Innovation in business

Innovation in business

Read a blog post about being innovative in business to practise and improve your reading skills.

Do the preparation task first. Then read the text and do the exercises.

Preparation

Reading text

What does it mean to be innovative in business?

In order for a business to survive in today's world, it is important that we regularly review what we are doing and how we are doing it. By considering new ideas and new ways of doing things, and trying to innovate, we can improve on our products/services, increase sales, reduce costs and make our processes more effective and efficient. Innovation is key to increasing profits.

There are several ways a company can be innovative with their products and services. Today we will look at four of them.

1. Using the latest technology to improve your product/service

When we think of innovation, we often think of new technologies. While they might be impressive, we should not use new technologies just because they are available. It is important to consider how the technology can improve our product/service and make a difference to our customer. Companies that produce cars, toiletries, household appliances, etc. often have a large R&D department to work on making their products better.

2. Responding to customer demands by changing what is on offer

By listening to customer feedback, we can get their opinions on how we are doing and find out about what it is that they want. We also need to be aware of changes in customer demands and keep up with the times. When fast-food restaurant McDonald's realised that the market wanted healthier choices, they introduced fruit and salads, while removing the 'super-size' option from their menus.

3. Offering a new product/service to reach new customers

Your business might be doing well, but there is no growth or development and there is a risk that your competitors might take away some of your customers. Innovation sometimes means developing a new product that targets a different market. Although video games were often played by boys, in 2006, video games giant Nintendo introduced the game console Nintendo Wii, successfully targeting girls and older customers with games like Cooking Mama and Brain Training.  

4. Changing the way you provide a service

By looking at the changes to the customer's lifestyle and needs, we sometimes realise that there might be better ways to serve them. Customers who do not have a lot of time might prefer to have their food or their shopping delivered to their homes, or they might like to do their banking online rather than in an actual bank.

Not all innovation will bring success to our businesses, but it can give us the opportunity to grow and learn more about what we do and what our customers might want.

Discussion

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Submitted by Nanami on Fri, 10/07/2020 - 07:56

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I think the smartphone is the latest innovation. Traditional cell phones were only equipped with phone, email and camera functions. But the creation of the Internet, people have been able to look up things and connect with people around the world. In addition, the apps that get into smartphones are becoming more and more innovative in responding to customer demands. For example, the artists perform live through the distribution app for those who couldn't go to a live show directly because of COVID-19. These efforts by an individual or companies sometimes energize people. I'm looking forward to what kind of technological innovation will emerge in the future.

Submitted by yusuke on Tue, 07/07/2020 - 04:24

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What I use that is one of the latest innovations is online system in a computer. These days, we had better not go out because of corona, so we usually use chatting online or calling. That system really comfortable. We can talk face to face on kind of a video call, like Zoom. Also it helps students about studying. I don't know when this system invented, but developed recently, I guess.

Submitted by Ayaka on Mon, 06/07/2020 - 07:29

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I also use the internet, one of the new technologies. That services are so useful for me. This is because even if there is something I want to know, I can instantly know what it is and I can also keep in touch with the people such as families, friends and teachers. But I always search in Japanese, It has less information than searching in English and the article is probably written based on Japanese culture. So I’m studying English now. I would like to be ale to read articles written in English and get out of fixed ideas and see things from many sides. Then I want to be able to have my opinion clearly and be confident in it.

Submitted by Wakana M on Mon, 06/07/2020 - 06:08

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Some of the latest innovations that I use are laptop and smartphone. I guess. My laptop and smartphone are Apple’s products. The laptop is changed keyboard, display, performance, speaker and camera etc... and also the iPhone is changed camera battery and etc.…I think Apple is innovated their products every year. and also, they produce new products every year. I’m impressed about it. it is difficult to produce them, but they always change things little by little. I would like to expect new products from Apple in the future.

Submitted by Sharif Tayyebi on Fri, 03/07/2020 - 11:14

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There are some important innovations but I don't use now. I prefer to talk about smartphone and its apps that I use every day. Internet, social media, different kinds of smartphones, networking sites and so on are just part of a very important and impressive things in our every day life. I make phone calls by watsup, imo, telegram and messanger or I read news on Facebook and Twitter every day. Nowadys, I mostly don't need to watch TV or listen to radio programs for news. I just connect to Internet and check the sites which I want. Moreover, laptop or computer is another latest innovation that I and my generation use it in our life. For example, I don't often need to go to library to gain access to books or essays. My laptop is a big library which has many different and easily available books and essays into. Therefore, I just turn it on and study the one I want. Regards, Tayyebi

Submitted by syah on Thu, 28/05/2020 - 07:55

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The latest innovation product that I use are gadgets. We can easily make video call with our families, friends, or siblings by our gadgets. Specially when this pandemic occur, we must stay at home. We can't go out except for important things. But, we can stay communicate with others by our gadgets. Also the internet is very useful. It connects a lot of information from every sides of the world. I hope the technology will improve continously to make our life better.

Submitted by Muhammad Bagir on Wed, 20/05/2020 - 05:25

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It might be the way we purchase something. If in the old day, we have to come to the place which we want to buy somethong, now we just grab our phone, open the online shopping application and scrolling on the search section on the menu. I think this is very helpful for the person who far from the city-center in getting stuff that they couldn't get in their place.
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Submitted by JuanManuelLopezGil on Tue, 21/04/2020 - 00:55

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The latest innovation favourite for me is the electric scooter skate because is economic, ecological and portable.