Innovation Management Assignment: A Detailed Plan For Kodak

Question

Task: In this innovation management assignmentyou will develop an innovation management plan on a specific organization.

Answer

Introduction
Innovation is the key to success and thus, every organization is attempting to make innovation at every step of business and improve business efficacy as well as competitive advantage of the organization. In this regard, the following report is going to emphasize upon developing an innovation management plan on a selected organization. Here, the selected organization is the Eastman Kodak company, which is referred simply as Kodak, which is an American public company producing different products related to the historic basis in analogue photography. The organization was one of the largest brands in 1990s, but it failed as a business (Gershon, 2013). Innovation could have helped the organization to improve its business function. Thus, the following report has emphasized upon offering some innovation ideas to the organization and develop innovation management plan for the organization, which could provide competitive advantage for the organization.

Considering the product portfolio of the Kodak, some key innovative topics have been identified for the organization. The first one is Action photography, which has increased demand for compact digital cameras, like GoPro. Considering its competitor’s capabilities and product designing, Kodak could develop devices like GoPro and manufacture action cameras, which havemobile apps and video editing software. In this regard, the organization can develop its brand image by developing such innovative products for young generation photographers. The second topic highlights mirrorless camera. Key competitors of Kodak, i.e. canon, Nikon has already emphasized upon this innovative feature and Kodak can gain enough competitive advantage for the mirrorless interchangeable lens camera (Anchell, 2019). These types of cameras feature a single, removable lens, along with a single digital display. However, such a smart camera does not have optical viewfinder or reflex mirror like a DSLR. It is a new type of camera being preferred by current generation photographers, which could be an innovative feature for Kodak to launch and grab customers’ attention. Additionally, the third topic for the organizational innovation could be launching an AI and cloud based smart camera that would have additional automatic feature like Alexa or Google assistant. The device could be used for not only capturing images, but also gaining and storing detail information regarding pictures and all the features could be operated via mobile application that would be AI powered and work automatically through voice or other means of instruction (Prislipsky, 2019). This could also be a significant product innovation for the organization and would give a differentiation related competitive benefit to the organization.

Currently, the major goal for the organization Kodak is to develop a world-class, results-oriented culture, offering consumers different ways to capture, store, process and communicate images in the form of information, memories and entertainment for people and machines at anytime, anywhere, while also bringing differentiated, cost-effective solutions to its market (Paul, 2021). Considering the goals and the key product portfolio of the organization, the report is going to offer innovation plan for launching AI-powered mirrorless camera, which could bring differentiation in the market and offer cost-effective solution for consumers. Gershon (2013) highlighted that in technological terms, Kodak has strong capabilities of bridging chemical and digital elements of thermal printing, color management, image storage and transfer technologies, color sensors for image capturing, scanning as well as integration of technologies for innovation. These capabilities are indicating that the organization would be able to frame the proposed idea above into real term product.

Body of Report
Design thinking depicting Innovation
Product Name:Kodak Omega 2021
Kodak has been known for manufacturing and production of printing, publishing, cameras and various other technological products. It is an American company based in New York Rochester and is best known for photographic film products. The company was unable to acquire effective success as compared to Canon, Nikon and Fujifilm due to bankruptcy and the lack of capital to promote their digital cameras. Design thinking is the process of iterative processes, that can be included within the strategic problems that are faced by companies. It includes the generation of ideas that can boost disruptive innovation capabilities for the launch of a product / service. The design thinking process, has been centered on the launch of a new product within the market titled “Kodak Omega 2021” The digital camera market has been expected to witness a rise by 11.2% between 2021-2026 (Haefner, Wincent, Parida&Gassmann, 2021). The shift towards smartphone cameras has been dominating the market. Therefore, based on critical research, Nikon and Canon are major competitors of Kodak with a higher competitive advantage, within the market. The idea is to integrate and develop a voice sensor with multipurpose functions, including an AI powered mirror-less camera to click pictures, along with calling features. Kodak Omega will involve functions to dial and make calls, with the features of taking photos. The voice sensor will be powered using AI-AR robotics, in order to monitor the commands by the users. Mirror-less cameras have been dominating the digital camera market since 2021 through Nikon. It is seen prevalent amongst bloggers and can be a source of competitive advantage for Kodak to acquire a hold on the market. According to mobilityforesights.com (2021), the global camera market is dominated by mirror-less cameras and DSLR. Mirror-less cameras have been known to outperform DSLR as it has the capability of supporting multiple lens with an optional viewfinder.

