Academic Skill Vs Soft Skill. Which Is More Important? Essay

Having a scroll of degree or master would be great and that could be a pass for you to have your dream job. But do you ever thought that having those qualifications are enough for you to survive in your career phase? Nowadays, the employer has a high demand towards the workers as they want the worker to have more than the education as a one’s forte but good in the other ways. What they want are the individuals to own a good amount of soft skills. From my point of view, I strongly believe that having a great soft skill would benefit me more rather than having the academic skills only. Unlike  academic skills, which describe a person’s level of intelligent and that skill are also considered as an ability to perform specific tasks broadly applicable across job titles and industries. It’s often said that academic skills will get you an interview, but you need soft skills to get and keep the job. That are aspect from your personality that be streets ahead as your professional assets. Being working or involved in certain industries could be challenging for each of us since each industry do have their own requirements regarding the skill that the job wanted the employee to have. Even nowadays, more employer stated that having a good CGPA would benefits those job seekers but at the end of the day the employer would hire someone with more than that which one with the soft skill and the one with a higher CGPA would loss the opportunity to gain the job. It is apparent that soft skill is really important to compare with just an academic skill to survive in these new eras. So, before we’re going through the example of soft skill, what actually soft skills mean? Basically, what is soft skills? Soft skills are a synonym for â€Å"people skills.† The term describes those personal attributes that indicate a high level of  emotional intelligence. Soft skills refer to a set of personal qualities, habits, attitudes that can potentially make good students and comply with academic requirements. In short, they are the way you talk, you move, hear and present yourself. They are the behaviors learned, which develop from willingness and commitment to understanding the emotions of others and others. One of the impacts of having a soft skill is a conflict resolution. Conflict resolution is a way for two or more parties to find a peaceful solution to a disagreement among them. The disagreement may be personal, financial, political, or emotional. When a dispute arises, often the best course of action is a negotiation to resolve the disagreement. The first thing you need to do when you’re going to resolve a conflict is that you need to be able to view the problems and issues from multiple perspectives and possess strong problem-solving skills. Try to put your shoes in his place and figure it out the best way to conceal without having a commotion. Since all these commotions will not only affect the problematic parties but also the surrounding atmosphere will become cold and cheerless as everyone is annoyed with those situations. Also, it is very important that the problem solver to have an ability to empathize, meaning that you’re able to perceive and understand the fee lings and emotions of others. Active listening is another skill important for you to have, which is a listening technique that requires you to provide feedback to the person to whom you are listening by restating or paraphrasing what someone is communicating to confirm your understanding. To solve a conflict requires you to be a good and active listener by not only hear from only one side. Some careful thought can be taken after listening to their explanation. Can you just imagine if only everyone has the ability to become an active and good listener, all the misunderstanding and miscommunication stuff could be prevented? That just shows how owning a soft skill can help you become a better person and how does it affect one’s life. We should bear in mind that while we can use scientific ways (hard skills) in realizing the solution, mode and manner of communication (soft skills) is equally very important to achieve the proper solution. When resolving a conflict, you also need to be able to control and manage your emotions; use and interpret nonverbal cues; and think critically and objectively. Don’t let the emotion controls all over your mind that can cause some serious circumstances. Finally, it’s very important you can compromise, which refers to the willingness to concede something in exchange for an opposing party’s concession and no bias or favoritism so that the conflict can be resolved the issues and try to deal with one’s emotion as everyone. Do be patient in solving a conflict and don’t ever let the surrounding affect your right mind. In brief, the best thing about owning a soft skill is the fact that you don’t need qualifications to get them and you can start working on them right now, whether you are at school, in training or in work as it comes from experience. By having this kind of advantage, it not only gives a small impact on one’s life but is also a very precious asset that’s not everyone can simply get it. Despite the difference between soft, and hard skills, the main purpose of this article is not to narrow one’s focus to distinguishing between these two skills, nor is it an aim to portray one as being more desirable than the other. Both are important for academic success as well as succeeding in life. What is of importance, however, is to know how these two skills interact and serve to complement each other, and how this would benefit other especially students’. For example, hard skills will help you to write well and construct well-founded and objective arguments; sof t skills will equip you with, say the social skills and confidence to communicate your point across. Essentially. employers want candidates who comprise a combination of both ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ skills. These skills empower them to understand who they are and how best they can come across as competent individuals in any given situation. Because learning and fulfilling requirements are often expanded to improve job prospects, it is inevitable that employers will make their criteria factors when selecting the right candidate. Therefore, the skills exposed to the students and expected to practice in the academic field must represent, and meet the needs of the business world.

Romeo&Juliet Analysis

Character Analysis Romeo is an essential character worth analyzing in William Shakespeare's famous play, Romeo and Juliet. One way to describe Romeo is determined. Throughout Act 1 in the play at and after the party, he is determined to get Juliet. â€Å"What lady’s that, which doth enrich the hand of yonder knight? † (I. ib. 46-47) In this line, Romeo is a the party and it is â€Å"love at first sight. † Romeo is very in love with Juliet. When Romeo first sees her at the Capulet ball, he completely forgets about Rosaline and falls in love with Juliet at first sight.When he meets her, Romeo quotes, â€Å"My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand to smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss† (I. iv. 97-98). By this line, Romeo is discussing how each of his lips is ready to kiss Juliet. Romeo is so much in love with Juliet that he becomes very romantic forgetting all about Rosaline. Romeo loves Juliet. â€Å"O. she doth teach the torches to burn light! à ¢â‚¬  He says this in   (I. v. 49) after he sees her at the party. Romeo tries to talk to her all night. The first thing Romeo tells Juliet that he wants to kiss her. He gets into fights with people over her.Romeo marries Juliet in secret, and even eventually kills himself because he thinks that she is dead. Even when Romeo is banished for killing Tybalt, he cannot bring himself to leave Juliet, and even sneaks with determination back to Verona to facilitate their getaway. Romeo is determined to have Juliet, but at the beginning of the story, Romeo is very depressed. Montague quotes, â€Å"Away from light steals home my heavy son and private in his chamber pens himself, shuts up his windows, locks fair daylight out, and makes himself an artificial night†(I. i. 138-141).Montague is talking about how Romeo looks so sad that it seems as if he does not want to come home. Romeo would rather be locked up in a room with shut windows blocking daylight in or out. Romeo was sad beca use he loved a girl named Rosaline. However, Rosaline didn’t love him back. She believed in chastity and Romeo just wanted her. â€Å"Not I, believe me. You have dancing shoes With nimble soles; I   have a soul of lead So stakes me to the ground I cannot move. † (I. iv. 14-16) In this line, Romeo and his friends are going to the party. He is telling them that he does not want to go because he is depressed, and misses Rosaline.An additional way to describe Romeo is daring. This is easily seen by his sacrifices for Juliet. In addition to his tremendous sacrifices,   he   is also undaunted about marrying into a rival family. In fact, he tells Juliet that he would rather die than have her not love him–that is daring! His fearless attitude is demonstrated when he says, â€Å"And but thou love me, let them find me here. My life were better ended by their hate, Than death prorogued, wanting of thy love† (II. ii. 85-87). By marrying her, he is being very br ave and daring, too. He knows how much trouble the marriage could bring, especially since they have to marry in secret.There are many physical descriptions of Romeo as a handsome, young man. In Romeo, Shakespeare created a physically desirable character. â€Å" Well, you have made a simple choice; you know not how to choose a man: Romeo! no, not he; though his face be better than any man’s, yet his leg excels all men’s; and for a hand, and a foot, and a body, though they be not to be talked on, yet they are past compare: he is not the flower of courtesy, but, I’ll warrant him, as a gentle as a lamb. † This is the nurse talking to Juliet in (II. v. 41-47). The nurse is telling Juliet that Romeo is handsome, and better than any other man on the earth.Also, â€Å"When he shall die, take him and cut him out in little stars and he will make the face of heaven so fine that all the world will be in love with night and pay no worship to the garish sun. † ( III. ii. 22-26). This quote is Juliet talking about Romeo. She is explaining what will happen when Romeo dies. When she says â€Å"†¦ he will make the face of heaven so fine.. † Juliet’s language conveys the message that he is very handsome. Romeo is a character in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. He is depressed, determined, daring, and handsome. These traits only scratch the surface of what an interesting character Romeo is.

