Creativity and Innovation

Creativity and Innovation

Introduction

In today's highly competitive and rapidly advancing business world, companies are required to enhance their processes of creativity and innovation involved in development of products, services and its manufacturing processes. This paper focuses on comparing and contrasting three case studies in terms of this creativity and innovation processes, which involves three companies with innovative ideas i.e. Nike, B&Q power tools, and McCain Oven Chips.

Discussion

Nike

Nike is well known global sportswear, which in 1990s had attracted criticism for its poor environmental and labour standards. In order to overcome this issue, Nike had to minimise the influence of its manufacturing. This resulted in one of its flagship product; the Pegasus athletics shoe (Design Council, 2009). Nike implemented a new strategy by working alongside the non-profit organization, The Natural Step, where the environmental influence of all its brands was considered during the design stage. As a result, the Pegasus shoe brand of Nike involves recycled material and utilizes less material than previous versions, with an incredible reduction in weight by 13 percent (Design Council, 2009).

B&Q power tools

B&Q had targeted the problem that older customers, who are primary market for DIY stores, were being putted off due to the hard utilization of many powerful tools. So, in response the company conducted an in-depth research project that has lead to the creation of ergonomically designed product series for all consumers. As a result, the company developed award winning products and build comprehensive design part of development process of its products (Design Council, 2008).

McCain Oven Chips

The concerns over poor diets and obesity, in around mid-2000s, led to a repercussion against chips. Among other companies, McCain Oven Chips, which was one of the market leaders, faced the misfortune of falling sales and increasingly negative brand connotations with customers. This led McCain Oven Chips to communicate its natural ingredients with low fat clearly through the product packaging design in order to alter the perception of chip in customers mind. As a result, company followed the packaging redesign and marketing activity that outcomes in enhanced sales and product penetration reached a record 28.2 percent of UK households in 2007 (Design Council, 2008).

Comparing and Contrasting

When Nike's environmental and labour aspects were criticized as poor and this was impacted the company, the firm have come around with the concept of new strategy that indicates less environmental influence of all its products considered during the design stage. The criticism is what sparked this new strategy in order to have sustainable development. To achieve this goal Nike has taken help of The Natural Step (a not-for-profit organization), which helped it in dedication to education and research in sustainable development. As Nike stated that organizations need to work out in advance that where they want to be because if this will not be determined then only incremental changes will only be what organizations are able to do. Further, Nike not only looked at where it wants to go with its innovative strategy, but also got to know what good ...