management

Introduction

In the modern world of business, companies are usually forced to engage in stiff competition to survive in the market. One of the consequences of this is that organizations often have to make attempts to introduce innovations to gain a competitive advantage over their rivals. Also, nowadays, the rates at which knowledge and technology development are extremely high. This results in the need to constantly implement change in businesses. Thus, companies need to consider which factors may have a significant impact on the process of change implementation and its chance of success. Because an initiative and effort are needed for a chance to start, it is also important to consider the role of a leader in implementing innovation.

Therefore, this paper consists of two main parts. The first part provides several factors that authors consider critical for a chance to successfully take place in an organization. The second part investigates the roles that leaders need to play effectively to implement an innovation. The findings are briefly summarized at the end of the paper.

Critical Success Factors

Today, organizations have to implement change at rather high speed (Miles 2013). In addition to the fact that introducing change might be risky on its own, for one cannot calculate all the consequences of change, there are numerous barriers to innovation, such as resistance to change or a lack of resources. Therefore, to successfully implement an innovation, several certain conditions need to be met. Authors sometimes differ in their opinions about what these critical success factors are, but some of such factors that are spoken of in the literature are as follows:

1. Detailed plans and analysis, and a clear vision of the change (Ball 2015; Buh, Kovaci & Stemberger 2015; Chrusciel & Field 2006; Monroe & Pagliari 2008). It is needed to assess the current situation that the organization is in now, develop a clear vision of where it should move as a result of the implementation of the innovation, and create a plan of its integration into the firm.
2. Communication (Ball 2015; Chrusciel & Field 2006; Kash et al. 2014). It is needed to properly communicate what the change should be, why it is needed, and what the stakeholders of the organization will receive as its result.

Successful and effective communication of the details of the innovation is paramount not only because the stakeholders need to know in which direction the company is moving; it will also allow for addressing some of the barriers to successful change implementation. For instance, it may help deal with resistance to change among the employees of the organization, persuade the company’s leadership that a particular innovation will increase the company’s profits, and so on (Chrusciel & Field 2006). It is crucial to make sure that several communication channels are available to all stakeholders, and that they never suffer from the dearth of information about the current change (Ball 2015).

1. Motivation (Ball 2015; Kash et al. 2014; Chrusciel & Field 2006). The stakeholders of an organization need to be strongly motivated if the process of implementing change is to be successful. It is also essential to help the stakeholders realize what their gain from the change will be (Chrusciel & Field 2006). However, in certain cases, some of the stakeholders may have very little to gain from the change – as in the case of a merger, for instance. However, in this or other dire situations, it is needed to explain to the employees that the company is likely to fall if e.g. the merger does not take place (Ball 2015).
2. Training the staff to use the innovations (Chrusciel & Field 2006). It is also very important to ensure that all the members of the company’s personnel are capable of properly utilizing the results of the innovations, be it a piece of technology or a structural change (Miles 2013). Managers need to be the key figures who train their subordinates to ensure that all of them have a sufficient amount of skill and knowledge of how to use the innovations. Importantly, if the need of the staff to study how to use the fruits of the implementation of change is not addressed, the personnel may feel additional frustration due to the increased workload, and might not meet the level of knowledge which is required to properly utilize the innovation; this is likely result in suboptimal performance. In case of structural changes, staff also needs help to learn to properly act in the new structure; for instance, members of an organization which previously had a strong hierarchy may need assistance in breaking their habits of simply doing what they were told to do, and learn to work in a more horizontal structure where decisions are made collectively in teams (Burrus 2010).
3. The critical mass of the personnel (Chrusciel & Field 2006). If innovation is to be integrated, and this integration is to be effective, then it is a requirement that the critical mass of the members of the staff support this innovation and are willing to work to properly realize it.
4. Good and efficacious management (Ball 2015; Kash et al. 2014). The staff needs to be appropriately managed, for when changes are implemented, the personnel finds themselves in a completely new situation to which they are not accustomed and which they yet do not know how to handle. It is also crucial to ensure that the workload is not too large, for overwhelmed workers might quickly lose enthusiasm and start feeling frustration in regards to the innovation, which will result in suboptimal effectiveness and possible problems with the further implementation of this innovation (Ball 2015).
5. Constant evaluation (Ball 2015; Keenan et al. 2015). It is paramount to continuously evaluate the results of the change in an organization to make sure that the innovation indeed has benefits as its results, as well as to be able to introduce the necessary corrections and adjustments if the latter is not the case or if there is a threat to the business or the personnel. Feedback from the stakeholders (including the workers) should also be collected and analyzed for the same purpose.

Apart from mentioning the critical success factors, it should also be stressed that, according to Buh, Kovaci, and Stemberger (2015), the importance of these factors might vary depending on the stage at which the process of implementation of change currently is. For instance, it is clear that teaching employees how to use the innovation is critical when the process of implementation has only started, but it gradually loses its importance and finally becomes not needed when the innovation has already become a new routine in the organization.

The Role of Effective Leadership

For a chance to be introduced in an organization, an initiative for this change needs to emerge. Therefore, it is required that a proponent of this innovation takes the role of a leader of its implementation and makes the steps that are necessary for this change to take place.

While introducing change, a leader will need to perform an array of functions effectively, or else the initiative will fail. For instance, it has already been stressed that a critical mass of staff needs to support the idea if it is to root in the firm. Thus, a leader needs to make sure that such a critical mass emerges and continuously exists.

According to different authors, some of the functions that a leader needs to perform effectively, and the roles of these functions, are as follows:

1. The advocate for the innovation (Mehta, Maheshwari & Sharma 2014). As has been stressed above, a leader needs to gather a critical mass of the person if the change is to take place. However, only gathering such a “mass” is not enough; it is also paramount to make sure that a sufficient number of people remain, proponents of the new idea at all times, so the innovation does not “die out” because too few people are interested in it, and too little attention is being paid to it. It is also critical to address the resistance to change if the initiative is to be successfully implemented (Jóhannsdóttir, Ólafsson & Davidsdottir 2015).
2. Change designer and controller (Griffith-Cooper & King 2007). The leader is the person who plans the intervention aimed at the implementation of a change and adjusts it while the innovation is being introduced (Parker et al. 2013). It is the role of a leader to comprehend the scope of the change and to create a project of its implementation. The plan for introducing the innovation needs to be created, communicated to the others, and its implementation needs to start. Since the leader is the person from whom the initiative comes in the first place, it falls to them to start this process. Also, the plan of implementation needs to be regularly adjusted to the changing conditions of the organization, and the leaders should perform or at least oversee this process. Therefore, a leader of change should not only lead the people of an organization; they also ought to manage the process of the implementation of change.
3. A pattern-breaker. It should also be stressed that, while designing and overseeing the process of change, leaders must realize that their organization is a complex system and that they are also a part of it (Higgs & Rowland 2010). To implement an innovation, it is needed to change the usual pattern according to which everyone acts. Therefore, leaders need to be able to start acting in a new way, the way which is appropriate for the innovation in question and provide an example for their subordinates to follow. It is stated that failure to recognize such patterns may often fail in an attempt to change implementation (Higgs & Rowland 2010).
4. The model to be followed. According to a study by Michaelis, Stegmaier, and Sonntag (2009), the presence of charismatic leaders in an organization and the trust of employees in these leaders were associated with higher levels of behavior aimed at implementing changes and innovation. Furthermore, Mehta, Maheshwari, and Sharma (2014) found out that people-oriented (along with task-oriented) behaviors of leaders are important for change implementation in an organization. Therefore, a charismatic leader whom the personnel trusts and who provides a model to be followed might play an important role when it comes to stimulating adherence to change and innovation.
5. The teacher/accommodator/educator (Chrusciel & Field 2006). It has also been highlighted that change requires the agents whom it touches to be able to handle it and to use it properly, for which purpose the skills of such handling and use are necessary. Thus, the leader of the change needs to make sure that the staff of the organization have all the required skills. It is, therefore, the role of the leader to teach the employees to use the fruits of innovation. Usually, the leader can teach a selected number of people (such as the managers) to use the skills, and these individuals will then distribute the knowledge among the others. However, the leader might still have to oversee the process and provide assistance in case it is needed.
6. The person who ensures that the change becomes a part of the organization. It has already been noted that a leader needs to manage the process of change implementation (Griffith-Cooper & King 2007). It is also important to stress that the duty to ensure that the change becomes a part of the organization also falls to the leader. The leader needs to see through the process of introducing innovation and to make sure that the company has implemented it efficaciously.

Therefore, a leader is a key person when it comes to implementing change. It is the work of the leader to manage the process of change implementation, break the usual patterns, and lead the people, inspiring them to adhere to the innovation and make this innovation a part of their working process. If a leader is ineffective in these duties, an attempt to introduce a change into an organization appears likely to fail (Higgs & Rowland 2010; Parker et al. 2013).

Summary

Therefore, it should be stressed that several factors may be considered critical for the successful implementation of an innovation in a company. These factors include the creation of detailed plans of change and a clear vision of the innovation; effective communication related to the change; high levels of motivation to introduce the innovation; sufficient level of training among the staff; the existence of a critical mass of employees who support the change; efficacious management; and constant evaluation of the process of change implementation. Also, the leader of change needs to play the following roles: the advocate for innovation; the designer and controller of the plan of change implementation; the breaker of the usual patterns of action; the model to be followed; the accommodator of the personnel to change; and the controller who makes sure that the innovation becomes rooted in the organization. These roles must be played effectively by the leader if the change is to be implemented successfully in an organization.

References

Ball, S 2015, 7 key factors for successful change management, Web.

Buh, B, Kovaci, A & Stemberger, MI 2015, ‘Critical success factors for different stages of business process management adoption – a case study,’ Ekonomska Istrazivanja, vol. 28, no. 1, pp. 243-258.

Burrus, D 2010, ‘Collaboration and communication tools to implement radical management,’ Strategy & Leadership, vol. 38, no. 6, 2016, via Emerald Insight database.

Chrusciel, D & Field, DW 2006, ‘Success factors in dealing with significant change in an organization,’ Business Process Management Journal, vol. 12, no. 4, pp. 503-516.

Griffith-Cooper, B & King, K 2007, ‘The partnership between project management and organizational change: integrating change management with change leadership,’ Performance Improvement, vol. 46, no. 1, pp. 14-20.

Higgs, M & Rowland, D 2010, ‘Emperors with clothes on: the role of self-awareness in developing effective change leadership,’ Journal of Change Management, vol. 10, no. 4, pp. 369-385.

Jóhannsdóttir, L, Ólafsson, S & Davidsdottir, B 2015, ‘Leadership role and employee acceptance of change,’ Journal of Organizational Change Management, vol. 28, no. 1, pp. 72-96.

Kash, BA, Spaulding, A, Johnson, CE & Gamm, L 2014, ‘Success factors for strategic change initiatives: a qualitative study of healthcare administrators’ perspectives,’ Journal of Healthcare Management, vol. 59, no. 1, pp. 65-81.

Keenan, P, Mingardon, S, Sirkin, H & Tankersley, J 2015, ‘A way to assess and prioritize your change efforts,’ Harvard Business Review, Web.

Mehta, S, Maheshwari, GC & Sharma SK 2014, ‘Role of leadership in leading successful change: an empirical study,’ Journal of Contemporary Management Research, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 1-22.

Michaelis, B, Stegmaier, R, & Sonntag, K 2009, ‘Affective commitment to change and innovation implementation behavior: the role of charismatic leadership and employees’ trust in top management,’ Journal of Change Management, vol. 9, no. 4, pp. 399-417.

Miles, A 2013, ‘Agile learning: living with the speed of change,’ Development and Learning in Organizations, vol. 27, no. 2, pp. 20-22.

Monroe, RW & Pagliari, LR 2008, ‘Success factors for change management: the roles of leadership and knowledge,’ Journal of Management & Engineering Integration, vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 89-97.

Parker, D, Charlton, J, Ribeiro, A & Pathak, RD 2013, ‘Integration of project-based management and change management: intervention methodology,’ International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, vol. 62, no. 5, pp. 534-544.

The operations concept, its meaning, and relevance

McDonald’s Company can use an operational strategy based on three pillars. The first pillar is the location strategy. The business should set up outlets and franchises in densely populated areas. The company will have a high demand for its food products in these locations. The operational managers should have an elaborate transportation system that ensures that the demand of the consumers is constantly met. The franchises should always have stock to serve customers.

The managers should have a system that helps the business track their opening stock, delivery levels, sales, and closing stock. This will display to the customers that the company can be relied on to have adequate in the outlets.

