What's in a Name? A Lot When It Comes to Innovation

What's in a Name? A Lot When It Comes to Innovation

the Innovation Breakthrough -2

What did it take for the company to bring this innovation to life?

1. What were the drivers that led to the innovation? What were the forces / catalysts that triggered the development of the innovative idea?

-        Only 10% of 6.5 million tons salt annually consumed in India were branded and refined.

-        Only 25% salt in India was iodized

-        Despite the availability of iodized salt, consumers are not educated regard the necessity of the organism for iodine

-        Rejection for pay a premium price for iodized salt

-        Loss of iodine in storage (up to 70% of loss), transportation and Indian cooking (even those who consumed iodized salt didn’t receive the recommended daily allowance of iodine): air moisture, high temperatures, poor quality of raw salt, low environmental pH, time before compsumption. PH levels of Indian species

-        Iodine deficiency desorder

-        75% of Indias population is rural

2. What were the barriers that has been faced? What were the main barriers that held back the organization and the stakeholders when developing the innovative solution? (price for the market segment, managerial support/commitment for development, technical issues, etc.)

-        Price for market segment was high due high costs of distribution

-        Creation of penetration channel to rural areas

-        Though conditions for distribution to rural areas

-        Skepticism of parents that child’s mental development depends on consuming right salt

3. What were the enablers that made the innovation happen? Who were the key people, what have been the factors that enabled the innovative idea to prevail, and how did they help? Who changed the status quo?

-        HLL endorsement Government trustful agencies to promote the consumption of iodine salt

-        Shakti: Education from women of the same community. Word-of-mouth

-        Creation of micro-business in the communities

4. What is the result and impact? What impact the innovation has had or will have on the customers, market, competitors, and environment? What kind of new behavior does it trigger?

-        Health conscious

-        Entry of the traditional leaders into the iodized salt market

-        Project Shakti empower women to stand among the men of the village

-        Distribution of the other HLL products

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5.  What’s next for this innovation or the company? Based on the innovation, what is the company going to do next? (What the company wants explicitly and/or our assumptions of what could be next on this path.)

-        Expand its product distribution

-        Involving the major customer base to increase sales in volume

-        Reduce transportation cost

-        Improve supply chain

-        Entered the common man’s household with a wide variety of products

the Innovation Breakthrough -1

                            concept of the offering

-        A new branded salt which due to an innovative process of production doesn’t lose its concentration of iodine.

-        Encapsulating the iodine in aluminum and magnesium hybrid, the iodine is retained even in Indian cooking conditions.

 insight that led to developing the innovation

-        How to create a salt that guarantee and keep the level of iodine concentration required for the body to prevent IDD (iodine deficiency disorders).

-        How to reach and educate the poor people regard the importance of iodine consumption.

 emerging and converging trends exist to make this innovation sustain over time

-        Health ONGs and donations were not enough to reduce the rate of IDD in India. 

-        Was necessary the auto sustainability of the communities.

-        Creation of micro economy

-        Required a self-sustained effort by an consumer organization

-        Lack of education

 basic human needs does it satisfy?

-        Need of health.

-        Need for an additional income

-        Upgrade of the household.

business model used to make money

BoP principle.  Despite the low margins of the product, it generates high profitability due high volume of units sold.

 combined capabilities that differentiated the offering and makes it compelling for the customers? Focus on aspects of production, offering, delivery, customer experience and partners

Production: Production capacity for salt was above demand in India.  HLL developed partners and transferred its technology  and upgrading quality. Strong R&D.

Offering:  rural penetration model Shakti. Personal approach.  Based on education on benefits of Annapurna consumption.  Huge training efforts from HLL due illiteracy of women. 

