all aspects of public service, teaching, operations, and research programs.
The institution aimed to overcome issues that could hinder its ability to continue growing as one of the best research facilities in the world. Its large size made it difficult for the management to identify who is responsible in what area. In the year 2013, the school chancellor Pradeep Khosla started a planning strategy that is comprehensive and more inclusive aimed at defining a vision and set of shared goals that are unifying for the college and its fraternity. The approach proved significant and facilitated the success of the organization where a massive number of individuals could provide their views.
After the formulation of the plan, the institution is then required to shift it from planning to action. The need prompted the Chancellor to increase cross-campus collective dialogue in a more sustainable manner while giving much attention to the key issues and opportunities. UC San Diego opted to launch a digital platform to ensure they meet the desire. During this process, the executive director Robert Neuhard formulated the crucial requirements for idea crowdsourcing (UC San Diego, n.d.). The organization management also selected HYPE for several reasons (Woods, n.d.). In 2015, the campus launched the program to more than 34000 staff in different departments (UC San Diego, n.d.). The system focused not only on innovation but also on a collaborative conversation about critical issues surrounding the strategic planning technique.
Alignment: Strategy and Resources
The strategic planning process requires proper alignment of the organization’s core goals and the intended activities. Effective configuration allows the company to have a unified objective to focus on, thus making it easier for all facets to be included. The aligning is geared towards the strategy and the resources to enable the firm to move in the same direction. The approach will ensure the formulation of innovations that directly link with the business organization’s needs. The orientation enables companies to establish strong momentum and togetherness amongst the stakeholders while maintaining room for exploration and creativity.
Similarities in Strategy
The vision of Fujitsu Company is ‘Human Centric Innovation,’ which makes the innovation management program to be aligned with the goals and objectives. The statement makes stakeholders and customers of the tech firm think more of developing emerging technologies. The approach is effective in ensuring clients are exposed to creativity, and whenever they associate with the organization, they think of innovativeness. Similarly, the UC San Diego campus also developed a set of five constructive goals that were aligned to the HYPE platform. The technique allowed the organization to create enough room for hunting more ideas. Both the systems embraced transparency by making the communication clear on both sides of the users.
Differences in strategy
The Fujitsu focus was to increase innovation and engage its customers through the Activ8 program. Unlike the UC San Diego, the initial emphasis was on improving the management quality of the approach through increasing awareness. Furthermore, the school Chancellor played a central part in developing trust amongst the stakeholders by issuing an immediate report of the progress (UC San Diego, n.d.). Fujitsu’s Activ8 aimed at only sourcing ideas from different users, which is on the contrary with the IdeaWave, which performed a number of activities. The UC San Diego management envisioned the program to facilitate research activities, engage the community, and promote students’ experience in different fields.
Resources
Generally, to have a successful innovation program, organizations require different resources to facilitate the process. Fujitsu has physical spaces and an adequate budget to enhance the attainment of an innovation program. The company had a team of specialists who are specialized in innovation. These included the company engaging different stakeholders to undertake and drive the project to its outcome. It also had enough workplace space that people could meet and associate face to face, especially when corned with different challenges. Similarly, the UC San Diego institution also has relevant resources to ensure the project’s success. Both organizations have a team responsible for overseeing the progress of the undertakings. Fujitsu had a group of eight members, while the UC San Diego had a panel of 15 persons. For Fujitsu technology firm, the practitioners were responsible for supporting the campaigns across the region (Fujitsu EMEIA, n.d.). UC San Diego grouped its personnel into two categories where four people engaged in assessing the organization’s performance while the rest focused on supporting and leading various aspects of the university’s health system.
People: Stakeholders, Audience, and Communications
Stakeholders
These individuals are involved in supporting the innovation program within the organizations. Fujitsu Company has senior marketing teams, financial officers, head of sales and managers, and its employees as the sponsors from the firms. The business’s key stakeholders are other corporations, public organizations, and people who use the enterprise’s products. They include project sponsors and other key persons that perform management executions. For the case of the University, the school Chancellor, professors, executive directors, faculty staff, vice-chancellor, and other top officials of the campus are the main participants. The success of any innovative undertaking relies mainly on the effectiveness of these individuals (Lindsay et al., 2018). If they fail to provide necessary support such as finances and leadership, they increase the chances of failure
Audience
The audience is the people targeted by the innovation project, and they are invited to utilize the platform for their gain. In most cases, they can be organizations’ employees, customers, the general public, and a specific category of business associates or even academia. Fujitsu’s target groups are customers and its workers in the organization. For the case of UC San Diego, the audience includes research students, graduates, working staff, faculty departments, the head of the institution, and other close associates. The individuals have a different level of experience and varied needs to participate in the program.
Communication
Generally, communication plays a vital role in the innovation process program. Effective communication facilitates the building of trust amongst shareholders and users of the project. Fujitsu Company categorized its communication into two areas around the Activ8 services. This involves yearly marketing plans through guest speaking, study videos, blogs, organized events, and the HYPE forum. It also focused on specific innovation campaigns that involved a unique crowd.
On the other hand, the University communicated to its members using intranet, newsletters, blogs, and emails. The institution also used seeding as a few to pass information. It also creates strong momentums that enable the management to achieve the set goals.
Comparisons
Similarities
Both Fujitsu Technology Company and UC San Diego institution have stakeholders responsible for supporting the innovation program. The key sponsors of the Activ8 program are customers of the organization (Fujitsu EMEIA, n.d.). Chief Financial officers, marketing teams, and head of sales also formed the part of key stakeholders. Similarly, UC San Diego’s Chancellor was the prominent sponsor of the IdeaWave project. Professors, executive directors, and vice-chancellor were incorporated to facilitate its progress (UC San Diego, n.d.). The organizations had an audience intended to use the platform to promote innovation. Both organizations applied the seeding technique to campaign and informed people about the innovative program. In addition, they branded the creations to make them unique for instance, Fujitsu is Activ8, and UC San Diego is IdeaWave.