The second strategy is product differentiation. To cope with the high levels of competition in the market place, the company will have to offer products that are different in the industry. Customers will only pay a higher premium for products that are different (Holcombe, 2009). This requires the company to research the customer needs and preferences which usually keep on changing in the marketplace.

The differentiation in a product goes to satisfy or meet specific customer needs (Kim and Mauborgne, 1999). A lot of costs will be incurred to achieve success in product differentiation. The company should conduct customer satisfaction research and surveys. The company will have to be innovative and creative in coming up with differentiated products in the market place (Porter, 1985, p 120).

Thirdly, the operations manager should ensure product quality. The food should be fresh and well made. It should inspire or create more demand in the customer to consume more products. In this area, the company should adhere to continuous improvement principles or total quality management principles. This helps the company to consistently offer better to the customers.

Product Differentiation

It has been found to offer a more sustainable competitive advantage than other strategies in the market including the low-cost strategy (Grant, 2004, p 276). Customers are willing to pay a higher price for a product to have their needs and preferences met. A firm may have to customize their product to a particular market segment. The company finds that it cannot offer the same standardized goods in a particular market due to cultural and social factors. This is a form of product differentiation even as the company seeks to identify with the local people and build customer loyalty. A company that is driven by customer needs and wants is highly successful (Day, 1984)

Total Quality Management

In implementing total quality improvement processes, the company uses team effort and cooperation of the staff to provide quality products to the customers. It is a system that requires the staff to own the production processes and the final product to the customer (Black and Porter, 1996). The departments can no longer work alone. All the departmental efforts have to be merged and reconciled to accomplish the overall organizational goal.

The focus moves from the number of products produced to the quality of products produced (Powell, 1995). Supervisors and foremen leave the quotas system dependent. They now focus on the number of products produced with nil defects. In the service industry, it is about customer satisfaction. This is the measure of success which is a sustainable measure. The company strives to satisfy more and more customers.

Furthermore, the company works to exceed customer expectations. It even anticipates customer future needs and works to cover the gaps in the existing market products. The company has a competitive advantage as it is innovative and continuously communicates with its customers (Kandampully and Duddy, 1999) Total quality management is about analyzing the processes and service delivery of products to ensure the right processes are followed in satisfying the customers’ needs. As customers get quality products, they begin to display high levels of loyalty to the company products (Sivadass and Baker-Prewitt, 2000)

Business Operations Application

The operations concept can be applied in the McDonald’s Company in the production and service delivery of sandwiches. For the company to continue being a premier in the industry, it needs to provide quality sandwiches to its customers. The process of providing quality products should be based on continuous improvement principles. The company should keep researching customer preferences and needs and differentiate its products to meet customer needs and products. The staff should be innovative and creative. To serve and reach the maximum number of people the company should employ a location strategy where outlets are located in highly or densely populated areas.

Operations Manager’s Tasks

The management has several tasks to undertake to ensure the success of the operations strategy. To offer differentiated products, the company will have to be aware of its external environment. In the area of the social environment, the company should gather information from the customers to assist them to offer the best products in the market. The company should also understand and observe its technological and competitive environment.

They should know the strategies their competitors are employing. What are the latest technologies in use in the hospitality industry in service delivery? Secondly, the managers and staff will have to train on TQM principles and processes. Policies and procedures should be put in place to ensure the success of TQM. New roles and positions or responsibilities may arise to ensure its smooth implementation. Thirdly, the company management should employ strategies to inspire creativity and innovation in the staff. They may be in need of brainstorming meetings so that people can contribute as many ideas as possible.

References

Black S. and Porter L. (1996). Identification of the critical factors of TQM. Decision Sciences,27(1): 1–22.

Day, G. (1994). The Capabilities of Market-Driven Organisations. Journal of Marketing, 58 (4) :37-52.

Grant, R. (2004) Contemporary Strategy Analysis. New Jersey, Wiley- Blackwell.

Holcombe, R. (2009) Product Differentiation And Economic Progress. The Quarterly Journal Of Austrian Economics 12(1): 17–35.

Kandampully, J. and Duddy, R (1999) Competitive Advantage through Anticipation, Innovation and Relationships. Management Decision, 37(1);51-56.

Kim, C and Mauborgne, R. (1999) “Creating New Market Space,” Harvard Business Review: 83–93.

Porter, M. (1985). Competitive Advantage. New York, Free Press.

Powell T. (1995) Total quality management as competitive advantage: a review and empirical study. Strategic Management Journal 16: 15–37.

Sivadass, E. and Baker-Prewitt, J. (2000) An Examination of the Relationship Between Service Quality, Customer Satisfaction, and Store Loyalty. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 28(2): 73-82.

Introduction

The process of implementing Total Quality Management is always a great challenge for many companies in the UAE and other companies across the world. There are hard and soft aspects of Total Quality Management that need to be fully considered for effective implementation of a Total Quality Management program (Janakiraman, 2006). This paper will compare and contrast the TQM implementation strategies in two companies based in the UAE. The first company is the Al kabeer Group that is one of the major food manufacturing companies in Dubai.

The company manufactures frozen and processed foods such as seafood, basic meat and vegetable products. The company sells most of its product locally but India and the United Kingdom are its major export destinations. The second company that will be discussed in this paper is the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company that deals with oil refinery and production of petroleum products such as petrochemicals and natural gas. The company has a substantial stake in the international market as it exports its products to almost all parts of the world. The Abu Dhabi National Oil company has got almost seven subsidiaries that produce different oil and petroleum products. These two companies are the subject of discussion in this paper and the similarities and differences in the way they implement TQM programs will be explored.

TQM Implementation Strategies

Before comparing and contrasting the TQM implementation strategies in the two companies, it is important to first of all highlight the various TQM implementation strategies available today (Janakiraman, 2006). The type of TQM implementation strategies that a company decides to use depends on the nature of the company. Similar strategies can not be used in all companies because they may not work for some companies. It is therefore very important for the company’s management to be careful in choosing TQM implementation strategies for it to fully achieve the expected results (Samuel, 2004).

In order to improve the quality of products and services in organizations, it is necessary to apply the total quality management approach. The first strategy that an organization can use in implementing a Total Quality Management program is through involving the Human Resource department (Samuel, 2004). If an organization wants to introduce a culture shift through TQM, The HR department can play a vital role in training employees on both short-term and long-term basis. The HR department has the ability to recruit and select the right people to initiate changes within an organization based on the TQM philosophy. The TQM process should affect the whole company and the strategy that involves the Human Resource Department in implementing the TQM program is a very effective method of wholesome implementation (Samuel, 2004). The corporate culture and the type of products that a company produces are very important in the practical implementation of a TQM program.

