Of all the aspects of MTI, innovation strategy is the most challenging. Firms can be very good at the various activities involved in MTI, such as R & D or operations, but this count for little unless it is supported by a well-grounded innovation strategy that guides firms’ choices, prioritizations, and sequences. There is little value in being highly efficient at developing or delivering new products and services if they are the wrong products and services for the firm and its markets. Well-chosen new products and services deliver value, build the technological base of the firm, develop its capabilities, improve its processes, and add to its reputation and brands. An innovation strategy helps firms decide, in a cumulative and sustainable manner, about the type of innovation that best match corporate objectives. The following information is used to determine when, where, how, if and what innovations to be used in business. Also we will discuss the areas of sustainability, CSR, and ethics within an organization.
“Be the brand of choice in the hearts and minds of our customers by delivering the best customer experience.” This happens to be Sony’s mission. Sony’s innovation strategy is different to mainstream business strategy because it needs to comprehensively accommodate uncertainty. Many common approaches to business strategy are inappropriate for innovative businesses. Some uncertainty (unknowable futures) is always present in strategic management of incremental innovation, but is a major strategic factor in radical innovation. Conventional strategy analysis tools such as Porter’s five forces industry analysis are useful for low levels of uncertainty but as uncertainty increases, the key elements of successful strategy become search and responsiveness, helping firms to react to unforeseen events (Courtney, Kirkland, and Viguerie 1997).
Sony’s resources used in innovation strategy include: (1) financial resources and appetite for and tolerance of risk,
References: Courtney H, Kirkland J, Viguerie P.(1997), Strategy Under Uncertainty. McKinsey and Company, Washington, DC, US White, M.A, & Bruton, G.D. (2011). The Management of Technology & Innovation: A Strategic Approach (2nd ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western/ Cengage Learning.