INNOVATION

Innovation and Business cycles

Innovation and Business Cycles

The example quoted by the student regarding self scanner check out terminal seems to be inappropriate. The reason being that strategic change is something big, bigger than what is quoted in the example. The innovation which the student thinks is being brought about in the scanning terminal is not an innovation. It's just a small change. Strategic change and its implementation is a process of careful evaluations and analyzes. The example given should not be mistaken as a big strategic change, therefore. However, introduction of self scanner check out terminal is just a small change in the way how things run at the super market.

Nothing is permanent in this world, but change. Organizations that want to survive in the cut throat competitive world must be agile. They must be willing to adapt to their changing environments. Change is learning. Organization must be learning continuously in order to make more profits. In order to survive and continue with what an organization does, planning is very essential. Organizations should strategically employ their resources to be efficient. Strategic planning is all about answering the basic questions; what an organization does, for whom does it do and how it goes about doing it, (Armstrong, 1986).

Tactical planning involves developing an action plan that helps organizations achieve their long term goals. It involves companies to meet their daily tasks. Strategic planning and tactical planning are inter related. In short, strategic planning tells an organization what to do and tactical planning tells an organization how to go about doing what it wants to do. Planning is the only approach to which organizations can adhere completely, (Ackoff, 1970).

Organizations that want to grow are investing in R&D for innovative ideas, services and products. They even induce innovation in the way they perform major and minor business activities. Change must be welcomed and strategically managed. Strategically managing company's resources and performance in the environment is what makes an organization achieve its targets, successfully, (Hambrick et al, 2007).

The reason why businesses need to change and consistently invest in research and development is technology. Firms find themselves surrounded by intense competition. Barriers to entry that firms erect are broken through technology, thus making it easy for the new entrants, increasing competition and also making survival difficult. Then there is a

Differences between strategic and tactical / operational planning

Strategic planning is a job performed by the upper level management as they are the ones who have the best understanding of their organization as a whole. The lower management, however, has a better know how of the daily activities and thus are in an important position to plan out the much needed tactics.

Strategic planning is futuristic in nature, tactical planning is not. This makes collecting data and facts for strategic planning a difficult task, comparatively. Strategic plans are not as detailed as tactical plans. This is because strategic plans are developed for the long term, which means that they are based on ...