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Innovative Maori Product Improvement An Analysis of Tohu Wines
Innovative Maori Product Improvement: An Analysis of Tohu Wines
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1. Introduction
Tohu Wines is a Maori-owned wine enterprise established over 20 years ago in Marlborough, New Zealand. The company is an organic-based business that gets its competitive advantage from using home grown raw materials using cultural and traditional values of the Maori people. Tohu Wines has attracted global attention from this business model, including an emphasis on using organic products and a supply chain that is chiefly founded on the Maori way of life. The company prides itself of bearing the responsibility to uphold the legacy of the forefathers and founding members of the Maori community, who believed in the value of hard work, fairness, creativity, and being one with the natural environment ( ). Tohu Wines focuses on creating internationally recognized products while keeping true to the deeply held values of the Maori including kindness, excellence, and guardianship (manaakitanga, rangatiratanga, and kaitiakitanga). The bottle design is one of the most important selling points for the company, bearing a logo derived from the koru pattern that symbolizes the natural world, growth, and life. Tohu, meaning signature, is the brainchild of several Maori families working to craft a path for other business people in New Zealand.
Even with the elegant design and a focus on being one with nature, Tohu Wines has not performed very well in the international wine market. Therefore, an issue emerges to combine the creative design, the focus on nature, the emphasis on a traditional approach, and a supply chain of handcrafted solutions with better and innovative market approaches in an attempt to steer the company forward. The aim of this current report is to identify a gap in the company’s market to introduce the proposed innovation to solve customer problems. It will also develop a market evaluation of the proposed improved innovation process using relevant evidence to support the launch of the proposed improved innovation. These elements will all be applied and integrated with relevant Maori values to generate enhanced value for the new improved innovation. Lastly, the report will undertake a business risk assessment for the introduction of the new/improved innovation for the business enterprise and adopt the Lean Canvas model to give innovative suggestions through analysis.
The current report is divided into several sections. The first section, the introduction, focuses on giving a brief introduction of the product and the company. The second section is an analysis of the current problems that Tohu Wines is facing, including a perspective of the solutions from a customer’s positioning and a review of its alignment to Maori values. The third section performs a deep analysis of the proposed solutions. The fourth section then gives an analysis of risks. The last section will conclude the analysis giving a restatement of the major issues found within the discussion.
Problem Solution Unique Value Proposition Unfair Advantage Customer Segments
Conventional bottling that is not unique to the brand positioning
Similar composition of wines to those in established international market
Zero application of an eco-friendly design in packaging
Green Marketing
Use different fruits unique to New Zealand (Kiwi fruits) to make the wine
Use sustainable packaging away from the conventional wine bottling Eco-friendly packaging in line with the uniqueness of the product thatis made in alignment with Maori values of caring for the environment and excellence,creativity, and kindness Eco-friendly and sustainable packaging
Unique fruit use in wine making
Organic products
New Zealand wine market
Australian food and beverage sector
Organic-inded consumers
Populations conscious on health consumption
The upper middle class
Existing Alternatives Key Metrics Channels Early Adopters
Going Green
Green Marketing
Sustainable production
Organic products Consumer satisfaction
Customer retention
Sales
International market expansion Social media
Website
Supermarkets
E-commerce websites High disposable income
Eco-conscious
Organic product enthusiasts
Upper middle class
Health-conscious consumers
Cost Structure Revenue Structure
Product cost
Tax
Storage cost
Delivery cost
Promotion cost B2C
B2B
Figure 1: Lean Canvas Model for Tohu Wines
2. Analysis of Entrepreneurial Opportunities
The section will identify the gaps and opportunities available for Tohu Wines through an analysis of the company’s business activities. It will also provide business innovation proposals in line with the Maori values.
