INNOVATION

Business Assignment

Business Proposal

Introduction

Innovation is an essential element for any organization in order to survive, grow and significantly influence the direction of any industry. Development does not; however, guarantee success, but most be followed up with successive streams of innovation and change, from the incremental to the radical. The most reliable way to be successful in the industry is to innovate better and longer than the competitor, leading companies develops innovation portfolios that they can use to help sustain growth over the long term. Innovation and change is an essential part of any business activity, but only some people recognize its importance and significance. Often, management fails to notice the implication of innovation and change, which becomes the reason of the change failure. Keeping in view the importance of innovation in organization, this study is going to discuss the innovation management at Swissport.

Overview of Swissport

The study is related to Swissport who intends to have innovation in its business activities. The company is a global aviation ground handling company which provides services to over 70 million passengers per year in over 180 airports worldwide. Within the United Kingdom, Swissport Limited currently operates in Birmingham, Newcastle, Heathrow, Manchester, Gatwick and Stansted. The company provides ground handling services for airlines; they use ground handling agents to provide ground services because it is more cost effective than employing their own staff in each airport. A ground handling company makes a success of this by handling several different airlines in the same location, spreading resources where required, therefore spreading the overheads over several contracts.

Innovation Opportunity

The company offers a wide range of services and can build the service package to suit the customer which includes the following:

Passenger Services (Check In, Passenger Escorting etc.)

Ramp Services (Baggage Loading, Sortation, Aircraft Cleaning and Toilet Servicing)

Load Control (Planning and producing Weight and Balance documents for safe flight)

Ticketing

Now, the company wants to have innovation all of the above mentioned business activities as the industry is becoming more competitive. Therefore, the company should go for the innovation strategy within the organization as if the innovation strategy is not perused then the company may possibly face problems in the coming future to deal with the innovation demands of the business process.

Problem Statement

Is there a gap present in the business structure and activities of Swissport for the innovation process?

Alternative Course of Action to Achieve Innovation

Fishbone Diagram: Innovation Process at Swissport

For the feasibility and viability of innovation process at Swissport, the company should consider the following alternative course of actions to achieve innovation at Swissport:

Establish a clear sense of direction

Changing the culture means changing ways of thinking, and that takes time. However, a clear sense of which is her goal to where thirst drives the process, helps speed the process. It includes innovation and continuous improvement within the Swissport's mission and defines it as a strategic element. Thus, the Swissport can know the target, and each member can develop autonomously improvements, knowing that complies with the strategy of the organization (Achrol and Etzel, 2003, ...