There are companies that take the blanket approach where all the departments and areas of the organization are improved. When a company needs to make changes across the board, the blanket strategy of TQM implementation is the most preferred. The other strategy that can be used to implement a TQM program is the selective approach that involves the selection of some areas that need improvement (Samuel, 2004). These areas must be relevant and should be sensible for the intended TQM goals to be achieved. The TQM process should focus on improving the quality of products and services which in turn brings customer satisfaction. The ultimate aim of a TQM program is to bring customer satisfaction. All the stakeholders within an organization should be ready and willing to embrace any sensible changes that come with Total Quality Management (Allotey, 2008).

Companies can use TQM to improve their production processes as well as products. Marketing, production and the costs of production are broken down and thoroughly examined for quality improvement. Apart from customer satisfaction, the TQM process should improve the profit margins of a company by eliminating unnecessary costs and increasing sales. Benchmarking is another strategy for implementing a TQM program in an organization. A successful organization is benchmarked for reference in the areas that need improvement. Just like in other strategies of TQM implementation, it is important to stick to the general TQM principles (Allotey, 2008). The basic TQM principles include customer focus, leadership commitment, continuous improvement and most importantly employee involvement. Benchmarking initiatives come into place when the TQM principles have been understood by the management. After identifying what to benchmark, the company in question should take the initiative of accessing the data of a reference company. The company should identify what data to benchmark so that it gives them a clear direction on the changes that need to be made. The quality award strategy for TQM implementation involves a reward system where individuals and departments are appraised and rewarded according to the quality of their work.

There are other strategies that can be used in Total Quality Management implementation but the ones mentioned above are the most important ones (Samuel, 2004). It is not a guarantee that a particular TQM implementation strategy will work for all areas within an organization. TQM implementation can be a difficult process but if the right strategy which is relevant to the company’s corporate culture and strategic objectives is applied, it becomes much easier (Samuel, 2004).

TQM in Al Kabeer Group and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company

Al Kabeer Group and the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company are among the most successful companies in the UAE that have the best Total Quality Management systems. There are some similarities as well as differences in the TQM implementation strategies applied by these two companies. Both the companies are involved in production and therefore they are almost of the same nature. Both the companies apply TQM programs that focus on customer satisfaction and continuous product quality improvement. The two companies consider the principle of continuous quality improvement as the key to effective total quality management (Janakiraman, 2006). The Al Kabeer Group faces a lot of competition from other companies that produce food products compared to the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company that is the largest oil company with almost seven subsidiaries. Other oil companies in the UAE benchmark its processes and the quality of its products. It is therefore very difficult for this company to use the benchmarking approach in TQM implementation (Janakiraman, 2006).

The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company can not use the blanket approach of TQM implementation because it has subsidiaries that specialize in producing different oil products. The management of the company therefore prefers to use the selective approach in TQM implementation. The Abu Dhabi National Oil company identifies areas, departments and subsidiaries that need improvement and initiates the necessary changes to improve its production processes and the general quality of the company’s products. On the other hand, the Al Kabeer Group prefers benchmarking and the blanket approach in TQM implementation. Since there is a lot of competition in the food processing industry, it is important to remain competitive throughout and therefore continuous quality improvement is essential in all areas of the company.

The Al Kabeer Group initiates changes from production to sales and marketing to ensure that all departments within the company put into full effect all the proposed changes. Comparing the two companies, the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company does not prioritize Total Quality Management since the demand of oil and its product is always high and that is why the company’s TQM program is not comprehensive as that of the Al Kabeer Group. The management of the Al Kabeer Group has to invest in TQM for the company to remain competitive in the market since the food industry is very flooded. The quality of products and services is what determines if the company remains competitive in the market. The company is therefore forced to use the benchmarking approach of TQM implementation so that it makes the necessary changes to match the market leaders (Samuel, 2004). A wholesome approach to Total Quality Management is applicable to small companies compared to big companies.

The Abu Dhabi National Company does not have a good history of Total Quality Management and it always very difficult to implement TQM programs because the employees are normally very skeptical about the TQM process. Despite the skepticism, the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company has got a strong financial base to implement a TQM program compared to the Al Kabeer Group. The strategy used to implement a TQM program determines the total cost of implementing the whole TQM program. There are divergent views about which strategy is the most expensive but the one fact that is clear is that quality comes at a cost (Allotey, 2008). Although the blanket strategy used by the Al Kabeer is a bit expensive, its benefits are long-term compared to the selective strategy. The Al Kabeer Group has continued to register positive results as result of investing in Total Quality Management.

It has been a great challenge to implement TQM programs in the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company because it is difficult to coordinate change in all the subsidiary units at the same time. The nature of the TQM programs is slightly different in these two companies because of the nature of products that these companies produce (Allotey, 2008). Food products and oil products are very different in their production and handling and therefore it is obvious that the elements in the Total Quality Management program can not be the same.

Conclusion

The success of a TQM program depends on the implementation strategy used by the organization. There are various strategies such as the blanket approach, selective approach and benchmarking which are commonly used by many countries across the world. The corporate culture of a company and the nature of products and services produced by the company are the two main factors used to select a Total Quality Management implementation strategy. The Al Kabeer Group and the Abu Dhabi National Oil company are among the best performing companies in terms of Total Quality Management but the latter is yet to fully invest in comprehensive Total Quality Management because it is more of a monopoly in the UAE.

References

Allotey, A. (2008). Implementing Total Quality Management (TQM) – The issues of national culture. New York, NY: GRIN Verlag.

Janakiraman, B. (2006). Total Quality Management text and case. New York, NY: PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd.

Samuel, A. (2004). Total Quality Management. New York, NY: PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd.

Change encompasses one of the inevitable experiences for any organization that operates in the current dynamic globalized business environment. Thus, it is not a new phenomenon or even a simple fact. Indeed, organizations operate under the constant force of change, failure to which they may be rendered obsolete. This claim is true, especially for organizations that operate in a technological industry such as telecommunications, the internet, and the electronics industry such as the Apple and Google companies. While some organizations embrace change, others vehemently resist it. In this context, Mullins (2010) suggests that acceptance or resistance to change depends on the personality of individuals, but the management department can do nothing about resistance to change. This section debates against this point using the case of Apple Company to verify that managers have a responsibility of mitigating any resistance to change.

