About Innovative Thinking

The environment in which businesses operate is continuously evolving. Organizations must frequently review their strategies in light of changes like rapid technology development and fierce competition since ideas that have worked in the past may no longer be appropriate. Additionally, no single solution can be the perfect fit for every problem. In order to avoid falling into the trap of being locked up in a single method, businesses must embrace design and new thinking in order to maintain their survival and increase profitability. Adopting innovative thinking exposes a company to interesting and developing opportunities that can help the company outperform its rivals. Innovation enables an entity to create opportunities that do not exist (Vom Stamm, 2008). This paper strives to explore how Mashpi Lodge can adopt innovative thinking in its processes, products, and services to not only gain a competitive edge but also create a new experience for its customers.
Mashpi Lodge
Mashpi Lodge in the hospitality industry is located in Ecuador's Choco rainforest. The lodge sits in 3,200 acres Mashpi rainforest biodiversity reserve northwest of Quito, the capital city of Ecuador. Mashpi lodge focuses on conservation and sustainable luxury ecotourism to provide its customers with a bubble of comfort in the middle of the jungle. With the assistance of scientists and naturalists, Mashpi offers a close-up experience of some of the most pristine forests in the world. The design of the lodge fuses flawlessly with its natural environs. The lodge offers accommodation to all ages as well as the guided excursions to allow customers feel and experience Choco rainforest. Other features of the lodge include; free Wi-Fi, spa with rainforest-inspired treatment, indoor hot tub, a restaurant featuring native fruits and herbs and boutique with exploring essentials (Mic, 2017). With these convenient features, Mashpi lodge can innovatively develop certain strategies to explore its full potential in the following ways;
Types of Innovation
Every business institution is always assessing how it can offer its products and/or services in a better way. All organisations concur that innovations are critical for the effective satisfaction of customers and competitiveness. However, the difference is how these organisations undertake their innovations. The process of innovation is more than brainstorming or adoption of latest technology; it necessitates a more concrete effort to develop the latest technology other than adopting the existing technology. The process begins by undertaking wholesome reflection of the institution in order to establish problems challenging the entity or to establish the areas that are likely to be problematic. This reflection will require an entity to undertake different types of innovation to address different types of problems. Defining problem and area or domain which is likely to encounter a problem properly will allow four types of innovations to fit in (Keeley et al., 2013).
Although, Mashpi is currently doing well due to its uniqueness, there are things it can do innovatively not only to effectively meet the needs of customers but also to take advantages of other opportunities surrounding the lodge (Mic, 2017). For instance, the company can register a tour and guide the subsidiary company to cater customers who may not want to visit the lodge but willing to hike and feel the experience of Choco rainforest. Mashpi can also partner with other science researching institutions to expose and enrich its Life Centre research laboratory. The lodge can also redesign its services menu to add certain elements and activities such as enhance Wi-Fi, creating room for customers to engage in a board game in the evenings and give some essentials like toiletries and guides. The lodge should offer these services free of charge to add value to the customer experience. Four types of innovations appropriate to the Mashpi lodge are;
Basic Research
While it has been argued that this research barely leads to nothing new; that it does not result in the creation of new products or services, the research provides significant information about how things can work better (Keeley et al., 2013). In the long run, basic research pays off because it will have enabled a company to develop mitigation tactics in anticipation of certain challenges in the current way of doing things. In addition, path-breaking innovations do not arrive overnight; they have to be preceded by basics. Undertaking basic research informs an entity about things it can do or elements it can insert into its products or services. Continuous enhancement ultimately results in the formulation of path-breaking innovations. As such, no step an organisations takes in the right direction can be termed as useless.
Mashpi lodge can apprehend basic research in an attempt to enrich its processes and systems. Such study can provide useful insights into how the lodge can make its processes and systems more efficient and effective to conveniently offer services (Keeley et al., 2013). It can also enable the company to know outdated processes inhibiting the service delivery. As such, the processes that add value will be strengthened to maintain and enhance consumers' welfare. Mashpi will be able to offer services that effectively satisfy their needs but also, services that are tailor-made to their tastes and preferences. Hence, basic research cannot be fruitless to Mashpi simply because it does not lead to the development of new services or products.
