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Harnessing Creativity and Innovation to Meet Business Needs Discussion

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Harnessing Creativity and Innovation to Meet Business Needs Discussion – Description

EMBRACING CHANGE, PART 1
In the Assignments for Weeks 7–8, you will focus on creating solutions for a company that is facing challenges due to the impacts of a global health crisis. Such large-scale events can have a sizable impact, but major world crises are not the only factors that can affect businesses. Organizations may need to make drastic changes because of ordinary and predictable reasons, such as a product’s lifecycle reaching its final phase, a new competitor entering the market, or a sudden shift in consumer preferences. It can be easier to deal with change at the organizational level if it is examined first at the personal level. Essentially, you can better assist your organization in embracing change if you have an accurate understanding of how you feel about it and react to it.
In this Discussion, you will explore your relationship with change, including how a professional experience with change from your past was handled and how it impacted you. You will then continue this conversation in next week’s Discussion.
To prepare for this Discussion:

Consider these questions: Do you agree with the idea that change is inevitable? If so, what can be done about it? Do you feel that change is scary, exciting, or a mix of both? How do you typically react to change, and is there anything you would like to do differently about your reactions to change?
Think of an experience from your professional career when an organizational change occurred and prepare to discuss it. Consider the impact of that change, not just on yourself, but on others within the organization and on the organization itself. 

Post an analysis of the impact of change on you personally, as well as in your professional experience at an organization. Be sure to addresses the following:

Explain how you feel about change, as well as how you typically react to it.
Identify an example from your professional life in which change occurred at an organization and explain how that process went. Be specific about how the change was implemented, including communication of the change, involvement of stakeholders, etc.
Explain how the handling of that organizational change impacted you, your colleagues, and the organization as a whole. Provide specific examples to support your explanation. 

PART 2 – DUE 6/24/23
HARNESSING CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION TO MEET BUSINESS NEEDS: PARTS 1 AND 2
Note: This is a three-part Assignment that is submitted over the course of 2 weeks. This week, you will submit Parts 1 and 2. You will submit Part 3 in Week 8. Although Part 3 is not due until next week, it is recommended that you look ahead to review the expectations for Part 3 so that you can keep those questions in mind as you develop Parts 1 and 2. Additionally, you will use the same document for each submission (renaming it each time you submit). In this week’s submission, you will complete Parts 1 and 2, and you will leave the placeholder language for Part 3 as is.
The world of business often changes at a fast pace, including innovations in technology, changing customer needs, and other market fluctuations. In some cases, however—such as during a local or global crisis—the need for change is more immediate and companies may face the reality of responding by quickly innovating or facing financial or other hardships.
For this Assignment, you will take on the role of a consultant who has been brought in to develop and evaluate creative solutions for a business facing the effects of a global crisis. You have been asked to develop some potential solutions to propose to company leaders that could help the business shift its focus or innovate in the face of change. You will employ creativity and design thinking principles to address business needs and help the company assess its readiness for innovation and change. For the purposes of this exercise, here are some guidelines:

You will choose the company (or type of company) and create a narrative for the specific problem the business is facing. This could be a company where you have worked or with which you are familiar, or you can locate an example of a company and use it as the basis for your narrative. For example, you might select a larger company that needs to figure out a way to reach more customers since most of its local business has been temporarily halted, or perhaps you will choose a small business that operates locally and offers a product or service that is currently not relevant to the market’s needs.

Note: If you select a company with which you do not have personal experience, some of the questions related to the employees and other similar details may be more challenging to answer; however, you should feel free to use your creativity to respond to the questions as if you had already interviewed the company’s staff and leaders. Provide information that will help you craft your narrative. The purpose of this activity is to demonstrate your ability to think through and develop creative solutions to business problems, not to have all the “right” answers.
You will engage in aspects of the design thinking process to complete this activity but will not be able to complete all parts of the process (including interviewing stakeholders and prototyping the solutions). You may want to review any resources you have already read on design thinking and consider how you would conduct this process if you were an actual consultant for this chosen company.

With those thoughts in mind, construct Parts 1 and 2 of your business solutions design, being sure to incorporate appropriate examples, where applicable, as well as citations for relevant academic resources from the classroom, the Walden Library, and/or other appropriate scholarly sources to support your work.
To prepare for this Assignment:

Download the Module 3 Assignment Template (Word document) Download Module 3 Assignment Template (Word document). Note: Be sure to keep a copy of your completed Assignment this week, as you will be adding to the same file for your Week 8 Assignment.

Submit Parts 1 and 2 of your evaluation of harnessing creativity and innovation to meet business needs, in which you address the following in a 5- to 6-page business solutions design document:
Part 1: Laying the Foundation for Innovation

Synthesize the business problem. Specifically:

Describe the company in question, including how many people work there, the industry the company is part of, and what types of products and/or services the business offers.
Explain the business problem, including what impacts the global crisis is having on how the business operates and its ability to meet customer needs and deliver its product(s)/service(s).
Identify the company’s present internal strengths and weaknesses, as well as external opportunities and threats that the current crisis is presenting to the company.

Appraise the company’s readiness to innovate, including how well the organization is set up to tolerate risk.