Differences
The main difference is found in the audience composition of the two companies. Fujitsu’s key target was the customers of its products, while the UC San Diego included the staff members, student employees, and the students. Another variation is on communication, where the University used varied tactics such as the use of intranet, a regular newsletter, blog, and emails. On the other hand, Fujitsu relied on case study videos, team meetings, the HYPE forum, and vents. In addition, the University used an influencer to facilitate its campaign, which was the school chancellor.
Processes: Decision Making, Execution, and Measurements
Decision Making
Decision-making entails how ideas are selected, judged, and improved through the collaborative innovation approach. Before approving any idea, Fujitsu organization has to preview and verify its relevance to innovation. Its specialists group the views into categories where they are taken, and the remaining thought is subjected to fresh thinking. For the case of UC San Diego, the process involved setting a minimum threshold that required ideas have to meet for them to reach the review phase. They relied on comments whereby the view with high remarks receives the highest score. The campus evaluation teams were issued with a wildcard to enable the selection of thoughts that have failed to attain the requirement. UC San Diego subjected the ideas into five phases: drafting, commenting, hot, evaluation, and selection. In most scenarios, the process is time-consuming and requires patience for the people to receive feedback. Idea campaigns need experts and reviewers to synthesize the whole thoughts associated with the innovation (Wang & Hu, 2020). It involves an array of steps depending on the nature and complexity of the method.
Execution
Execution is how the gathered ideas are implemented and value is generated. In Fujitsu, when the idea reaches the selection stage of the process, the company’s stakeholders approve for it to undergo the prototyping phase where customers and the company invest money and time to receive the prototype. For the case of the University, they created a planning guide that outlines the necessary steps managers take from definition, launch, moderation, and facilitation. The manual made it easier for the firm to check and update views.
Measurements
Measurement of the project is vital in evaluating its success rate. Due to the innovation project, Fujitsu measured its success by valuing both direct and indirect sales. Activ8 applied soft metrics to assess the process, such as the number of customers using the software and the whole ideas generated throughout the campaign. The University’s key performance indicator was based on the awareness and satisfaction of the stakeholders.
Comparisons
Both the organizations have some aspects of the process in common. For instance, in the decision-making phase, the entities perform reviews of the ideas to ensure they meet the needs of the collaborative innovation program. Furthermore, Fujitsu and UC San Diego have defined acceptance criteria for the users. The two enterprises also embraced the aspect of measurement to determine the project’s success. The ICT firm applied direct and indirect sales generated to establish the company’s success. Similarly, the University gauged the sponsors’ response about the process and resulted in evaluating the performance.
The critical difference in the process section is evident in the execution part. Fujitsu firm had different stages of Activ8 whereby in step six, that is, selection point, the key stakeholders choose the idea to proceed to phase seven which is prototyping. After that, both the customers and the company commit time and money to the prototype. Assuming one party fails to comply, the company facilitates the start of the process at some point with a completely different approach. While the university management followed an already defined manual process in which views are categorized as a project, concept, or quick win. UC San Diego has a minimum requirement in terms of the score for an idea to be accepted.
Summary
A collaborative innovation program requires a well-defined platform that facilitates the collection of ideas from the participants. According to the innovation diffusion theory, an organization should scrutinize software providers to ensure the developed system can accommodate the targeted audience’s needs (Yuen, Cai, Qi & Wang, 2021). The process needs a stable connection relationship between the involved parties to promote mutual understanding that can lead to the generation of genuine views that are helpful to the organization. By embracing the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), the enterprises would make users more comfortable with the system, thus increasing their participation rate in idea generation. It enables businesses to identify the user’s behavior (Rahimi, Nadri, Afshar & Timpka, 2018). Furthermore, it is significant for Fujitsu and UC San Diego to have proper alignment of strategies with the goals and objectives of the corporation to allow stakeholders to have a unified focus and a sense of one direction.
References
Fujitsu EMEIA. (n.d.). Creating value for the customer through innovation. Case study.
Lindsay, C., Findlay, P., McQuarrie, J., Bennie, M., Corcoran, E. D., & Van Der Meer, R. (2018). Collaborative innovation, new technologies, and work redesign. Public Administration Review, 78(2), 251-260. Web.
Najafi-Tavani, S., Najafi-Tavani, Z., Naudé, P., Oghazi, P., & Zeynaloo, E. (2018). How collaborative innovation networks affect new product performance: Product innovation capability, process innovation capability, and absorptive capacity. Industrial marketing management, 73, 193-205. Web.
Rahimi, B., Nadri, H., Afshar, H. L., & Timpka, T. (2018). A systematic review of the technology acceptance model in health informatics. Applied clinical informatics, 9(03), 604-634. Web.
UC San Diego. (n.d.). Advancing strategic priorities through crowdsourcing. Case study.
University of California San Diego. Ucsd.edu. (2022). Web.
Wang, C., & Hu, Q. (2020). Knowledge sharing in supply chain networks: Effects of collaborative innovation activities and capability on innovation performance. Technovation, 94, 102010. Web.
Woods, T. (n.d.). The collaborative innovation canvas: A visual tool for managing your innovation program. Case study.
Yuen, K. F., Cai, L., Qi, G., & Wang, X. (2021). Factors influencing autonomous vehicle adoption: an application of the technology acceptance model and innovation diffusion theory. Technology Analysis & Strategic Management, 33(5), 505-519. Web.
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