Identifiable Problems
Tohu Wines has a major problem when it comes to its decision making capacity. The company is run on a trust comprised of more than 4000 Maori families. Decision making and policy formulation takes a lot of time and every member of the decision making unit must be considered. From a consumer’s perspective, this means that some critical requirements of the customers, including small decisions on pricing strategies or distribution, take a lot of time before they can be approved. In other wine companies, the decision making process is fast and efficient. Another major impediment to an improved product is the use of a conventional packaging that is not unique to the brand positioning. Tohu Wines uses the same bottling design as any other wine company. While this can be seen as an advantage in maintaining conventionality to the wine culture, it is a problem to the company’s competitive advantage. The customer interprets this design as a reference to every other wine company or brand. As shown in image 1 below, the bottling design employed must not be 100% similar to the industry standards, in order to create uniqueness and to attract customers’ attention as a part of the promotional strategy.
Image 1: Sample Tohu Wines bottling compared to other wine brands
Another major issue with Tohu Wines is that the company uses the same raw materials applied in international and domestic wine making techniques. The only difference is that Tohu Wines uses organic products harvested and grown in line with Maori values of gentleness and kindness as well as guardianship to the natural environment. However, these values cannot be distinguished from every other brand available in the market. Therefore, the consumer is not able to differentiate Tohu’s products from those of the competition because the botting design and he composition of the wines are similar to the industry standards. The main competitors of Tohu Wines in the New Zealand domestic market, including those that already have footing in the Australian market, include: Chard Farm, Matariki Wines, Stonecroft, Martinborough Vineyard, Canterbury House, and Gibbston Valley Wines. To stand out from the competition, Tohu Wines must differentiate its product, suggestively by using the same Maori culture and planting traditions to grow kiwis for use in the wine making business. Because the traditional wine is in more demand, the kiwi wine suggested can be grown as an alternative product, to create uniqueness and to ensure that Tohu’s value proposition remains intact and noticeable.
The third problem is how the company, despite its value proposition of remaining true to the environment and the consumers, uses zero application of an eco-friendly design in packaging. ( ) highlights an ever increasing number of consumers demanding environmentally friendly products. Tohu Wines markets itself as an organic brand, conscious about the natural environment from the way it grows its raw products to the production process. However, these elements are not reflected in its packaging. For a company to be seen as having exceeded consumer demands and expectations in relation to remaining true to environment-related issues, a critical part of the strategy must include packaging of products ( ). In agreement to this position, ( ) and ( ) found that packaging is now a global communication tool and a way to market a brand. A customer is more likely to purchase a prduct that adheres to environmentally friendly packaging compared to brands that use the traditional packaging. As such, eco-friendly designs in packaging as a way to add value to the customer, because they include a need satisfaction in a design/packaging that meets expectations on environmental conservation ( ). Tohu Wines must consider the use of eco-friendly packaging and design in order to cater to a market that is increasingly driven towards conservation of the environment.
2.2 Discussion of Customer Segmentation Relevant to Tohu Wines
2.3 Suggested Solutions to the Problems Identified
3. Tohu Wines Market Evaluation
This third section analyses innovation at Tohu Wines using four main aspects that include; unique value proposition, unfair advantage, channels, and cost structure and revenue.
3.1 Unique Value Proposition
3.2 Unfair Advantage
3.3 Channels
3.4 Cost structure and revenue
4. Risks and Key Metrics
The following section evaluates the possible risks of the proposed improved product in Tohu Wine’s business process and provides solutions to use key metrics to avoid or reduce risks.
4.1 Inventory Risks
4.2 Customer Satisfaction Risks
4.3 E-commerce operation risk
5. Conclusion
Tohu Wines has a very attractive value proposition. However, it lacks uniqueness because of how it conforms to industry standards in terms of packaging and the composition of wine. The packaging is not in any way reflective of the carefully-crafted product that is made from organic plants that have been grown and produced in line with the Maori values of manaakitanga, rangatiratanga, and kaitiakitanga. Therefore, the present report gives a number of suggestions on how to make an improved and innovative packaging design as well as crafting an alternative product to solve these problems.
