Critically evaluate the innovation strategy incorporated by IBM.
Innovation framework
IBM has been observed to have interconnected dimensional approaches for innovation across the dimensions of offerings/products, business models and process. These kinds of innovations that are integrated by IBM are facilitated by a specific category of sustaining enablers These pertain to the fact that IBM as an organization can facilitated the concept of ideation as well as creation of an organizational culture that encourage innovation. The innovation framework of IBM has been observed to be relying and focusing on offerings and market. IBM has been observed to seek for new ways of reaching out and fulfill the needs of the stakeholders and customers. As per Balko, Vasudevan & SAP (2014), the company has believed on the fact that business organization which is successful in integrating innovation by collecting information on the existing trends, analyzing the environment and the future realities of the projects along with making strategies and planning for the determination of the initiatives that are required to be taken (Balko, Vasudevan & SAP, 2014).
IBM has been working on the concept that innovation of services and products happen to enhance and improve the old offerings along with formulating new offerings. IBM also has been conducting the business operation on the concept of changing the deliveries of the organization to its audience and customers in a materialistic manner. The company has been observed to believe that the concept of market innovation which happens to have material implications on the set of audience, stakeholders or customers that are being targeted by the company. It has also been observed that the company believes in changing the manner in which retention or stretching of the customers is conducted (Chang, 2016).
Further, it has been noted that IBM works on the principle of paths or channels which facilitate delivery of innovation in materialistic manner which further changes the manner in which a business organization enters into the market and established connection with the audience. It also follows the similar concepts regarding distributing or delivering the services or products.
IBM also believes in integrating new approaches to enterprise or business models for the extension and structuring of the enterprise as a whole. The company has been functioning on the fact the having innovation within its frameworks will bring flexibility, agility and responsive features to the dynamic scenarios within the ecosystem of the industry. This is done by the company for sustaining the differentiating value from the business competitors in the market along with gaining cost efficiencies from the business operations. As per Conge(2015), IBM believes and functions and believes on the fact that being an innovative organization increases the comprehension of the fact there are many business organization that functions in the market (Conger, 2015). However, to gain a competitive advantage in the market scenario, it is very crucial to have a dynamics, complex and interdependent ecosystem and networks of interdependent industry. IBM also believes that in order to bringing innovation in the business models would bring sustainability in the ongoing value and differentiation in regards to service delivery and growth in the business. In case of operations, IBM considers these elements to be filled with key opportunities and scope for growth and innovation. It considers that innovation can occur at the areas that have core functions of business. It also has to consider the fact that successful innovators happen to overcome challenges in business.
Business transformational and integration
It has been observed from the case study that IBM as a company has to consider the issue of moving or adopting the demand model in all three dimensions of business frameworks. IBM needs to focus on innovation in the business transformation (Hammer, 2015). The company has enhanced understanding of the need of innovation in the aspect of business transformation which would project improvement in the overall business altogether.
Innovation culture
IBM has its business operations on the basis of making sustainable collaborations on which would lead to enhanced innovation culture. According to Müller et al (2016), the culture of IBM has been encouraging the open sharing of ideas among the colleagues and gain knowledge from others’ experiences. This culture then facilitates the continual improvement and innovation in the organization through learning culture (Müller et al., 2016). This has encouraged the business organization to change its competencies of leaderships. The culture of IBM has been facilitating execution and generation of idea a and creativity which assist in transformation of the regular practices and management systems of the company.
Organizational structure and design
It has been understood that organizational structure has the understanding of integrating innovation within the organizational structure and design on the concept that ownership for organizational ownership is eventually the accountability of the employee. The company is oriented towards maintaining and creating innovation programs across the entire organization. The company believes that innovation is an integral part of the strategic focus of every unit of business instead of setting a discrete unit within the business frameworks to be accountable for innovation (Roeser & Kern, 2015).
Funding model
As per Spanyi (2015), IBM can realizes the need to integrating a model for investments funding that would assist in reducing the investment cost of the clients in regards to incorporation of innovation. For encouraging innovation, the projects can be reviewed and chosen on the basis of a specific set of requirements and criteria (Spanyi, 2015). These criteria would include content reach, strategic fit and range along with market planning and deliverables.
Business transformational and integration
IBM has been considering the challenges of adopting the demand model along with focusing in the IT enablement through business transformation. The strategy of the company would project towards the culture treat of labor based and making forward initiatives to move from various products top different solutions. The company has been found to have recognized differential processes of business that it desired for transforming to “On Demand”. The company has realized its scope to undertake wider initiatives regarding business transformation which would drive innovation.