Case 6.6 Essay

Charles Tollison, Audit Manager 1. I strongly believe that Charles Tollison is qualified for a partnership position as he puts in long hours worked year-round and solves the most difficult accounting/auditing issues. He is considered the â€Å"technician† of the company because of his abilities of micromanaging his jobs and being involved in every aspect of them. It shows that he cares for the company; but he needs to invest more time in getting more clients, contracts for the organization, rather than spending all of his time solving accounting/audit issues. These are matters that someone else can handle in order for him to qualify as a partner. 2. I strongly believe that the firm did not treat him fairly. They know very well that he is a hard worker that devotes most of his time with the company and has promised him year to year that he will get promoted. Instead, they are promoting his fellow audit manager, Craig Allan because of all the connections and the new clients he brought to the firm. They can suggest Charles Tollison to shift some of his time from the audit/accounting work and try to bring in new contracts, as that is one of the major qualifications of a partner. 3. As a large international accounting, the criteria used when evaluating individuals for promotion to a partner is to place emphasis on the individual’s behavior, personal expectations, aggressiveness, and individual achievement. Job success with international firms is primarily dependent upon the individual’s technical competence, advancement does not occur without the development of management skills. In order to be considered a partner you need to learn more sophisticated management skills such as communicating, organizing, motivating, and directing the efforts of larger and more numerous teams of staff and senior accountants. By the time a person is considered for partner, his or her primary responsibilities, in order of importance, are that of client development, staff supervision, and, finally, technical accounting activities. Thus, while technical ability is the most important skill needed at the start of a career, it is not the most important skill needed to be come a partner of a large international accounting firm. Smaller accounting firms establish different criteria for evaluation individuals for promotion to partner as is an informal process and typically based on a person’s technical competence. Promotion is somewhat limited within small accounting firms. 4. Some accounting firms manage their staffs according to an â€Å"up or out† policy governing both promotions and staff retention. The advantages of this type of management is that only those people with the potential to become partners is equivalent to retaining those with the greatest intelligence and skills, meaning a stronger and more productive work force in the firm than would exist if people with lower potential were retained, no matter how valuable they otherwise might be. Moreover, it can seem more honest and straightforward than the tendency of many employers to retain staff by giving them false indications of their future prospects for promotion. Disadvantages are the high turnover work environment of an â€Å"up or out† policy. It is one device to keep all employees constantly on their toes and exerting themselves at full speed, at times with extensive work weeks as an ongoing proposition.

Compare and contrast the uk educational system to the educational Essay

Compare and contrast the uk educational system to the educational system in nigeria - Essay Example In UK the academic year is split into autumn, spring and summer and schooling is compulsory to all children between the ages of 5 - 16 years. The framework of education in UK does not have a curriculum for schooling at early ages, but it sets out sensible standards and aims of learning. Discipline is highly tolerated and students are usually effective and efficient in their studies. Education in Nigeria starts at an early age of pre-school and at the age of six years, pupils are allowed to join primary schools in which they graduate after another six years. Education is compulsory at this level and government of Nigeria usually aid in funding it with parents taking responsibility of purchasing school uniforms. After completion of primary education, pupils are awarded primary school leaving certificates and the best candidates are allowed to advance on with secondary education for six years. Secondary schools in Nigeria are not mixed and are either boy’s secondary school or girl’s school. This essay will encompass the various differences, similarities and conclusions to the education system between Nigeria and United Kingdom (UK) and will feature out the need for a transformed schooling system. Both systems of schooling are strictly and highly governed by formal British English where students and pupils are taught at an early age on how to communicate with the language and be conversant with it. British English is usually used by facilitators, instructors, teachers and Lecturers to communicate to their students and pupils during class activities, extra curriculum activities and all interactions within school and among its suburbs (Adeolu 2013). In both UK and Nigeria, school phases have similar names and all the stages of education between the two countries possess similarities in their structure. In both countries, there is a national syllabus to outline all what is supposed to be covered by students in order

Strategy Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Strategy - Research Paper Example Without BLS, the company that knows what business to focus on will not be able to maximize productivity and profits. Without the FLS, different divisions will not function effectively in line with business strategies. Any global or national environment with similar competitive sporting goods should be studied in connection with expansion plan to discover who will be the competitors, how they compete in terms of pricing, quality, and availability, because competitors might have their respective advantages which will be a threat to the entry of sporting goods. Opportunities will be available if a competitive advantage or evident differentiation can be established. Existing missions and goals should be the premise of developing strategies. Cost leadership involves all the strategies and activities that allow for the company to arrive at desired â€Å"features that are acceptable to the consumers at the lowest cost relative to that of competitors†, according to Hitt, Michael A.; Ireland, Duane R.; and Hoskisson, Robert E. (2010, p.108) . It is crucial to have this because people will compare the products, and will want to get the best value for their money’s worth. If features are the same for different options, the price will make the difference. 2You are a CEO of a regional sporting goods company and are contemplating expanding into the global market; however, you are unsure of what your strategy for globalization should be. You need to meet with your management team to develop a strategy. Explain how the following Factors apply into your strategy decision: External Environment (National, Global); Opportunities and Threats; Mission and Goals; and Leadership and Culture? Explain why the â€Å"Cost Leadership â€Å"strategy would apply

Electronic Business week 7 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Electronic Business week 7 - Essay Example The value created by the organization is the variance between consumer’s apparent use value from the services of the company and the organization’s cost of offering the services. The company creates use value through quality, brand and speed. The company ensures that its services are of high quality and contain attributes such as reliability and satisfaction. On the other hand, the company ensures that it responds fast to customer calls and that waste is collected at an agreed time (Waste Management, 2014). Additionally, Waste Management creates value through creating a brand with traits that customers can relate with such as trust. In order to capture sections of the value created, the company ensures that the value created is greater than that generated by rivals, and also ensures that it is defectively imitable and transposable. Needless to say, Waste Management captures the value it creates through its economic profits. Since profitability is the company’s primary strategic goal, the company positions itself with price and cost (Waste Management, 2014). Notably, the value captured by any organization is the variation between the incurred costs and the price charged for

Togo Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Togo - Essay Example The first elected president of Togo is Sylvanus Olympio on the elections of 1960 by beating Nicolas Grunitizky, the candidate supported by France. On January 13, 1963, the Olympio government is reversed by a military putsch organized by Nicolas Grunitizky and Etienne Gnassingb Eyadema then simple sergeant. After the assassination of Olympio, Grunitizky proclaims president. Its reign will be short, because in 1967 he is relieved by Gnassingb Eyadema who decided to seize power himself. His dictatorial attitude common to many African dirigants enables him to direct the country during 38 years he dies on February 5, 2005, which will enable him to dispute to Fidel Castro the title of "dictator longest in activity". The current president is the son of the former dictator Faure Gnassinbe, having taken the capacity after "elections". From an economic point of view Togo is one of the poorest countries of Africa. The situation could however have been different. The beginnings of the Eyadema reign of were lucky as well on the political than the economical point of view. It is unfortunately an economy made a long time of corruption, amateurism and improvisations. All the models were copied with more or less failure. From the "Chinese" economical plans, without any budgetary provision, to the Israeli co-operative plan, a common point characterizes all its stages: the absence of long-term prospect and ideological or theoretical bases. In 1967 the new port stimulated the economy, the extraction of phosphate had just been grinds and the modest industrialization still started by the first president seemed to succeed. The courses of the cocoa and the coffee were excellent. During 19 years Togo will know a certain stability period and even a relative prosperity because of very great phosphate resources (4th world producer, the resources are exploited by alien companies which pay a royalty to the Togolese government). However at the end of 1982, the country is in crisis and strongly involves in debt. President does not have other choices than respect the conditions of the experts of the International Monetary International Monetary Fund as well as the World Bank and France," The purse being empty". Alas as it is current in African countries, measurements are awkwardly applied with the result that the economic situation of the country is not improved on the contrary. The agricultural revolution for example starts by the president is by a failure, until our days Togo is still not self-sufficing in food goods. It is a result which however was foreseeable; it is indeed foolish to think that one can make pass directly to tractor a farmer who, all its life, ever uses hoe and machete without any preliminary formation. Hundreds of tractors were thus bought while the hangars where they would have being preserves had not been even built. The only positive point of this revolution was a considerable increase in the cotton production, from 1959 to 1989 the production increased: 2000 to 40000 tons. The industrialization or rather the attempt at industrialization of the country was quite as catastrophic. Until the phosphates boom of the country followed a careful course of industrialization which really succeeded, however later the president launched out in a series of useless and very expensive projects which

Free and Fair Elections - Canadian Politics Essay

Free and Fair Elections - Canadian Politics - Essay Example Though the Canadian electoral system to a large extent affiliates to many democratic imperatives like being a representative democracy where the legislative office is decided through popular competitive elections, a political system that affiliates to a multiparty system of democracy, accrual of a range of political choices to the voters, and a reasonably fair and transparent system of governance, still, it will be unfair to conclude that all is well with the Canadian electoral system. ... First past the post system first and foremost is quiet simple and straightforward. Thereby such an electoral system is easy and economical to execute and in no way bothers the people who cannot understand the more complex electoral systems.5 First past the post system is also economical in terms of time in the sense that it takes only a few hours to count the total number of votes and the results could be declared at the earliest.6 This system of electioneering tends to get a sense of the voters’ views as to which party ought to from the government in the simplest possible way and thereby presents a simple and straightforward view pertaining to the peoples’ will.7 However, it goes without saying that irrespective of being an utterly simplistic way of conducting elections, first past the post electoral system in a way suppresses the will and the views of a large number of voters and is certainly not good for democracy.8 Canada has been a thriving democracy since long and now is the high time that the Canadian electoral system must graduate to more inclusive and complex electoral systems. The biggest flaw with the first past the post system is that it readily facilitates a two party system and tends to favor single party governments who are not required to rely on the support of other parties to pass legislations.9 The first past the post system certainly tends to bypass the opinion and aspirations of a large chunk of voters, as the candidates even securing a marginal excess of votes could actually win.10 It does not matter how much votes the losing candidate accrues as the winning candidate is required to get more votes than the losing candidates. Besides, first past the

