Building And Sustaining An Innovative Work Environment - Panasonic Corporation Essay.

Overview of Panasonic Corporation

Write an essay on "Built and Sustain an Innovative Work Environment".
 

Panasonic Corporation has been selected as the business for the purpose of this assessment. It is headquartered in Osaka, Japan. It is an organized group of people with a particular purpose, such as a business or government department.

Description Of Panasonic Corporation: The Company was founded in 1918 and was incorporated in December 1935 under the Japanese Companies Act. One of its first innovations was the bullet shaped bicycle lamp that led to its establishment as a national brand in the year 1927.  It gradually become one of the largest Japanese electronics producers alongside Sony, Hitachi, Toshiba and canon inc. in addition to electronics, it offers non-electronic products and services such as home renovation services. Panasonic is the world’s fourth largest television manufacturer by 2012 make share. The products that are produced by Panasonic include large LED video, communication systems, projectors. The brand “Panasonic” was created in the year 1955. The philosophy of the company is to create a better life and a better world. It is in a constant endeavor to contribute towards the development of the society and to the happiness of people around the globe. It directs itself towards sustainable growth of itself along with the society and the industry. The corporation is composed of 475 consolidated companies with a net sales of 7,553.7 billion yen as of the last year. 

The method of creating innovation is to discover, create, and develop ideas, to refine them into useful forms, and to use them to earn profits, increase efficiency, and/or reduce costs.  Innovation leads in implementing business processes in a new form and make it more acceptable to the targeted customers. Innovation is directed towards fulfilling customer requirements in a much more effective manner. In this portion of the report we focus on the manner in which the innovation process is to be implemented within the selected organization.

The trick to making it work knows what’s supposed happen inside the funnel.

The quest for innovation involves generation of many ideas at the initial stage. However, only a few are selected in the screening process. Among the screened ideas, the best option is selected. It can be said that among the various innovative ideas generated only a few make it to the market. The viability of the project plays a pivotal role in the analysis process. Lots of ideas come in the wide end on the left, and a few finished innovations come to market from the narrow end at the right.  The trick to making it work knows what’s supposed happen inside the funnel.

Strategic Thinking.  The innovation process begins with the goal to create strategic advantage in the marketplace, so in this stage we think specifically about how innovation is going to add value to your strategic intents, and we target the areas where innovation has the greatest potential to provide strategic advantage. Strategic thinking and implementation of strategic business processes provides a competitive edge to the organization over its competitors. Strategies are required to be aligned with the pre-determined goals of the concern.

Implementing the Innovation Process

Portfolio Management & Metrics:  We have confidence that we’ll succeed eventually, but along the way we know that there will be many wrong turns, and many attempts that will never come to fruition.  So we manage innovation portfolios aggressively to balance the inherent risks of the unknown with the targeted rewards of success, and balancing our pursuit of the ideal with the realities of learning, risking, failing in order to ultimately succeed. Portfolio management has become an integral part of the organization. The risks of the business environment are being evaluated constantly in order to mitigate them. A proper risk management mechanism in portfolio management is of utmost importance as it ensures better performance of the organization.

Once we understand the ideal we can compare our current knowledge and discern the gaps.  Filling these gaps, then, is the purpose of research.  Through research we will master a wide range of unknowns, including emerging technologies, societal change, and customer values and in the process we will expose significant new opportunities for innovation. Market research is very important to keep oneself at bay to the latest developments in the business environment. The primary objective of research is to explore new innovative opportunities and use them to gain advantage in the industry. A considerable amount of emphasis has to be laid on the market variables while conducting extensive research activities.

In the course of our explorations, the light bulb occasionally illuminates, and we grasp the very best ways to address a future possibility.  Eureka!  The innovation and the target and mutually clarified; we understand what the right value proposition is for the right customer.

Innovation Development, the process of design, engineering, prototyping, and testing that result in finished product, service, and business designs.  Manufacturing, distribution, branding, marketing, and sales are also designed at this step in an integrated, multi-disciplinary process. The main objective of innovation is to create business value for the organization. Value creation can be done in two ways – adding value to the existing product line and by creating breakthrough in new product development. Both these methods have proved to be successful for Panasonic Corporation over the years.

Market Development: the universal business planning process that begins with brand identification and development continues through the preparation of customers to understand and choose this innovation and leads to rapid sales growth. Market development and expansion is one of the most important goals of every organization. Panasonic Corporation started and founded in Japan has now become an international name. It has business units throughout the world. It has carefully catered to the needs of every market it has attempted to enter. At present, it has expanded its business in North America, South America, Africa & Middle East, Europe, North Asia and Australia.

Selling: the where the real payoff is achieved.  Now we earn the financial return by successfully selling the new products and services.  In the case of process improvement innovations directed internally, we now reap the benefit of increased efficiency and productivity. Panasonic Corporation has become one of the largest multinational companies in the world and has expanded its business throughout the globe. Its business ventures include appliances, eco-solutions, networking, automotive and industrial systems. Its net sales at the end of 2015 are more than 7500 billion yen. However, net sales have declined as compared to the previous year. Nevertheless, operating profit for the year has increased to 5% as compared to 3.9% in the previous year. This increase in the operating profit signifies that the company was able to control its overall cost of production in an efficient manner.

Strategic Thinking

Strategic alignment: It is very important for every business. In this corporation the whole staff and technology which is necessary for business is very supportive. Everyone knows his responsibilities and do work very efficiently. In simple words, strategic alignment means working according to the strategies and policies formulated by the management in order to achieve the pre-determined goals of the organization. Every organization is incorporated with a few objectives or business purposes. The management of the company then develops and implements strategies in order to achieve those objectives. Business activities are required to be undertaken in such a manner so that a fine alignment is established among the objectives, strategies and the activities. This nexus is the main contributor of organizational success. 