Although people can either resist or embrace change, it is possible to manage or lead them to ensure that they create organizational change. It is also achievable to influence and motivate people who oppose to embrace it. WIPRO video addresses the OCM (Organisational Change Management) concept as an effort by heads to ensure the achievement of the anticipated performance heights after the introduction of any change in the organizational operations. A possible way of achieving this goal encompasses encouraging employees to become innovative and creative. In this process, people embrace and initiate change without their knowledge that their contributions in the development of new products and services amount to organizational change. However, external agents may fail to embrace it as Mullins (2010) confirms, and hence the reason why the change curve in figure 3 captures a state of denial by the change agents.

This observation suggests that the creation of an organizational culture that encourages creativity and innovation may help managers to implement change successfully. Apple and Google are good examples of companies, which have managed to build their competitive advantage around change that has been implemented through fostering employee innovation and creativity. Another example of an organization that has embarked on organizational change is the multinational company Wal-Mart. The company’s evident series of organizational changes have improved its performance in the section in which it operates.

Competitive advantage is gained when solutions are provided for operations challenges that are encountered by organizations. Such solutions often capture new opportunities for placing products and/or creating new ones with the chief aim of increasing both productivity and efficiency (Blanton 2009). While enacting and implementing strategies that produce various solutions, creativity and innovation are vital. The Apple Company is one of the businesses whose competitive advantage depends on the capacity to ensure that employees come up with new products as one of the ways of driving organizational change. The company appreciates the value of innovation and creativity in its future success. In this line of argument, Dalal (2011) reckons that Apple has come up with an inventive industrial unit that is capable of harnessing the company’s employee unbridled creativity. The unit provides room for a generation of new ideas while at the same time stimulating and/or making it possible to launch successful strategic decisions and profitable innovations.

Apple Company operates in the technological industry. This means there are lots of technological changes and influxes that result in the obsolescence of products. To counter this challenge, it focuses on creating new products that meet the new technological demands. For Apple to realize these concerns, it ‘leverages its diverse ecosystem of employees, customers, suppliers, partners, and global networks, proven innovation process, and a winning culture that does not accept second place – to seize the new opportunities in the marketplace and grow its business exponentially’ (Dalal 2011, Para. 4). Seizing new opportunities in the market demands an organization to keep at par with innovative and creative strategies that characterize the industry within which an organization operates.

When a technology change occurs, the Apple Company must also respond accordingly. It offers this response through effective leadership approaches during change. For instance, company management engages in ardent communication about the significance of adopting new production methodologies to enhance its survival. Even though employees may be resisting change akin to their personality traits as discussed by Mullins (2010), integrated communication ensures that they embrace it in a bid to protect their source of livelihood. Although the resistance to change is undesirable, the Apple Company also benefits from it as it leads to constructive organizational conflicts in the form of different ideas on how to handle the emerging challenges. Such conflicts lead to the establishment of optimal decisions and strategies for countering competitive forces.

Future leaders and managers may embrace organizational change as a factor to improve productivity and performance. Constant rebranding may be associated with improved performance due to upgrading in sales. My future role as a leader will also involve engaging in organizational change for better results at the stations that I plan to work in.

References

Blanton, G 2009, Creativity, Innovation and Quality, McGraw Hill, New York, NY.

Dalal, S 2011, Apple’s Innovation Strategy – Learn How Apple Innovates, Web.

Mullins, J 2010, Management and Organisational Behaviour, Pearson Higher Education, Harlow.

WIPRO 2012, Organisational Change Management, video recording, Video Education Australasia, Bendigo, VIC, Web.

Introduction

Business process re-engineering (BPR) also known as business process management (BPM) simply refers to the formal design of a workflow and the specific business processes performed to achieve a targeted business outcome. Moreover, it is important to note that BPR is an essential basis for many managerial development within and organization.

Contrary, despite the tremendous positive growth in the BPR concept, not all organizations globally embrace the idea of BPR projects. However, BPR when properly implemented is capable of providing quality customer satisfaction. In order to achieve BPR projects success, there is need to have an effective mode of communication and leadership personnel within the organization.

Discussion

It is the mandate of leaders to come up and select the most effective strategies to be used within the organization whenever implementing the BPR projects. It is clear according to Al-Mashari (1999, p. 87) that despite the great success of BPR, not all organization internationally do fully implement the concept. Notable to mention is that, an effective leadership within an organization is important whenever BPR project is being implemented.

Proper and strategic leadership is the core factor that can either contribute to the success or failure of the BPR process within the organization. The major reason for any unsuccessful BPR project implementation is poor management that will discourage group support system (GSS). As Olivera (2000, p. 43) discussed, the truth is that, GSS empowers staffs to actively participate wholeheartedly toward the success of BPR.

GSS similarly as Olivera (2000, p. 43) explained empowers people to openly discuss and communicate their fear and anxiety achieving the third level if BPR-IT integration. Staffs motivation following Al-Mashari (1999, p. 87) statement, should be part of the creative strategy good leadership can employ whenever facilitating re-engineering efforts.

Such motivation can either be through reward programmes or offering new job titles to staffs. Such strategic move creates a sense of encouragement among employees when implementing the BPR projects. Proper leadership as Al-Mashari (1999, p. 87) discussed, will also ensure that the reward programme is equally and fairly awarded to promote harmony and encouragement among employees.

Additionally, empowering both individuals and teams is one of the strategies an effective leadership needs to employ to achieve a successful BPR implementation. Such empowerment develops and establishes a culture, which allows all the staffs at all levels to be free, responsible and focused towards the success of the process.

Based on Al-Mashari (1999, p. 87) work, this moulds employee’s perception to become accountable, collaborative and also promotes the spirit of self-management within the organization. Whenever staffs feel empowered, they feel free to set their targeted goals and also to assess their own personal performance.

Employees are also able to identify personal areas of weakness. They are also able to come up with best solution that will help solve such problems at personal level especially if it is affecting their performances at work place. All this are efforts that tend to support the BPR efforts facilitated through good leadership. Notable to mention is that, proper leadership that openly and actively involves all people in the organization is very vital especially when re-engineering the BPR project.

