Case Analysis

Introduction

Most of modern organizations are open to various ideas from the general public. Being open to external ideas from various stakeholders such as customers, suppliers and the general public can enable companies to generate new ideas that can help develop strategies for improving the productivity of organizations. Many of organizations have created a space within their website pages where individuals are allowed to give their ideas and opinions regarding their products as well the ideas that can help improve their products. This essay analyses the importance that is associated with the use of external ideas by companies. The paper discuses various implication of companies reliance on external ideas, reasons for allowing ideas from external sources, the procedure that companies can follow to ensure that they benefit from external ideas and also how companies can incorporate external ideas in their website pages.

Part A

Companies are open to ideas from outside due to a number of reasons. The reason for company’s reliance on ideas from outside can be explained by the need for organization to improve their productivity. Improving the productivity of companies can be determined by their performance and competitiveness in the market. For a company to be competitive in the market it must ensure that its production is efficient and productive so as to remain competitive in the market (Dyer et al, 2001). One major area that can ensure that companies remain productive and competitive in the market is through encouraging of innovation and invention of new ideas. Innovation can be facilitated through engaging various stakeholders in the affairs of the company. This is because accommodating of ideas from different people can ensure that there is an understanding of a given phenomenon from different perspectives. Involving people outside the company can also ensure that new ideas are incorporated and used to develop strategies that can lead to increased productivity of a company.

Part B

From an investor or an entrepreneur point of view there are some upsides of working with a company like General Mills or GE. One of the major upsides is that it encourages innovation which eventually leads to competitive advantage in the market. Companies which are open to ideas from outside can generate new ideas which can be used to improve the production capability hence increases competitiveness (Trott, 2008). This can ensure that the company become profitable thereby enabling investors to earn high revenues. Another upside of working within companies open to ideas from the general public is that it helps to create close relationship between the company and the general public. This can ensure customer loyalty hence improve the image of the company and its brand image in the market.

However working with companies that are open to ideas from the general public can also have some downside to entrepreneurs or investors. This is because the various channels that are used to submit ideas such as the use of websites pages can be subjected to abuse. Currently there a number of people who have hijacked website pages and used it to damage the reputation of the company. This can lead to reduced revenues of the company a customers might shift their preference to rival companies. Again rival companies can also use the opportunity to provide ideas that can be ineffective and affects that company’s production capability and reputation.

Part C

Apple Corporation home page has a section where the general public can submit their ideas that can assist in improving it products. The submission section is found in the section that is entitled “contact us”. Under this section there is a subsection section of feedback where customers and other individuals are entitled to provide submission that the company can consider and use to develop strategies that can improve its productivity. The selection of ideas submitted is likely determined by relevancy of the information. Apple review all the information submitted and select and analyse the idea that are relevant and can help improves its productivity. Ideas that are generated from different sources can lead to invention which can make a company to become competitive in the market (Trott, 2008).

Part D

In most cases investors and entrepreneurs are likely to get a fair stake when they license a product or enter into an alliance with a large firm. This is because large firms normally have reputation in the market, hence entering into alliance with large firms can provide an opportunity for a company’s product to gain significant market share in the market (Dyer et al, 2001). Since large firms are in most cases operates in large regions and have a large customer’s base, the products of the company will also be made available to a wide customer’s base. This will ensure that the company’ sales increases hence investors and entrepreneurs will be able to earn huge profits as a result of such alliances.

In order for entrepreneurs to make sure that they get a fair deal from such alliances with large firms, it is advisable for them to ensure that they enter into legal agreement that ensures that they maintain the patents and rights of their products. This is important since it will ensure that the contract of an agreement entitle them to patent rights. This will make them able to receive the proceeds from the sales of their products. Failure of obtaining a patent right for their products can lead to loss of revenues from the proceeds of their products.

Conclusion

The use of information from external stakeholders of organizations is important for improving the performance of a company. Many organizations have considered ideas that are from external sources to develop strategies that can be used to enhance their performance. This has resulted to increased revenues and profitability of the companies hence enables investors and entrepreneurs to enjoy huge profits. The most common way of generating external ideas to a company is through creation of a submission space in the company’s website pages. The submission space can ensure generation of new ideas from different people hence lead to innovation and invention of new products and production techniques.

References

Dyer, J. H., Kale, P., & Singh, H. (2001). Strategic alliances work. MIT Sloan Management

Review, 37-43

Trott, P. (2008). Innovation management and new product development, Pearson education