Innovative Solution for Wooden Posts Replacement at Marlborough Wine Estates

Evaluate innovation theory within organizational practise and display decision-making skills considering the corporate environment.

• What to innovate
• How to innovate
• Designing an innovation strategy
• Structuring a company for innovation
• Designing the process of innovation
• Measuring innovation
• Designing incentives to support innovation
• Learning innovation
• Designing an innovation culture
• Applying innovation rules to an organization
• Innovation in SMEs

Use your innovative skills to tackle a problem occurring at the moment at Marlborough Wine Estates (Marlborough, NZ).

As you may probably know, Marlborough region’s main product is wine. The wines of the region are very crispy and citrus driven. Not in vain, the region is known for producing the “best Sauvignon Blanc” in the world.

Currently, Marlborough Wine States are facing a substantial issue due to the proclivity of the region to be responsibly sustainable. Several initiatives have been driven in the neighbourhood. As a result, the government of New Zealand have awarded the sustainability seal to several competitors as well as to the company. However, the industry is still using wooden posts to support grape plantations. To prevent the wooden posts from bug infestation, every single post is put through a chemical treatment that includes CCA (Chrome, Copper & Arsenate) compound.

The posts are wear-down due to the shaking process conducted by the harvesting machines used to collect the grapes from the trees. As a result, a substantial number of them break off. Hence, they have to be replaced. The cost of replacing the new post is around NZ $180.oo dollars each, including the incorporated workforce.

The broken posts are piled on a side of the vineyard exposed to the elements.

Figures 1 and 2, exemplify the problem.

Figure 1. Wooden posts exposed to the elements

Error! Filename not specified.
Source. Marlborough Wine Estates.

Figure 2. Wooden posts in the field.
 
Error! Filename not specified.
Source. Marlborough Wine Estates

The main issue with the posts exposed to the elements is that the CCA compound can eventually decompose and the leachate derived from it can pollute the ground and subterranean water streams.

Unfortunately, because of the chemical treatment, the posts cannot be used in any place where they can be in touch with human skin. It could cause cancer. Therefore, the use of CCA is banished from any play ground or area where humans can be in touch with it. The CCA is highly toxic, which means that any ingestion of the compound will cause severe pain and poisoning effects that in severe cases can cause death. In addition, the posts cannot be burned, the fume derived from the fire can kill birds in a 4 km range and cause lung disease to anyone in contact with this gases.
Marlborough Wine State is looking for an innovative solution to this problem.

Write a report on your Board of Directors outlining your innovation strategy and your plan to implement this strategy. Use the following points as a guideline for your report, and supplement these with additional relevant information as you deem appropriate.

1. Identify the mission, core competencies and corporate strategy for Marlborough Wine Estates. (2.5 Marks)

2. Consider the factors affecting innovation. Provide an Internal Analysis Matrix, an External Analysis Matrix, an Internal-External graph, and a SWOT table. (5 Marks)

3. Design an innovative solution to address Marlborough Wine State problem. Use the systems for ideation process to come out with an innovative idea and present it on the structured idea management template. (10 Marks).

4. D escribe the prototype in detail. (5 Marks)

5. Deriving from the prototype, analyse the strategy around the mission, core competencies and corporate strategy. Consider the next questions:

2. Is the solution an example of PTW or PNTL? (2.5 Marks)

3. Is this solution a radical, semi-radical, incremental innovation or a combination of these? Why? (5 Marks)