Energy Sources of the Future Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Energy Sources of the Future - Essay Example With such discoveries and inventions like this on the horizon, it does feel like that our futures may have very little reliance on fossil fuels. Below is the list of the top three alternative power sources which can be used to replace fossil fuel (McLamb Eric). 1. SOLAR ENERGY: Solar energy, as we know, is linked with the sun and solar power is the conversion of sunlight. Solar seems to be one of the best replacements that we can have for current fossil fuel usage as it lasts for an indefinite time period and is one of the fastest growing energy sources. As days pass by solar cells are becoming more effective, transportable and flexile which enables to allow easy installation. Replacing solar energy with fossil fuels has lots of benefits. If we consider, solar energy’s use in electricity, we would notice that solar power is economically very beneficial for the people, which means that intra-continental electricity is feasible economically and works well in most regions. (Engle bert; McLamb Eric). In 2011, the International Energy Agency said, â€Å"The development of affordable, inexhaustible and clean solar energy technologies will have huge longer-term benefits. It will increase countries’ energy security through reliance on an indigenous, inexhaustible and mostly import-independent resource, enhance sustainability, reduce pollution, lower the costs of mitigating climate change, and keep fossil fuel prices lower than otherwise. These advantages are global† (Englebert Anne). Worldwide energy insecurity can be solved by solar energy which is one of the most rising sustainable resources. According to Ausra’s, executive vice president John O’Donnell, a storage system which is 93% efficient has made the utilization of solar thermal technology after the sunsets possible. In solar thermal plants, in order to store energy we do not have to convert it into any other form as they don’t rely on battery technology hence they are h ighly efficient. The electric current is generated when flat moving reflectors or parabolic mirrors focus solar energy to generate heat which in turn generates steam, which turns turbines so even if we need electricity at night we can store the heat from the sun for generating electricity later (Lozanova). According to the European Photovoltaic Industry Association, solar power could provide energy for more than one billion people by 2020 and 26 percent of global energy needs by 2040 (McLamb). 2. WIND ENERGY: Actually, wind energy is a form of solar energy because wind is basically formed when the atmosphere heats or cools down causing air and its layer to rise and fall and move over each other which results in wind currents. Wind power can create electricity by the basic principle of it passing through turbine which in turn converts them into electricity. Wind â€Å"farms† consist of hundreds of wind turbines which are spread over huge areas of land for collecting commercial wind energy. Replacing wind power with fossil fuels is very beneficial too because wind power is renewable, widely distributed, clean and does not produce greenhouse gas emissions when its used and it also

Edward EvansPritchard's contribution to anthropological theory Essay

Edward EvansPritchard's contribution to anthropological theory - Essay Example Modern anthropologists also study their home societies. Archeology: this branch, like cultural anthropology deals with the diversity in human behavior in the past. The only difference between the two being that the population in question no longer exists and hence is not physically available for observation and participation. Archeologists have to rely on artifacts, art forms and other remnants of an extinct culture in order to reconstruct history. Linguistic Anthropology: deals with the study of diversity in human language and communication methods between time periods and areas. Linguistic anthropologists analyze the development of languages over time, how contemporary languages differ, how they are related and the link between language and other aspects of a culture. Come to think of it most sciences study an aspect of humans in some way or the other. Take history, biology, chemistry, psychology, sociology and economics for example. There is an element, which sets the subject of anthropology a step aside from the rest of the sciences and that is the anthropological perspective, which consists of three components: 1. Cross -cultural or comparative: anthropology studies humans in every form of body and behavior. The entire spectrum of human aspects and comparing the aspects to one another helps analyze what is possible and necessary for humans. 2.Holistic: this component attempts to relate and correlate the parts of a culture to each other as well as to the parts of other cultures. It analyses the occurrences of combinations, relation of a particular culture to its environment and adaptations. 3.Relativistic: this perspective is the breeding ground for all existing controversies within the anthropological perspective. The idea being conveyed is that the value systems and customs pertaining to a particular culture are relative to that specific culture. In plain English, sauce for the goose may not be sauce for the gander! There is nothing such as right values and wrong values. Right and wrong is a very subjective issue, which has different interpretations and different meanings in different cultures. In dealing or communicating with other cultures we cannot automatically assume that the level of understanding is uniform between us and another individuals. It is always safer to assume that there is none. The principles of anthropology strictly guard against being judgmental of a particular culture. For example, certain practices among the locals of an area may come across as weird, amusing or even loathful to us but we must keep in mind that there might be a rational and a reasoning for any tradition to occur even though the logic might not be acceptable to our thinking. Malinowski initiative to understand " the native point of view" is the present day fundamental to socio-cultural anthropology. To understand a cultures concepts, traditions, and behaviors, we must push aside our preconceived notions about the same and take into consideration what these concepts mean to the people of a community. The emphasis on fieldwork is another aspect, which makes the subject of anthropology unique among other sciences in the sense that it involves "real time" observations. The concept of participant

Atenism as Related to Henotheism, Monotheism, and Polytheism Research Paper

Atenism as Related to Henotheism, Monotheism, and Polytheism - Research Paper Example It was a peaceful religion with brotherhood and kindness, taking precedence over the activities of daily living. Although many have considered it a type of pre-cursor to monotheism; there is no proof that it was; neither was it polytheism. It was actually a quasi-blend of the two more associated with the New Age religions, also known as henotheism. Atenism as Related to Henotheism, Monotheism, and Polytheism Initially one can say there are elements of monotheism, polytheism, and henotheism intrinsic to the ancient Egyptian religion of Atenism. In taking a closer look, Atenism is not polytheism, the worship of many gods and goddesses, or monotheism, the worship of one close and personal god, exclusive of all others, but more closely related to henotheism, a blend of the two where there is one main deity, either with multiple manifestations and names, or one main deity with many associates. While early Egyptologists felt that Atenism was a predecessor of monotheism, there has been no p roof linking that cult with today’s traditional monotheistic beliefs. (Lawlor, 2007) Atenism is the religion associated with the worship of Aten, the sun disk, who until about the 12th century B.C., was just one of the many gods and goddesses associated with ancient Egyptian religion. ... worship of other gods was permitted; however within five years of its introduction; Atenism had become the supreme religion with only one Supreme Being worshipped. During this time, Amenhotep IV changed his name to Akhenaton, Glorious Spirit of the Aten, beneficial to Aten. He then proceeded to build a new city in honor of Aten, Akhenaten, the horizon of the sun disc; it is near what is known today as Amarna, between Thebes and Memphis in the Valley of the Kings. There is some speculation that since pharaohs were thought to be deity personified that perhaps Akhenaton was, as well, the messenger person for Aten. (Geller,2002) With the installation of Aten, nine years from the beginning of Akhenaton’s reign, all traces of Amun, the previous supreme deity, were erased even to the point of chiseling the inscription off of temples, statues and entering tombs to remove all traces of the former deity. This was a common practice aimed at removing the old and instituting the new as tho ugh the old never existed; it continues with Egyptian history today, as the national history books are re-edited with the installation of new leaders, showing the previous leaders as ineffective and requiring replacement. (Geller, 2002) In Atenism, God is seen as loving and beneficent, protecting and supporting his people through his very presence, which is real enough, though not personally involved. He is not seen as authoritarian, judgmental, and justice-oriented. The worship of idols was banned, and all references to Aten in written form were shown using a sun disk whose rays culminated in upraised hands. Later, Akhenaton permitted it to be written phonetically; a symbol of his radicalism in the new religion.