Nevertheless, it is necessary for people involved to be well prepared in advance before the BPR. This according to Al-Mashari (1999, p. 87) will ensures that they endure errors and mistakes they might encounter throughout the re-engineering process. The other important aspect required is the manager’s perception. In order to successfully attain and to assure business effectiveness, it is important as Damijan (2009, p. 588-608) discussed to entirely shift the focus to the management perception of information especially from the information support in business department.

On the same basis following Damijan (2009, p. 588-608) statement, “whenever the management has sufficient knowledge focused on information management and if in any way it supports the initiative of information specialist, it is definitely clear indicator that BPM is being perceived in the company with positive impacts.”

It is the role of the management to set high performance goals to be attained when implementing the BPR projects. This definitely makes it easy for the management personnel based on Al-Mashari (1999, p. 87) to assess the progress during the period under which the process takes to be either positive or negative.

It is important for companies under proper leadership and management to continuously change their business processes. This is to enable the company to survive the competitive business environment. It is the mandate of the top management to develop an initiative directed to change the business process. It is therefore a requirement stated by Damijan (2009, p. 588-608) that all employees who are working under new business process need to embrace and own the changes otherwise, the project would definitely fail.

This simply means that for a successful BPR project implementation, it is important that the leadership of the company must be trust worth, tolerant, respectful and confident with esteemed high reputations. As Damijan (2009, p. 588-608) stated, overcoming employee’s resistance toward business changes is the greatest barrier for the successful implementation of BPR project.

Companies with good leadership and management must always be flexible and be ready for changes. Additionally, managers have an option of giving out rewards to their employees with outstanding performance. This again will steer up employees to efficiently and excellently carry out their duties without supervision.

The other most important factor required for the success of BPR/BPM implementation as stated by Damijan (2009, p. 588-608) is to include the associate people in the management of the organizational change. It is the people (staff) in the trenches who always carry out the implementation and a good leadership will always incorporate staffs throughout the entire process.

According to Al-Mashari (1999, p. 87) effective communication is an effective tool for a successful BPR project implementation. A proper communication measure that is applicable at all levels is essential and vitally required to be used throughout the entire BPR process. In order to achieve an effective outcome based on Al-Mashari (1999, p. 87) work, the audience who are directly or indirectly involved with the BPR processes at all level must be involved.

An effective communication also ensures that proper patience and understanding is fully achieved within stakeholders participating inside and outside the organization. This creates the best platform to market the BPR programmes. Communication measures are also very important and should be carried out more and more frequently.

Nevertheless, communication should be more open, honest and clear. This must be applicable according to Al-Mashari (1999, p. 87) applicable whenever discussing critical and sensitive issues that are related to changes, for example personnel reductions.

Conclusion

In summary, many people worldwide are still confused exactly on what really constitutes BPR/BPM. This is evident by the fact that BPM community itself has not yet developed and agreed on a common definition and approaches towards the concept. However, BPM is globally regarded as one of the most effective business management processes.

In such processes, people (staffs) are the only principle at the centre of the business processes.It is clear that for a successful implementation of a business process (BPR/BPM), there is need for the company to have proper leadership in charge of the company management. No success will ever be effectively achieved without proper ability of the management to efficiently control the entire businesses processes proactively and predicatively.

References

Al-Mashari, M & Zairi, M. (1999). BPR implementation process: an analysis of key success and failure factors. Bradford: Emerald group publishing Limited. Vol. 5, no.1, pp. 87

Damijan, Z., Andrej, K & Stemberger, M. (2009). The influence of business management and some other CSFs on successful EPR implementation.

Bradford: Emerald group publishing Limited. Vol. 15, no. 4, pp. 588-608s

Olivera, M. (2000). Supporting the soft side of business process re-engineering. Bradford: Emerald group publishing Limited. Vol. 6, no.1, pp 43.

When speaking about the critical success factors for a BPM project, I have to point out that each project is considered to be unique. So, let’s consider each factor in detail. Leadership is recognized to be one of the critical success factors. Generally, leadership combines numerous other meanings, including attention, support, psychological approaches, etc. However, one is to keep in mind that the most important constituent of leadership is time. Of course, this variable is of great importance, as each project requires a certain time frame.

The second critical success factor for a BMP project is recognized to be BPM experienced business project manager. While speaking about the experienced manager, one is to understand that I am talking about the leader of the team. In other words, a leader means a skilled person who is ready to make complex decisions and who is not afraid of responsibility. BPM experienced business project manager is, to be honest, competent and forward-looking. The leader’s beliefs, values, skills, and traits are to be obvious.

Linkage to organization strategy is the third critical success factor for a BMP project. While speaking about the strategy, one is to understand that the objectives of the company, as well as its strategies, are of primary importance. Organization strategy is based on the tactical solutions of the company.

The fourth critical success factor is process architecture. Simply speaking, this constituent includes the basic principles of a BMP project.

A structured approach to BPM implementation is the fifth factor. First of all, I would like to point out that this approach is based on organization strategy. Moreover, important behavioural aspects should also be considered, as the success of BPM implementation mostly depends upon these aspects.

People change management is the sixth factor, which is related to the responsibility of the employees. In other words, it depends upon the employees who execute the processes whether BPM implementation will be successful or no.

People and empowerment is the seventh factor, which is to be considered. Thus, the factor determines the role of people in the organization and the duties they are to perform.

The eighth critical success factor for a BMP project is project initiation and completion. This factor determines the success of further projects. In other words, some aspects of previous projects can be analyzed and used in new projects.

Sustainable performance is the ninth critical success factor. The main purpose of the factor is to define the efficiency and effectiveness of the process.

Realizing value seems to be the last factor. So, the importance of the project is defined.

When speaking about the absence of these factors, I would like to touch on the so-called potential consequences. So, without leadership, it would be impossible to create a high-quality project. The absence of leadership could cause a great deal of confusion, as there would be no opportunity to control the time of project performance, etc. The absence of experienced business project manager means serious contradictions in the work of the whole team, as there is no leader who must coordinate the employees’ actions. The absence of organization strategy could lead to idle time and uncertainty concerning the main purposes of the project.

Without process architecture, no fundamentals of BMP project are available; so, there is no project. The absence of a structured approach to BPM implementation means the failure of the project. So, you see that all factors are interdependent. Of course, it is difficult to imagine BPM implementation without such factors as people change management and people and empowerment. In simple words, if there are no employees who can perform certain tasks – there is no project. Still, if there is no project completion – there is no result. Finally, without realizing the value of the project, it is difficult to estimate the meaning and importance of the project. In other words, if there is no main goal, the importance of the project will be neglected.

