Innovation and Managing Change in Apple Inc and Nokia Corporation - Essay Sample

Abstract

Innovation and change management are critical processes in the success of an organisation. Therefore, understanding the concept of innovation and change management can be vital in helping businesses to achieve their long-term goals and objectives. The current research sought to provide a critical description of the significance of innovation and managing change in an organisation. As a result, the researchers relied on Apple, Inc, and Nokia's case studies to provide a comprehensive discussion on the importance of innovation and change management in contemporary firms. Also, the research utilized information from various scholarly materials, including books, reputable magazines, and journals, to identify and discuss different theories of innovation studied in class and acted as a rationale to justify the innovation improvement in the context of organisational objectives. The results of the critical analysis identified Apple, Inc., as a company that reaped multiple benefits through its unique utilization of the concept of innovation as well as change management. Some of these benefits included having an improved quality of products and services, venturing into new markets, and increasing its overall market size as well as attracting, employing, and retaining highly talented employees. Apple's workers have a high level of competence in terms of their technical skills, professional experience, and work-based knowledge required to ensure effective job performance. Additional benefits of innovation include helping firms to gain a competitive advantage over their rivals, developing a wide range of products with the capacity to not only meet but even surpass the needs of customers, and handling various environmental as well as legal issues. Change management, on the other hand, benefits organisations by ensuring that they align their operations to the existing goals and objectives as well as motivating their employees to improve their job performance levels. Lastly, companies need to have a comprehensive understanding of different innovation theories with the capacity to help them to achieve their strategic goals in the long-run. Some of the most critical theoretical models discussed in this study include the innovation diffusion theory, technology acceptance model, and disruptive innovation. The effective use of these models helped Apple to evolve into the leading company in the contemporary global technology industry.

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Introduction

Innovation and effective change management are increasingly becoming critical elements in the success of contemporary organisations. According to Tohidi and Jabbari (2012), innovation refers to the process that firms use to introduce new ideas in its operations, products, services, workflows, and methodologies as they work towards meeting their long-term goals and objectives. Innovation is crucial in the success and operational sustainability of an organisation because it leads to improved productivity, reduces costs of operation, enhances the quality of goods and services offered, and contributes to overall organisational growth (Hamel, 2006). Therefore, organizations that innovate on a regular basis have a critical opportunity of gaining a competitive advantage over their rivals and achieving operational sustainability in the long-run. Change management, on the other hand, is a comprehensive process that entails all approaches that organisations use to prepare, support, and help various individuals as well as teams to implement and sustain the required changes. Effective management of change is also crucial to business sustainability (Gupta & Prinzinger, 2013). Also, multiple organisations utilize a wide range of innovation models as a rationale when justifying their target process improvements concerning their objectives (Aljafari, 2016). It is therefore, critical to discuss the importance of innovation and change management in contextual companies, such as Apple and Nokia, and the associated theories of innovation.

Importance of Innovation

Innovation remains one of the most critical tools that can help companies to meet their strategic goals and objectives in the long-run. Organisations that engage in constant inventions realize a plethora of benefits as opposed to those that cling on their previous business practices (Tohidi & Jabbari, 2012). For instance, Apple, Inc, an American multinational technology firm that deals with the designing, developing, and selling of consumer electronics, computer software, and provides multiple online services, offers the best example of a company that benefit from continuous innovation. Apple puts innovation at the core of its business (Hamel, 2006). Findings from comparative studies identify Apple, Inc. as one of the most innovative companies in the contemporary world. The company's success lies from its unique innovation strategy, which entails having an exclusive focus on its business models and the provision of distinct products and services to predetermined market segments.

Gupta and Prinzinger (2013) averred that most of the products that Apple designs, develops, and sells aim at delivering great software as well as hardware experience to its esteemed customers across the world. Some of these critical products include iPhones, iPads, iPods, and, most recently, the Apple Watch (Jansson, 2019). The company not only focuses on developing new products but also creates unique business models that can bring about the desired success in the marketing and selling of new products. For instance, Apple's decision to launch iTunes in 2001 and the App Store in 2008 account for its success in the sale of iPods and iPhone, respectively (Aljafari, 2016). The company's lack of such critical features could lead Apple, Inc. into supernormal losses as they help in creating, delivering, and capturing the value of its products among target customers.

