Disruptive Innovironment : A study to examine the disruptive innovation environment in Africa in order to make successful business propositions
Acquah, Joseph (2015)
Acquah, Joseph
Metropolia Ammattikorkeakoulu
2015
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-201602262664
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-201602262664
Tiivistelmä
The purpose of the present Master’s Thesis study was to examine the disruptive innovation environment in Africa in order to be able to make successful business propositions. The study was commissioned by Nokia Oyj. Nokia Oyj is a global telecommunication company, which was once a competitive mobile phone manufacturing giant and a market leader in innovation technology in the mobile industry.
Qualitative research methodology was utilised in this study. The qualitative research data consisted of in-depth interviews with key influencers of innovation in the African region. The research findings gathered with the aid of questionnaires enabled Nokia Oyj and other key global collaborators to implement a 2 year pilot project to ascertain and validate the re-search findings. The results at the end of the 2 year project implementation revealed a high correlation between the research findings and actual implementation results. Both the inter-views and the actual implementation of the project indicated that challenges and scarcity of certain required resources has propelled Africa to be a “disruptive innovironment”.
The term “disruptive innovironment” describes the stimulating socio-economic factor in the environment that drives a need for disruptive innovations, which develop products and ser-vices that take root initially in simple applications at the bottom of a market and then relent-lessly move up the market, eventually displacing established key products that were historically expensive, complicated and inaccessible and replacing them with products that are accessible, often affordable, uncomplicated and available to a much larger population. All respondents indicated that this process is rapidly growing in Africa and has changed the dynamics of how global companies are currently strategizing to ensure they remain competitive and innovative in the region. This study reveals how simple disruptive innovations displace established competitors.
The author recommends that management of Nokia Oyj and other global companies re-evaluate their practices of innovation and consider disruptive innovironment in their strategy planning. It is recommended that Nokia Oyj reopens the regional research office which would provide direct insight into current trends in the region and ensure that the company remains competitive in the targeted market.
Qualitative research methodology was utilised in this study. The qualitative research data consisted of in-depth interviews with key influencers of innovation in the African region. The research findings gathered with the aid of questionnaires enabled Nokia Oyj and other key global collaborators to implement a 2 year pilot project to ascertain and validate the re-search findings. The results at the end of the 2 year project implementation revealed a high correlation between the research findings and actual implementation results. Both the inter-views and the actual implementation of the project indicated that challenges and scarcity of certain required resources has propelled Africa to be a “disruptive innovironment”.
The term “disruptive innovironment” describes the stimulating socio-economic factor in the environment that drives a need for disruptive innovations, which develop products and ser-vices that take root initially in simple applications at the bottom of a market and then relent-lessly move up the market, eventually displacing established key products that were historically expensive, complicated and inaccessible and replacing them with products that are accessible, often affordable, uncomplicated and available to a much larger population. All respondents indicated that this process is rapidly growing in Africa and has changed the dynamics of how global companies are currently strategizing to ensure they remain competitive and innovative in the region. This study reveals how simple disruptive innovations displace established competitors.
The author recommends that management of Nokia Oyj and other global companies re-evaluate their practices of innovation and consider disruptive innovironment in their strategy planning. It is recommended that Nokia Oyj reopens the regional research office which would provide direct insight into current trends in the region and ensure that the company remains competitive in the targeted market.