Marketing: different levels of literacy and TV access. Vans traveled through villages giving educative shows in the villages and presence in festivals to educate and create brand awareness.  Word-of-mouth. Marketing directed to women appealed through the health of the children.  Message  positioned the product as a healthy product, to prevent bodily dysfunctions related with lack of iodine in the organism. (thyroid, goiter, growth of the neck, abnormal mental development and inadequate growth in children).  Because goiter is not visual attractive, HLL decided to focus its campaigns on mental disorder.  HLL offered Annapurna scholarships to children who submit interesting questions and answers (highlighting mental development)

Delivery:  Different distribution than others HLL products.  Distribution relied primary on rail. They had fewer middleman involved and ended with wholesalers rather than retailers. 

Customer experience:

Partners:

-        Shakti women

-        Producers

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Pharma expanding partnerships with healthcare entrants: E&Y

Pharmaceutical companies are dramatically increasing their investments in new and innovative offerings to meet the demands of a patient-empowered, data-driven, outcomes-focused future in health care. In the last year alone, pharmaceutical company investment in smart phone apps, educational websites, social media platforms, wireless devices and other programs increased 78 percent, as companies embrace a role that goes far beyond developing and manufacturing products.

While many of these initiatives involve collaborating in new ways with non-pharmaceutical companies, investments by these same non-pharma companies are outpacing those made by pharma companies, challenging industry members to either increase their level of investment or risk diminished relevance. These findings and other insights were a part of Ernst & Young’s annual global pharmaceutical report -Progressions: Building Pharma 3.0.

The Progressions report provides a detailed update on the transformation currently underway in the pharmaceutical industry — one in which companies will need to shift from simply producing new medicines to demonstrating improvements in health outcomes and creating innovative new business models, an ecosystem that EY has entitled “Pharma 3.0.” This evolution is being driven both by rapid advancements in health care technology and the coming to a head of health care’s lack of sustainability globally.

“New entrants to the health care industry are clearly committing much more to business model innovation than pharma companies,” remarked Hitesh Sharma, Partner & National Leader, Life Sciences Practice, Ernst & Young. “The companies that succeed in this new health care ecosystem will do so by developing innovative outcomes-focused offerings through structured, systematic and scalable approaches to business model innovation. Also, the global pharmaceutical companies are increasingly exploring alliances with nontraditional partners as a way to pursue opportunities in emerging markets. Emerging markets, such as India, will play a crucial role in these opportunities of Pharma 3.0.

The opportunities latent in these shifts are attracting a growing flood of non-pharma players to the health care space. The report estimates that non-pharma players have publicly committed at least US$20 billion in experiments with Pharma 3.0 related business models, an investment level several multiples larger than the allocations made by the pharmaceutical industry.

The Progressions report also contains insights from the first-ever detailed database of Pharma 3.0 initiatives launched by pharmaceutical companies during the last five years. Key findings include:

· Pharma 3.0-related initiatives are being driven by investments in mobile health technology, particularly smart phone apps. Between 2006 and 2009, 16% of initiatives were in the mobile health space. In 2010, this category accounted for one out of every two new initiatives.

· These smart phone apps, previously focused primarily on diabetes management tools, expanded rapidly into other disease categories in 2010, with apps emerging in an estimated 14 disease areas. These apps ranged from tools to help patients and consumers track vaccination schedules, manage infusions for treatment of hemophilia, and find cancer clinical trials within 150 miles of their location.

· Oncology-related initiatives surpassed those in diabetes as the most popular Pharma 3.0 investments in 2010, representing 15% of all initiatives. Diabetes and Metabolics tied for the second spot with Immunoscience/Inflammatory diseases, each accounting for 12% of initiatives.

· Pharmaceutical companies are increasingly developing business models that seek to improve patient outcomes using more holistic approaches, including disease management, coordinated care, and an expansion across different stages of care. Several of the world’s largest pharmaceuticals recently announced collaborations with technology and eHealth firms designed to empower patients to manage their conditions more effectively and to more easily and safely share their personal data with health care professionals.

Understanding Innovation

What is innovation? According to Merriam-Webster, innovation is:

Main Entry: in•no•va•tion
Pronunciation: "i-n&-'vA-sh&n
Function: noun
1 : the introduction of something new
2 : a new idea, method or device

An invention is useful only to the inventor unless it is offered to the public, however niche that public may be. If the invention improves some product, process or service for the public, then that invention transforms into an innovation.