Part 2: Considering Stakeholder Needs

Identify the stakeholders whose needs you will have to consider when designing potential solutions.
Create a prioritized list of stakeholder needs (based on your knowledge of the company or your imagining of the stakeholders you identified) you will have to take into consideration when developing potential solutions.

Based on the identified business problem, what are the greatest points of need? What might be the leaders’ and employees’ most pressing concerns?
What are other needs to consider that are a lower priority but still significant enough to note?

Assess what, if any, considerations will need to be made to promote stakeholder buy-in.

Are company leaders open or resistant to change? What is your prediction for any challenges you may encounter in the face of changes?
What recommendations do you have for how to gain buy-in and minimize risk?

Resources:
The Importance of Risk and Failure
Failure can often resonate with people much more than success. Most people try their best to avoid failure, but this can often cause people to avoid risks as well. Great success can come from great failure. It can, in fact, be a necessary step toward achieving success. Using these resources, you will explore the importance of risk and failure and how they can contribute to success.

Furr, N., & Dyer, J. H. (2014). Leading your team into the unknown. Harvard Business Review, 92(12), 80–88.

Time Estimate: 28 minutes
Goh, F. (n.d.). 10 companies that failed to innovate, resulting in business failureLinks to an external site.. Collective Campus. https://www.collectivecampus.io/blog/10-companies-…

Time Estimate: 6 minutes
Pisano, G. P. (2019). The hard truth about innovative cultures. Harvard Business Review, 97(1), 62–71.

Note: Review this article, which you read in Week 6.

Time Estimate: 21 minutes

Creating Innovative Opportunities 
An unexpected outcome can often be a pathway for the next innovative opportunity. Smart companies must pay attention to finding new doors to open or pages to turn in order to compete and excel. Through these resources, you will explore the importance of finding opportunities for innovation.

Christensen, C. M., Bartman, T., & van Bever, D. (2016). The hard truth about business model innovationLinks to an external site.. MIT Sloan Management Review, 58(1), 31–40.

Time Estimate: 30 minutes
Kenny, J. (2019, October). The innovative leader: Build the team, then let it runLinks to an external site.. Label & Narrow Web, 24(7), 36–37.

Time Estimate: 6 minutes

Necessary Change 
Change is inevitable. Leadership teams must often ask questions such as: Can we remain competitive if we fail to stay current? How can our company anticipate change? Even if we know that change is necessary, what risks are we assuming by making changes? Through these resources, you will examine the role of change in organizations.

Rothaermel, F. T., & Kim, J. (2019, November 4). McDonald’s corporation. McGraw-Hill Education.

Time Estimate: 24 minutes
Wikoff, D. (n.d.). How to communicate effectively within the change processLinks to an external site.. Reliable Plant. https://www.reliableplant.com/Read/23535/communica…

Time Estimate: 6 minutes

Stakeholder Impact on Change 
For nearly every company in existence, changes will have an impact on leadership, employees, and customers. Many companies, especially larger ones, will have additional stakeholders, such as investors or shareholders, that will be impacted by changes. Not only do changes have an impact on these stakeholders, but their interests can have an influence on the decisions being made. Using these resources, you will examine the impact of change on organizations for and from stakeholders.

Edds, H. (2016). The leader’s role in meaningful stakeholder engagementLinks to an external site.. Leadership, 45(4), 36–38.

Time Estimate: 8 minutes
Likierman, S. A. (2020, January). The elements of good judgment. Harvard Business Review, 98(1), 102–111.

Time Estimate: 21 minutes

Stakeholder Buy-in—Risks and Challenges 
Imagine if you have a great business idea. Maybe it would be for the current company you work for, or it could be something that you would start on your own. For either case to be successful, you will likely need at least one of the following: a large sum of money or the ability to “sell” your idea to others. For your idea to be successful, it may depend on whether or not stakeholders support your decisions. Through these resources, you will examine the risks, challenges, and rewards associated with having stakeholder buy-in.

Fountaine, T., McCarthy, B., & Saleh, T. (2019, July). Building the AI-powered organization. Harvard Business Review, 97(4), 62–73.

Time Estimate: 27 minutes
Helmers, R. A., Gabrielson, S. R., & Harper, M. M. (2016). Developing a new governance structure: The Mayo Clinic experienceLinks to an external site.. Physician Leadership Journal, 3(3), 40–45.

Time Estimate: 20 minutes
Jurgens, M., Berthon, P., Edelman, L., & Pitt, L. (2016). Social media revolutions: The influence of secondary stakeholdersLinks to an external site.. Business Horizons, 59(2), 129–136. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2015.11.010

Time Estimate: 28 minutes

Motivating the Stakeholder to Change Paths 
How do you get to know the stakeholders of your company? Stakeholders are unlikely to be motivated to embrace changes if they are provided scarce details or are unaware of what the changes entail. When communicating changes to stakeholders, your message should be tailored to meet their needs so the best decisions can be made. Using these resources, you will explore ways to communicate changes to stakeholders.

Piper, A. (2019). Risks in viewLinks to an external site.. Internal Auditor, 76(6), 22–27.

Time Estimate: 20 minutes
Pottruck, D. (2014, October 23). 7 tips to get your team to actually listen to you.Links to an external site. Entrepreneur. https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/238863

Time Estimate: 4 minutes

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