PEOPLE & ORGANISATION

People and Organisation

People and Organisation

Component A

My Own Experience in an Organisation.

I have worked in a PR consultancy firm of UK that strongly concentrate on innovation. The useful promotion and modification of an innovative invention into a working method (process innovation) or product (product innovation). Innovation is also a process of developing and commercializing something new, usually a product, service or manufacturing process. The management of innovation is a growing and significant subject in its own right. While there is continued debate about the range of activities covered by the term, there is broad agreement that successful innovation management involves research, technology development, marketing and manufacturing. It is the successful co-ordination of these activities that gives competitive opportunities (or competitive problems) to firms and managers. Many writers distinguish 'product innovation' from 'process innovation'. Process innovation refers to the development of new production processes or the improvement of existing ones. Product innovation refers to the development of new products and improvements to existing ones (inevitably, there is considerable overlap here with the field of new product development). The creation of a completely new product can lead to the creation of a new business, as was the case for Dyson appliances with their development of the first bagless vacuum cleaner. Some firms such as 3M have developed a reputation for being able to continually develop innovative products. It should be apparent that these innovations may represent major discontinuities, or quite minor incremental technological advances. (Abel 2000, 12)

I understand that most writers distinguish innovation from invention by suggesting invention is the conception of the idea, whereas successful innovation entails both idea conception and its subsequent translation into something of commercial and practical value. The following simple equation helps to show the relationship between the two terms:

Innovation = theoretical conception + technical invention + commercial exploitation

The conception of new ideas is the starting-point for innovation. A new idea by itself, while interesting, is neither an invention nor innovation; it is merely a concept or a thought or collection of thoughts. The process of converting intellectual thoughts into a tangible new artefact (usually a product or process) is an invention. This is where science and technology usually play significant roles. At this stage, inventions need to be combined with hard work by many different people to convert them into products that will improve company performance. These later activities represent exploitation. However, it is the complete process that represents innovation. This introduces the notion that innovation is a process with a number of distinctive features that need to be managed. Hence, innovation depends on inventions, but inventions need to be harnessed to commercial activities before they can contribute to the growth of an organisation. (Senge 2000, 36-44)

I found great importance of creativity in UK PR consultancy. The ability to create memorable campaigns was ranked as one of the highest of abilities by some of the leading practitioners in the UK. The study also looked at the strategies firms employ to ensure creativity thrives ...