The role and importance of creativity and innovation in generating Essay

The role and importance of creativity and innovation in generating competitive advantage - Essay Example Porter has emphasized that the motivation behind the formulation and adoption of any strategy is the achievement of competitive advantage. To achieve competitive advantage a business organization is required to build a steadfast choice about the form of competitive advantage it wants to accomplish and the range of resources within which it would strive to achieve that level. Competitive advantage sought by firms can be classified into two basic types; low cost and differentiation (IFM, n.d.). On the basis of these two competitive advantages Porter has come up with three generic strategies (Porter, 2008, p. 12) namely, cost leadership, differentiation, and focus. The last strategy has two sub categories, â€Å"cost focus and differentiation focus† (IFM, n.d.). These strategies help the firm deliver a better than average performance. Cost leadership Any firm that follows the strategy of cost leadership, targets at becoming the only producer in the entire industry whose cost of p roduction would be lower than all its competitors. The producer seeks to exploit economies of scale and follow competitive pricing (Richardson and Dennis, 2003). Cost leadership strategy is a key to success for several successful companies; one among them is Walmart (Baroto, Abdullah and Wan, 2012). Differentiation Under this strategy the firm concentrates on becoming unique in the products it offers. It does this by identifying certain product dimensions that consumers value the most. The firm develops its production and marketing strategies in such a way that it can satisfy the customers’ demand for those attributes and hence receives premium price for that uniqueness. For example, Apple Computers makes â€Å"differentiation by technology† (Baroto, Abdullah and Wan, 2012, p. 120) to preserve its competitive advantage. Focus The firm selects either a group of segments or a single segment from the industry in which it belongs and optimizes its strategies to serve these segments so well, as to gain competitive advantage over all its competitors. A firm can pursue this by either creating cost advantage in a targeted segment (cost focus) or by developing a differentiation in a targeted segment (differentiation). Tesco follows the focus strategy to blend elements of both differentiation and low cost (Baroto, Abdullah and Wan, 2012). Total Quality Management Total quality management (TQM) is â€Å"an art of management† (Singh, Qureshi and Butt, 2007) that became popular with business organizations in 1980s. Clark (1996) has explained that this management strategy focuses on maintaining quality of in all processes running in an organization; manufacturing, human resource, financial procurements, R&D and administration. Implementation of total quality management provides a framework that guides the organization to select competitive advantages in the face of uncertainty. These competitive advantages become the foundation on which operational deci sions are made regarding the marketplace (Tseng and Lin, 2008). Quality management is an approach that many firms consider the basis for making differentiation from competing firms (Singh, Qureshi and Butt, 2007). The role played by TQM in a firm is that of creating a demanding work environment and also lay down ways to fulfil the demands through team spirit, mutual trust, honesty, open communication and fun. In this framework, changes are appreciated, fear is defeated and resistance towards change is

The Girl in Hyacinth Blue in Manhattan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Girl in Hyacinth Blue in Manhattan - Essay Example The shower, too, was carpeted-a special type of water-proof carpeting. And finally, the walls were carpeted-water proof and dirt-proof. Across from Myra mounted on the wall was a painting of a young girl in blue; she was given the painting as a gift from a customer, and when faced with the dilemma of where to place it, she decided the bathroom would be best. It's the only time she sat down for more than a minute, after all. Myra was always busy. Her work followed her from the office back to her small apartment. She was an inventor. Her larger efforts involved magnetizing roads and cars, but she could also be credited with the invention of the water-proof carpeting that covered her bathroom, and many others across the city of New York. The bathroom was something of a lab to Myrna, and she was constantly testing out new ideas for carpeting. She was fiddling with a few new ideas currently, none of which were fully complete. Carpeting, it must be understood, was essential in Manhattan. New York was a hard city, and especially welcome to something that would round the corners of its acute, looming skyscrapers. The Hudson River has swelled so much, too, that water-proof anything was sure to be a best-seller. After a solid two hours of sleep, Myra awoke to the shoes of the little girl in the painting. She had somehow fallen asleep on the bathroom floor. Something about the girl in blue was so comforting. Perhaps that was why she placed it in the bathroom. But the girl is not herself surrounded by carpeting. How, Myra thought, could she be so at ease in a room full of jagged, hard edges What was protecting her Perhaps she was painted in a time far less dangerous, Myra reasoned. Myra brushed her teeth and left for work wearing the same thing as the day before, with childhood and comfort on her mind. The skies today were as unforgiving as a mother bear protecting her cubs (simile). It seemed that any small move could provoke hostility, could open the skies to let down floods not unlike those of the Hudson. It was cold and harsh, like the corners of the high rise steel buildings sprouting up all around Myrna (simile) on her walk to work. Cars now outlawed in Manhattan, streets were narrowed, leaving room for more and more buildings to be built. Myrna took her pocket-umbrella out and laughed to herself at fate of a once environmental friendly mandate given way to destruction of a different form. She made her way to her building, a three-hundred story high rise with the sign, "Carpet Your World", lit above the door, surrounded by green water-proof carpeting. There was no grass in Manhattan, only grass-like carpet. Myrna eyed the door; its two handles reached out to her, forcefully inviting her to enter (personification) the bane of an office lying a short distance beyond the doors. Not today. Today was not a day for working. Myrna kneeled down, picked an artificial flower from the bed of carpeting, and turned towardwell, anywhere except the office. Walking several blocks, Myrna stopped at the gate of Central Park. Paved over fifty years ago with cement, Myra's company had succeeded in carpeting the entire park in its latest faux grass line, like the green carpeting in front of her office building. The rain had stopped momentarily, and she lay down beside a large, comforting, artificial maple tree. Staring up into the sky, Myrna's thoughts fell on the painting in her bathroom. Outside of