Some of the core processes that Mashpi can add value to using basic research are the process of providing free Wi-Fi. Some customers have been recorded complaining about the slow pace of free Wi-Fi. Slower Wi-Fi makes pages load slowly leading to high consumption of power by the gadgets used. Customer experience of using Mashpi's Wi-Fi should add luxury to browsing customers. The lodge should enhance this experience so that customers can feel the real value added to company's services. Also, Mashpi can create enabling processes at its life center researching laboratory through partnering with other researching institutions. Such partnerships will enable the lodge to acquire experiences it did not possess to improve its way of doing things (Vom Stamm, 2008). Partnerships would also expose the lodge's activities to the world. Such exposure would attract potential customers to visit the lodge, thereby bring in most sought revenues. Thus, basic research would be applicable to Mashpi Lodge.
Sustaining Innovation
This is where most innovations are developed because companies are constantly seeking ways to make them better at what they are doing. The problem that company is facing is well known and understood and the available workforce possesses the prerequisite skills and knowledge to develop the appropriate solution. The company strives to improve existing capacities in the prevailing market to enhance and sustain its performance. As a result, an entity innovates a variety of strategies which enables it to develop new ways of improving profitability through new products and services. This is achieved through acquisition to bring new resources and skills, traditional research and development laboratories as well as strategic mapping. For instance, Steve Jobs envisioned a device that could enable its customers to have over 1000 songs in their pocket (Vom Stamm, 2008). The problem was how to create that amount of memory in a device. As the company was formulating ways to overcome the problem, it consequently led to the development of iPod as well as other supportive products.
To enhance sustainability of its performance and competitiveness, Mashpi lodge can undertake certain measures to bring a sense of newness to their offerings. Every business entity understands that it cannot keep on excelling with a product or service in the form it was introduced in the marketplace. This innovation is mostly undertaken when a firm observes that it is lagging in satisfying the needs of more customers or its approach to marketing. Whereas it does not always lead to the creation of new products or services, the existing ones are added some values or elements which make the offerings attractive and appealing to consumers (Vom Stamm, 2008). Mashpi does not have to wait when the numbers of customers visiting the lodge start lagging, it should continuous develop sustainability techniques to enable its offerings to maintain uniqueness to customers. These techniques involve adding value to basic services.
Mashpi lodge ought to ensure that its offerings enhance performance and functionality to realisation the objectives of engaging in the hospitality industry. To achieve this will require a significant level of innovative thinking in order to nurture lodge's offering while simultaneously pushing out a variety of its demand (Mic, 2017). Practical ways of how Mashpi adopt a sustainable innovation is through adding value to its services. The lodge should decide to start giving its customers free toiletries and other related products rather other selling them to their customers through the lodge's boutique. The company can also add value to product system by extending its service line to offer customers enough space to play board games in the evenings in an effort to enhance customers' relaxation process. It should be lodge's policy that employees play with customers without partners to play with. Lastly, the lodge can add value to the way it offers its services; the lodge should make necessary arrangements to be meeting its customers at the point where the forest starts to escort and guide customers through the jungle to the location of the lodge. As such, Mashpi lodge will be able to sustain it offerings innovatively.
Breakthrough Innovation
This kind of innovation culminates in the development of new product or services which are totally different from those the firm is currently delivering. An entity breaks away from its traditional offerings or mode of delivery. It involves a certain level of risk because a company will have to convince consumers that the new product or service will add value to their experience than the current offerings (Vom Stamm, 2008). An organisation willing to utilize breakthrough innovation will need to assemble a diverse pool of skills so that their diverse expertise can result in the development of a product or service that meets all aspects of consumers. Breakthrough innovation embraces creativity to a larger part since there is no company would be willing to invest in a certain process whose end-product would be a flop in the marketplace.
Mashpi lodge can adopt breakthrough innovations in its various departments such as marketing. With increasing competition in the hospitality industry whereby every country in the world is declaring itself as the tourist destination, Mashpi should innovatively redesign its marketing strategies to get more guests. Boosted by its uniqueness as one of the few lodges in the middle of the jungle, the lodge should aggressively engage in marketing campaign so as to outdo direct and indirect competitors in the hospitality industry (Mic, 2017). The company should make its employees key component of this process as they possess crucial ideas about what the firm is doing incorrectly and how it can improve. It is a compilation of these ideas that some breakthrough innovations are derived from.
