Innovation can help businesses meet various goals such as increasing profits, developing innovative products and services, and establishing a unique customer appeal. It also helps companies stay competitive in an increasingly dynamic marketplace, with more and more industries being disrupted by technological advancements.
Business innovations come in many shapes and sizes. They could include the development of new products and service improvement processes, launching campaigns or changing the culture of the company. They can also include changes to existing products and services, like adding features or upgrading customer service. The most effective innovations will be ones that are both useful and innovative.
Innovative ideas aren’t the reason for innovation if they don’t provide solutions to the problems of the world. To become an innovation an idea that is innovative must benefit customers as well as the organization itself. A business innovation is deemed successful if both it is new and valuable.
In addition to creating new sources of value, a successful business innovation will improve decision-making and problem-solving throughout the company. It is important for businesses to keep track of market trends and customer feedback to identify opportunities for business innovation.
It is generally better to look outside the industry in which a business operates for innovative ideas. For instance the invention of the modern accounting machine was a major business innovation by IBM when the company realized that banks could not purchase new machines until 1933 because they did not have the money.
The introduction of scleral lenses in eye surgery is a further example of business innovation. Alcon added an ingredient to preserve an enzyme that doctors had been using for more than 50 years to remove cataracts. This was an innovation in business that resulted in a new product and a worldwide monopoly.