An innovation can be big or small. Brand-new or just a bit different, it doesn't matter. An innovation can be clearly complex or seemingly simple. Innovations are often thought of in terms of technical achievement, but can also be a design. The type, industry and style of innovation are irrelevant; an innovation's impact determines its qualification.

The presence of a genius can help with innovation – it may speed up the end result by having a person who can see and make the future happen. However, innovation is more than the work of any one "Einstein." Innovation involves the taking of the work of an individual (or team) of inventors and taking it to a broader audience.

The future of many businesses depends upon their ability to innovate. Competition is fierce. Knowledge spreads quickly. The ability of a company to not only keep up with its current business practices, but to exceed its own – and its competition's – expectations are critical to survival.

Theories of Innovation

Innovation is the specific instrument of entrepreneurship... the act that endows resources with a new capacity to create wealth.
- Peter Drucker

There are many different theories of innovation: breakthrough, incremental, open source to name but a few. There are arguments stating innovations have to be disruptive to qualify; others argue that any change—as long as it is measurable—qualifies as innovation. Some people want innovations to be open and available to all as a means of challenging even more growth and ingenuity; others believe that new discoveries and paths need to be developed privately and secretly.

Methods and Tools for Innovation

Innovation is hard to schedule.
- Dan Fylstra

Yes, it's true: there are methods and tools for innovation. You didn't know? You're not alone. Although innovation is highly touted as the future of business, very few people have any idea for how to actually make that happen other than hoping they hire someone who will keep coming up with good – and profitable – products and services each year. (Trial-and-error is not an effective or efficient means of facilitating innovation.)

Barriers to Innovation

We ought not be over anxious to encourage innovation, in case of doubtful improvement, for an old system must ever have two advantages over a new one; it is established and it is understood. - C.C. Colton

The company culture and leadership are two prominent barriers to innovation. If your company's culture isn't set-up to accept new ideas and creative contributions from its staff then inventions will be unable to break through to the marketplace.

Your organization may be structured so that the development of an innovation is more challenging than at another business. This confining structure can be physical or, alternatively, systemic in terms of the company's culture.

Measures of Innovation

Innovation has nothing to do with how many R&D dollars you have... It's not about money. It's about the people you have, how you're led, and how much you get it.
-Steve Jobs

There are no definitive metrics for innovation. Measures of innovative success vary by company and industry. And, as with any type of statistic, the numbers must be looked at closely in order to withstand analysis. The most common metrics are patent creation and R&D.

• Patent creation – Some companies create patent after patent and boast of their innovative capabilities. While this may be well and true for a few, if the numbers of patented products, processes, and services are now making it to the marketplace, then their relevance diminishes.
• R&D – This metric assumes that the amount of money spent on research and development directly correlates to the amount of innovative products, processes and services that get to the public.

Other measures? Total shareholder return is gaining in popularity, but for the most part the field is still open to metrics competition.

What Is NOT Innovation?

Invention is the mother of necessity.
- Thorstein Veblen

It is important to be clear as to what innovation is not. Innovation is NOT invention, even if invention is the mother of necessity. These two words are sometimes used interchangeably, but although connected they are not the same. An innovation is the extension of an invention.

If an inventor discovers the "next big thing," but is unable to find anyone to produce it, then the next big thing remains undiscovered to the world. For this invention to become an innovation, a public needs to be introduced to the invention and have said invention improve their lives in some way. This may happen behind the scenes (e.g., streamlined processes that lower costs to the customer) or be clearly visible (e.g., the flexibility of a laptop vs. a desktop).