References
INNOVATION, ENTERPRISE AND SOCIETY ESSAY OPTION ONE
INNOVATION, ENTERPRISE AND SOCIETY: ESSAY OPTION ONE
Student’s Name
Institution
Due Date
Introduction
The banking sector is one that is very interesting to me because of my background in accounting and applied finance. I intend to pursue a career in banking, particularly in the financial technology (Fintech) sub-sector. The traditional banking structure and system is changing rapidly with the developments made by fintechs and other technological improvements to the way people perceive and use banks (Chen, Wu, & Yang, 2019). Today, the banking world no longer uses the term fintech as a jargon specific to a few professionals, rather, it is a familiar term that signifies the revolution and its impact on financial and banking institutions (Gomber, Kauffman, Parker, & Weber, 2018). Fintech is derived from the concept of joining digital technology to financial services, marking a new era of processes, products, and organizational innovation introduced into the banking industry and affecting almost every aspect of finance in the world. Therefore, fintechs prompt the use of current digital technology by small enterprises to develop innovative services and products including alternative finance, big data, mobile payments, financial management practices, and online banking.
Some of the notable developments in the banking sector have included the movement of fintechs from competitors to becoming a key partner for banks in the last few years. Rizvi, Naqvi, & Tanveer (2018) point out that collaborations in the banking sector have been a key industry disruptor, especially the way fintechs have changed how consumers view the banking industry. For some key industry critics, such as Zveryakov et al. (2019) and Vives (2017), fintechs have been predicted as the beginning of the death of traditional banking. However, by incorporating the unit key concept of comparing and relating small businesses (start-ups) and large corporations, fintechs and the banking world are two players in different sectors that can work very well to change the concept of banking and financial institutions. Today, accessing financial services is as easy as sending a text message. Therefore, the introduction of fintechs is not a threat to the industry but an opportunities for banks to become better in their role and capacity to support the welfare of societies and economies through providing financial services in various digital platforms.
Fintechs reveal a key concept gained from the current unit in comparing small firms to large corporations that small innovative companies are more creative and innovative compared to large organizations. Anagnostopoulos (2018) found that small companies including fintech start-ups are more innovative because of the ability to make quicker decisions and especially when executing new ideas compared to large corporations. The innovations introduced through fintechs have been made possible by the fact there are so many issues in providing financial services for the diverse populations and organizations. For example, digital lending and credit issues, mobile banking for those on the move, mobile payments to different clients or suppliers, insurance, trading, blockchain, and cryptocurrency are all areas that have shown just how innovative fintechs can become. Global players like Skrill, PayPal, LocalBitcoin, and other firms have changed how people interact with their clients and suppliers (Najafi, Irandoost, Soltanpanah, & Sheikhahmadi, 2020). These companies are a revelation that smaller companies have a better chance of being innovative because of their size, risk, opportunities, and the drive to make it in a new innovation. Large corporations, such as banks and large financial institutions cannot take the same levels of risk. Additionally, the decision making process for large organizations is relatively reduced due to bureaucracy and other issues relating to the structure of decision making. Also, Lien, Doan, & Bui (2020) assert that large organizations tend to be slower in responding to changes, are more risk-averse, already have a set culture and way of doing things, and have established markets. Overall, looking at the banking industry, it is clear that fintechs are smaller versions of banks and similar financial institutions, only that they have been more innovative and become industry disruptors.
Changes made by the fintech subsector and banks create a strong argument that the alterations in the way people access financial services through digital platforms are a part of a wider economic and social trend. In this, another major unit concept emerges, that public policy and funding of innovation and its significance and impact on the banking sector are different for the financial and digital sectors. For example, the banking industry rarely makes any significant changes to the way business is conducted, including relationships and partnerships. The banking sector works on already established concepts based on a traditional aspect. For instance, banking in the current century is relatively the same as the last one, in terms of the relationship between customers and institutions. However, the digital sector operates differently. Small changes in customer demands and needs leads to significant industry changes for digital firms (Thakor, 2020). For example, when customers demand more interactions, digital platforms and companies are required to respond quickly with changes that match the new need. Such is the concept that has largely defined how large financial institutions and the smaller start-ups in fintech subsector relate. Banks and the banking sector have remained largely the same. However, digital platforms keep changing in response to customer needs. Combined, fintechs have emerged as a new concept that converges to provide banking services using newer digital models. The funding of these innovations is significant to the industry because it means the next changes to how people relate to their favourite financial service provider. Overall, it emerges that the impact of public policy and funding of innovation is an important concept in understanding how fintechs and larger banking institutions interact.