The International Civil Servant in Law and in Fact Essay Example for Free

The International Civil Servant in Law and in Fact Essay Summary   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The article presents an issue that is of great significance to all nations. It notes a statement made by Chairman Krushchev, which states, while there are neutral countries, there are no neutral men. This statement seems to challenge the stability of international permanent organs, such as the League of Nations and the United Nations.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The article traces the history of the institution called as international civil service, and recalls that the Covenant of the League of Nations did not originally contemplate a Secretariat of an international character. Thus, there was, initially, a need to hire people from different nations in order to secure that interests of such nations are represented in the body and that no one nation could have a monopoly in providing material to the international body.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The first Secretary-General of the League, Sir Eric Drummond, first expressed the principle of an international secretariat. For him, those men and women to be appointed by the Secretary-General should be carefully selected, because upon assumption to power, they would no longer represent the respective countries of which they were citizens; rather, they would become international civil servants. Their duties would already be international in character, and they become the servants of the League of Nations.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   International civil service is characterized by three major ideas. First, it has an international composition. Second, international civil servants have international responsibilities. Third, the international Secretariat is an administrative organ that must avoid partisanship. Similar to the concept of civil service in United Kingdom, the civil servant is a neutral officer, who must be separate and distinct from another officer who is authorized to make the political decisions.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Another relevant characteristic of the international civil service is independence. This characteristic, together with international responsibility, bars an international civil servant from receiving instructions from a State. Conversely, states and governments are enjoined to respect such independence and international responsibility of the Secretariat. These principles, which have been mostly founded on the experience of the League of Nations, found expression in various provisions of the UN Charter.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   These principles have not been easy to maintain. Article 99 of the UN Charter had caused quite a stir when it opened the door towards the exercise of political discretion by the Secretary-General, contrary to the long settled nature of his power as purely administrative.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The problem with the nature of the power of the Secretary-General arose with the inclusion of new provisions in the Charter of the United Nations that have broken away from the principles set forth in the Covenant of the League of Nations. One such provision can be found in Article 97 of the Charter, which places the Secretary-General to the position of â€Å"chief administrative officer of the Organization.† This provision is a big leap for the Charter, as this station had not been expressly provided in the Covenant. If at all, the office of the Secretary-General rested on implied grant of powers, and not as explicit as Article 97. Thus, this provision mandated that the Secretary-General administer the Organization; this removed the discretion of the principal organs to merely delegate such power to the Secretary-General.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Other original provisions of the Charter are found in Articles 98 and 99. Far from the questions raised by Article 97, these provisions put the very nature of the office of the Secretary-General to controversy.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Article 98 mandates that the Secretary-General shall act in such capacity during the meetings of the organs. However, it adds that he â€Å"shall perform such other functions as are entrusted to him by these organs.† This provision clearly allows the organs to delegate some of their functions to the Secretary-General, which functions, in all likelihood, would be political in nature. This provision therefore opens the door to the acquisition of a political role by the Secretary-General.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Article 99 then opens the floodgates to more controversial issues. This provision allows the Secretary-General to bring matters to the attention of the Security Council. More importantly, it gives the Secretary-General the power to â€Å"conduct inquiries and engage in informal diplomatic activity in regard to matters which ‘may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security.’†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Such discretionary powers certainly convert the nature of the office of the Secretary-General from a neutral administrative office to a political one.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Despite these developments, it is believed that the post of the Secretary-General remains a neutral one, provided that neutrality is defined as freedom from the influence of national interests and pressures. The conflict is therefore reconciled by viewing the political powers of the Secretary-General as having an international, and not a national, basis.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Other conflicts, such as the inevitable effect of national interest on the appointed staff of the Secretary-General likewise arose to test the neutrality of the Secretariat. Nevertheless, history proved that the United Nations succeeded in keeping its civil servants responsible to the Organization alone and not to their respective nations.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The international civil servant sure has a lot resting on his shoulders. He is expected to remain unaffected by national pressures. He must make sure that sympathies and antipathies do not cloud his judgment. Thus, his only standard when performing his duties is whether his actions are guided by the goals and rules set by the Organization he serves. Questions and Discussions: What is the issue discussed in the article?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The article discussed the issue of neutrality of the office of the Secretary-General. It discussed the development of the position from the time it was conceptualized in the Covenant of the League of Nations up to the adoption of the Charter of the United Nations.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The article discussed how the recent additions to the UN Charter affected the initially neutral and solely administrative function of the Secretary-General. The article likewise discussed how the seeming contradiction can be reconciled so that the provisions of the Charter would not contradict each other. How does the UN Charter maintain the neutrality of international civil servants?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The UN Charter mandates that appointees of the Secretary-General become internationally responsible officials to the Organization, and no longer to their respective countries.   The Charter recognizes that international civil servants should not be neuters who are unaware and apathetic of the concerns of their nations; however, the Charter demands that such concerns be disregarded when the international civil servant acts in the performance of his office. References Hammarskjold, D. (1961). The International Civil Servant in Law and in Fact.