Innovation at Procter and Gamble – A Case Study

        

William Procter, a candlemaker, and James Gamble, a soapmaker, formed this global and Fortune 500 Corporation in 1837 (corporate profile).  Procter and Gamble (P&G) is headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. These two entrepreneurs and inventors were immigrants from England and Ireland respectively; who have chosen for some reason to settle in the Cincinnati area. The company manufactures a wide variety of consumer goods including beauty, household, health and wellness products. According to CNNMoney.com “in the early parts of 2007, P&G was the 25^th largest U.S Company by revenue, 18^th largest by profit, and 10^th in Fortune’s Most Admired Companies list”.  “Touching Lives, Improving Life” is the corporate motto which is exemplified in their 138,000 employees and loyal customers worldwide. The worldwide demand for P&G’s products and services has forced management to focus on global marketing and innovation. This worldwide marketing and innovation success was achieved by making sure that what they produce is of highest quality and most importantly is what customers need.  P&G is very adaptable to changing customer demands by carefully and clearly defining its innovative strategies; however, it almost lost its market dominance to competition in the mid 80’s had it not been its aggressive play-to-win strategy. (Davila, Epstein, & Shelton, 2006, p.73).  “Senior P&G management admitted that they had not had a breakthrough innovation since 1985, and the company’s continued market dominance in the years ahead was in question” (Davila et al., 2006 p.73). The play-to-win innovation strategy had helped P&G to regain its industry leadership as stated by (Davila et al.,) in the company’s case study:

            Management had planned to create a more nimble organization and to increase the

            speed and quality of innovation. They also focused on improving the speed

           of commercialization of new products. In addition, they wanted to move the company’s

           focus to higher growth, higher margin businesses such as health care and personal care.        (p.73)

       Another innovative play-to-win strategy that P&G management had adopted was the acquisition of its domestic and foreign competitors. P&G acquired a number of other companies that helped diversified its product line and increased profits significantly. In order to foster this aggressive strategy, management had integrated and reorganized all the manufacturing processes of the companies they acquired. Manufacturing processes of companies like Folgers Coffee, Norwich Eaton Pharmaceuticals, Richardson-Vicks, Noxell, Shulton’s Old Spice, and many others. “Innovation must be encouraged, carefully implemented within an organization at all times” (Hesselbein, Goldsmith, & Somerville, 2002, p. 82).

        The pre-dominant leadership or management style in P&G is that of participatory, delegating, and empowerment. Management has decentralized decision making process in such a manner that middle level management most at times do not have to wait for headquarters approval and funding; in order to embark on certain key innovative projects.  Because of the empowerment given to mid and senior level management within this multinational corporation, it is much easier for management to customize products and customer services internally. It is abundantly clear that, the success of this giant corporation can be closely tied to its management and leadership style. “He restored focus on leading brands and reminder everyone in P&G that the measure of success was not innovation per se, but the consumer” (Davila et al., p.74). This is a clear customer focus leadership style of a CEO who was brought in within the corporation to strengthen employee morale and to refocus employees’ attention to providing the needs and wants of customers in this ever changing global market. 

        P&G has demonstrated that its success depends on its customers, people, and innovation. Each and every employee is brought together by the company’s common culture, values, and goals. The company recognizes its diversity as a unique characteristic and strength and it’s been able to maximize the talents and creativity from these people. P&G has also demonstrated that it is not just in business to maximize shareholders wealth but it’s also a social responsible company. This is illustrated in its summer camp program that is open to community youth.  “We developed our Summer Camp program as a way to seek out the best and brightest. But, it's also a way for us to give these candidates a head start, not only on their schooling, but also their careers.”  (P&G Management Camp Program)

Characteristics of Innovative Organization

      “By describing the landscape of unmet customer needs and analyzing where new offering have worked before, you can chart a path that will produce successful innovations time after time” (Anthony, Eyring, & Gibson p.104). Understanding customer needs and building lasting relationships are important in helping an organization innovate. Businesses innovate through unmet customer needs. Customers express their needs that have not been met and organizations innovate to meet those needs.  This is why P&G is still leading the domestic product industry because, it listens to customers unmet needs and innovates aggressively to meet those needs.  For instance, when babies were wearing cloth diapers, they were very leaky and labor intensive to wash; at that time, mothers needed an innovative product on the market to help fix the labor intensive part of washing the cloth diapers as well as the leakage. P&G answered this innovative call by introducing a revolutionary product called “Pampers” into the market. 

