Effective Use of Non-Incremental Innovations

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Introduction: Non-Incremental Innovations in the Context of Incumbent Companies and Procter& Gamble (P&G)

Promoting change in the context of an organisation is a crucial step toward securing its place in the global economy and maintaining quality levels high. The latter, in turn, creates prerequisites for building customer loyalty and encouraging the target population to return to repurchase the company’s services (Gebhardt 2015). Changes are especially important for incumbent firms that have been operating in the target market long enough to become incumbent. Unless a company of the identified caliber fails to develop an innovative approach toward change management, it is doomed to fail in the global economy realm due to the inability to meet the target audience’s demands.

Research Problem/Rationale: Change as an Essential Element of the Firm’s Growth

Non-incremental changes have been viewed as undesirable for the companies that have already established their presence in a specific market (Verganti & Shani 2016). The reasons for the identified point of view seem quite understandable; without consistency in their application, random alterations may disrupt crucial processes in an organisation. That being said, it is also essential for a company to be ready to adjust to the ever-changing realm of the global market.

Therefore, the importance of non-incremental innovations (NIIs) needs to be explored so that a coherent approach toward change management could be determined. Once a basic and flexible framework for implementing NIC in the realm of the global economy is introduced, the opportunities for future growth can be created for incumbent firms (Kaulio, Thoren & Rohrbeck 2016).

The identified change is especially important for P&G. Over the past few years, the organisation has witnessed a significant drop in customer loyalty rates, mainly because of the emergence of new and cheaper substitutes in the context of the global market (Kaulio et al. 2016). Seeing that disrupting the current approach toward managing the organisational processes by introducing an entirely new framework for the consistent change may harm the company, it will be crucial to consider using non-incremental changes in its design so that customers could become enthusiastic about the opportunities that P&G offers, thus, developing higher loyalty levels (Passikoff 2014).

Research Aim: Determining the Reason for Non-Incremental Innovations to Be Adopted in Organisations

Despite the seemingly good reasons behind the promotion of NIIs in the context of an incumbent organisation, the significance of the said concept still needs to be explored further. Therefore, there is a need to define the gravity of failing to include NIIs in the company’s framework. The research aim is, thus, to prove that NIIs are not only possible but also crucial tools for managing change in the context of the companies that have established a strong presence in the target market by reviewing the case of P&G.

Research Objectives: Essential Steps to Be Taken in the Course of the Process

Identifying Types of Organisational Innovations

Before the analysis starts, it will be necessary to determine the crucial characteristics of NII. Furthermore, the nature and essential characteristics of changes in the environment of an organisation, in general, will have to be outlined. Thus, the foundation for a better understanding of why NII may be useful for corporations will be created.

Analysis of P&G’s Corporate Ethics, Standards, Values, and Philosophy

To define the possible routes of P&G’s further development as far as the adoption of incumbent innovations is concerned, it is crucial to identify the unique characteristics of the context in which the changes in question will be administered. Therefore, it is crucial to determine whether there are specific obstacles or other inherent factors that may impede the process of change management. Furthermore, the factors that may contribute to the promotion of the corporate change and the introduction of incumbent innovations to P&G as an example of an incumbent organisation will have to be analyzed. Therefore, a detailed overview of P&G’s mission, vision, corporate philosophy, current market position, approaches to managing the needs of key stakeholders, etc., will have to be carried out.

Exploring the Attitudes Toward Innovations in the Workplace

When considering the factors that may be viewed as an obstacle to endorsing non-incremental change, one will have to count possible resistance among the staff members. Without incorporating change into the context of the organisation, P&G may have to deal with resistance toward innovations. Therefore, it will be crucial to shaping the current approach toward leadership, as well as incorporate the ideas based on the concepts of improvement and flexibility into the firm’s value system.

There is no secret that the promotion of change in the environment of an organisation is barely possible unless the factors that will contribute to its implementation or inhibit it are identified. The lack of motivation and resistance to change that the staff members may display is likely to become the primary stumbling block to overcome when promoting NIIs in the organisational setting. Therefore, defining the attitudes toward change among employees is crucial.

Determining the Positive and Negative Aspects of Incremental Innovations

Another essential step toward identifying the effects of NIIs in the corporate environment, the analysis of the unique characteristics of incremental innovations is an important step toward exploring the effects of NIIs on the operations of a company that has established its presence in the target economic environment quite firmly. Thus, determining the advantages and disadvantages of NIIs is the net essential step toward a better understanding of their effects on companies.