Analytically, having a unique focus on innovation creates multiple benefits for Apple in its commitment to achieve operational sustainability and remain one of the leading technology companies across the world (Diop, Zhao, & Duy, 2019).First, innovation helps Apple, Inc to continuously improve the quality of its products and services to meet the evolving customer needs and preferences. Khan, Alam, and Alam (2015) emphasized that being innovative helps businesses to develop high-quality products that become more attractive to their target customers and, in turn, help in increasing their sales as well as creating a positive reputation. For example, Apple realizes the significance of innovation by developing various iPhone models to cater to the needs of its target customers. Research indicates that each model of the iPhone includes new features that enhance the experience of the target user (Kubilay, 2015). Such features include having higher-quality graphics, improved pixel camera, and faster processors.

Secondly, innovation is crucial for companies yearning to attain operational sustainability in the long-run because it allows them to enter new markets (Hernderson, 2017). For instance, Apple successfully increased its market size by using a combination of its product and the business model innovation approach. Specifically, Apple's market grew 30 times larger than its original market in the 19th century following its decision to embrace innovation by developing new products and business models and improving the existing ones (Gupta & Prinzinger, 2013). Innovation also helped Apple, Inc. to expand its share of the traditional computer market as new customers become attached to its unique products, such as iPods and IPads. Also, the American technological firm innovated, designed, and created the Apple Watch, which, in turn, allowed it to enter the highly competitive global watch market. Today, Apple boasts of one of the unique smartwatches marketed across the world (Tohidi & Jabbari, 2012). The iWatch continues to generate supernormal profits to Apple due to its unique features that are difficult for competitors to emulate.

Thirdly, innovation enables companies to attract the best talent out of potential job applicants to help them meet their target goals. For instance, Apple's unique approach to innovation enables it to hire highly talented and innovative employees with an exceptional level of competence in terms of professional skills, experience, and knowledge needed to develop distinct products to meet the growing needs of its customers. Comparative studies indicate that most of the innovative people want to work for companies that embrace innovation in their operations. Companies that lack a culture of innovation find it difficult and challenging to attract and retain employees with the necessary skills and creativity to drive their agenda. Therefore, organisations can only become a success and get the best out of their employees by encouraging them to come up with new business ideas and models that can, in turn, embrace their target customers (Montgomerie & Roscoe, 2013). The management of Apple, Inc. works collaboratively with its employees to build a stable system of innovation with the capacity to harness creativity in its workforce, stimulates new ideas, and streamlines designs to achieve the desired success.

Fourthly, innovation helps businesses to gain a competitive advantage over their rivals. Most of the innovative companies across the world realize an increase in value-added as a result of having a distinct focus on continuous innovation (Hernderson, 2017). Research indicates that being creative enables companies to develop highly differentiated products, which, in turn, result in the creation of a unique selling point (USP) that is vital when it comes to withstanding competition in a typical industry (Kubilay, 2015). The provision of products that are unique and highly differentiated from those of competitors creates an inelastic demand, which implies that the companies in question can increase the prices of their products and services without losing many customers. Increases in price usually culminate in higher profit margins. Also, developing new products that are different from the existing ones enables companies to achieve long term success after getting their patents (Khan, Alam, & Alam, 2015).Apple, Inc. continues to gain a competitive advantage over its rivals, such as Nokia, Motorola, and Samsung, due to its appeal to continuous innovation.

Fifthly, innovation is significant among modern companies because it helps them to increase the range of products offered to their target customers by encouraging the continuous development of new and unique products. For instance, Apple benefited from its emphasis on using innovation as a strategic approach towards meeting its desired objectives by creating products such as the iWatch, MacBook, iMac, and the iPhone (Thompson, 2013). A combination of these products accounts for the reasons as to why Apple remains one of the most profitable organisations in the global technology industry. Inno...