This a short presentation that explores what innovation is and how it can be used to any business' advantage. If you like the presentation, let us connect and leave your comments in the comments section.

2. WHAT IS INNOVATION
• HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL DEFINES INNOVATION AS THE EMBODIMENT, COMBINATION, OR SYNTHESIS
OF KNOWLEDGE IN ORIGINAL, RELEVANT, VALUED NEW PRODUCTS, PROCESSES OR SERVICES.
• INNOVATION IS DRIVEN BY THE ABILITY TO SEE CONNECTIONS, TO SPOT OPPORTUNITIES AND TO TAKE
ADVANTAGE OF THEM.
• INNOVATION IS NOT JUST ABOUT OPENING UP NEW MARKETS – IT CAN ALSO OFFER NEW WAYS OF
SERVING ESTABLISHED AND MATURE ONES.

3. WHAT IS INNOVATION
• WHILST NEW PRODUCTS ARE OFTEN SEEN AS THE CUTTING EDGE OF INNOVATION IN THE MARKETPLACE,
PROCESS INNOVATION PLAYS JUST AS IMPORTANT A STRATEGIC ROLE. BEING ABLE TO MAKE SOMETHING
NO ONE ELSE CAN, OR TO DO SO IN WAYS WHICH ARE BETTER THAN ANYONE ELSE IS A POWERFUL SOURCE
OF ADVANTAGE.
• INNOVATION THEREFORE IN THIS CONTEXT LOOKS AT HOW PRODUCTS, SERVICES AND PROCESS CAN BE
IMPROVED OR MADE BETTER TO GAIN A COMPETITIVE EDGE IN THE MARKET.

4. TYPES OF INNOVATION
• ‘PRODUCT INNOVATION’ – CHANGES IN THE THINGS (PRODUCTS/SERVICES) WHICH AN ORGANIZATION
OFFERS.
• ‘PROCESS INNOVATION’ – CHANGES IN THE WAYS IN WHICH THEY ARE CREATED AND DELIVERED;
• ‘POSITION INNOVATION’ – CHANGES IN THE CONTEXT IN WHICH THE PRODUCTS/SERVICES ARE
INTRODUCED;
• ‘PARADIGM INNOVATION’ – CHANGES IN THE UNDERLYING MENTAL MODELS WHICH FRAME WHAT THE
ORGANIZATION DOES.

5. ATTRIBUTES OF INNOVATION
1.PLANNED TO OCCUR
• THE TERM INNOVATION ORIGINATES FROM A LATIN MEANING TO RENEW HENCE IMPLIES A PURPOSE AND
SOME MOTIVATION UNDERLYING THE NEED TO CHANGE.
• INNOVATIONS ARE SUPPOSED TO BE PART OF THE ANNUAL AND STRATEGIC PLAN SO THAT THEY ARE
BUDGETED AND ACCOUNTED FOR. UNPLANNED INNOVATIONS MAY RESULT AS A RESPONSE MECHANISM
WHICH MAY BE A BUDGET STRAIN IN THE LONG RUN.
• PLANNING FOR INNOVATION WILL RESULT IN EFFECTIVE AND EFFICIENT RESOURCE ALLOCATION AS WELL
AS SMOOTH IMPLEMENTATION.

6. ATTRIBUTES OF INNOVATION
2. IMPROVEMENT
• INNOVATIONS ARE CREATED OR SPREAD IN AN ATTEMPT TO BRING ABOUT SOME IMPROVEMENT.
• PRODUCT OR SERVICES IMPROVEMENT MEANS THE LATTER IS BETTER THAN THE ORIGINAL.
• IMPROVEMENT IN TERMS OF QUALITY MUST NOT COMPROMISE ITS PURPOSE FOR EXISTENCE.
• PROCESSES TOO MUST BE FASTER AND MORE EFFECTIVE, CUTTING COSTS AND INCREASING THE
PROFITABILITY OF THE BUSINESS. IF THE PROCESS IS IMPROVED AND YET COSTS THE BUSINESS MORE
THAN ITS CAPACITY, THE INNOVATION IS NOT FIT FOR THAT BUSINESS.

7. ATTRIBUTES OF INNOVATION
3. FUNDAMENTAL IN NATURE
• THEY ARE IMPORTANT IN AS FAR AS THE INEVITABLY CAUSE WIDESPREAD REPERCUSSIONS FAR BEYOND
THEIR ORIGINAL INTENTIONS.
• INNOVATIONS MUST BE PLANNED AND MONITORED AS THEY CAN CAUSE A MAJOR SHIFT WITHIN THE
BUSINESS EITHER POSITIVELY OR NEGATIVELY.

8. WHY INNOVATION
• IMPROVE CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
• CREATE NEW MARKETS FOR THE BUSINESS
• CUT OPERATIONAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS
• CUT MANUFACTURING COSTS
• IMPROVE BUSINESS PROFITABILITY
• GAIN COMPETITIVE ADAVANTAGE

9. STRATEGIC ADVANTAGES THROUGH
INNOVATION
Mechanism Strategicadvantage Examples
Noveltyin productor service
offering
Offering something no one else
can
Introducing the first . . . Walkman
fountain pen, camera, dishwasher,
telephone bank, on-line retailer,
etc.
Novelty in process Offering it in ways others cannot
match – faster, lower cost, more
customized.
Pilkington’s float glass process,
Bessemer’s steel process, Internet
banking, on-line bookshop.
Complexity Offering something which others
find it difficult to master.
Rolls-Royce and aircraft engines –
only a handful of competitors can
master the complex machining
and metallurgy involved.

10. STRATEGIC ADVANTAGES THROUGH
INNOVATION
Mechanism StrategicAdvantage Examples
Timing First-mover advantage –being first
can be worth significant market
share in new product fields.
Amazon.com, Yahoo – others can
follow, but the advantage ‘sticks’ to
the early movers.
Rewriting the rules Offering something which
represents a completely new
product or process concept – a
different way of doing things – and
makes the old ones redundant.
Typewriters vs. computer word
processing, ice vs. refrigerators,
Innovation is all about finding new ways to do things and to obtain strategic advantage – so there will be
room for new ways of gaining and retaining advantage.

11. THANK YOU
COMPILED BY
THEOPHILUS TAWONASHE MASUKUME