Identifying the Characteristics of Incumbent Firms in the Global Market

To explore the effects that NIIs have on the organisations that have a fairly good presence in the target market, one will also have to consider the characteristics thereof. The third objective of the study is to define the features of incumbent organisations operating in the global economy. Thus, a more detailed analysis of the significance of NIIs in the target environment can be carried out.

As soon as the essential characteristics of incumbent organisations are defined, scrutiny of P&G’s characteristics of an incumbent organisation will have to be carried out. Particularly, the elements that make the company unique in the list of similar incumbent organisations will have to be identified. Thus, a more flexible approach toward managing change can be built. Furthermore, the elements that make P&G similar to other incumbent organisations will have to be determined in the course of the review. The specified step will help define the changes that need to be made to the existing strategies of managing NIC in the context of incumbent organisations and make the chosen approach especially efficient in the context of P&G.

Locating the Role of Incremental Innovations

Finally, the research will culminate in the identification of the role that NIIs play in reinforcing the change in incumbent companies. The specified objective will be completed by analyzing the responses retrieved from the study participants and serve as the basis for developing a comprehensive approach toward promoting NIIs in the context of incumbent firms.

Research Questions: What Needs to Be Answered During the Research

Why Do Incumbent Firms Need to Adopt Non-Incremental Innovations?

The study’s primary focus is on the exploration of what NIIs can offer to an incumbent organisation such as P&G. The very idea of rapid change that is not connected to the previous history of the company’s development – or, at least, it is not on a surface level – might seem somewhat controversial. In the highly competitive realm of the global market, making unnecessary and even risky changes is a questionable concept. Therefore, the necessity to apply NIIs needs to be studied thoroughly.

Are There Any Disadvantages to the Adoption of Non-Incremental Innovations?

Although it is assumed that NIIs have a positive effect on the progress of incumbent organisations, in general, and P&G, in particular, in a range of aspects of their development, one must admit that there are certain limitations to the NIIs application. To address and prevent the associated threats successfully, one must define the problems linked to the application of NIIs in the environment of P&G as the company that has established its presence in the global market yet has been losing its customers consistently. Thus, the strategies for preventing and handling the issues in question can be built.

What Are the Benefits of Using Non-Incremental Innovations in Companies?

The opportunities that NIIs open in front of companies with a long-standing positive reputation in the global economy realm will have to be studied. A very important step in the research process, answering the question mentioned above will require that the NII-related experiences should be analyzed carefully. As a result, the importance of NIIs as part and parcel of the successful change management process will be proven.

What Should Be the Strategy for Adopting Non-Incremental Innovations in Incumbent Organisations?

The final and nonetheless crucial question which the study in question will aim to answer, the approach to implementing change in the realm of an incumbent firm will have to be determined. As a result, the foundation for developing an all-embracive approach allowing for the rapid growth of the company can be created. As stressed above, NIIs are typically viewed as non-applicable to the environment of an incumbent organisation. Therefore, after imparting to the audience that NIIs are legitimately essential for the further progress of an incumbent firm, one will have to focus on developing the framework that will allow applying them to solve actual organisational problems. Hence, the strategy for implementing NIIs in an incumbent organisation’s context is crucial to design.

Literature Review: Changes and Their Role in the Context of an Organisation

A recent study carried out by Rafaelli et al. (2017) imparted on its audience that NIIs are, in fact, essential to the further development of an organisation that has established a rather firm presence in the realm of a particular market. The authors point to the fact that incumbent firms often have to struggle when adopting innovations, especially NIIs, because of the rigid structure that the identified organisations have developed over years, as well as the fact that NIIs’ application may disrupt the order that has been in existence in the specified companies for quite a while. As a result, most firms are reluctant to deploy NIIs to their organisational context (Rafaelli et al. 2017).

NIIs allow organisations to infuse themselves with an array of new and promising tools for propelling them to the top of the market and heralding a new era in the identified industry. In other words, NIIs serve as the foil for a company to blast its way to the top by improving the quality of services before any other firm in the market decides to take this step. Therefore, in principle, the very concept of NII should be deemed as highly positive and, therefore, could be considered a welcome addition to the array of tools used by large and influential organisations (Rafaelli et al. 2017).