Many companies have surprisingly little notion of where their industry is heading, rarely looking beyond their own boundaries, too busy fighting today’s fires to take the time to truly understand what is driving their operating environment and how it may evolve. It is rather like sitting in a small sailboat not knowing the weather conditions that lie ahead – completely out of control, entirely at the whim of the fates. Industry knowledge is very important in order to become a sustainable business organization. The manner in which the industry participants are reacting to environmental changes have to be monitored and evaluated in a proper manner so that effective steps can be taken to re-engineer the business process of the organization. Close monitoring of the competitors have to be done in order to tap into profitable market opportunities. A proper market analysis has to be undertaken in order to achieve this objective.

Most companies would claim to be consumer/customer-driven, but are often just paying lip service to the notion – many have very little insight into the behaviors, perceptions and needs of their consumers. While large sums are often spent on consumer research, this typically produces historically – focused data that does not provide insights sufficient to drive the development of breakthrough products, services and new categories. Consumer/customer involvement in product development often consists of traditional focus groups, which usually seek response to internally – generated product concepts – rather than generating new concepts.

A solid understanding of a company’s “core competencies” provides a pragmatic backdrop against which ideas can be assessed and shaped into practical investment-worthy opportunities. Even when an organization possesses deep insight into consumer/customer needs and future trends, transforming ideas into action is an uphill battle unless you have a keen sense of your inherent strengths and ability to leverage and build upon your core technologies. Panasonic Corporation is a technology driven company and the technological environment is constantly changing. In order to keep pace with these changes, the company has to undertake regular research and development programs. Such research and development caters to development of core competencies that gives a competitive edge to the company over its competitors.

There are times for dreaming and visioning, and then there are times for down-to-earth pragmatism. During the innovation process it is critical to embrace each mode at the appropriate time. An effective SWOT analysis of the environment is required to be done in order to identify suitable opportunities available in the industry. SWOT analysis helps in a proper evaluation of the organizational status and its capability to perform when required.

While it is not easy to produce creative, visionary strategic thinking, perhaps the greater challenge lies in successfully implementing that thinking in a way that delivers meaningful business impact. For example, generating new product ideas is not necessarily that hard. It is in the act of execution – where the rubber meets the road – that innovation efforts most frequently slip off the rails. It is here that an organization must demonstrate its ability to translate a Power Point presentation full of good ideas to the bottom line, by tenaciously negotiating the obstacle-ridden path to business results.

Production department: Production is the functional area responsible for turning inputs into finished outputs through a series of production processes. The Production Manager is responsible for making sure that raw materials are provided and made into finished goods effectively. He or she must make sure that work is carried out smoothly, and must supervise procedures for making work more efficient and more enjoyable. 

In a manufacturing company, the production function may be split into five sub-functions:

1. The production and planning department will set standards and targets for each section of the production process. The quantity and quality of products coming off a production line will be closely monitored. In businesses focusing on lean production, quality will be monitored by all employees at every stage of production, rather than at the end as is the case for businesses using a quality control approach.
2. The purchasing department will be responsible for providing the materials, components and equipment required to keep the production process running smoothly. A vital aspect of this role is ensuring stocks arrive on time and to the right quality.
3. The stores department will be responsible for stocking all the necessary tools, spares, raw

materials and equipment required to service the manufacturing process. Where sourcing is unreliable, buffer stocks will need to be kept and the use of computerized stock control systems helps keep stocks at a minimal but necessary level for production to continue unhindered.

Key Stakeholders

Stakeholders can affect or be affected by the organization’s actions, objectives and policies. Some examples of key stakeholders are creditors, directors, employees, government, owners and the community from which the business draws its resources.

Government officials and policy makers:

These are the people who can devise, pass, and enforce laws and regulations that may either fulfill the goals of your effort or directly cancel them out.

• Legislators. Federal and state or provincial representatives, senators, members of parliament, etc. who introduce and pass laws and generally control public budgets at the federal and state or provincial levels.
• Governors, mayors, city/town councilors, selectmen, etc. The executives that carry out laws, administer budgets, and generally run the show can contribute greatly to the success or failure of an effort.
• Local board members.  Boards of health, planning, zoning, etc., through their power to issue permits and regulations, can be crucial allies and dangerous opponents.
• State/federal agencies.  Government agencies often devise and issue regulations and reporting requirements, and can sometimes make or break an effort by how they choose to regulate and how vigorously they enforce their regulations.
• Policy makers.  These people or groups often have no official power they may be “advisers” to those with real power but their opinions and ideas are often followed closely.  If they’re on your side, that’s a big plus. 

It is the process of putting a decision or plan into effect execution. As such, implementation is the action that must follow any preliminary thinking in order for something to actually happen.

Implementation Plan

communication strategies that you use will be determined by both how widely you need to promote the project and the systems that your organization has available.

These may include:

• Intranets
• Websites
• Email lists or groups
• Newsletters
• SMS gateways
• Notice boards

Communication plan: It is very necessary to how the stakeholders communicate with each other. How they provide the information to another’s.

By Stephen on November 24, 2014

A HD is becoming an ever more well-known term that get thrown around a lot in many technological circles (like video cameras, projectors and movie production), TVs with ultra-high definition screen displays are the technology it’s most commonly used to describe.

However, the real meaning of 4K goes far beyond simply TVs and Panasonic Electronics is working on UHD related developments in many of these lesser known fields. In fact, according to Yoshiyuki May be of the Panasonic AVC Networks division of Panasonic, the jump from HD to 4K will be one of the biggest technological developments of the last two decades and will led to some truly major transitions across many audio and visual fields.  

• Complete customers satisfactions
• Earn more profit
• Increase sales