In
a recent interview, Mr Anand Mahindra stated that Mahindra Satyam would grow
basis “Innovation”. I would strongly endorse this statement, at least for
M&M Group, because in the recent past the brand has truly lived up to the
brand promise of “Rise”. The recent blockbuster product, Mahindra XUV 500, from
Mahindra auto division really raises the expectation levels from M&M Group
and I’m sure the brand is working hard to bring innovation in every ‘product, service
and possibilities’ (reference www.mahindra.com).
In most of
the cases, the companies use the word ‘innovation’ as the key differentiator or
strategy for the growth. I’m hesitant if most of the companies (barring few)
have the bandwidth and resources to drive innovation. I’ve huge dissonance as
in most of the cases the word is used loosely. In this article I’d evince the
difference in four key strategic pillars i.e. Invention, Innovation, first
movers advantage and fast market response through some examples.
Let us loot
at the dictionary definition of these four key pillars
Invention: An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition or
process. It may also be an improvement upon a machine or product, or alternate
means of achieving a process
Innovation: Innovation is the creation of better or more effective products,
processes, services, technologies, or ideas that are readily available to
markets, governments, and society
First mover’s advantage:
Well, there is no dictionary definition for First
Movers Advantage. I’m sure all of us would know that it is a first move,
method, composition or process in the existing category.
Faster market response: As the terminology defines, it
is how quickly you react to the market
Innovation differs from invention .Innovation refers to the use of a better and, as a
result, novel idea or method, whereas invention refers more directly to the
creation of the idea or method itself. Innovation refers to the notion of doing
something different (Latin. Innovare: "to change") rather than doing
the same thing better. The above example from Mahindra is a perfect fit as
Mahindra Satyam would grow through innovation by improving the processes and
services.
We all know some
of the world’s greatest inventions and don’t need many examples to manifest the
terminology. E.g. Telephone (there were several inventors who did pioneering
experimental work on voice transmission over a wire and improved on each
other's ideas. Innocenzo Manzetti, Antonio Meucci, Johann Philipp Reis, Elisha
Gray, Alexander Graham Bell, and Thomas Edison, among others, have all been
credited with pioneering work on the telephone. An undisputed fact is that
Alexander Graham Bell was the first to be awarded a patent for the electric
telephone) or similarly, invention of Mobile Phone was by Dr. Martin Cooper (Lead
researcher at Motorola,
CEO & founder of ArrayComm and Chairman & co-founder of Dyna LLC)
It is interesting
to know that invention of mobile phone led a convenient and distant
communication and now innovation (multiple innovations) has made this small
device as part of our daily lives. Imagine a single day without mobile phone…phew!
Being an
inventor, Motorola lost the opportunity to encash the mobile invention.
However, Nokia with technology leverage and strong marketing strategies got the
first mover advantage in the mobile phone business with dominant market share
and volumes.
The smart
move was by Apple and Samsung through smart phones. The faster market response
from these two brands led them control the penetration of smart phones thus
replacing market leader Nokia and others.
There is a
thin line between Invention, innovation, First mover advantage and faster market
response because all these strategies demands different approach developed
through existing elements.
It would be
very interesting to see what strategy Mahindra Satyam is going to adopt to fuel
the growth on their IT business. Eagerly waiting for an “Innovation”