Innovation strategy
It has been observed from the case study that most of the innovation strategy for information technology of IBM is driven by the Global Technology Outlook. According to Schmiedel, Brocke & Recker (2015), the emerging trends of GTO highlights of the company has been prominent in the hardware, software and services technology which are expected to have prominent impacts in the sector of information technology in the upcoming years (Schmiedel, Brocke & Recker, 2015). There has been identification which signifies that tecjhnol0ogeis might happen to have disruption in the existing frameworks of business which have the potential for creating new scope and opportunities. These also facilitate new values of business to the customers of IBM. Through the inclusion of GTO, the company has been found to focus on innovation in the areas such as system and technology of hardware, metadata, enterprise resolution, and innovation in various services. As per Trkman et al (2015), IBM also happens to believe in the adoption of business model of “On Demand” which is a crucial step that facilitates innovation in the company (Trkman et al., 2015). Moreover, the company is found to consider innovation as an open, collaborative and global in nature that has been facilitated by technology. There has been a major initiative by the company regarding its innovation strategy as FOAK which denotes to First of a Kind. IBM has identified that in order to innovative and develop in future, the company needs o have an innovation strategy that integrates historical research and development in its capabilities of business insight. The company also believes in patents which are an integral part of the innovation strategy of the company.
Leadership team and other key stakeholders
From the case study it has been observed that IBM has been integrating its leadership model has been fostering a psychological and physical working environment wherein innovation is developed. The company has also been fostering innovation through the company’s leadership.
Key business processes of innovation
The company has been integrating the process in business along with underlying technologies which are improved and changes on a regular basis to encourage innovation. IBM has been making continuous efforts for identifying the business processes that it used to use and is making strategies for transforming them On Demand (Vom Brocke et al., 2014).
Project selection and project management
The selection of project process of IBM varies on the basis of if the idea is in the area of research or development of products. In such a case, the company has been observed to be using a process that transforms creative ideas into various projects. These projects are found to be funded by the board of investment review.
Role of technology in innovation
IBM has engaged a technology team within its business infrastructure which takes charge of devising future possibilities if developing technology for the business organization. This team also determines the orientation and the technological aspects in which IBM needs to make investments. The company has been making transformations regarding selling the integrated solutions instead of the components which has been successful with standardization and commoditized of information technology. It has been observed that the company focuses in the latest trends in the technology and makes efforts to bring innovation accordingly. There are three key technology enables for the efforts of IBM regarding innovation such as Jams, ThinkPlace and intranet (Tregear, 2015). The company has been considered technology the basis of transformation of the business. The company has been successful in leveraging information technology and building more agility along with responsiveness into the enterprise for gaining effectiveness in business. The platform of “jam” has been incorporated by the company in order to gather all the information from its employees regarding innovation and various other issues.
Evaluating investments
It has been observed from the case study that so as to initiate effective funding to certain transformation of e-business of IBM which further assist in driving innovation, the company has developed a model which it has been utilizing for many years. It has also been noticed that the budget of the company that is specified for innovation in the information technology is allocated for investments regarding transformations in the business frameworks. The company has been making initiatives regarding development of investments and orients them with the strategic intent of the organization in the aspects where the company can forecast bigger opportunities. This has been facilitating the company in creating balance in the offerings of portfolio so that the company is being efficient in making investments in the emerging opportunities and the current products (Van Der Aalst, La Rosa & Santoro, 2016). Further, the company has been integrating enablers of technology which has been optimizing the investments in information technology for the enhancement of the performance of company’s finances and further makes funding regarding the transformation efforts. It has been observed from the case study that the leaders of the supply chain in IBM have not identified the requirements of evaluating the orientation of the programmatic investments in aspects of innovation in a direct manner. The company has not yet devised any strategic process or planning for considering and evaluating innovation as a separate initiative. The evaluation tool that currently IBM uses can be devoted to the recognition by the external community as a whole.
Process performance management-methods and metrics
It is noticed from the case study that IBM has incorporated the evaluation technique of “post –launch performance evaluation” for assessing the performance of the process management. This measurement metrics is used and performed at the end of the decision checkpoint in the entire process of integrated development of product (van der Aalst, 2015). The company has been making collaborations for ensuring success which is mostly conducted through as set of measurements metrics of performance that are oriented for cross-functional groups or teams.
Balanced scorecard method
It has been observed from the given case study that IBM has been using the method of balance scorecard for measuring and tracking the impact as well as the success of innovation of products. It has been seen that suitable measurements happen to differ from one unit of business to the other. However, all the initiatives of business of the company are expected to function in the measurements in the form of a balanced scorecard. The company has been using the method of balance scorecard by referring to the following questions such as how the customers perceive the business of the company (van der Aalst, 2015). Further, the company also undertakes the aspects in which the units of business need to make improvements in order to develop better innovation strategies and products as a whole. The company also evaluates the aspect such as the scope and opportunities of the company in regards to the learning, improving and creating value on a regular basis with the help of balance scorecard. The ways in which the business appears to the customers and the other external stakeholders are also assessed through the balanced scorecard of the company.
Process measurement and product development cycle time
The process of product development of IBM has been observed to utilize four capabilities which are highly significant for the company. These relate to the process of market planning, capability of portfolio management, management of platform and management of pipeline. It has been understood from the case study that the company uses IPD metrics and measurements of transformational progress for measuring the process of product and innovation development. The company has been defining its product development cycle time on a regular basis .the company has been undertaking such regularity within its business frameworks because the time elapsed from the beginning of the phase or concept has to be evaluated till the general availability of the product (Van Der Aalst, La Rosa & Santoro, 2016). The company has been including different processes which encompass quote –to-cash, manufacturing times of processing, order receipt to the delivery of orders, etc.