      Pampers helped simplified the diapering process by resolving the leakage and the labor intensive washing. Innovation means change and to change you must know why you are changing, that is to say you must understand the pros and cons of the change process.  In addition, you must understand the characteristics of innovation or change and its implication organization wide.  According to Kinicki (2007);

      Why are organizations going through change?  Simple. Globalization. International competition. The spread of information technology. All of these factors have escalated competition and the need to change in order to maintain competitive advantage. Organizations have to be faster, more responsive, and produce higher quality. All told, there is more pressure than ever, on everyone, to be able to change (p.1)

     The aforementioned are the primary features of change and P&G management has recognized that. Sometimes, what employees do not understand is the impact of change on their professional and family lives; and it is the responsibility of management to communicate this impact to employees both positive and negative; but mostly, management overemphasizes on the positives and pays little attention on the negative impact.  Kinicki mentioned further:

      Managerial changes viewed as good and necessary can be seen by employees as

      intimidating and even terrifying. But when companies don't take this into account,

      and force changes that employees aren't prepared to handle, those companies risk

       alienating their workers, losing money and, in the end, seeing those great strategic

      changes fall flat.

    This is a communication strategy that P&G has been successful in implementing corporate wide. The company ensures that the length and breath of all its units understand the impact of any change mostly at the professional level.  Management ensures that everyone involved is interested in the change process.  The more employees are interested in the change process the greater the success of the change or innovation. The most important element here is motivation.  Management must let employees see a win-win situation in the change process. Another case in point here was the mismanagement of the change process in the United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. Forest Service management didn’t recognize the importance of communicating their re-organization plan to employees ahead of time; and this had resulted in a loss of great talents and good teams; because, some of them felt intimidated, terrified, and alienated. Change must be carefully managed to ensure success. 

    It is impossible to address all the characteristics of innovation in this paper however; the salient features will thoroughly be discussed. Organizational culture must be nurtured to accept change at all levels. The nurturing of the organizational culture relies on the fundamental responsibility of management to plan, direct, motivate, and control the day to day operations of the organization.  Innovative cultures must be built and supported by management.   

    To begin with, anything that gives a corporation a competitive advantage over the other is a characteristic of innovation.  Most companies are described as first movers into some specific industries and once they get in, they make it very difficult for others to get in due to a specified or unspecified characteristic of innovation. This could be innovation in technology, innovation in financial management (capital acquisition), innovation in customer service and what have you.  One main innovation characteristic of P&G is to move innovation to commercialization faster than any other competitor in the industry.  “Defining the innovation strategy and the resulting portfolio characteristics (play-to-win or play-not-to-loose and the associated mix of incremental, semi-radical, and radical innovations) are the first major responsibility of a company’s leadership” (Davila et al., p.85).

     Secondly, anything that creates a situation that people had to deal with is a characteristic of innovation.  When innovation is implemented, it changes people’s attitude toward the new process.  It makes people think and act different from the way they used to.  It creates different vision and mission that people have to focus on; and this gives rise to altering behaviors and attitudes. All this is because of innovation.  Whenever P&G introduces a new product line, it alters situations and behaviors.  Anything that creates a problem or resolves a problem is a characteristic of innovation. When Listerine mouth wash was introduced into the market, it solved the problem of bad breath but than people had to deal with the burning sensation.  

Keeley (2006) has found that:

      Innovations can have both positive and negative implications. A few years ago, people were discussing the “revenge of technology”. Now there are a few people that are warning us about the “pursuit of technology”. Whatever the pundits say, the future is probably going to happen anyway. So here is my initial list of characteristics of innovations that might change the world: Anything that provides a service or solves a problem in a significantly better way, anything that changes how society works or plays, anything that eliminates a major problem (or cost) for people and or organizations. (p.1)

      The reason why leadership hype is critical for innovation, creativity and change in an organization is that; at P&G innovation or change occurs from top down.  This sends a clear message to everyone that if the entire leadership has changed to accommodate innovation, it’s about time for them to change also (employees).  Management makes employees creative and innovative by hyping innovation and making it a priority. To encourage creativity and innovation within an organization, leadership must hype it; institute a reward system to compensate creative employees and link innovation and creativity to the broader mission and vision of the organization.  

