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When one considers the number of businesses that have been successful purely as a function of their innovative abilities, the list is endless. Companies like Microsoft, 3M, CCM and a vast number of others, are companies that started with a new idea and built that new idea into a world empire. However, at the same time, there are many companies that have been successful more through hard work than innovation. Companies like Dell are companies that have not exactly invented anything as far as innovation is concerned, but good marketing, quality and customer support have allowed them to take previously known ideas and to turn those ideas into a world empire just as strong. The question therefore, is whether innovation is the main key to the success of a business.
Innovation: A Key Ingredient in the Recipe for Success
People, who argue from the affirmative point of view, state that while cases like Dell are inspirational cases that everyone should take heart from, the easiest way to break into the financial market is still by having a new idea. Whether a company is able to take something old and to allow customers to look at it in a new way or whether it is capable of creating something from scratch for the business' main product, the easiest way to ensure its success is to discover some element of innovative thinking that will create a clear difference between it and the other companies that are working in the competitive market.
When you consider all of the different companies, it is ultimately the innovative ones that have been most profitable. Microsoft has done far better than Linux, while IBM has done a lot better than Dell. Companies that utilize innovation as the bulwark of their existences will continue to innovate and therefore continue to grow, while a company that does not subsist primarily on innovation is more likely to be found wanting when there is a cycle of stagnation within the economy.
The No Position
People that argue from the negative point of view will likely argue that while innovation and the ability to come up with good ideas are important traits for a company, they are by no means the main keys to success. As with all other things, hard work and perseverance are the hallmark traits of a successful company and almost every single company in the world that is large and successful experienced this stage through times that required hard work rather than innovation.
Consider Coca Cola, a company that is both innovative and extremely profitable at the moment. During its first year, Coca Cola had gross income figures that were so low that they almost weren't even worth speaking of. However, the company persevered, continued to build, and ultimately was able to become a large and competitive international company. Had Coca Cola given up after the first few years, the company would have been disregarded and forgotten, regardless of its high innovative ability. Many of the world's best business executives have been through multiple bankruptcies and only their persistence allowed them to eventually get to where they wanted to be from a corporate standpoint.
The importance of innovation in business is high, but is business innovation really the most important thing? It is still a highly debated topic over what business managing change and innovation is exactly, and how to define innovation in business and state the importance of innovation in business administrations.
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