Developing an Innovation Strategy for a Healthy Lifestyle at the Essay

Developing an Innovation Strategy for a Healthy Lifestyle at the Co-operative Food Group - Essay Example Innovation entails coming up with new ideas and implementing them into new process, service, and product, resulting in the dynamic growth of the organization or national economy and increase employment opportunities. Innovation is not a one-time process, but it is a long and cumulative process that requires the organization to engage in decision-making processes that range from generation of new ideas to implementing them (Child, Gakkai, Kagono, and Urabe 3). Fuglsang (6) states that the definition of innovation comprises of two aspects: innovation and creativity, exploitation and exploration, or selection and variation. In other words, innovation is viewed as comprising of two integrated processes. New suitable inventions or ideas have to be discovered in a creative manner. The interaction between those two processes is very vital for the success of the innovation (Fuglsang 6). Blue Ocean The proposed innovation strategy for adoption by CF captures the blue ocean innovation concept as well as low cost strategy with regard to operations ambitions. In the blue ocean innovation approach proposed by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne, competition as a market force threatening smooth operations, CF will find it advisable to explore new product and market profiles without the traditional limitations of competition (Kim and Mauborgne 3). Overcoming the completion limitation, referred to as red ocean, will facilitate CF accessing unlimited opportunities in new markets. Coupling this approach to the low cost leadership strategy, the blue ocean innovation will ensure that the operations at CF remain sustainable, particularly in the financial constrained operations space experienced today in Europe. Four main areas of the innovative strategy will be encompassed in the model as enumerated below. The proposed model below enumerates the approach that Cooperative Food needs to embrace in order to highlight healthy products brand image, eliminate competition and reduce operation costs. Critical Analysis In view of the major players that CF has, different approaches may prove effective to deal with specific competitive threats posed by each of the competing sides. The identification of the major competitive threats is perhaps important in the enumeration and quantification of the competitive input required at CF. some of the main market players likely to pose competitive threats to CF include ASDA, TESCO, Morrisons, Waitrose and Sainsbury’s. ASDA presents a particular market competition threat by its popular consumer involvement strategy referred to as ‘Chosen by You’ category of products which enter on the company’s menu through recommendation by the customers (Cooperative Food 6). With respect to capturing customer demands, the magnitude of this competitive threat illustrates the success levels likely to be attained by CF if a more customer caring and customer response approach formulate marketing concepts adopted. As an illustr ation of the ASDA wrought competition expected in 2012, over 1,000 such customer requested additions will enter into the competitive aspect. CF must therefore adopt more