Innovation for Competitive Advantage in International Market

Innovation for Competitive Advantage in International Market INTRODUCTION Organizations must run fast to keep up with changes taking place all around them. They must modify themselves all the time. Change, rather than stability, is the norm today. Every business is affected by a number of powerful environmental forces such as; technological advances, environmental changes, evolving society and customer desires, and maturation of market, which drive the need to change in todays globalized economy. All of these enviromental forces have created opportunities and threats. Every organization strives to take advantage of opportunities and manage the threats which have arisen during the change process (Daft, 2001). Organizations, to be considered innovative, need to implement technologically new products and processes, or need to make significant technological improvements in existing products and processes. Organizations generate and apply the appropriate knowledge required for producing something new and improving the existing product or process, simply known as â€Å"knowledge creation† (Atmaca, 2006). The rate of innovation and technical change is important to an economys rate of growth. Differences in knowledge creation, diffusion, and use have implications for international competiveness, standards of living, and quality of life (Feldman and Massard, 2002). To remain competitive, established firms must continually seek out opportunities for growth and new methods for strategically renewing their performance. Changes in customer needs, new technologies, and shifts in the competitive landscape require that companies continually innovate and initiate corporate ventures in order to compete effectively (Dess, Lumpkin and Eisner, 2008). The discussion begins with defining the innovation concept focusing on different literatures from professional writers. Innovations can take many forms, including radical breakthrough innovations as well as incremantal innovative improvements, and todays researchers are strongly emphasizing that innovation is one of the most valuable differentiator for sustainable competitive advantage. The concept of innovation is compared to the concept of invention and creativity as they are confused and interchangeably used. Later, the discussion concentrates on the importance of innovation in identifying opportunities and threats coming with change; which are followed by suggestions how to become successful innovators to overcome these threats. The discussion continues by identifying the four types of changes an organization undergoes to achieve advantage in the international environment. These changes can be used to update the products or the services, the technology, the existing strategy and structure, and culture in the organization. Then, focus will be on how organizations can build innovation by applying key elements that create a truly innovative and entrepreneurial one. The next chapter identifies some successful global innovators that have delivered novel benefits to their customers. This thesis reviews the innovation concept and the forms it takes to achieve competitive edge in the market. It identifies the benefits driving from innovation, explains why people and organizations resist change and identifies the appropriate steps to overcome barriers resisting it. It explains the role management has during innovation and the key elements to create an innovative organization. It concludes by explaining why healthcare sector is different and identifies the best practiced innovations in healthcare sector. The later chapter concentrates on how innovation evolves in the service sector. The biggest industries for RD spending for 2009 are identified. The important features of services sector; the concept of service innovation and its four dimensions are compared to the service product concept. To conclude, some suggestions how management in service companies can achieve effective innovation are given. The last chapter concentrates on the healthcare sector. It focuses on the main and best practised innovations in the healthare sector, as healthcare is a part of the service sector. The reasons that make the healthcare sector different from others are underlined. Big structure, complex size, and different government policies are some of the reasons. To sum up, best practised processes and services which are applied by present healthcare service providers are identified. CHAPTER I LITERATURE REVIEW IN INNOVATION 1.1 Defining Innovation According to King (2009) innovation is doing things in new ways in order to achieve significant results and make a huge difference in performance compared to others. Innovations goal is to have a positive change, to make someone or something better. Testing and evaluation of ideas is critical in achieving this goal. The ideas that do not work are identified through testing. Failure is an integral part of the innovation process. Failing means collecting data and evidence about the changes that organizations want to undergo. This view is supported by Mulgan and Albury (2003) who define innovation as new ideas that work and a successful innovation can be achieved through the creation and implementation of new processes, products, services and methods of delivery which will result in significant improvements in the profitability and enhance the growth of an enterprise. Innovation is a special case of planned change and learning that either transforms current products, services, and markets, or creates an entirely new market by introducing a radically new product or service. An organization is considered innovative if it stirs up the marketplace, by creating competitive pressures and new opportunities. It has been recognized that innovation success in an established organization requires balancing the stabilized efficiency of the current market offerings and building new capabilities to create and develop offerings for unknown markets (Bloisi, Cook and Hunsaker, 2003). The changes used to adapt the environment can be evaluated according to the scope and to the extent to which changes are incremental or radical for the organization. Incremental changes maintain the general equilibrium of the organization through a series of continual progressions and affect only one part in organization. On the contrast, radical changes, transform the entire organization. Incremental changes include technology improvements, such as the introduction of computer-integrated manufacturing or product improvements in the established structure and management processes. In radical changes, the technology is likely to be breakthrough, and new products created will establish new markets (Daft, 2001). Importance of innovation seems to be the most talked management issue these days. Knowledge plays a crucial role in the economic processes because within the knowledge-based economy, innovation plays a central role and stands at the heart of economic change. Firms innovate to defend their competitive position as well as to achieve competitive advantage. Organizations possessing more knowledge outperform those with less. It was believed that an enterprise can maintain competitive advantage through quality and price. While todays different researches have revealed that innovation is one of the most valuable differentiator for sustainable competitive advantage (Tyagi, 2008). 1.1.1 Invention Tyagi (2008) has made a distinction between invention and innovation. Invention is discovering of things never existed before while innovation is discovering how to introduce and commercialize new products, processes and new ways of adding customer value through innovative business models and management systems. This point of view is supported by King (2009) who defines invention as the generation of new ideas which have the potential to make someone or something better. New ideas can drawn from scanning other industries, by having conversations and meetings, or accessing information which is not usual in your business. All innovations starting point is invention of creative ideas. The distinction between them is; invention is having an idea about a service, product, technology or device, while innovation is the successfull application of those ideas. Another author who has discussed about the difference existing among invention and creativity is Sloane (2010). Invention is the creation of a product, device or method that has never been made and existed before. So, every invention is an innovation. But every innovation is not an invention. When a company first publishes its website this is a major innovation for the company even though many other websites may already exist. 1.1.2 Creativity Creativity is defined as the process of thinking and generating new things, new concepts, and new ideas. Converting these thoughts into tangible things, bringing these ideas to life is innovation. Creativity is like dreaming up new things and innovation is making those dreams come true. Expressed in other words, creativity is the capability of conceiving something unusual or original while innovation is the implementation of those unusual or original things (Difference Between, n.d.). 1.2 Benefits and Barriers of Innovation In the last years change has occured incrementally and infrequently. A globalized economy is creating both opportunities and hazards to everyone. Firms are forced to make dramatic improvements not only to compete and prosper but also to survive. People who have been through difficult, and not successful change efforts end up drawing pesimistic and angry conclusions. They become suspicious of the motives of those pushing for transformation (Kotter, 1996). This section will focus on the discussion of benefits and barriers that come with innovation. The advantages supporting a strong leadership and the factors causing resistance toward change will be identified. In addition, this section will also explain some methods that managers can use to implement change successfully within the organization. 1.2.1 Benefits of Innovation Bhatt (2007) states the reasons that make companies innovate, those are listed below: To advance in technology. To change the environment. The evolving of the society. The evolving of the customer desires. Competitors improve their products and services. Customers stop buying your old products so you need to replace them and add new products. Innovation opportunities can arise due to environmental changes in technology, science, and data analysis. Environmental changes may result in creation of new customer needs or may enable the organization to develop better solutions to current customer needs. Service or product innovations have to fulfill four benefit aspects listed below: Unique. The target group should perceive the new benefits generated from the new service or product as unique. Important. The customers should perceive the new benefits as important. Sustainable. The new benefits should be protected against followers by measures such as patents, time to market and brand management. Marketable. The organization should have the resources, capabilities and competencies to market the product which also includes an effective and ready to market version of the product (Anon., 2008). Stark (n.d.) has identified the benefits of good innovation, those are listed below: First to market. Premium prices. Best customers. Large market share. Increased shareholder return. Increased employee motivation and morale. 1.2.2 Barriers to Innovation Beer and Nohria (2000) state that one research team concluded that ‘The brutal fact is that about 70 per cent of all change initiatives fail. These researchers conclude that there are two primary reasons why organizations undergo change: one is based on ‘hard economic value (e.g. financial return to shareholders); the other is based ‘soft organizational capabilities. The organizational approach develops corporate culture, human capabilities, feedback, measurements and reflections on evolutionary progress. Both people and organizations frequently resist change, even if it is in their best interests, especially in large and established organizations. Bloisi, Cook and Hunsaker (2003) suggest five main reasons why individuals resist change: Selective perception. People sometimes perceive the same thing differently. When changes are initiated, individuals tend to focus on how they will be personally affected rather than seeing the big picture for the entire organization. Lack of information.People will resist change if they are not informed about what is expected from them or what benefits change will bring. If the reasons for change are not clearly presented, people tend to fill in the missing pieces with speculation, which often assumes the worst in terms of initiator intentions and personal impact. In addition, if people do not have enough information about how to change, they may fear making mistakes, so they will not try. Fear of the unknown. Individuals resist change when they are uncertain about how it will affect their well-being. They fear downsizing, uncertainties about not knowing how to change, not being able to perform as well as before the change, losing position, income, and status or power. Habit. Many people prefer familiar actions and events, even if they are not optimal. Breaking a habit is difficult because it takes hard work and involves giving up perceived benefits from the habit, even if the new behavior has more desirable consequences. Resentment toward the initiator.If a change seems arbitrary or unreasonable, resentment and anger are directed towards those initiating the change. People resent being controlled and losing autonomy over their works and lives, when their thoughts and feelings are not considered by change initiators. Finally, without trust in the initiators inventions, people may resist the change out of resentment or fear of possible unknown consequences. Bloisi, Cook and Hunsaker (2003) state that organizations resist change for many of the same reasons individuals do. There are also many forces inside an organization that create resistance to changes initiated by environmental conditions. Some of the main ones are summarized below: Power Maintenance. Changes in decision-making authority and control of resource allocations threaten the balance of power in organizations. Units benefiting from the change will welcome it, but those losing power will resist it. Structural stability. Organizations create hierarchies, subgroups, rules and procedures to promote order, consistent and predicable behaviors. People who ‘fit these desired behavioral criteria are hired and shaped to confirm further through the socialization process and organizational conditioning. Functional sub-optimization.Differences in functional orientation, goals and resource dependencies can cause changes that are seen as beneficial to one functional unit and as threatening to another. Functional units usually think of themselves first when evaluating potential changes and support those that enhance their own welfare, but resist the one that reduce it. Organizational culture. Organizational culture promotes predicable ways of thinking and behaving. Organizational members will resist changes that force them to abandon established assumptions and approved ways of doing things. Group norms. Groups develop their own norms to promote desirable behaviors. Many members conform these norms. Consequently, any change that disrupts group norms, tasks or role relationships will probably be resisted. Strategos conducted a survey of innovation practices of more than 550 large companies, where majority