Innovation Aspect of Tesla Inc Samples †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Innovation Aspect of Tesla Inc. Answer: Introduction Innovation is the process of developing and improving an idea. In a business organisation innovation in every stage is important because these companies operate in micro and macro environment factors which keep changing and evolving with time. In order to keep up with the dynamics of the business environment the companies have to innovate. In many business institutions innovation is one of the major strategicmanagement ways in which they attract and engage their consumers like Tesla Inc, Amazon etc. On the other hand there are organisations that have subtle innovations in the business model or organisation structure to ensure that the operation process is smooth and easy. In this assignment the process of innovation undertaken by Tesla Inc is going to be studied in order to understand the dynamics of the processes (Gokhberg andMeissner 2013). Overview of the company Established in 2003, Tesla Inc is an organisation that has shown rapid growth and development in the industry and has quickly gained goodwill in the market as well. The company is led by the dynamic CEO, Elon Musk who is also one of the founders of the company. The organization was set up by a group of engineers who were of the perspective that consumers do not have to compromise on other aspects of a car that is energy efficient according to them the electric vehicles can be innovated in order to make them work better, quicker and also fun elements can be added to the cars (Tesla.com 2018). The organisation has faced many ups and downs in all these years and by 2013 the organisation gained prominence in the American market and at the same time they have been focusing on expanding the operations of the business in Europe as well (Mangram, 2012). The foundation of the company has been innovation, hence the company has been investing a lot in the research and development industry. Some of the first innovations of the company are: revolutionary battery technology and electric powertrain.Next, the engineers createdthe firstfinestquality all-electric sedan car from the ModelScar.This has become a bench mark item in the industry. There are three factors that were incorporated in the design and function of the car: Combining safety, performance, and efficiency. The company is driven by innovation as the leaders of the organisation think that they can provide the customers with better options. The approach of the business model that is followed by the company is consumer centric.The fact that they are driven by innovation is from the idea of providing their customer with the best possible product and service. The company has also a diversified line of products which cater to the energy efficiency needs.This makes the organisation su stainable in nature as well (Tesla.com 2018). The business case for innovation Innovation is essential in an organisation like Tesla as the focus of the business is based on providing the consumers with product that are innovative and are not available already. This in turn helps theorganisation get an edge over the competitors. The objectives of the company are driven by innovation and one of the reasons why the company has gained popularity is because they have new products to offer the customers in the old market. The energy industry is looking for several alternatives to the non-renewable sources that are available.This ensures that the process of innovation in the companies like Tesla Inc will help in this endeavor. Innovation always runs on risk as the products that are being made available by the company for the customers have to be in sync with the needs and requirements of the target market (Tidd et al. 2013). It can be said that sincethere are several environment factors which are associated with the operations of the business,risk is certain with any business model - be it innovation driven or any other focus. Macro business environment cannot be manipulated by themanagement of the company.Therefore in that case innovation becomes the process of survival and development for many organisations. The case of Tesla is a little different.The company is built on the foundation and the values of providing the consumers with innovative products and services (Tidd et al. 2013). The organizationencourages its employees to make sure they get their space to be innovative and increase their performance(Rocoand Bainbridge 2013).The company operates in the energy and automobile industry which is both heavily competitive and one of the major objectives of any business operation is to gain edge over the competition and innovation helps the company in this sector. The company has also built a brand image of being innovative in their approach and hence any products that the company comes up with the consumers will be innovative and different from what is available in the market (Tidd et al. 2013). Impact of leadership in the organisation: Leadership challenges Leadership is the process of influencing others to understand and agree about what needs to be done and how to do it, and the process of facilitating individual and collective efforts to accomplish shared objectives(Yukl 2013). A leader is responsible for helping and supporting the subordinates in achieving the goals of the company. The role of a leader is important as he or she channelizes the values and principles that are prevalent in an organization.It is the duty of the leader to understand the issues and grievances of the employees or subordinates so that they are satisfied with the process of business operation. The leadership style of an individual depends upon the personal behavioral attributes as well as the situation in which they are places, the circumstances in which an organisation operates(Yukl 2013). Tesla operates under the visionary leadership of Elon Musk the organisation has been able to innovate and make a mark in the industry because of the outgoing and extraordinary visions of the Elon Musk. He not only leads Tesla Inc but is also heads the aerospace company SpaceX. Musk is the co-founder of the non-profit Open AI that aims to prevent risky artificial intelligence program. He is also the entrepreneur of Neuralink.This is a company that is aimed to build a connection with computers and human brain.Thus the innovative approach of the leader in the organisation is clear -He has a vision for the future and believes that with the help of technology and science new heights can be achieved. Tesla continues to be an organisation that is different in its product approaches from other automobile manufacturers (Taylor et al. 2014). Some of the challenges that are faced by Elon Musk are : acceptance of the idea of innovation, this is one of the major challenges that is faced by any organisation that drives on innovation.The public are firstly skeptical of accepting the product as they are usually used to the product in an outdated version.the upgraded version that is provided by the company will be reviewed critiqued and analyzed in a much crucial way than any other product, which is just an extension of the product and the product line. The company has to make a lot of effort in communicating with the stakeholders and especially customers in giving them an in-depth understanding of the innovation and the advantages that come