Figure 1: General features of Kodak Omega 2021
(Source: Created by author)

Features of Kodak Omega 2021

• AI powered voice assistant
• Wireless device
• Mirror-less camera ability
• Ai powered editing using LuminarAI (SkylumLumniar AI)
• Facial Recognition
• Stream, news, live sessions, smart home abilities
• Work as a digital camera
• Silent Shooting
• Charge-able battery
• Image stabilization powered by AI-AR
• Blue-tooth and cloud computing facilities
• Automatic Speech Recognition Technology (ASR)
• Faster streaming (mimo)

Functions
• Capture HD images using mirror-less camera
• Process over commands by the users
• Work as a voice assistant
• Assist in Editing Images
• Serve as a known-it all tool
• Can be used as a digital camera as well as a voice sensor
• Network Connectivity

The purpose of the product is to serve the users with a multipurpose gadget, working as a voice assistant cum mirror less camera. It will carry out various functions for editing and sculpting an image based on voice instructions and AI abilities. The image can be transferred to the phone using blue-tooth connectivity. The camera on the voice sensor will capture pictures, that can be viewed on the front screen of the device. The device comprises of an square shaped sensor powered by AI with a HD camera in the middle. It will execute commands and also be useful in carrying out image within auto focus.

User Involvement
The main users of the device are bloggers, corporate managers, as well as individuals, into photography. The feedback of the users will be taken after prototyping and testing before buying the product. Kodak Omega is handy and can be used for taking pictures as well as having them edited with a built-in software within the device known as Luminar AI. It can be connected with the phone/ laptop via Bluetooth and automatically edit an image based on personal preferences. It also allows for editing an image via the individual and shall guide the user to make better editing choices. The style will not be dictated by the software unless, the user requires assistance. Feedback will be taken after every edit in order to provide best experience. Although, it has been argued. AI powered software ruins photography, Luminar AI is considered to be the best within its field of photography. The lead users are bloggers, artists and photographers. It can also be used by amateur photographers in order to learn the basics of photography through Luminar AI. The system will be improved by integrating the aspect of “natural spoken conversation” with the product itself. It will not be mechanical in response as opposed to Google or Alexa.

Fast Integration time cost and resources
The integration of the service will require effective handling and management by the HRM managers. It is important to note that various departments will be interlinked in order to provide for better user systems. There will be different phases, which will be followed within the project. It is important to note, that resource leveling and resources, will be effective in meeting, with the need and requirement of the research

Resources
The major resources, that are integral for the process of launching the product involve an expert and professional set of R&D individuals, competent in the field of AI and robotics. The IT field will also play an integral role in the development of the research.The main items that should be taken into consideration are processing units, speech recognition tools, and devices, supplements, marketing initiatives, R&D activities, research costs and prototyping lab. IT will require hardware and Luminar AI software. The shield making process, will be taken into account for the process of the wireless AI powered Kodak voice assistant. Risk management will be taken into account, using a risk register, that will be an important part of the research.

Cost and Expenditure
The total cost of the process involves the utilityof 75,000 dollars for the manufacturing of custom product to be used for the process of the research. It is important to note, that most of the expenditures, will be undertaken for the process of getting equipment, a set of professional individuals for the process of the research.

Table: Costs and Expenditures

Table : Activities
(Source: Created by author)

Figure 1: Gantt Chart
(Source: Created by author)

Prototyping and testing capabilities
The prototyping and testing abilities, will be executed before the launch of Kodak Omega. It will be tested out by the R&D lab partners (Zhao,Jiang & Liu, 2019). It is important to note, that a single prototype will be carried out in order to ensure safe and authenticity in the tests. It is important to understand that the use of the product. It is imperative to be aware of the high-end risk and the benefits, that can be acquired by making the use of the testing capabilities. One of the major methods, is through the use of user feedback.A proper and effective lab test will be conducted in order to note, down the risks and the possibilities of growth for the development of the research.

Cross functional management
There are various departments, that will be involved in the development of the product. It includes the IT department, R&D, marketing and HR department. Meetings will be held every month to understand the progress of the research and develop its authentic parts. The method of communication will be executed via emails and meetings. The HR of the departments will ensure the timely progress of the product. The main role of the IT department will be to ensure connectivity and integrate the technical aspect and understanding to the product. The R&D department will cater to the development of the product.

Conclusion
In the above report, an innovative idea has been planned and executed for Kodak, which would help the organization to gain competitive advantage and differentiation in the market, aligning with its capabilities and business portfolio. Considering the innovation management plan discussed above, it can be concluded that it could be executed successfully using Flip –flop method. The innovative idea is bound to flourish as none of the competitors have a multipurpose camera and voice sensor. However, future innovation could affect the innovative idea provided here. For instance, future innovations that increases efficiency of mirror less camera or applications those could reduce multiple device usage and brings use of simpler form with higher efficiency of camera devices, powered by robotics or AI or AR-VR, could affect the success of the proposed innovation in the above report.

Bibliography
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