of respondents in every industry rated innovation as critical and said that the importance of innovation would grow in the future. According to Loewe and Dominiquini (2006) the top six obstacles to innovation identified by respondents across industries are: Short-term focus. Lack of time, resources or staff. Leadership expects payoff sooner than is realistic. Management incentives do not reward innovation. Lack of a systematic innovation process. Belief that innovation is inherently risky. Below is a list of suggestions how to become successful innovators about overcoming the barriers to innovation: Have a vision for change. Innovation has to have a purpose, a statement which defines the direction for the business and which people will readily understand and remember. Your team needs to know the direction they are headed in order to be innovative. Illustrate the goals and explain to people how their role is decisive in meeting the goals to fulfill the organizational vision. Fight the fear of change. Innovative leaders constantly explain the need for change. They must paint a picture that shows an attractive future that is worth taking risks to achieve. Have a dynamic suggestions scheme. Great suggestion schemes are focused and open to all. Leaders do not need to offer huge rewards. Sometimes, recognition and response are generally more important. Break the rules. To achieve radical innovation leaders need to challenge all the assumptions related to how things should look in your environment. Business is like Art, with no well-defined rules and referees. Innovation is filled with opportunities for people who can take advantage in creating new ways to provide the goods and services that customers want. Give everyone two jobs. Ask your people to run their current jobs in the most effective way possible and at the same time to find completely new ways to do the job. Encourage them to identify the purpose of their role, the outcomes delivered through this role and if there is a better way to deliver that purpose. Collaborate. CEOs must see collaboration as key to their success during innovation. Success can not only be achieved by using internal resources, but also by looking outside of the organization for people to partner with. Welcome failure. The innovative leader encourages a culture where people feel free to innovate and experiment. Innovative leaders tell people that each unsuccessful attempt is a step along the road to success. When innovative leaders welcome innovation and create a culture of experimentation, means that they except failure and welcome it. Build prototypes. Innovative leaders are suggested to try the new ideas at low cost by building prototypes and see what the customer reaction is. You will learn more in the real world than you will in the test laboratories. Be passionate. Leaders must concentrate on the things they want to change, on the challenges they want to face and be passionate about overcoming them. Organizations need passionate supporters, who are inspired to innovate and change the way they do things to come up with extraordinary results. Be passionate about what you believe, communicate that passion every time you speak and explain why reaching the destination is really worthwhile (ArticleSnatch, n.d.). 1.3 Types of Innovation There exist four types of changes to achieve strategic edge within an organization. Managers can use these four types of changes to achieve competitive advantage in the international environment. Each company can have maximum impact upon the chosen market through its own unique configuration of technology, product and services, strategy and structure, and culture as explained below (Daft, 2001). 1.3.1 Technological Innovation Technological innovations refer to changes in an organizations production process to enable distinctive competence. Changes in an organizations production process, including its knowledge and skills base, are designed to produce greater in volume or to have a more efficient production. Changes in technology involve the work methods, equipment, and work flow techniques for making products or services. For example, in a university, technology changes are about changes in methods for teaching the courses. Tyagi (2008) suggests that traditionally innovation has been associated with the use of technological knowledge, and research and development activities. A technological innovation is any innovation due to an industrial application of scientific knowledge. Dess, Lumpkin and Eisner (2008) suggest that innovation involves the usage of new knowledge to transform organizational processes or create commercially viable products and services. The latest technology, results of experiments, creative insights, or competitive information may be the sources of new knowledge. However it comes about, innovation occurs when new combinations of ideas and information bring about positive change. Among the most important sources of new ideas is new technology. Technology creates new possibilities and provides the raw material that firms use to make innovative new products and services. But technology is not the only source of innovation. There can be innovations in human resources, firm infrastructure, marketing, service, or in many other value-adding areas that have little to do with anything â€Å"high-tech.† 1.3.2 Product and Service Innovation Product and service innovations refer to the product or service outputs of an organization. New products may be in the form of entirely new product lines or small adaptions of existing products. New products are designed to develop new markets, or customers, or to increase the market share. Tyagi (2008) states that product innovation is about the introduction of new goods and services which have improvements in terms of design excellence, core characteristics, technical specifications etc. and are derived from customer or industry insight, or strategic alignment of the organization. Godin (2005) suggests that the old rule was to create safe and ordinary products that were combined with great marketing. The new rule is to create remarkable products and figure out a great theory by looking at whats working in the real world and what the various successes have in common. Identify what the successful companies have in common and do something to be remarkable. Roberts (2002) has made a distinction when discussing if innovation is between product/service innovation and process innovation. Product/Service innovation refers to efforts to develop new products or services for end users. Product/Service innovations tend to be more radical and are more common during the earlier stages of an industrys life cycle. As an industry matures, there are fewer opportunities for newness, so the innovations tend to be more incremental. Process innovation, by contrast, is associated with improving the efficiency of an organizational process, especially manufacturing systems and operations. Process innovations occur in the later stages of an industrys life cycle as companies seek ways to remain viable in markets where demand has flattened out and competition is more intensive. As a result, process innovations are often associated with overall cost leader strategies because the aim of many process improvements is to lower the cost of operations. There are several problems with seeking competitive advantage through investments in process technology. Firstly, the people who sell you robots or point-of-sale terminals, software to analyze production or service delivery will sell the robots, terminals, and software to your competitors. Your ability to obtain the benefits of this technology depends on your ability to implement it more rapidly and more effectively. Secondly, investment in specialized technology is not a substitute for skill in managing the work force. This is because more skills may be required to operate the more sophisticated and advanced equipments. Having a higher level of investment per employee will result in increasingly expensive interruptions in the process which means that the ability to operate, maintain, and repair equipment effectively becomes even more critical (Pfeffer, 1996). 1.3.3 Strategy and Structural Innovation Strategy and structural innovation refers to the administrative section in an organization. It is related to the management and supervision in the organization, including changes in an organizations strategic management and structure, policies, accounting and budgeting systems, reward systems, labor relations, coordination devices, management information and control systems. Strategy and structure changes in an organization are mandated by top management. They usually have a top-down structure. An example may be if the corporate goes downsizing. On the other hand, product and technology changes may come from the bottom up. 1.3.4 Cultural Innovation Cultural innovation refers to changes that may occur in an employees attitudes, beliefs, values, expectations, abilities, and behavior. Culture innovation tends to change the way employees think. These are changes in mindset rather than the technology, structure, or products and services. Culture can be a powerful force undermining or shoring up the effectiveness of a nation, a business, and a manager. Recognizing the presence and power of culture will help in better navigating through the rough seas of international business. Discovering how to harness the power of culture in an organization will help the organization gain competitive advantage (Schneider and Barsoux, 2003). To conclude, it can be said that successful innovation in an organization occurs when technological and product or process innovations in the value chain are implemented through effective strategy and structure innovation. Innovation in an organization, which includes people, leadership, creativity, process and organizational culture, is the driver to grow, to achieve high profits and to succeed in the market. Innovation in an organization should be approached in a systematic way and not a piecemeal manner and should be initiated even at the lowest levels (Tyagi, 2008). 1.4 Leadership in Practice of Innovation Many organizations are resistant to changes and continue operating the way they had been operating in the past. To remain competitive, they work harder, improve efficiency, reduce cost and implement best practices. But, this is not enough. Instead of getting stuck in their standard mode of operations, organizations need to adopt innovative ways to change the strategies. The best way to create a competitive edge and be in the head of the competition is to innovate by drawing advantage from the creative power of your people. Turn your greatest assets into opportunistic entrepreneurs who discover new ways and improve the way they do business. Management innovation involves total transformation of existing culture to enhance organizational performance in an integrated manner involving technological innovation, product and service innovation, and strategy and structural innovation (Tyagi, 2008). Sloane (2003) suggests that every organization needs to have a vision, a culture and a process of innovation to build a truly innovative environment. There are eight key elements that create a truly innovative and entrepreneurial organization as below: Painting the vision. The first step is to paint a desirable, challenging and believable vision. Innovative leaders must be sure that people share a common goal and embarke on a journey all together. Being all together means they accept easier the changes, all the challenges and difficulties that show up during the journey. Innovative leaders should delegate more responsibility, and empower the staff with control over their work. Once staff is aware of the goal and direction headed, they contribute the best creative ways to solve challenges and obstacles that lie ahead. Build an open and questioning culture. The painted picture quickly fades away from view, so great leaders should take time to meet staff and illustrate the goals to be achieved and the challenges to overcome. Leaders inspire the staff to become entrepreneurs finding innovative routes to success and constantly remind them how their role is decisive in fulfilling the vision and meeting the challenges. Empowering. The purpose of empowering your people is to turn them into entrepreneurs looking for new opportunities. By empowering, leaders enable them to develop the skills for the task and achieve the change through their own efforts to come up with radical innovations. People need freedom to succeed and need to understand and agree on what management expects of them. People and management must agree on the scope of freedom and responsibility. Empowering means trusting your people, supporting and believing that they will achieve great things. Set goals, deadlines and measurements for innovation. Change is uncomfortable, resulting in anxiously people fearing an embarrassing or costly failure. Leaders should spend time with people encouraging them to undertake risks and come out from their safety zones. Leaders should reassure them that risks are necessary and worth taking and no one will be punished if their initiatives do not succeed. Use creativity techniques to generate a large number of ideas. Innovative leaders should build a culture where everyone can come up with creative solutions and crazy ideas through techniques, methods, and workshops. The goal is to change the people within the organization; from people who do routine jobs into highly energized entrepreneurs who constantly search for new and better ways of making the vision a reality. People need to be trained to learn the skills and to develop the confidence to try new methods, and use creative techniques to come up with new solutions. Review, filter and select ideas. In the innovation process many ideas are generated in response to a given issue or challenge. At the end, the most promising idea is selected. Prototype the promising proposals. After the idea is selected, then the move is to rapidly prototype it. Analyze the results and the successful projects. New product is tested for its feasibility, attractiveness and payback. Those that pass these criteria are given more funding. King (2009) suggests that the most effective, efficient and leading edge organizations are those that innovate and encourage innovation. Innovative organizations require a strong leadership team to approve the importance of innovation and create a culture for it. A development of strong capabilities for innovation leadership need to be started early in the career development process. In an innovative culture, the staff is given freedom to innovate and experiment. In an innovative culture, risks are managed and the organization understands and accepts that future success is built on a series of learning from unsuccessful attempts. Collaboration with outside parties to generate and adopt innovations is encouraged. Success will depend on strong leadership. We can take learning from market leaders to help us identify key leadership behaviors to promote innovation as explained below: Lead continuous innovation and improvement. Develop and communicate an encouraging story. Encourage partnerships and collaboration. Staff should be exposed to new viewpoints and ideas that can be adapted in the organization. To do this, the organization should create partnerships and collaboration with different parts within or outside the organization. Promote innovation. Organization should consider innovation as a core part of its role, and time is allocated for its employees to innovate. Different organizations have created bespoke