P&G Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) Analysis

      One strategic management tool that P&G uses to stay ahead of its competition is the effective and efficient utilization of SWOT analysis. This involves specifying the goals and objectives of the business as well as identifying the internal and external factors that are favorable and unfavorable in achieving the goals and objectives. These analyses are based on the company’s case study as well as the industry trend.  Because of the segmentation and size of the company, P&G faces a lot of domestic and foreign regulatory threats and distribution systems where foreign competition tries to imitate P&G’s brand names for the seek of misleading consumers for self profit. This threat of foreign brand imitation is due to weak foreign business laws and regulations.     

       P&G’s strength includes: strong financial position both in the domestic and foreign markets. The company was the 25^th largest U. S company by revenue in the early part of 2007, and the 18^thlargest by profit.  This is why the company is one of the most admired companies in the United States.  Also, the company has the ability and capability to push innovation to commercialization faster than any other competitor in the industry; even though it faces competition from Johnson & Johnson, Kimberly Clark, and Unilever, it’s been able to move products and services from the innovation phrase to commercialization faster; P&G has effective and efficient manufacturing processes which include total quality management as well as just in time inventory systems; this has enabled the company to save on inventory costs; and this cost saving is generously passed on to consumers in a form of high quality and lower prices of goods and services.

      Another unique strength of P&G is its pool of skilled labor. In a Congressional briefing luncheon hosted by the Athena Alliance and the Congressional Economic Leadership Institute held at the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington DC in June 2006; P&G’s Corporate Director of Innovation Capability mentioned, “P&G has 9,000 R&D associates including 1,100 PhDs.” This clearly explains the tremendous success of the company. The company’s pool of highly skilled employees in the industry has given it the edge to lead in the innovation of over 40 product categories for which it holds more than 27,000 patents. The Director of Corporate Innovation Capability added “Our research and development organization is fluent in a broad range of competencies including chemistry, engineering, materials science, biological sciences, medicine, and mathematics.”

     Also, P&G has a track record of producing high quality products which is very difficult to match or beat. Consumers want high quality products at reasonable and affordable prices, and this is the main reason why P&G is the driver of the consumer product industry worldwide.  P&G’s innovative products and services have helped consumers save a lot of money on dental hygiene and on other health care products.

    Just about everyone wants a bright healthy smile, but not everyone can spend $600 for the dental visits needed to achieve whiter teeth. And unlike the stereotypical eureka moment, a lone P&G scientist didn’t accidentally stumble onto the Crest White Strips formula late one night at the lab. What we did do was work backward from the consumer need for a convenient, affordable solution to whiter teeth. We brought together a diverse team of experts across our technology centers who were at the leading edge of their fields from our flexible films group, adhesive group, dental experts from our oral care organization and bleaching experts from our laundry business. And through solution focused R&D, we delivered Crest Whitestrips with a level of tooth whitening that surpasses anything else available in the retail market, and consumers pay only $35. (P&G Corporate Director of Innovation Capability).

      Some weaknesses of P&G include: Lack of effective distribution system in some segment as well as poor location in some foreign countries and high cost of inputs. Another area of weakness is the employment of foreign based local management who doesn’t have any international business experience. This makes collaboration with headquarters a little difficult because of their inexperience in the global business arena.

        P&G’s opportunities include: Well defined market niche, just in time manufacturing technology, wide range of demography, and the removal of trade barriers in some foreign countries. The removal of trade barriers in some foreign countries has enabled the company to operate competitively without much government intervention. Trade barriers historically has been known to be one of the biggest threats for most multinational businesses because of hostile takeovers by some foreign governments, difficulty of entry, corruption among government officials and bribery, and unhealthy business environment.