Mashpi lodge main reason for its involvement in business is to reach out to many people as possible who can visit the lodge and enable the firm make a profit. Reaching to many potential customers can only be achieved through a vigorous marketing campaign. Since the lodge has acquired a brand name, marketing department should ride on this advantage to enjoy maximum brand equity. With the majority of the world population having an access to the internet through smartphones, Mashpi should capitalize on this through utilization of social media platforms as a modern marketing tool (Keeley et al., 2013). For instance, Starbucks, a beverage giant in the coffee industry uses social media platforms as the main way of engaging with its customers. As such, Mashpi lodge should aggressively market its services using social media platforms, thus delivering its offerings close to its customers as well as prospective customers. In addition, customer experience will be enhanced because through social media platforms as attending to customer's inquiries or complains will be improved significantly.
Disruptive Innovation
This kind of innovation disrupts the way things are done or what is offered in a particular industry. Disruption occurs when a product or services is developed but the rest of the industry terms the products as unsuitable. An entity develops a new way of doing things but competitors dismiss it as inapplicable and unsustainable. However, over the time the product becomes appealing to consumers such that they ultimately feel they cannot do without it. Such a product or service interrupts the established order and creates a new societal expectation. This innovation solves a problem that was never regarded as a problem previously. The technology industry has been the most affected by disruptive innovation. People can communicate beyond borders without giving regards to distance or regulation in foreign societies. This disruptive innovation has also transformed the whole world to a global village where any information is only a click away (Keeley et al., 2013).
Mashpi can adopt disruptive innovation to alter it models of business and networking. It is the business model that leads an entity to profit making. Thus, a firm can adopt a new model to enhance its profitability. The business model of an organisation determines its flexibility to prevailing opportunities. Sometimes, changes are experienced on the basis of competition due to shifts in technology or the changes in the marketplace and organisation find themselves excelling at things which customers want less and less. In such cases, innovating products does not help; a company needs to innovate its business model. Although, Mashpi has applied best practices such as focusing on the bottom line, investing in continuous improvement and listening to customers (Mic, 2017). The firm will need to innovate its business model to plow in additional revenues and continuously improve customers' experience.
Consequently, Mashpi lodge should expand its model of business to capitalize on the prevailing opportunities. A practical way of expanding business model is through; for instance, registering a Tours and Guide Company. Through this subsidiary company, Mashpi will be able to cater for needs of customers who cannot afford to book a place in the lodge but are willing to have an experience of the Choco rainforest (Mic, 2017). The company will guide such customers throughout the forest, guide them in hiking and enjoy sky bikes at a fee. In addition, the subsidiary company can also guide both domestic and international tourist to the various sceneries in the country at a fee. These fees will be additional revenue to Mashpi.
Another instance of remodeling of business in Mashpi that can plow in extra revenue is through partnership and acquisition. Certain corporate provide incubation to startups and work closely with them to provide the basis for test and learn programs. This tactic helps to identify promising technologies and the supporting corporate acquires the startup or partners with them. This strategy enables the corporate to expand its business model as well as its sources of revenue (Vom Stamm, 2008). Mashpi can acquire or partner with other firms especially the startups so as to add value to its chain and enhance its networks.
Conclusion
It is evident that innovative thinking is an option for any business firm aspiring to effectively compete. Entities should encourage innovations through allowing their employees to exercise their own discretion in executing certain duties. For instance, Google Inc. has a policy known as innovation time off, where all employees are allowed to use 20% of work hours to undertake their own projects. This strategy has enriched Google's portfolio with innovative products such as Google maps, Google Earth, Gmail, AdSense, and Google+ among others (Vom Stamm, 2008). Hence, embracing innovative and creative thinking among its employees, Mashpi Lodge will gain a competitive edge and effectively achieve its objectives.




References
Keeley, L., Walters, H., Pikkel, R., & Quinn, B. (2013). Ten types of innovation: The discipline of building breakthroughs. John Wiley & Sons.
Mic, M. (2017). Exploring Branding Opportunities for the Ecolodge Market (Master's thesis, University of Waterloo).
Vom Stamm, B. (2008). Managing innovation, design, and creativity. Nova Jersey.

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