Swot Analysis Of Innovation

Background

Innovation can be defined as development and intentional introduction of new and useful ideas by individuals, teams and organizations. Innovation is vital for meeting challenges of early 21st century arising out of technological advances, social change, globalization and global financial crisis. Innovation is seen as a key to organization effectiveness and as a source of competitive advantage which can help in wealth creation.

Innovation as a source of competitive advantage can be explained with the help of resource based view of the firm. Resource based view of the firm is states that basis of competitive advantage of a firm lies in application of a bundle of valuable tangible and intangible resources at the firm’s disposal. It

Few examples are explained below:

• 3M

It’s a company that is more than a century into manufacturing business, it started off as an abrasive maker in 1925 and still behaves as a start-up by introducing new products at phenomenal pace. The vice-president of the company described how the company still remains inventive through the “seven habits of highly innovative organizations”. These can be summarized as: o Company’s commitment to innovation which can be manifested in a variety of ways like expenditure on R&D etc. o "Hire good people and let them do their job in their own ways. And tolerate mistakes." Newcomers also quickly learn the stories of how 3M developed the first audio tapes, for instance. Tribes and peoples keep their cultures alive through oral histories; so does 3M. o Innovation is impossible without a broad base of technology. For example, 3M scientists have used a technology behind layered plastic lenses to make more durable abrasives, more reflective highway signs, and golf gloves that allow you to get a tighter grip without squeezing as hard. Companies that remained "uni-dimensional", typically run out of ideas after their first