        Threats include: New entry into the household product industry, use of substitute products, increased trade barriers in some developing nations, unfavorable business laws and political instability. Investors do not like uncertainty.  They want to ensure that there is democracy and stable government in whatever country they invest and most importantly, they should be able to repatriate their profits without much restriction. This has been a threat to most businesses as well as P&G.

        A series of innovation systems that are now common practices in corporations across America including extensive market research, the brand-management system, and employee profit-sharing programs, were first developed at P&G; however, two key innovation systems will be discussed. These include the “AskMe Enterprise” and the “Corporate Standards System.”

       It is important to analyze and contrast these two key innovation systems within P&G.  I have decided to choose the AskMe Enterprise innovation system because innovation begins with ideas or brainstorming sessions among the subject matter experts, and AskMe Enterprise innovation system provides that capability.

      In July of 2001, P&G acquired the second installment of AskMe Enterprise from AskMe Corporation, one of the leading providers of enterprise knowledge sharing solutions in order to increase and strengthen its innovation net. AskMe Enterprise is one of the most important and the largest innovation systems in P&G.  It is an intranet site that facilitates greater employee collaboration and enables more consumer-driven innovations.  “AskMe Enterprise reaches 18,000 key knowledge workers in P&G as well as in departments such as R&D, Engineering, Purchasing, Consumer and Market Knowledge, and knowledge sharing.” (Qu, 2001).

      According to Delphi Group study (as cited in Qu’s 2001) “Nearly 88% of a company’s knowledge resides in the minds of its employees. But most companies lack an efficient system that enables them to tap into that knowledge in ways that provide a strong return on investment.” With AskMe Enterprise, employees can identify qualified individuals with relevant expertise, submit questions or business problems to individuals and receive solutions from colleagues in order to take appropriate and effective actions. Solutions transferred via AskMe Enterprise are captured in a knowledge database so other employees can reuse them in the future. The most interesting aspect of this innovation system is its inclusiveness.  It takes into consideration all personality types within the corporation (introverts and extroverts).  Introverts and Extroverts can use the system effectively without any feelings of intimidation or alienation. 

      The AskMe Enterprise system brings the best out of individuals, leadership, and groups, because it challenges employees at all levels of the organization to be innovative and think creatively within and outside the organization. The leadership stimulates the minds of employees by putting them in the position of customers with real problems that need immediate solution. That is why the success of every organization or system depends on good leadership.  Organizational culture is the personality of the organization and how it learns. In implementing this innovation system, it is very important for the leadership to have a better understanding of the culture and how to incorporate the system with the culture. The culture at P&G is totally different from the culture at Johnson & Johnson and so on. Different cultures learn at different pace at a time and the leadership must not lose sight of this differences.

       Corporate culture and learning are particularly important when managing an organization wide change. Learning organizations turn weaknesses and threats into strengths and opportunities by not getting frustrated and quitting when confronted with difficult situations and challenges.  This is how P&G learns and more importantly, builds its culture to understand that quitting is not an option in the innovation process. 

       Several challenges and factors confront management when leading and managing innovative change processes in a multicultural and diverse organization like P&G. Dooley and O’Sullivan (2001) have found the following to be the fundamental challenges of leading and managing innovative change process “ Poor alignment between goals and actions, poor participation in idea generation and problem solving, poor planning and control of action implementation, poor management and monitoring of overall process and more importantly poor leadership of the innovation process.” (p. 179).  This reemphasizes on the importance of good leadership in every problem solving situation. The diversity and multiculturalism of P&G needs leadership that will accept responsibility and move change throughout the organization by stressing on the importance of the change to individuals and groups; as well as the organization as a whole.

       When individuals and groups understand both the positive and negative impact of change on their lives, and are involved on each step of the process, they will be more willing to accept it and work diligently to ensure its success even when bad decisions are bad by management in the innovation and change process. Individuals and groups may work in the short run to turn the bad decision into a positive one provided they are involved in each process and also understand the ramifications. Montgomery, 1996 (as cited in Dooley & O’Sullivan 2001) “Change is a slow process where direct relationships between specific actions and performance improvement can be difficult to establish. Sometimes even the implementation of a bad solution can have positive effects for the organization in the short term-term” (p.179).