Barriers to imitation are always needed if you are a good entrepreneur can appropriate value from an innovation

Competencies in science, technology, and engineering are usually required to facilitate the invention of new products and processes; this implies that the underlying technological prowess that facilitates innovation is not adequate for entrepreneurs to profit from their innovations (Baron & Shane, 2005). Even though invention forms the initial phase of innovation, in most cases, it is not enough to facilitate commercial success (Allen, 2006). This means that entrepreneurs usually fail to appropriate the profits of their respective innovations.

An inference that can be made from the above observation is that the protection of the returns associated with innovation forms a strategic challenge for entrepreneurs in industries that are mostly technology-intensive. Innovations that have unbeaten commercially have relied on the creation of impermanent monopolies, this has facilitated the extraction of transitory Schumpeterian rents. In highly technology-intensive industries, entrepreneurs have to engage in persistent innovations to establish a competitive advantage that is sustainable (Baron & Shane, 2005). The basic argument is that the performance and business continuity of an entrepreneur or a firm is solely determined by their ability to appropriate the values from their respective innovations.

This poses the need to protect one’s innovation using the different types of barriers to imitation. There are diverse high-profile instances whereby entrepreneurs lost the value of their innovations mainly due to imitators. Examples of entrepreneurs who lost their innovation to imitators include RC Cola, who invented the diet cola and lost to coca-cola and Pepsi; Ampex, who invented the video recorders and lost to Matsushita; and MITS, who invented the PC and lost to Apple and IBM. This is attributed to the entrepreneurs failing to appropriate the returns of their innovations. Therefore, it is arguably evident that barriers to imitation are required if a good entrepreneur must have the ability to appropriate the value from innovation. Having discussed the need for barriers to imitation, the following section highlights the different types of barriers to imitation that entrepreneurs can use to protect their innovation (Leonard & Rayport, 1997).

There are diverse types of barriers to imitation that entrepreneurs have used to protect their innovation. One of the methods of barriers to imitation is the use of patents. Governments usually offer 20 years for patent protection towards innovators with the prime objective of serving as an inducement to encourage innovation and address the threats imposed by innovation (Marco, 2008). The underlying argument is that in case imitators copy the innovation without difficulty, there is a likelihood that the increased competition will serve to reduce the level of profitability associated with the innovation such that the innovators will not benefit from their worthwhile efforts. A prime setback associated with using patent protection is that the underlying technology behind the innovation has to be disclosed (Nussbaum & Berner, 2005).

The second type of barrier that entrepreneurs can use to protect their innovation from imitators is to use the resource-based view, which focuses on the exploitation of the core competencies of the firm. The resource-based view emphasizes superior access and exploitation of the firms’ input resources and its customers. A business enterprise that has the capability of obtaining high-quality inputs has the capacity of sustaining business advantages associated with costs and quality that other business enterprises cannot copy (Ulwick, 2002). Superior access to input resources by a firm is attainable by having control of the supply source using long-term contrast and ownership. The resource-based view also facilitates superior access to the customers hence increasing the value of innovation by the entrepreneurs. Also, having admission to one of the most effective distribution channels and the productive retail spaces will serve to enhance competitive advantage and hence increase the value of innovation. Controlling the scarcity of inputs is also another strategy under the resource-based view that businesses can exploit to protect their innovation (Ulwick, 2002).

The third type of barrier to imitation that entrepreneurs can use to protect innovation is the use of market size and making use of the scale economies. Imitation is also barred using a large minimum efficient scale compared to the demand in the market, and securing the largest portion of the market. This implies that the economies of scale can play an integral role in limiting the number of business enterprises that can fit into the market and impose a potential barrier to entry. The use of scale economies can also be used in discouraging small enterprises that are already in the market to expand and imitate the scale economies and the associated cost advantages of an enterprise that has already secured a large segment of the market. There are also intangible types of barriers to imitation, which include casual ambiguity, social complexity and reliance on historical state of affairs. Casual ambiguity is a scenario whereby the firms capacity in value creation are obscure and lacks precise comprehension by the competitors, and exploits the use of tacit knowledge (Kim & Mauborne, 1997).

It is impossible to create a new value curve for established companies

The value curve is a graphic representation of how a firm or an entire industry configures its operations with its customers; this implies that the value chain serves an effective tool for the creation of new market spaces (Baron & Shane, 2005). The value curve usually depicts the present state of affairs in the acknowledged market space, which provides a framework through which the firm can understand the existing trend of competition and the underlying factors that influence the state of completion about product and service delivery (Kim & R, 2005). To change the value chain of an established company, the firm should first reorganize its strategic focus from the existing competitors to analyze the current alternatives. Also, the firm should rearrange its focus from its customers towards its non-customers within its industry.

For established firm to pursue the aspects of value and cost, it must refrain from the conventional approach of benchmarking competitors in the current market space and choose between business level strategies that entail product and service differentiation and a cost leadership strategy (Kim & R, 2005). When the firm is changing its strategic focus from the present status of competition to the available alternatives and its non-customers, the firm must have an in depth analysis of the present state of the industry. This entails a redefinition of the problem that the industry lays emphasis on and then reconstruct the elements of the buyer value that outside the boundaries of the industry. An outcome of such an approach is that the firm is likely to provide better solutions to the existing problems in the industry compared to its competitors. An inference from the above is that it is possible to create a new value curve for an established company. The following section discusses how the Red and Blue Ocean strategy emerges and value innovation occurs when an organization can develop a new value curve that is different from the one that is traditionally used in the industry that it competes (Morris & Kuratko, 2002).

Competition in industries that are already overcrowded makes it difficult to establish a sustainable competitive advantage. This implies that the solution to such a dilemma is the creation of blue oceans that serve to create a new market space that is uncontested (Kim & Mauborne, 1997). Red oceans usually denote the existing industries, which have definite boundaries and that firms are deploying strategies to outperform their competitors to increase their share of the market. An increase in market crowding implies that profitability is reduced due into increased competition. Blue oceans on the other hand refer to industries that are non-existing, which represent the market space that has not been identified and has no competition. This implies that firms operating in blue oceans can create demand rather than fight over the existing customers for their share of the market. The blue oceans strategy is a potential business strategy for growth and increase profitability in a competitor environment (MacMillan & McGrath, 1997).