Innovation for Competitive Advantage in International Market Innovation for Competitive Advantage in International Market INTRODUCTION Organizations must run fast to keep up with changes taking place all around them. They must modify themselves all the time. Change, rather than stability, is the norm today. Every business is affected by a number of powerful environmental forces such as; technological advances, environmental changes, evolving society and customer desires, and maturation of market, which drive the need to change in todays globalized economy. All of these enviromental forces have created opportunities and threats. Every organization strives to take advantage of opportunities and manage the threats which have arisen during the change process (Daft, 2001). Organizations, to be considered innovative, need to implement technologically new products and processes, or need to make significant technological improvements in existing products and processes. Organizations generate and apply the appropriate knowledge required for producing something new and improving the existing product or process, simply known as â€Å"knowledge creation† (Atmaca, 2006). The rate of innovation and technical change is important to an economys rate of growth. Differences in knowledge creation, diffusion, and use have implications for international competiveness, standards of living, and quality of life (Feldman and Massard, 2002). To remain competitive, established firms must continually seek out opportunities for growth and new methods for strategically renewing their performance. Changes in customer needs, new technologies, and shifts in the competitive landscape require that companies continually innovate and initiate corporate ventures in order to compete effectively (Dess, Lumpkin and Eisner, 2008). The discussion begins with defining the innovation concept focusing on different literatures from professional writers. Innovations can take many forms, including radical breakthrough innovations as well as incremantal innovative improvements, and todays researchers are strongly emphasizing that innovation is one of the most valuable differentiator for sustainable competitive advantage. The concept of innovation is compared to the concept of invention and creativity as they are confused and interchangeably used. Later, the discussion concentrates on the importance of innovation in identifying opportunities and threats coming with change; which are followed by suggestions how to become successful innovators to overcome these threats. The discussion continues by identifying the four types of changes an organization undergoes to achieve advantage in the international environment. These changes can be used to update the products or the services, the technology, the existing strategy and structure, and culture in the organization. Then, focus will be on how organizations can build innovation by applying key elements that create a truly innovative and entrepreneurial one. The next chapter identifies some successful global innovators that have delivered novel benefits to their customers. This thesis reviews the innovation concept and the forms it takes to achieve competitive edge in the market. It identifies the benefits driving from innovation, explains why people and organizations resist change and identifies the appropriate steps to overcome barriers resisting it. It explains the role management has during innovation and the key elements to create an innovative organization. It concludes by explaining why healthcare sector is different and identifies the best practiced innovations in healthcare sector. The later chapter concentrates on how innovation evolves in the service sector. The biggest industries for RD spending for 2009 are identified. The important features of services sector; the concept of service innovation and its four dimensions are compared to the service product concept. To conclude, some suggestions how management in service companies can achieve effective innovation are given. The last chapter concentrates on the healthcare sector. It focuses on the main and best practised innovations in the healthare sector, as healthcare is a part of the service sector. The reasons that make the healthcare sector different from others are underlined. Big structure, complex size, and different government policies are some of the reasons. To sum up, best practised processes and services which are applied by present healthcare service providers are identified. CHAPTER I LITERATURE REVIEW IN INNOVATION 1.1 Defining Innovation According to King (2009) innovation is doing things in new ways in order to achieve significant results and make a huge difference in performance compared to others. Innovations goal is to have a positive change, to make someone or something better. Testing and evaluation of ideas is critical in achieving this goal. The ideas that do not work are identified through testing. Failure is an integral part of the innovation process. Failing means collecting data and evidence about the changes that organizations want to undergo. This view is supported by Mulgan and Albury (2003) who define innovation as new ideas that work and a successful innovation can be achieved through the creation and implementation of new processes, products, services and methods of delivery which will result in significant improvements in the profitability and enhance the growth of an enterprise. Innovation is a special case of planned change and learning that either transforms current products, services, and markets, or creates an entirely new market by introducing a radically new product or service. An organization is considered innovative if it stirs up the marketplace, by creating competitive pressures and new opportunities. It has been recognized that innovation success in an established organization requires balancing the stabilized efficiency of the current market offerings and building new capabilities to create and develop offerings for unknown markets (Bloisi, Cook and Hunsaker, 2003). The changes used to adapt the environment can be evaluated according to the scope and to the extent to which changes are incremental or radical for the organization. Incremental changes maintain the general equilibrium of the organization through a series of continual progressions and affect only one part in organization. On the contrast, radical changes, transform the entire organization. Incremental changes include technology improvements, such as the introduction of computer-integrated manufacturing or product improvements in the established structure and management processes. In radical changes, the technology is likely to be breakthrough, and new products created will establish new markets (Daft, 2001). Importance of innovation seems to be the most talked management issue these days. Knowledge plays a crucial role in the economic processes because within the knowledge-based economy, innovation plays a central role and stands at the heart of economic change. Firms innovate to defend their competitive position as well as to achieve competitive advantage. Organizations possessing more knowledge outperform those with less. It was believed that an enterprise can maintain competitive advantage through quality and price. While todays different researches have revealed that innovation is one of the most valuable differentiator for sustainable competitive advantage (Tyagi, 2008). 1.1.1 Invention Tyagi (2008) has made a distinction between invention and innovation. Invention is discovering of things never existed before while innovation is discovering how to introduce and commercialize new products, processes and new ways of adding customer value through innovative business models and management systems. This point of view is supported by King (2009) who defines invention as the generation of new ideas which have the potential to make someone or something better. New ideas can drawn from scanning other industries, by having conversations and meetings, or accessing information which is not usual in your business. All innovations starting point is invention of creative ideas. The distinction between them is; invention is having an idea about a service, product, technology or device, while innovation is the successfull application of those ideas. Another author who has discussed about the difference existing among invention and creativity is Sloane (2010). Invention is the creation of a product, device or method that has never been made and existed before. So, every invention is an innovation. But every innovation is not an invention. When a company first publishes its website this is a major innovation for the company even though many other websites may already exist. 1.1.2 Creativity Creativity is defined as the process of thinking and generating new things, new concepts, and new ideas. Converting these thoughts into tangible things, bringing these ideas to life is innovation. Creativity is like dreaming up new things and innovation is making those dreams come true. Expressed in other words, creativity is the capability of conceiving something unusual or original while innovation is the implementation of those unusual or original things (Difference Between, n.d.). 1.2 Benefits and Barriers of Innovation In the last years change has occured incrementally and infrequently. A globalized economy is creating both opportunities and hazards to everyone. Firms are forced to make dramatic improvements not only to compete and prosper but also to survive. People who have been through difficult, and not successful change efforts end up drawing pesimistic and angry conclusions. They become suspicious of the motives of those pushing for transformation (Kotter, 1996). This section will focus on the discussion of benefits and barriers that come with innovation. The advantages supporting a strong leadership and the factors causing resistance toward change will be identified. In addition, this section will also explain some methods that managers can use to implement change successfully within the organization. 1.2.1 Benefits of Innovation Bhatt (2007) states the reasons that make companies innovate, those are listed below: To advance in technology. To change the environment. The evolving of the society. The evolving of the customer desires. Competitors improve their products and services. Customers stop buying your old products so you need to replace them and add new products. Innovation opportunities can arise due to environmental changes in technology, science, and data analysis. Environmental changes may result in creation of new customer needs or may enable the organization to develop better solutions to current customer needs. Service or product innovations have to fulfill four benefit aspects listed below: Unique. The target group should perceive the new benefits generated from the new service or product as unique. Important. The customers should perceive the new benefits as important. Sustainable. The new benefits should be protected against followers by measures such as patents, time to market and brand management. Marketable. The organization should have the resources, capabilities and competencies to market the product which also includes an effective and ready to market version of the product (Anon., 2008). Stark (n.d.) has identified the benefits of good innovation, those are listed below: First to market. Premium prices. Best customers. Large market share. Increased shareholder return. Increased employee motivation and morale. 1.2.2 Barriers to Innovation Beer and Nohria (2000) state that one research team concluded that ‘The brutal fact is that about 70 per cent of all change initiatives fail. These researchers conclude that there are two primary reasons why organizations undergo change: one is based on ‘hard economic value (e.g. financial return to shareholders); the other is based ‘soft organizational capabilities. The organizational approach develops corporate culture, human capabilities, feedback, measurements and reflections on evolutionary progress. Both people and organizations frequently resist change, even if it is in their best interests, especially in large and established organizations. Bloisi, Cook and Hunsaker (2003) suggest five main reasons why individuals resist change: Selective perception. People sometimes perceive the same thing differently. When changes are initiated, individuals tend to focus on how they will be personally affected rather than seeing the big picture for the entire organization. Lack of information.People will resist change if they are not informed about what is expected from them or what benefits change will bring. If the reasons for change are not clearly presented, people tend to fill in the missing pieces with speculation, which often assumes the worst in terms of initiator intentions and personal impact. In addition, if people do not have enough information about how to change, they may fear making mistakes, so they will not try. Fear of the unknown. Individuals resist change when they are uncertain about how it will affect their well-being. They fear downsizing, uncertainties about not knowing how to change, not being able to perform as well as before the change, losing position, income, and status or power. Habit. Many people prefer familiar actions and events, even if they are not optimal. Breaking a habit is difficult because it takes hard work and involves giving up perceived benefits from the habit, even if the new behavior has more desirable consequences. Resentment toward the initiator.If a change seems arbitrary or unreasonable, resentment and anger are directed towards those initiating the change. People resent being controlled and losing autonomy over their works and lives, when their thoughts and feelings are not considered by change initiators. Finally, without trust in the initiators inventions, people may resist the change out of resentment or fear of possible unknown consequences. Bloisi, Cook and Hunsaker (2003) state that organizations resist change for many of the same reasons individuals do. There are also many forces inside an organization that create resistance to changes initiated by environmental conditions. Some of the main ones are summarized below: Power Maintenance. Changes in decision-making authority and control of resource allocations threaten the balance of power in organizations. Units benefiting from the change will welcome it, but those losing power will resist it. Structural stability. Organizations create hierarchies, subgroups, rules and procedures to promote order, consistent and predicable behaviors. People who ‘fit these desired behavioral criteria are hired and shaped to confirm further through the socialization process and organizational conditioning. Functional sub-optimization.Differences in functional orientation, goals and resource dependencies can cause changes that are seen as beneficial to one functional unit and as threatening to another. Functional units usually think of themselves first when evaluating potential changes and support those that enhance their own welfare, but resist the one that reduce it. Organizational culture. Organizational culture promotes predicable ways of thinking and behaving. Organizational members will resist changes that force them to abandon established assumptions and approved ways of doing things. Group norms. Groups develop their own norms to promote desirable behaviors. Many members conform these norms. Consequently, any change that disrupts group norms, tasks or role relationships will probably be resisted. Strategos conducted a survey of innovation practices of more than 550 large companies, where majority