What are the main lessons on managing innovation that can be learned from this case study?

Management of innovation is a mentally and physically involving activity. It demands the active involvement of various stakeholders in the internal and external environments. Organizations ought to prepare their managers for the process of innovation management because it also incorporates resistance (Zafar, Butt, & Afzal, 2014). The changes that come with innovation can encounter resistance from any quarter of the organization. The managers should be strategic about the process to ensure that the most important stakeholders, such as employees, understand and accept these changes. Employees are critical to this process because of their active involvement in the process. To successfully manage innovation, creativity is key because it provides solutions to the problems that arise during the process (Dawson & Andriopoulos, 2017).

Critical aspects

Creativity and innovation

The study highlights creativity and innovation as critical aspects of the highlighted organization. Creativity during innovation is critical because it ensures that an organization sees the process through. Innovation is a challenging process that demands the complete involvement of all stakeholders, especially those in the internal environment. I believe that creativity and innovation are intertwined in an organizational setting. It is impossible to manage innovation without being creative. The creativity of the involved stakeholders is critical in deviating the process from the various challenges (NCVO, 2020). Failure to innovate creatively may lead to the premature death of an idea due to challenges that seem impossible to solve.

Change

Change is also highlighted in the case study as an inevitable process. An organization that seeks to innovate must be ready to make changes that come with the process of innovation. It is not possible to operate normally during innovation. Change is unsettling for all stakeholders in both external and internal environments. It is associated with new policies, work procedures, manufacturing processes, and probably job descriptions (Zafar, Butt, & Afzal, 2014). These changes can instill fear in some of the stakeholders and yield resistance. Management of change is intended to minimize such resistance.

I agree that change is an inherent innovation process, as demonstrated in the case study. An organization that seeks to actualize an idea should expect to undergo changes that may overhaul the entire entity or part of it. Active involvement is critical in ensuring that the change is not resisted strongly. Seeking to create an understanding of these changes is important in ensuring that the employees embrace the process and work towards the vision (SHRM, 2021).

Making assessments

The selection of critical aspects was guided by the main shapers that are identified in the case. Since the case highlights issues that Grundfos encountered while creating a new product, these aspects provided a basis for critical elements. As such, the critical elements played a vital role in the achievement of the company’s goal because they were handled well (Dawson & Andriopoulos, 2017). Suppose the company did not handle these appropriately; the outcome would have been negative.

The innovation and creativity elements were selected through analysis of the case study. Reading through the case study, one can identify the instances during which creativity comes into play. At the same time, one can identify the progress and trajectory of the innovation process. The actions that the company takes to ensure that the opportunity to introduce the new product is sustained reveal the zeal of managers and their willingness to tap into the workforce’s ideas (Dawson & Andriopoulos, 2017). Through the process, one identifies the active involvement of all individuals in the external and internal environments.

Most importantly, the final solution that the company uses to bring the new product into the market reveals that innovation during product development is continuous but does not follow a certain direction or order. The various shapes that exist in the organization’s environment do so randomly. They tend to pull the management in different directions that are expected to lead to the same goal (Dawson & Andriopoulos, 2017). Furthermore, the key issues demand rapid decision-making as the entity progresses in the other aspects of the innovation process. These elements combine to reveal the critical aspects that could have affected the innovation process at Grundfos adversely or positively.

Outcomes/Solutions

Employee involvement in the process of innovation and change

Change is a process that accompanies innovation in an organization. Change is unsett