In contrast to the generic strategies established by Porter, the Blue Ocean strategy consents that differentiation and low cost strategy can be attained simultaneously. According to the Blue Ocean strategy, the actions undertaken by the firm usually imposes an effect on the structure of its costs and the value creation to its buyers (Morris & Kuratko, 2002). In the creation of a new value curve under the blue oceans strategy, costs are reduced significantly because the factors of competition are eliminated. Buyer value is also enhanced through the creation of the industry elements that were not in existence. With time, scale of economies implies a further cost reduction because of the increase in the volume of sales and the increased buyer value to the buyers that the firm in a blue ocean creates. This serves to facilitate the process of value innovation, which is facilitated the by the position of the firm in a blue ocean (Kim & Mauborne, 1997). This depicted in the figure 1 below.

The development of a new value curve for an established organization implies that the firm has managed to establish a market space that is not contested, thereby increasing the irrelevance of competition. Also, the creation of a new value chain for an established firm implies that the firm has the capability of creating and capturing a new demand and breaks the trade-off that exists between buyer value and costs, implying that the firm can achieve both differentiation and the low cost strategy at once (Baron & Shane, 2005). The basic inference from this observation is that the creation of a new value curve by a firm results to the emergence of the Blue Ocean Strategy. This is mainly because the creation of a new value curve is due to a reduction of the factors that are below the threshold of the industry standards, elimination of the factors that the current industry takes for granted, creation of factors that the current industry has never provided and increasing the factors are above the present industry standards.

A key “innovation issue” that an entrepreneurial organization needs to address to be a commercial success

It is arguably evident that the establishment of sustainable competitive advantage is a significant element of the business level strategies for firms across all industries and economies. The Research and Development strategy, which is an important business level strategy, primarily focuses on product innovation and process improvement. Also, it deals with the assessment of internal development, external acquisition, role or technology in organizational growth and other factors that may revolutionize the way an organization operates (Kim & R, 2005).

An organization can opt to be a technological leader, in the sense it aims at innovation, or it can be a technological follower, in the sense that it imitates other innovations by other firms. Depending on the option that the organization undertakes, it can attain product differentiation or a reduction in the production costs. Such an approach places innovation at the core organizational success as an element of strategies for organizational growth in competitor growth. As a result, a key issue in innovation that emerges is how organizations can makes use of innovation to foster competitive advantage. This section discusses the use of innovation for competitive advantage as a key innovation issue, with a specific concern on the effects of innovation on profitability and growth in a competitor environment (Von Hipple, 1999).

Innovation is diverse and can be implemented at various levels within the firm through the development of new products and new processes, establishing new ways aimed at creating value for buyers and a renewal of the organizational process. This implies that innovation can be product-oriented, process-oriented or a change in the firm’s position and paradigm of operations. All these approaches when effectively implemented within the business enterprise lead to the establishment of competitive advantage and foster business growth (Ulwick, 2002).

One of the notable outcomes of innovation is the emergence of the Blue Ocean Strategy, whereby firms create a new value curve with the main objective of tapping the unidentified market that has no competition. This results to the aspect of value creation, which in turn means that the firm can make use of the increased buyer value and cost reduction for business growth. An inference from this is that innovation serves as an effective business level strategy that a firm can exploit to establish a sustainable competitive advantage and foster growth in a competitor environment.

With the economic downturns becoming common phenomena in the market place, innovation comes in handy as a solution to the business challenges imposed on the market. The bottom line is that business innovation is increasingly becoming a central element of the business level and corporate strategies (Marco, 2008). Also, innovation is becoming a business requirement due to the increase in the product development cycles and the perception that innovation can be exploited as a strategy for growth in a competitor environment. Innovation has also been applied to attain commercial success in emerging markets. In the recent past, emerging markets has presented a potential opportunity for global manufacturers, imposing the need to devise appropriate methodologies that can be applied to guarantee success in emerging markets.

This mainly entails addressing the dynamism in the customer requirements and demands, government regulations and cultural diversity. This implies that business innovation can be applied by global companies to help them adjust their strategies in human resource, products and service delivery and their supply chains. As a result, innovation in emerging markets helps in the addressing the challenges associated with gaining entry in such markets such as establishment of new value propositions, globalization of research and development, strategies used in talent management and complexities associated with global value chains (Kim & Mauborne, 1997). All these strategies can be deployed to foster competitive advantage using innovation at the various levels within the business including its operations, processes, technologies products and functions (Kim & R, 2005).

A key issue in using innovation for strategic growth in a competitor environment is ensuring that the business enterprises benefits from the potential advantages associated with the innovation. This implies that the business must protect its innovation from imitation to make its business value worthwhile and make significant contributions for strategic growth. Also, the business must constantly re-innovate to be ahead of its competitors (Kim & Mauborne, 1997). Therefore, innovation is increasingly becoming a key focus for the businesses that plays an integral role in differentiation and business growth. As a result, innovation should be integrated into the business and corporate level strategies for growth and competitive advantage. When a business enterprise can implement continuous innovation and adjust its corporate and organizational culture to accept innovation, this serves as the onset of developing sustainable competitive advantage in the present day business environment.

References

Allen, K.R., 2006. Launching new ventures : an entrepreneurial approach. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Baron, R. & Shane, S., 2005. Entrepreneurship : a process perspective. Mason, Ohio: Thomson/South-Western.

Kim, W. & Mauborne, R., 1997. Value Innovation:The Strategic Logic of High Growth. Harvard Business Review, pp.89-95.

Kim, W. & R, M., 2005. Blue Ocean Strategy: From Theory to Practice. California Management Review, 47(3), p.105.

Leonard, D. & Rayport, J., 1997. Spark innovation through empathic design. Harvard Business Review, Boston, p.145.

MacMillan, I. & McGrath, R., 1997. Discovering New Points of Differentiation. Harvard Business Review, pp.89-101.

Marco, C., 2008. Approptiating the Returns from innovation. Economic Growth, 18, pp.11-34.

Morris, M. & Kuratko, D., 2002. Corporate enterpreneurship: enterpreneural development within organizations. Fort Worth: Harcout College Publishers.

Nussbaum, B. & Berner, B., 2005. The Creative Future. Business Review Weekly, pp.58-62.

Ulwick, A., 2002. Turn Customer Input into Innovation. Harvard Business Review, Boston, pp.102-03.

Von Hipple, E., 1999. Creating Breakthroughs at 3M. Harvard Business Review, Boston, p.105.