of respondents in every industry rated innovation as critical and said that the importance of innovation would grow in the future. According to Loewe and Dominiquini (2006) the top six obstacles to innovation identified by respondents across industries are: Short-term focus. Lack of time, resources or staff. Leadership expects payoff sooner than is realistic. Management incentives do not reward innovation. Lack of a systematic innovation process. Belief that innovation is inherently risky. Below is a list of suggestions how to become successful innovators about overcoming the barriers to innovation: Have a vision for change. Innovation has to have a purpose, a statement which defines the direction for the business and which people will readily understand and remember. Your team needs to know the direction they are headed in order to be innovative. Illustrate the goals and explain to people how their role is decisive in meeting the goals to fulfill the organizational vision. Fight the fear of change. Innovative leaders constantly explain the need for change. They must paint a picture that shows an attractive future that is worth taking risks to achieve. Have a dynamic suggestions scheme. Great suggestion schemes are focused and open to all. Leaders do not need to offer huge rewards. Sometimes, recognition and response are generally more important. Break the rules. To achieve radical innovation leaders need to challenge all the assumptions related to how things should look in your environment. Business is like Art, with no well-defined rules and referees. Innovation is filled with opportunities for people who can take advantage in creating new ways to provide the goods and services that customers want. Give everyone two jobs. Ask your people to run their current jobs in the most effective way possible and at the same time to find completely new ways to do the job. Encourage them to identify the purpose of their role, the outcomes delivered through this role and if there is a better way to deliver that purpose. Collaborate. CEOs must see collaboration as key to their success during innovation. Success can not only be achieved by using internal resources, but also by looking outside of the organization for people to partner with. Welcome failure. The innovative leader encourages a culture where people feel free to innovate and experiment. Innovative leaders tell people that each unsuccessful attempt is a step along the road to success. When innovative leaders welcome innovation and create a culture of experimentation, means that they except failure and welcome it. Build prototypes. Innovative leaders are suggested to try the new ideas at low cost by building prototypes and see what the customer reaction is. You will learn more in the real world than you will in the test laboratories. Be passionate. Leaders must concentrate on the things they want to change, on the challenges they want to face and be passionate about overcoming them. Organizations need passionate supporters, who are inspired to innovate and change the way they do things to come up with extraordinary results. Be passionate about what you believe, communicate that passion every time you speak and explain why reaching the destination is really worthwhile (ArticleSnatch, n.d.). 1.3 Types of Innovation There exist four types of changes to achieve strategic edge within an organization. Managers can use these four types of changes to achieve competitive advantage in the international environment. Each company can have maximum impact upon the chosen market through its own unique configuration of technology, product and services, strategy and structure, and culture as explained below (Daft, 2001). 1.3.1 Technological Innovation Technological innovations refer to changes in an organizations production process to enable distinctive competence. Changes in an organizations production process, including its knowledge and skills base, are designed to produce greater in volume or to have a more efficient production. Changes in technology involve the work methods, equipment, and work flow techniques for making products or services. For example, in a university, technology changes are about changes in methods for teaching the courses. Tyagi (2008) suggests that traditionally innovation has been associated with the use of technological knowledge, and research and development activities. A technological innovation is any innovation due to an industrial application of scientific knowledge. Dess, Lumpkin and Eisner (2008) suggest that innovation involves the usage of new knowledge to transform organizational processes or create commercially viable products and services. The latest technology, results of experiments, creative insights, or competitive information may be the sources of new knowledge. However it comes about, innovation occurs when new combinations of ideas and information bring about positive change. Among the most important sources of new ideas is new technology. Technology creates new possibilities and provides the raw material that firms use to make innovative new products and services. But technology is not the only source of innovation. There can be innovations in human resources, firm infrastructure, marketing, service, or in many other value-adding areas that have little to do with anything â€Å"high-tech.† 1.3.2 Product and Service Innovation Product and service innovations refer to the product or service outputs of an organization. New products may be in the form of entirely new product lines or small adaptions of existing products. New products are designed to develop new markets, or customers, or to increase the market share. Tyagi (2008) states that product innovation is about the introduction of new goods and services which have improvements in terms of design excellence, core characteristics, technical specifications etc. and are derived from customer or industry insight, or strategic alignment of the organization. Godin (2005) suggests that the old rule was to create safe and ordinary products that were combined with great marketing. The new rule is to create remarkable products and figure out a great theory by looking at whats working in the real world and what the various successes have in common. Identify what the successful companies have in common and do something to be remarkable. Roberts (2002) has made a distinction when discussing if innovation is between product/service innovation and process innovation. Product/Service innovation refers to efforts to develop new products or services for end users. Product/Service innovations tend to be more radical and are more common during the earlier stages of an industrys life cycle. As an industry matures, there are fewer opportunities for newness, so the innovations tend to be more incremental. Process innovation, by contrast, is associated with improving the efficiency of an organizational process, especially manufacturing systems and operations. Process innovations occur in the later stages of an industrys life cycle as companies seek ways to remain viable in markets where demand has flattened out and competition is more intensive. As a result, process innovations are often associated with overall cost leader strategies because the aim of many process improvements is to lower the cost of operations. There are several problems with seeking competitive advantage through investments in process technology. Firstly, the people who sell you robots or point-of-sale terminals, software to analyze production or service delivery will sell the robots, terminals, and software to your competitors. Your ability to obtain the benefits of this technology depends on your ability to implement it more rapidly and more effectively. Secondly, investment in specialized technology is not a substitute for skill in managing the work force. This is because more skills may be required to operate the more sophisticated and advanced equipments. Having a higher level of investment per employee will result in increasingly expensive interruptions in the process which means that the ability to operate, maintain, and repair equipment effectively becomes even more critical (Pfeffer, 1996). 1.3.3 Strategy and Structural Innovation Strategy and structural innovation refers to the administrative section in an organization. It is related to the management and supervision in the organization, including changes in an organizations strategic management and structure, policies, accounting and budgeting systems, reward systems, labor relations, coordination devices, management information and control systems. Strategy and structure changes in an organization are mandated by top management. They usually have a top-down structure. An example may be if the corporate goes downsizing. On the other hand, product and technology changes may come from the bottom up. 1.3.4 Cultural Innovation Cultural innovation refers to changes that may occur in an employees attitudes, beliefs, values, expectations, abilities, and behavior. Culture innovation tends to change the way employees think. These are changes in mindset rather than the technology, structure, or products and services. Culture can be a powerful force undermining or shoring up the effectiveness of a nation, a business, and a manager. Recognizing the presence and power of culture will help in better navigating through the rough seas of international business. Discovering how to harness the power of culture in an organization will help the organization gain competitive advantage (Schneider and Barsoux, 2003). To conclude, it can be said that successful innovation in an organization occurs when technological and product or process innovations in the value chain are implemented through effective strategy and structure innovation. Innovation in an organization, which includes people, leadership, creativity, process and organizational culture, is the driver to grow, to achieve high profits and to succeed in the market. Innovation in an organization should be approached in a systematic way and not a piecemeal manner and should be initiated even at the lowest levels (Tyagi, 2008). 1.4 Leadership in Practice of Innovation Many organizations are resistant to changes and continue operating the way they had been operating in the past. To remain competitive, they work harder, improve efficiency, reduce cost and implement best practices. But, this is not enough. Instead of getting stuck in their standard mode of operations, organizations need to adopt innovative ways to change the strategies. The best way to create a competitive edge and be in the head of the competition is to innovate by drawing advantage from the creative power of your people. Turn your greatest assets into opportunistic entrepreneurs who discover new ways and improve the way they do business. Management innovation involves total transformation of existing culture to enhance organizational performance in an integrated manner involving technological innovation, product and service innovation, and strategy and structural innovation (Tyagi, 2008). Sloane (2003) suggests that every organization needs to have a vision, a culture and a process of innovation to build a truly innovative environment. There are eight key elements that create a truly innovative and entrepreneurial organization as below: Painting the vision. The first step is to paint a desirable, challenging and believable vision. Innovative leaders must be sure that people share a common goal and embarke on a journey all together. Being all together means they accept easier the changes, all the challenges and difficulties that show up during the journey. Innovative leaders should delegate more responsibility, and empower the staff with control over their work. Once staff is aware of the goal and direction headed, they contribute the best creative ways to solve challenges and obstacles that lie ahead. Build an open and questioning culture. The painted picture quickly fades away from view, so great leaders should take time to meet staff and illustrate the goals to be achieved and the challenges to overcome. Leaders inspire the staff to become entrepreneurs finding innovative routes to success and constantly remind them how their role is decisive in fulfilling the vision and meeting the challenges. Empowering. The purpose of empowering your people is to turn them into entrepreneurs looking for new opportunities. By empowering, leaders enable them to develop the skills for the task and achieve the change through their own efforts to come up with radical innovations. People need freedom to succeed and need to understand and agree on what management expects of them. People and management must agree on the scope of freedom and responsibility. Empowering means trusting your people, supporting and believing that they will achieve great things. Set goals, deadlines and measurements for innovation. Change is uncomfortable, resulting in anxiously people fearing an embarrassing or costly failure. Leaders should spend time with people encouraging them to undertake risks and come out from their safety zones. Leaders should reassure them that risks are necessary and worth taking and no one will be punished if their initiatives do not succeed. Use creativity techniques to generate a large number of ideas. Innovative leaders should build a culture where everyone can come up with creative solutions and crazy ideas through techniques, methods, and workshops. The goal is to change the people within the organization; from people who do routine jobs into highly energized entrepreneurs who constantly search for new and better ways of making the vision a reality. People need to be trained to learn the skills and to develop the confidence to try new methods, and use creative techniques to come up with new solutions. Review, filter and select ideas. In the innovation process many ideas are generated in response to a given issue or challenge. At the end, the most promising idea is selected. Prototype the promising proposals. After the idea is selected, then the move is to rapidly prototype it. Analyze the results and the successful projects. New product is tested for its feasibility, attractiveness and payback. Those that pass these criteria are given more funding. King (2009) suggests that the most effective, efficient and leading edge organizations are those that innovate and encourage innovation. Innovative organizations require a strong leadership team to approve the importance of innovation and create a culture for it. A development of strong capabilities for innovation leadership need to be started early in the career development process. In an innovative culture, the staff is given freedom to innovate and experiment. In an innovative culture, risks are managed and the organization understands and accepts that future success is built on a series of learning from unsuccessful attempts. Collaboration with outside parties to generate and adopt innovations is encouraged. Success will depend on strong leadership. We can take learning from market leaders to help us identify key leadership behaviors to promote innovation as explained below: Lead continuous innovation and improvement. Develop and communicate an encouraging story. Encourage partnerships and collaboration. Staff should be exposed to new viewpoints and ideas that can be adapted in the organization. To do this, the organization should create partnerships and collaboration with different parts within or outside the organization. Promote innovation. Organization should consider innovation as a core part of its role, and time is allocated for its employees to innovate. Different organizations have created bespoke