Innovation is universally recognized as one of the main factors that determine the success of any enterprise. Innovation is not only about the creation of new devices or technologies, but it can also involve coming up with new ways of doing things. At the same time, it can be about redesigning business model to make it adaptable to emerging issues or trends in the market. It is through innovation that a business can improve its coordination while gaining a competitive advantage in the market. However, innovation can only be successful if it is in line with the organizational culture or when it is supported by the top management of an enterprise, including junior employees. An enterprise with an innovative culture can experience faster growth due to improved efficiency and effectiveness. Therefore, Innovation is essential for the long-term success of the enterprise because it improves quality, efficiency, and it reduces the cost of operations.
Quality is a critical factor in the operations of any enterprise, especially concerning customer satisfaction and loyalty. Many enterprises strive to provide quality products and services to their customers as a strategy for enhancing sales volume and revenue. As a result, quality products or services are linked to the long-term profitability and success of an enterprise. Businesses cannot enjoy long-term success if they are not able to earn customer loyalty, which can only be achieved through the production of quality products and services. General Electronic (GE) is one of the enterprises that recognize the importance of innovation for their long-term success. GE, therefore, decided in 2009 to invest about $3 billion in enhancing its health-care innovations, which is critical to its success ( Immelt, Govindarajan & Trimble, 2009) . The management of the company believes that the heavy investment in health-care innovations will improve quality, including lowering the cost and increasing the accessibility. Specifically, GE planned to purchase handheld electrocardiogram (ECG) device and a PC-based ultrasound machine. ECG can improve the quality of care while enhancing patient outcomes. Thus, GE will improve the quality of its services when it invests in ECG and other innovations.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Innovation is also important for long-term success because it enhances efficiency in the operations of enterprises. Innovation improves efficiency because it enables enterprises to streamline and simplify their operations without incurring a lot of costs. Improving business processes is important because it increases productivity, which may increase competitiveness or enhance the value of products and services, leading to long-term success. The Monitoring Star Company has been relying on innovation to improve the efficiency of its operations, which is essential for its long-term success. For instance, the company was forced to embrace the new tomato harvester in 2013 after realizing the first tomato harvester required a lot of labor, which increased the cost of harvesting (Gino et al ., 2013) . The company has successfully used the modern tomato harvester to reduce the cost of labor and to increase the speed of harvesting, resulting in improved efficiency in harvesting. Also, to enhance sorting or harvested tomatoes before they are processed, the Monitoring Star Company is using the optoelectronic sensor, which helps in maintaining the quality of the end products (Gino et al ., 2013). Therefore, by adopting innovations like modern tomato harvesters and optoelectronic sensor, the company has improved the efficiency of its operations significantly.
Improved efficiency always results in a reduced cost of operations. Innovative companies have been able to reduce the cost of operations, especially the cost of labor. Traditionally, enterprises were forced to employ many workers because the machines were not available. Nevertheless, currently, some innovations can be used to replace human labor. Harvesting, for instance, has been labor-intensive and companies like Morning Star employed hundreds of workers to harvest tomatoes (Gino et al ., 2013). Harvesting is no longer labor intensive because of the introduction of harvesting innovation. GE believes that a $3 billion investment in innovation will result in a significant reduction in the cost of operations ( Immelt, Govindarajan & Trimble, 2009). However, the initial cost of innovation is always high, and this may discourage enterprises from being innovative. The Morning Star, for example, was forced to purchase modern tomato harvesters at $300,000 each (Gino et al ., 2013). Nonetheless, enterprises should not be discouraged by the high initial cost of innovation because of the possibility of long-term benefits and success.
Therefore, there is no doubt that innovation is essential for the long-term success of enterprises because it improves quality, efficiency, and reduces the cost of operations. Enterprises that have embraced innovation are highly successful because they can gain competitive advantage and long-term profitability. Quality is linked to high customer satisfaction and loyalty, leading to sustainable success. However, enterprises must be ready to invest a lot of resources to encourage and implement innovations. Innovation is always expensive in the short-term, but it leads to long-term benefits. Companies like GE and The Morning Star have been enjoying long-term success because they are innovative. The success of any enterprise, therefore, depends on its ability to innovate and effectively execute the innovation to gain a competitive advantage.
References
Gino, F., Staats, B. R., Hall, B. J., & Chang, T. Y. (2013). The Morning Star Company: Self- management at work. Harvard Business School Case , 914-013.
Immelt, J. R., Govindarajan, V., & Trimble, C. (2009). How GE is disrupting itself. Harvard Business Review , 87 (10), 56-65.
