Innovation and Product Development: Best Practices for Nokia
Nokia is a global company specialized in communication technologies. For Nokia, the “art” of entrepreneurship can be defined as a unique vision of reality and the world around us. Markets for a new venture’s product are typically not homogeneous. For Nokia, product development means the conversion of ideas into successfully marketed products. It combines technical and marketing competence and is concerned with strategies of the programmed introduction of new products to markets as replacements for decaying ones. Since it carries out an important mission directed at corporate growth and advancement, product development should report to top management. The best examples of benchmarking practices are GPS solutions and such model of phone as Nokia N95. Also, Nokia Siemens network strategies propose great opportunities for growth and development. To decide what a customer means by more colorful, more durable, or stronger, and to build these characteristics into a product, can easily involve misinterpretations. Moreover, needs and desires must be predicted years before the product planning activity can be implemented. Also, the development of a new product may require the creation of new machines, a new distribution system, and new processes and materials (Afua, 2003). Special attention should be given to identifying which types of firms compose the channel (e.g., brokers, drop shippers, wholesalers, rack jobbers, etc.) and what their normal functions are (Articlebase. 2008).
The best practices adopted by Nokia include partnered with Microsoft. They developed software for Symbian devices and smartphones. First, forecasts of sales for an entire generic class can be made (Crawford 2003). Further, brand sales can be compared to product type sales (this is one way to measure predicted market share) to see how effective a company’s brand strategy is expected to be. Competitive strengths and weaknesses must also be considered when selecting market targets (Telematics. 2009). Nokia’s market position is supported by a combination of resources, and obviously, a market position is only sustainable if the underlying resource combination is competitive (Bridge et al 2003). From the perspective of strategic marketing, competitive advantage is normally seen as the domain of business strategy, that is, at the product/market (industry) level, because direct competition takes place at this level (Mike. 2009). For Nokia, product development is a top management responsibility, and in such statements as top management’s two major responsibilities are innovation and marketing (or innovation and research and development). The establishment of product-planning Technology Platforms that search for opportunities, recommend new products, and coordinate the efforts necessary to develop them is a recognition of management concern for these critical tasks.
Innovation and Product Development: Best Practices for Google
Google corporation and networking technology are based on innovative solutions in engineering and fuels which take into account environmental changes and an important role in the creation of opportunities, and profound knowledge in the car industry. By strategic thinking, Google’s managers mean the intuitive ability to understand the dynamics of market structures, competition, customer needs, timing, synergies, and the like (Horn 2006). It is an ability to proceed with tentative, incomplete information, always leaving one’s options as open as possible, waiting for the right moment. Formal strategic planning (with its emphasis on the analysis) was only used in two of the case companies and only in the later stages in the life cycle as a matter of setting priorities and securing coordination (Horn, 2007). For Google, innovations matter because innovative solutions and improved quality of services influence customer’s loyalty and satisfaction. An environmental change demands that public services cut costs and improve their service. It is combined with the presence of profound knowledge, innovative behavior, and strategic thinking, that opportunities become identified. If the new venture idea is based on a “new-to-the-world” product or service, then by definition it is unlikely that the entrepreneur will be experienced with the marketplace or how to market the product/service involved. In recent years, Google follows a partnership strategy that involves government bodies and global corporations (Google Home Page. 2008). Google launched such services as Google Video and Google Earth, Google Labs, and Google Space to attract new users. In the third place are applications for businesses. For instance, in 2007, Google introduces the Google Apps program aimed to improve e-mail, API access, and premium support services for business users (Mccullough & Holmberg 2005). Innovations should be considered as an art and a science. Innovations cannot exist without scientific explanations and economic theories (related to price, market structure, and wages, etc). thus it requires unique and pioneering application of traditional concepts and theories. As the markets change, or the services mature, the role set also shifts (Nakhomovsky and Myers 2003). To continue successfully, the entrepreneur must adjust to the emerging managerial role by learning new behaviors. Unfortunately, Innovations that once were adaptive may now interfere with the changed expectations. The resulting conflict may contribute to the downfall of the business venture. On the other hand, successful adaptation to the new role expectations can offer new benefits. One benefit is access to multiple segments of society (Form 10-Q for MICROSOFT CORP. 2006). These different segments may offer distinct network assets that include resources, monetary (prestige) rewards, and contributions to personal growth and development. In this regard, networks become value-added contacts. Each party to the interaction seeks to maximize outcomes, whether these be social or economic. But no participant has complete control over the reward system, so each must accommodate the other’s expectations (“What is Google’s s business strategy” 2007). The result, if the interaction is to continue, must be a correspondence of outcomes.
References
Articlebase. (2008). Nokia – the History. Web.
Afua, A. 2003, Innovation Management; Oxford
Bridge, S., O’Neill, K., Cromie, S. 2003, Understanding Enterprise, Entrepreneurship and small Business, 2nd edition, Palgrave MacMillan.
Crawford C. Merle. 2003, New Products Management. Irwin-McGraw Hill. 7th and.
Horn, von R. The Earth on the Web. Phi Delta Kappan, vol. 87, p. 408.
Horn, van R. 2007, Web Applications and Google. Phi Delta Kappan, vol. 88, pp. 727-728.
Form 10-Q for MICROSOFT CORP. 2006. Web.
Google Home Page. 2008. Web.
Mike. (2009). Nokia and Microsoft partnership delivers innovation and Symbian delight.
Nakhomovsky, A., Myers, T. 2003, Google, Amazon, and Beyond: Creating and Consuming Web Services. Apress; 1 edition.
Telematics. (2009). Intel and Nokia announce strategic relationship for mobile computing innovation. Web.
What is Google’s s business strategy? 2007. Web.