Presentation Outline
?This presentation is based on the analysis of the case study of IBM.
?The presentation starts with the overview of the company, its operations and functions in the IT industry.
?The later part of the presentation deals with the analysis of the problems faced by the company and possible solutions for the same.
Introduction
?Continuous improvement is important for any organization to survive in the market.
?In addition to improvement, innovation is also a necessary attribute for IT companies (Taran et al. 2016).
?IBM is an IT company that grows with continuous improvement and innovation. Organizational Background
?International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) is an internationally acclaimed information technology company that deals with the manufacture and sale of various IT products like computers, computer software, microelectronics and digital storage systems (Nylén and Holmström 2015).
?IBM has established itself as one of largest IT companies in the world in terms of revenue and annual profit.
?IBM is based in Armonk, New York, USA.
?In 2004, IBM generated a revenue of $96.3 billion with the profit margin settling around $8.4 billion (Etzkowitz and Ranga 2015).
?The total number of employees and stakeholders of the company have surpassed the 1 million mark in 2005 itself.
Leadership Team
Problem Faced and Purpose
?In spite of having extensive business planning and investment in the research department of the company, there are a number of problems and challenges faced by the company (Nylén and Holmström 2015).
?However, the company’s innovation and business policy means it is always ready to face challenges and make suitable innovations and change management policies to address these challenges.
?The purpose of the company is to learn from mistakes and make better business decisions in the future.
?The first purpose of the company is to identify the mistakes that resulted in disasters or failure of the projects (Zhang, Kandampully and Bilgihan 2015).
?Next, the company wants to prepare a suitable plan for the development of new business and innovation framework that will not repeat previous mistakes.
Innovation Barriers
?The main issues the company has faced are related to innovation barriers.
?The company invests a huge amount of their annual revenue in the innovation sector.
?In 2004, it was found that the company invested around $6 billion in the innovation department (Nylén and Holmström 2015).
?The company strictly follows the policy of continuous innovation in order to always stay ahead of the competitors in the market.
?Some of the main innovation barriers the company faces are explained in the following slides.
?The business management system of the company mostly emphasized on short term business plans rather than planning on designing long term sustainable business strategy (Taran et al. 2016).
?IBM stated that one main problem was that they were mostly occupied on current markets and offerings rather than focusing on entering new markets.
?The business model of IBM was based on establishing sustained profit and revenue rather than growing on the existing revenue and increase the profit margin every year.
?The company also lacked sufficient insight of the market, especially the embryonic markets that were only growing (Zhang, Kandampully and Bilgihan 2015). Lessons Learnt from the Barriers
?Since the challenges faced in the innovation and business model, the company has learnt some major lessons and has taken suitable steps to avoid such barriers in the future.
?The company realized that simply making investment in innovation department does not ensure success (Taran et al. 2016).
?Many of IBM’s ventures and projects failed due to lack of proper execution plan and business model.Policies Developed for Addressing Issues
?As a corrective measure for avoiding the discussed challenges and barriers, the company created some new policies that will be beneficial for the company in the long run.
?The company created a policy in which “smart” people will be recruited rather than only efficient people (Nylén and Holmström 2015).?In this policy, the company wants the employees to take part in various operational aspects of the company and suggest new ideas and measures on a regular basis (Taran et al. 2016).
?The company introduced the concept of diversity of thoughts in the organization structure.Awards and Recognition
?In addition to the new policies, the company also announced several awards and recognition for employees who have exceptionally contributed towards the success of the company (Taran et al. 2016).
?These awards are selected based on year long performances and important contributions towards the growth of business of the company.Evaluation of Investments
?The investments of the company can be evaluated using balanced scorecard method.
?It has already been stated that the company makes a significant amount of investment in the innovation sector.
?However, the innovations are made for short term strategies only.
?More long term strategies for innovation model and investment are required.
New Learning Ideologies
?In spite of application of the new policies and the reward system for the employees, IBM realized that another important requirement is missing.