Dealing with failure
From the case study, it has been understood that the approach that IBM takes to address failure and the manner of application of the innovation by the company depends largely on the aspects of the company which is engaged. The company has been making consistent approach towards the recognition, highlighting and making correction initiatives to every scenarios of business which ash also resulted in non-fulfillment of the objectives of the company. The company can continue to make corrective actions which are built on varying approaches that happen to include wide variety of approaches to innovation. There is no definite use of acceptable failures, however, certain metrics and objectives are considered for the purpose. It has also been noticed that the company has not devised any particular metric for assessing failure rate.
Barriers and enablers of innovation
There are potential barriers that can issues for the integration of innovation by the company along with making the company miss the opportunities in regards to recognize the breakthroughs in the new ventures. These barriers include the insufficient provisions of value or ignorance to the strategic business establishment by the management system which may reward the execution of direction towards the short term outcomes in business. The excessive preoccupation of the company with the markets that it is currently catering to and the exiting offerings that the company is facilitating can act as potential barriers for the company in regards to the incorporation of innovation (Schmiedel, Brocke & Recker, 2015). The model of business of IBM has been making increased focus in the sustained profits along with the earnings for every share developments instead of taking initiatives for driving higher ratios of price to the earnings has the potential to provide restrictions to the incorporation of innovation. Further, the approach of the company regarding collecting and utilizing the insights of the market has been inadequate for the new markets which is one of the barriers in this regards to innovation in the company. The company seems to lack established disciplines for the purpose of selecting, funding, experimenting and terminating fresh new potential developments for business. It has also been anticipated that after making the selection, most of ventures in this regard would fail in execution it has in the past for the company (Roeser & Kern, 2015).
Critical success factors
It has been observed from the case study that IBM has been establishing a culture that identifies and rewards the innovative thought process for gaining success in the business. The critical success factors for the company can be devoted to the aspect of collaborative innovation which is one of the prominent elements in this regard. This element has been encouraging innovation along with assisting in sustainability in this regard in the company (Hammer, 2015). The belief of the company regarding making collaboration for maintaining and improving the growth of the economy along with encouraging competitiveness has been success factor for the company. This has assisted the company in participating in different collaborative initiatives in order to ensure the successful implementation of the initiatives that extends the capacity and capabilities through the partners it has for collaboration.
Lessons learnt and path for future
The lesson that IBM has learned in regards to the requirements for bringing enhancements in business relate to the making plans regarding communicating strategic intent for pursuing scopes and new opportunities for growth (Conger, 2015). The company has learnt lessons regarding identification of prominently short list for initiatives of emerging business opportunities. The path for future of the company lies in identifying the alignment issues regarding cross groups which IBM needs to focus on. There has to be support of the senior management in a continuous manner which is needed for gaining sustained levels of investment. These initiatives have to be aligned in the orientation of the achievement of targets and milestones.
References
Balko, S. and Vasudevan, K., SAP SE, 2014. Business process management. U.S. Patent 8,849,747.
Chang, J.F., 2016. Business process management systems: strategy and implementation. CRC Press.
Conger, S., 2015. Six sigma and business process management. In Handbook on Business Process Management 1 (pp. 127-146). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.
Hammer, M., 2015. What is business process management?. In Handbook on Business Process Management 1 (pp. 3-16). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.
Müller, O., Schmiedel, T., Gorbacheva, E. and Vom Brocke, J., 2016. Towards a typology of business process management professionals: identifying patterns of competences through latent semantic analysis. Enterprise Information Systems, 10(1), pp.50-80.
Roeser, T. and Kern, E.M., 2015. Surveys in business process management–a literature review. Business Process Management Journal, 21(3), pp.692-718.
Spanyi, A., 2015. The governance of business process management. In Handbook on Business Process Management 2 (pp. 333-349). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.
Schmiedel, T., vom Brocke, J. and Recker, J., 2015. Culture in business process management: how cultural values determine BPM success. In Handbook on Business Process Management 2 (pp. 649-663). Springer Berlin Heidelberg.
Trkman, P., Mertens, W., Viaene, S. and Gemmel, P., 2015. From business process management to customer process management. Business process management journal, 21(2), pp.250-266.
Tregear, R., 2015. Business process standardization. In Handbook on Business Process Management 2 (pp. 421-441). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.
Van Der Aalst, W.M., La Rosa, M. and Santoro, F.M., 2016. Business process management.
Vom Brocke, J., Schmiedel, T., Recker, J., Trkman, P., Mertens, W. and Viaene, S., 2014. Ten principles of good business process management. Business process management journal, 20(4), pp.530-548.
van der Aalst, W.M., 2015. Business process management as the “Killer App” for Petri nets. Software & Systems Modeling, 14(2), pp.685-691.
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