That being said, the reasons behind large organisations’ refusal to adopt NIIs as a part of their framework are quite understandable. The step mentioned above does require a lot of risks and implies a significant lack of clarity as far as the possible outcomes are concerned. Therefore, what may seem like a way to launch a new era of success might turn out a series of bitter disappointments. Thus, incumbent firms tend to view the concept of taking risks for the sake of ostensibly reinventing how the production processes, quality management, relationships between the key stakeholders, etc. occur in the environment of the global market (Barrett et al. 2014).

Thus, it is crucial to learn more about the ways to contain the power that NIIs have and use it for the benefit of corporations. Studies show that the promotion of economic growth and, more importantly, the changes in the organisational design, including improvements in the corporate values, ethics, leadership and management strategies, etc., is a possibility when NIIs are implemented (Abdi & Senin 2014).

P&G, in its turn, as an incumbent organisation with quite an experience, has needed NII for quite a while. The propensity toward using its traditional approach to branding has led to predictable results: the levels of customer loyalty have dropped significantly over the past few years (Passikoff 2014). It would be wrong to claim that P&G has done nothing to address the negative tendency; quite on the contrary, the recent reconsideration of the firm’s attitude toward its brands, particularly, the decision to “dump” (Passikoff 2014, para. 2) some of them is admittedly brave. However, the specified approach does not seem to be working as well as P&G’s leaders want it to (Passikoff 2014).

That being said, radical innovations require a lot of preparations, especially as far as the analysis of the key stakeholders is concerned. Studies show that the introduction of NIIs demands that the needs of employees should be considered very closely and met in a very accurate manner. Thus, the satisfaction levels among the target population will rise, thus, creating the foundation for a successful introduction of NIIs into the company’s design. It should be noted, though, that the process will also require altering the corporate values toward investing in the staff members. Because of the challenges associated with the use of NIIs in the context of the corporate environment, a firm may fail to retain its employees (Moon 2014).

Consequently, there is a need to invest in human resources, promoting their further growth, and making sure that the loyalty levels among them should remain high. As a result, the pushback from the introduction of NIIs is bound to be comparatively smaller than it would be in the opposite scenario (Norman & Verganti 2014).

The process of investing in the staff members should start with the reconsideration of the current benefits package and the inclusion of the elements that will meet the needs of all staff members in it (e.g., the incorporation of the options such as parental leaves, improved healthcare insurance, etc., into the corporate policy).

Thus, the promotion of NII in the realm of an organisation that has established its presence in the target market may deliver positive results. However, significant changes in the organisational design will have to be made. It could be argued, though, that the specified alterations will help the firm function more efficiently in the realm of the global economy and pave its way to faster and more impressive success (Cabanes et al. 2016).

Methodology: How the Study Will Be Conducted

Research Philosophy: Building the Foundation for the Study

When considering the philosophical foundation on which the study will be based, one should keep in mind that the possibility of improving the economic growth rates of modern companies is the focus of the study. Therefore, the paper is rooted deeply in the analysis of the pragmatic implications of NIIs applied to the context of modern companies. Therefore, the use of pragmatism as the research philosophy can be deemed as valid. The pragmatic framework will allow rooting the analysis deeply in the realm of modern business and economy, at the same time incorporating theoretical elements into it.

Research Approach: Justification

Seeing that there is no need to quantify the information retrieved in the course of the data collection process, the use of qualitative research design should be considered as the most appropriate choice. The focus on the qualitative data will shed more light on the factors that define the effects of NIIs implementation. Therefore, the identified approach to carrying out the research should be viewed as the most reasonable one.

Research Design: Justification

Based on the nature of the study, the application of phenomenology as the foundation for carrying out the research seems to be appropriate. Seeing that the research is focused on identifying the effects of the NII application and, therefore, the nature of the connections between NIIs and incumbent organisations, phenomenology can be deemed as the most obvious choice. Therefore, phenomenology, being a specimen of qualitative research, will have to be considered as the research design.

Interviews as the Key Technique for Data Collection

The essential information will be collected with the help of semi-structured interviews. The target population will be asked a series of questions allowing one to understand how innovations are implemented in the context of the organisation, what problems the firm has been experiencing due to the adoption of NIIs (if any have been adopted so far), etc. Their responses will be used as the source of the research information that will, later on, be coded so that key tendencies could be identified and analyzed.

Gaining Access to Data: Online Databases and Permission from the Company Leader

The majority of the research data will come from interviews with company managers. Therefore, the permission of the company’s CEO and the HR manager will have to be retrieved. The identified goal can be accomplished by specifying the purposes of the interviews (i.e., conducting research), as well as mentioning the non-disclosure policy of the study. The participants will have to sign the informed consent letters that will be e-mailed to them.