        The role of ethics and responsibilities in leading innovation and change in P&G cannot be overemphasized. This is due to the fact that unethical decision making in the innovation and change process may have a detrimental effect on innovation because, the innovation output may be rejected by consumers and the general public. Consumers may feel and sense unethical behaviors in the output of innovation and change and this may lead to failure and waste of scarce resources. Therefore, management must take the responsibility to ensure that innovation and change processes are guided by ethical and moral principles.

       In practicing and implementing innovative change processes organization wide, certain fundamental principles must be adhered in order to ensure successful implementation.  First, innovation begins when groups and individuals convert problems into ideas. “New ideas are born through questions, problems and obstacles. The process of innovation is indebted to the trouble that comes about when we are surrounded by that which is not solved, not smooth and not simple.” (Dominic, 2007). Second, innovation needs a system.All organizations have innovation systems. Some are formal, designed by the leadership, and some are informal, taking place outside established channels. A good example of formal innovation system is AskMe Enterprise used by P&G for the collaboration of subject matter experts within the organization. Third, passion is the fuel, and pain is the hidden ingredient. Ideas do not propel themselves; passion makes them go. This is why it is important for groups and teams to constantly work together and get to know each other well. With this principle in mind, teams will bury their individual differences when conflict arises and focus on the innovation issue at hand.

      The final innovative principle is closely tied to the third principle. This is where differences must be leveraged at all times. The differences that normally divide people such as language, culture, race, gender and thinking and problem solving styles can be an obstacle to innovation. This is why P&G has a sensitivity training system to train all its leadership team and subject matter experts about cultural, language, and religious differences with the organization and how each of this can derail the implementation of innovation and change.

     The systems and innovative processes and theories are applied to individuals and organizations as well as leadership in different ways. Organizations establish these systems for individuals to utilize in brainstorming innovative ideas and solutions. When the right decisions are made and implemented as a result of the brainstorming session, it benefits the individuals, the leadership, and the organization because it may lead to profits for the organization, promotions for the individuals and a sustained competition in the industry. So, the application of a successful innovative change process may lead to a win-win situation for all parties involved. Organizations must embrace change and creativity in order to stay competitive in this ever changing global market arena. You innovate, or be forced out of business.  Management must encourage and motivate employees to think creatively.  To achieve this, the broader vision of the organization must be tied to innovation and creativity systems within the organization; and a reward system instituted to reward employees who think creatively. Appropriate measures must also be instituted to deal with conflicts when or if they arise. Conflicts may be turned into opportunities if properly managed. Speaking of innovation and change, I heard on a nationally syndicated radio that an unidentified company is innovating to design a bullet proof back pack for students at all levels in our educational system. This, the company believes will help save lives in school shootings which is the order of the day in our school system today.  Innovation, innovation

Innovation Brigade

Innovation is the buzz-word of the era. Every big gun along with the smallest of dirt is looking to do that "something different".  The urgency of the scenario is depicted in the revolutionary changes in the thought process of everyone. Take a pause for the moment and think people, do you understand the meaning of the word - Innovation? It is not a about bringing about a thing not thought about earlier nor is it making the first of a kind thing. It is definitely not similar to the word, "Invention".

Innovation is making a new thing, product, service, process out of an establishment. In simple words it is applying the same thought in a different perspective. Being innovative is a challenge yet it is one of easiest mode of realizing the worth of your offering.

Inspiration, Motivation and Enthusiasm are the pillars of Innovation. There are various frameworks derived to come up the most suitable innovation for you. Many articles, blogs, case-studies have been published to cultivate the seed of Innovation. (I would recommend Barbara Minto's Principle of Pyramids for beginners, although I would also encourage them to explore other sources and frameworks)
Leaders who master the art of Innovation will soar in the coming generation. They'll make things look easy and doable.

Until then I'll keep my efforts to promote Innovation with the "Innovation Brigade."