CASE STUDY 1
CASE STUDY 1
Exploring Innovation in Action: The Changing Nature of the Music Industry
Question 3.
Can you map the different kinds of innovation in the case study? Which were incremental and which radical/discontinuous? Why? Give examples to support your answer.
The first innovation that was mentioned in this case was that of an Incremental Innovation. An incremental innovation is a series of small improvements to an existing product or product line that usually helps maintain or improve its competitive position over time. Incremental innovation is regularly used within the high technology business by companies that need to continue to improve their products to include new features increasingly desired by consumers. The case describes that the old way of selling “hard copy” music, movies, and games could shift to providing new ‘e-tailing’ channels through which you can obtain the latest CD of your preference – for example, from Amazon.com or CD-Now or 100 other websites. These innovations increase the choice and tailoring of the music purchasing service and demonstrate some of the ‘richness/reach’ economic shifts of the new Internet game. This is not a drastic change in marketing to sell hard copies of these products; it is simply a shift from the brick and mortar to an online option. It does not shift the way these products are produced, but is however an incremental change in the way it is distributed.
The second innovation which was described was a Discontinuous innovation. Discontinuous innovations cause a paradigm shift in science or technology and/or the market structure of an industry. As they are entirely new-to-the world products, made to perform a function for which no product has previously existed, discontinuous innovation requires a good deal of learning for the incumbent organization and its value network, including the user. This Discontinuous innovation is described in the ways in which music is created and distributed, and in the
Exploring Innovation in Action: The Changing Nature of the Music Industry
Question 3.
Can you map the different kinds of innovation in the case study? Which were incremental and which radical/discontinuous? Why? Give examples to support your answer.
The first innovation that was mentioned in this case was that of an Incremental Innovation. An incremental innovation is a series of small improvements to an existing product or product line that usually helps maintain or improve its competitive position over time. Incremental innovation is regularly used within the high technology business by companies that need to continue to improve their products to include new features increasingly desired by consumers. The case describes that the old way of selling “hard copy” music, movies, and games could shift to providing new ‘e-tailing’ channels through which you can obtain the latest CD of your preference – for example, from Amazon.com or CD-Now or 100 other websites. These innovations increase the choice and tailoring of the music purchasing service and demonstrate some of the ‘richness/reach’ economic shifts of the new Internet game. This is not a drastic change in marketing to sell hard copies of these products; it is simply a shift from the brick and mortar to an online option. It does not shift the way these products are produced, but is however an incremental change in the way it is distributed.
The second innovation which was described was a Discontinuous innovation. Discontinuous innovations cause a paradigm shift in science or technology and/or the market structure of an industry. As they are entirely new-to-the world products, made to perform a function for which no product has previously existed, discontinuous innovation requires a good deal of learning for the incumbent organization and its value network, including the user. This Discontinuous innovation is described in the ways in which music is created and distributed, and in the
Cited: discontinuous innovation. (2013, September 7). Retrieved from Lexicon: http://lexicon.ft.com/term?term=discontinuous-innovation Incremental innovation. (2013, September 7). Retrieved from Business Dictionary: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/incremental-innovation.html#ixzz2eE7EGEmb