The information required for the overview of the problem, in turn, will come from scholarly databases. A massive literature review will be carried out to determine the current issues associated with the implementation of NIIs in the organisational context. Only peer-reviewed and recent (published after 2012) studies will be considered.

Study Population, Sample, and Sample sise: Recruiting the Participants

The company’s managers and employees will be the key study population. It is expected that at least 40 people will be recruited to participate in the analysis. The sample sise will make a total of 20 interview results. Thus, an objective overview of the current situation will become a possibility.

Research Context: A Local Business Organisation

The study will be conducted in the environment of a local firm. The organisation that has been in existence for a while and, therefore, has established an impressive presence in the target economic realm will be chosen as the place where the participants will be recruited. As a result, a detailed overview of the external and internal factors affecting the performance of the company, as well as how NIIs are implemented in it, will be possible.

Data Analysis: Noticing, Collecting, and Thinking Model

To analyze the key information, one will have to consider the model known as the framework of Noticing, Collecting, and Thinking. Although the approach was suggested in 1992, it remains a popular tool for exploring the relationships between the research variables and determining the connections between them successfully. When considering the benefits of the model, one should bring up the fact that it offers a plethora of flexibility in the choice of the coding tools. Indeed, according to Frises (2013), the framework implies that a deductive approach should be deployed. However, the inductive development of codes is also a possibility, which means that the approach offers enough room for developing a unique strategy for data analysis and interpretation.

Provisional Work Timetable: Schedule and Hallmarks of the Study

The research will involve six key stages. These include the collection of the necessary materials, the recruitment of the participants, the collection of the data, its analysis, results in interpretation, and the provision of research implications with the further recommendations for a follow-up study. As the table below shows, the process is likely to take at least six months.

Conclusion: Innovations in Incumbent Organisations and How They Must Occur

Introducing changes to an organisation is a crucial step toward improving the quality of its services, managing its relationships with customers successfully, meeting new quality standards, and delivering good performance. However, the significance of NII has been questioned for quite a while as a possible roadblock for the companies that have established a rather strong performance in the target market. The examination of the effects that NIIs have on the performance levels in incumbent firms will help subvert the identified stereotype and introduce a new and enhanced strategy for managing organisational changes.

References

Abdi, K & Senin, AA 2014, ‘Investigation on the impact of organizational culture on organization innovation’, Journal of Management Policies and Practices, vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 1-10. Web.

Barrett, M, Davidson, E, Prabhu, J & Vargo, SL 2014, ’Service innovation in the digital age: key contributions and future directions’, MIS Quarterly, vol. 39, no. 1, pp. 135-154. Web.

Cabanes, B, Galy, P, Masson, PL & Weil, B 2014, ‘Technical staff management for radical innovation in science-based organizations: a new framework based on design theory’, R&D Management Conference 2016: From Science to Society: Innovation and Value Creation conference proceedings, Cambridge, UK, pp. 1-14. Web.

Frises, S2013, Qualitative data analysis with atlas.ti, SAGE, Thousand Oaks, CA. Web.

Gebhardt, T 2015, Cooperation between established firms and startups to address technological discontinuities, GRIN Verlag, New York, NY. Web.

Kaulio, M, Thoren, K & Rohrbeck, R 2016, ‘Incumbent response to disruptive innovation: the case of the Swedish-Finnish telecom operator Teliasonera AB’, The 23rd Innovation and Product Development Management Conference (IPDMC), Malmo, Sweden, pp. 1-13. Web.

Moon, TM 2014, ‘Mentoring the next generation for innovation in today’s organization’, Journal of Strategic Leadership, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 23-35. Web.

Norman, DA & Verganti, R 2014, ‘Incremental and radical innovation: design research vs. technology and meaning change’, Design Issues, vol. 30, no. 1, pp. 78-96. Web.

Passikoff, R 2014, ‘P&G not dumping brands, but ‘placeholder’ products’, Forbes. Web.

Rafaelli, R, Lynn, MA & Tushman, M 2017, ‘Flexing the frame: TMT framing and the adoption of non-incremental innovations in incumbent firms’, Harvard Business Review, vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 1-46. Web.

Verganti, R & Shani, ABR 2016, ‘Vision transformation through radical circles: enhancing innovation capability development’, Organizational Dynamics, vol. 45, no. 1, pp. 104-113. Web.

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