with(Yukl 2013). One of the challenges that the company has faced in the early days is of bad press situation. There were rumors that the company was unable to launch their highly ambitious electronic car as the process had taken 4 years to bring the product to the market. The capabilities of the company as well the leaders associated with the company were questions which had made it difficult for the company to combat the situation unless the products were ready. Musk had all these rumors build up without giving any official statement and then when the company launched the Tesla Roadster, an all-electric sports car, the negative publicity worked for the company as they had already been popularized by the press(Yukl 2013). Evaluation of the impact of different leadership styles The leadership style that is followed by Elon Musk is a combination of visionary and transformational leadership.The farsightedness and his vision of the future for his company and overall society makes him a visionary leader and the urge to change with the changing dynamics of the business environment and incorporate innovation in the product makes him a transformational leader (Taylor et al. 2014). Solutions to leadership problems Improve communication and make it more effective for the stakeholders The focus should be at one aspect at one point of time The process of innovation declaration and launch of the actual product should be less Themanagement of the organisation should keep some short term objectives which will help in gaining easy access to achieving the larger and long term goals. Analysis of innovation systems Innovations can be segmented in various divisions: Disruptive, Incremental, Major and Strategic. Tesla falls under the category of Disruptive innovation as the company has products which can replace other items in the industry (Christensen et al. 2015). Disruptive innovation and its benefits Disruptiveinnovation can be defined as the process of innovation which has the capability of replacing old goods and services and gain an instant edge over the competition, and ultimatelyenhancethe user-friendliness and affordability for the market. The innovations of Tesla Inc can be categorized in this segment as they have the potential to replace traditional gas energy power cars in the near future. Some of the merits of this innovation are: The process can help the organization develop its market with the help of innovative ideas with new and existing products or services (Christensen et al. 2015). The process of innovation of this kind helps the company open opportunities and new scope to explore and expand further as these organisations continue to improvise and research on the products. As mentioned above the company will gain an instant preference over the other competition or rather there will be no direct competition to the product as it is new and no other company has such technologies available (Christensen et al. 2015). Innovation challenges One of the challenges that the company is facing is merging some of the operation of the business with other organisation in order to provide the customers with product that are energy efficient andinnovative. The idea of integrating SolarCity with other lines of business of Tesla brings with it $3 billion debt. Apart from this the idea of conjoining the products of an automobile manufacturing company with a solar-panel leaser and installing company is the main challenge. The crucial question in this merger is whether it will create value for the organisations or not (Roco and Bainbridge 2013). Finance is another challenge for any organisation that operates in the innovation driven business model, the research and development unit requires funds to operate on the other hand the company also requires to increase the production rate by 2018. As the products are innovative the company has a lot of risk of failure and Tesla has seen some major failure in the tenure of its operations. The challenge here is to provide the customers with a product that is innovative as well as has traditional ideas. The merger of old and new has to be in a correct proportion so that people can understand the product as well as understand the advantages that the innovation has bought around (Souto 2015). Investors and other stakeholders of the company are also skeptical to invest in a new idea many times the investors do not understand of the operations of the technology or science that goes behind an innovation. In that case they might be skeptical and they may not want to invest in a risky project (Roco and Bainbridge 2013). Recommendation With the help of communication the company should involve the stakeholders of the company in the innovation and the ideas that has been strategies for product development. The company should focus on one step of a product at a time, as the CEO also heads other organisations the must be a position in themanagement that has almost similar authority as the CEO but will be focused just with Tesla Inc management. Effective communication and developing on the brand image of being an organisation that runs on innovation. This can be done with the help of elements the promotional mix. Focus can be on digital media. Conclusion It can be concluded from the above discussion that Tesla is an organisation that is not aiming to achieve the objectives that are usually aimed by other automobile manufacturing organisations, the vision and mission of the company is to invent ideas and to operate and innovate upon existing concepts. This revolutionary perspective of the company is led by a visionary leader Elon Musk who has help the company achieves heights and set benchmarking examples in the industry. The company has come a long way of success from the time they had developed the first product but there will be challenges in business, which can overcome challenges with strategic communication and few changes in the management. References: Christensen, C.M., Raynor, M.E. and McDonald, R., 2015. What is disruptive innovation. Harvard Business Review, 93(12), pp.44-53. Dyer, J. and Gregersen, H., 2018.Tesla's Innovations Are Transforming The Auto Industry. [online] forbes.com. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/innovatorsdna/2016/08/24/teslas-innovations-are-transforming-the-auto-industry/#3470f40319f7 [Accessed 22 Mar. 2018]. Gokhberg, L. and Meissner, D., 2013. Innovation: superpowered invention. Nature, 501(7467), p.313. Taylor, C., J. Cornelius, C. and Colvin, K., 2014. Visionary leadership and its relationship to organizational effectiveness. Leadership Organization Development Journal, 35(6), pp.566-583. Mangram, M. E., 2012. The globalization of Tesla Motors: a strategic marketing plan analysis. Journal of Strategic Marketing, 20(4), 289-312. Roco, M.C. and Bainbridge, W.S., 2013. The new world of discovery, invention, and innovation: convergence of knowledge, technology, and society. Journal of nanoparticle research, 15(9), p.1946. Souto, J.E., 2015. Business model innovation and business concept innovation as the context of incremental innovation and radical innovation. Tourism Management, 51, pp.142-155. Tesla.com.,2018. About Tesla. [online] tesla.com. Available at: https://www.tesla.com/about [Accessed 22 Mar. 2018]. Tidd, J., Bessant, J. and Pavitt, K., 2013. Managing innovation. Hoboken. Yukl, G.A., 2013. Leadership in organizations. Pearson Education India.