?IBM understood that unless there is not a learning framework available, there will not be sufficient professional development among the employees (Zhang, Kandampully and Bilgihan 2015).
?For the learning framework, the company introduced three new learning ideologies for the employees.
Work Apart Learning
?This framework allows the employees to learn in a different environment other than work only.
?The benefit of this framework is that the employee does not need to remain under the work place pressure and has the freedom of learning (Nylén and Holmström 2015).
?The employee has the chance to evaluate and practice his skills without having to make errors and mistakes at office work.
?Work apart learning provides the employees with a school like environment where they can learn with interactive learning methods (Taran et al. 2016).
?With these learning sessions, the employees can learn personally without others’ disturbances or professional pressure.
Work Embedded Learning
?This is a special type of learning framework that has been implemented by IBM for instant learning without disturbing the flow of work.
?An example of application of this framework in the IBM GPS (Global Positioning System) that informs a driver regarding his current location and the direction he has to go without needing him to query for his location information (Taran et al. 2016).
?In this method, the employees do not have to take part in additional learning classes or courses (Nylén and Holmström 2015).
?This learning is only suitable for the employees who can learn easily along with the flow of work.
Work Enabled Learning
?This approach framework is specifically for the employees who are interested in making the workplace a room for learning and professional development (Zhang, Kandampully and Bilgihan 2015).
?The learning sessions are conducted within the workplace aiding the professional development of the employees.
?Personal reflection and development are also parts of this learning framework.
?The disadvantage of this method is that it slows down the progress of work of the employees.
?However, it also presents a platform for learning from own mistakes (Nylén and Holmström 2015).
?The innovative power of employees increases based on this reflective learning.
Role of Learning in Employee Development
?The different types of learning methods help the employees gather sufficient knowledge and skills needed for professional development (Nylén and Holmström 2015).
?Different learning frameworks have been applied for benefitting different types of employees.
Integrated Product Development Model and Benefits
Critical Success Factors
?From the analysis of the case study, the critical success factors can be determined.
?Some of the critical success factors for the innovation model for IBM are as follows.
ØSustainable innovation framework
ØSuitable investment as per requirements
ØGrowth of the company in market rather than constant market sustainability
Conclusion
?Finally, it can be concluded that there are a lot of reasons behind the success of IBM in the IT industry.
?The main and the most important attribute of the company is that it takes failures as major steps of learning and use them for future success.
The company also invests heavily on innovation in spite of one or two failures
Recommendations
?Some recommendations for the company to avoid innovation barriers are as follows.
ØThe company must emphasize on building an innovation framework before investing in innovation. Planned innovation is more important than random innovation.
ØThe company should assess the feasibility of the innovation in terms of the current market.
ØThe company should encourage the employees to take part in learning courses for their professional development.
ØThere should be free idea exchange environment within the offices so that different employees can interact with each other and share ideas that will be beneficial for the company.Lessons Learnt and Path for Future
ØFrom the analysis of the case study, it has been learnt that if long term plans are not developed, the innovation process may face significant barriers.
ØIt has been learnt that the company needs to follow a suitable innovation framework in order to maintain a sustainable innovation process.
ØThe investments should be made based on long term plans and market sustainability.
References
Etzkowitz, H. and Ranga, M., 2015. Triple Helix systems: an analytical framework for innovation policy and practice in the Knowledge Society. In Entrepreneurship and Knowledge Exchange (pp. 117-158). Routledge.
Nylén, D. and Holmström, J., 2015. Digital innovation strategy: A framework for diagnosing and improving digital product and service innovation. Business Horizons, 58(1), pp.57-67.
Taran, Y., Nielsen, C., Montemari, M., Thomsen, P. and Paolone, F., 2016. Business model configurations: a five-V framework to map out potential innovation routes. European Journal of Innovation Management, 19(4), pp.492-527.
Zhang, T., Kandampully, J. and Bilgihan, A., 2015. Motivations for customer engagement in online co-innovation communities (OCCs) A conceptual framework. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology, 6(3), pp.311-328.
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