Ricker's Article on Innovation: Businesses Around the World

Businesses around the world have had to constantly come up with innovations to stay competitive in their industries. Innovation refers to the process of creating new products or services or coming up with new ideas, new imagination, or creativity to improve service and product delivery. Nonprofit organizations exist to create change in society and most claim that they value innovation. However, nonprofit organizations trail for-profit organizations when it comes to the adoption of innovation. Therefore, to effectively instigate change in society, nonprofit organizations must embrace innovation to discover untapped potentials and possibilities to achieve sustainable impact in society. According to Ricker (2016), although the nonprofit industry lags, four organizations have made a significant effort in embracing innovation. In the article, Ricker (2016) identifies four nonprofit organizations that have made significant efforts to embrace innovation as a way to achieve tangible results. The four organizations include Charity: water, University of Alabama Athletics, Compassion International, and Moody Bible Institute. Each organization has adopted its unique innovation that has brought back positive results. For starters, Charity: water adopted a “Dollar to Projects” innovative program where the organization keeps track of the funds donated and how it utilized the funds to carry out a project. Then, it sends the donor an email with pictures, results, and GPS coordinates of the completed project. Second, the University of Alabama Athletics in partnership with Pursuant adopted a “Plant Your Flag” campaign where supporters can visit a website and shown on a flag where they reside in support of Crimson Tide. Third, Compassion International implemented the use of a Neuron ESB software that connected its management systems across its eleven partner countries. Lastly, Moody Bible Institute has invested in technology and, in 2013 partnered with Pursuant and launched a virtual race. Based on this article, I think that every organization needs to continuously stay innovative to achieve sustainability. From the article, I have understood that innovation is not only a for-profit or nonprofit organization but both. Both profit and nonprofit organizations need to stay innovative to address the changing trends in society and achieve a positive impact. For instance, after implementing its "Dollar to Project" program, Charity: water achieved tremendous results. The program has continued to help Charity: water to build strong and lasting relationships with its donors. I have also learned that apart from creating long and lasting relationships with customers or donors, integrating innovation and technology can help achieve efficiency and flexibility in service or product delivery. There are several areas where I can apply what I have learned from Ricker’s article. I have realized that the four organizations succeeded in implementing innovation because managers played significant roles. For instance, Scott Harrison, CEO of Charity: water influenced the implementation of the "Dollars to Project" program. Therefore, as a future manager or administrator, I will ensure to find ways that promote innovation within my organization. Also, I realize that innovation comes as a team effort. Therefore, I will work with my team to help my superiors in identifying areas that may require innovation to improve product or service delivery. I will also integrate innovation with technology to achieve maximum results in addressing changes in customer preferences, regulations, requirements, or even new trends. 

Conclusion 

Innovation plays a significant role in the sustainability of an organization. Whether for-profit or nonprofit organizations, every organization needs to adopt innovation to ensure a positive outcome from the activities they undertake. It is also evident that nonprofit organizations can adopt innovation and use it to their advantage as detailed in Ricker's article. Also, innovation requires both the efforts of managers and team members to come up with new ideas and opportunities. 

Reference 

Ricker, T. (2016). 4 Nonprofits Leading the Way in Innovation. Pursuant. Available at: https://www.pursuant.com/trends/4-nonprofits-leading-the-way-in-innovation/