After looking through my lecture slide i have been able to identify the main generic strategies which are used by a company. For example businesses will adopt the following generic strategies for innovation within different areas of their company:
- Product Market Focused Strategies
- Cost Reductions
- Differentiation
- Niche Markets
- Re-positioning
- Diversification
- Supply Chain
- Pioneering, First to market strategies
- Outsource and alliance strategies
(Gordan-Hall: 2011)
I wanted to focus on what i thought were the most influential strategies for the company such as Niche Market, Supply Chain and Product diversification. Today i was reading up on small and medium sized enterprises, they have to operate within niche markets to survive and product innovation is key to their survival. Stamm & Trifilova (2009: 404) explained that small to medium companies have always operated within niche markets, they have developed products that satisfy specific customer needs. Whereas large firms develop new products to exploit new markets to satisfy customer needs.
However to survive into the future the smaller companies will need to innovate within global markets, they must learn to think more strategically about the products they release and to understand their unique position within the market. The niche market approach is directly related to product innovation, it is all about finding a gap in the market and exploiting that gap to fill the needs of the consumer. It is the base point of innovation and it gives the smaller companies that small edge on the larger companies who are not looking for innovation.
I also wanted to look at supply chains, a supply chain is the stages a product takes from assembly to reaching the consumer, companies are constantly looking for ways to reduce that time and come up with new innovative idea of getting better products to the consumers as fast as they can.
Porter cited in Zachariassen (2010: 347) states that being competitive can be measured by several parameters that are linked to products, processes, improved quality, time and delivery performance. Traditionally, sources for competitive advantages are found in costs and differentiations linked to the product, market and manufacturing strategies. Several practical examples exist that demonstrate the impact of Supply chain solutions on overall company performance.
In this current economic climate innovative product demand is high and people want to have the best products at a certain time with the best quality available. The video i found on YouTube below shows the top 10 supply chain innovations in the world, i found this very informative on how innovation affects this part of the company and how beneficial it can be to focus on...
The video basically shows how new innovations have revolutionized the economy, for example the bar code reader improved the speed of sales from shops, or the assembly line developed by ford. Henry ford showed the idea of innovation to new levels, he developed the idea from flow type operations in meat packing operations. As shown in the video he took the original time of 12.5 labour hours to make a car and turned it into just 93 minutes. This is an incredible example of innovative thinking from Henry Ford and not only did he improve the car manufacturing but this had an effect on how all products began to be developed.
Finally i want to discuss the importance of product diversification and how much of an effect that can have on a company trying to survive in today's economic climate. Diversification is all about changing the consumer base and who the product is aimed at, and its main aim is to expand the market of which the product is currently aimed at.
Teen People was an example of product diversification since it was a new product that expanded the market potential of the original product, People magazine. While some teenagers undoubtedly bought Peoplemagazine, they were not People's target market. Eventually, however, the product and Web site were merged into the People brand. Courtyard by Marriott and Fairfield Inn are other examples of product diversification since before Marriott offered those new brands they had little potential to expand sales in the business and budget categories. Marriott had business and budget guests, but they were not specifically targeted, so by concentrating on these two markets they were able to add to their market potential.
(http://www.theproduct.com/marketing/diversification.htm)
This just basically shows how important innovative strategies are to a companies success and influential they can be in developing the companies market share. The simple things such as product diversification or exploiting new niche markets can give the smaller companies that competitive edge against the larger more experienced giants in the market!!
References
Stamm. V & Trifilova. A, 2009, The Future of Innovation, Cower Publishing Limited
Gordan-Hall. J, 2011, Lecture 3, Innovation Strategy - Designed to Achieve Competitive Advantage, Accessed 08/01/12
However to survive into the future the smaller companies will need to innovate within global markets, they must learn to think more strategically about the products they release and to understand their unique position within the market. The niche market approach is directly related to product innovation, it is all about finding a gap in the market and exploiting that gap to fill the needs of the consumer. It is the base point of innovation and it gives the smaller companies that small edge on the larger companies who are not looking for innovation.
I also wanted to look at supply chains, a supply chain is the stages a product takes from assembly to reaching the consumer, companies are constantly looking for ways to reduce that time and come up with new innovative idea of getting better products to the consumers as fast as they can.
Porter cited in Zachariassen (2010: 347) states that being competitive can be measured by several parameters that are linked to products, processes, improved quality, time and delivery performance. Traditionally, sources for competitive advantages are found in costs and differentiations linked to the product, market and manufacturing strategies. Several practical examples exist that demonstrate the impact of Supply chain solutions on overall company performance.
In this current economic climate innovative product demand is high and people want to have the best products at a certain time with the best quality available. The video i found on YouTube below shows the top 10 supply chain innovations in the world, i found this very informative on how innovation affects this part of the company and how beneficial it can be to focus on...
Finally i want to discuss the importance of product diversification and how much of an effect that can have on a company trying to survive in today's economic climate. Diversification is all about changing the consumer base and who the product is aimed at, and its main aim is to expand the market of which the product is currently aimed at.
Teen People was an example of product diversification since it was a new product that expanded the market potential of the original product, People magazine. While some teenagers undoubtedly bought Peoplemagazine, they were not People's target market. Eventually, however, the product and Web site were merged into the People brand. Courtyard by Marriott and Fairfield Inn are other examples of product diversification since before Marriott offered those new brands they had little potential to expand sales in the business and budget categories. Marriott had business and budget guests, but they were not specifically targeted, so by concentrating on these two markets they were able to add to their market potential.
(http://www.theproduct.com/marketing/diversification.htm)
This just basically shows how important innovative strategies are to a companies success and influential they can be in developing the companies market share. The simple things such as product diversification or exploiting new niche markets can give the smaller companies that competitive edge against the larger more experienced giants in the market!!
References
Stamm. V & Trifilova. A, 2009, The Future of Innovation, Cower Publishing Limited
Gordan-Hall. J, 2011, Lecture 3, Innovation Strategy - Designed to Achieve Competitive Advantage, Accessed 08/01/12
Zachariassen. F & Mikkelsen. O. S, 2010, Supply Chain Management - Sources For Competitive Advantage, Academica
Website: Product Diversification
http://www.theproduct.com/marketing/diversification.htm -
[internet] Accessed 10/01/12
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