The changes introduced by fintechs in the financial services and the digital technology, compared to how the banking industry operates, are almost permanent and likely to have significant effect to other industries. For example, the real estate industry, lending services, business services, savings, and investment businesses have all been significantly impacted by fintechs. The disruptive power of fintechs has changed how consumers view financial services in relation to new digital technologies and the daily functions that include banking and other aspects of personal finances. Consumer banking has changed significantly as more people move towards the adoption of mobile services and the digital world (Jiao, Shahid, Mirza & Tan, 2021). For example, a significant number of consumers prefer to store money in the form of various cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin or Litecoin in a speculative investment hoping to make profits later. Traditionally, the same funds would have been stored in banks or invested in other industries such as real estate or saving unions. As expected, the changes are likely not to be reversible. People now understand the power of digital platforms and better financial services are available for people in different levels and platforms.
Innovations in the banking industry and the financial services sector have also affected professional practice. Today, a majority of professionals in the said industries are transitioning to becoming experts in fintech management and including digital services as part of their job description. With the ever-changing face of digital technology, Rasiwala & Kohli (2021) posit that fintech has changed how the finance and banking professionals operate. Today, professionals are required to be familiar with new concepts such as expenditure tracking, online budgeting, chatbots, and other digital-related concepts. Every profession in the finance and banking sector is going through aggressive and continuous movement focused on digitalization and adoption of emerging and new technologies. The expectations in the future include increased operational efficiency, enhanced delivery of superior and high quality customer experience, and better speed-to-market support. The likely effect is that a lot of people will be forced out of their current positions through these emerging technologies. Digitalization cannot be escaped, especially for the financial services sector. The introduction and success of fintechs is proof that there is a need for banks to start transitioning to become bigger fintech suppliers and partners. To address the effects of these likely changes, organizational level responses will need to include individual training and education of the newer concepts. Individually, it is recommended that professionals adopt the new trends as a way of adding value to their portfolio.
In conclusion, fintechs mark a new era of processes, products, and organizational innovation introduced into the banking industry and affecting almost every aspect of finance in the world. For example, the real estate industry, lending services, business services, savings, and investment businesses have all been significantly impacted by fintechs. These innovations have led to the use of current digital technology by small enterprises to develop innovative services and products including alternative finance, big data, mobile payments, financial management practices, and online banking. In the last few years, fintechs have changed the banking sector, introducing changes that are expected to be permanent. The discussion finds that the introduction of fintechs is not a threat to the industry but an opportunities for banks to become better in their role and capacity to support the welfare of societies and economies through providing financial services in various digital platforms.
References
Anagnostopoulos, I. (2018). Fintech and regtech: Impact on regulators and banks. Journal of Economics and Business, 100, 7-25.
Chen, M. A., Wu, Q., & Yang, B. (2019). How valuable is FinTech innovation?. The Review of Financial Studies, 32(5), 2062-2106.
Gomber, P., Kauffman, R. J., Parker, C., & Weber, B. W. (2018). On the fintech revolution: Interpreting the forces of innovation, disruption, and transformation in financial services. Journal of Management Information Systems, 35(1), 220-265.
Jiao, Z., Shahid, M. S., Mirza, N., & Tan, Z. (2021). Should the fourth industrial revolution be widespread or confined geographically? A country-level analysis of fintech economies. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 163, 120442.
Lien, N. T. K., Doan, T. T. T., & Bui, T. N. (2020). Fintech and banking: Evidence from Vietnam. The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics, and Business, 7(9), 419-426.
Najafi, F., Irandoost, M., Soltanpanah, H., & Sheikhahmadi, A. (2020). A Model for relationship management with fintech and financial startups in banking industry. Commercial Strategies, 16(13), 1-18.
Rasiwala, F. S., & Kohli, B. (2021). Artificial Intelligence in FinTech: Understanding Stakeholders Perception on Innovation, Disruption, and Transformation in Finance. International Journal of Business Intelligence Research (IJBIR), 12(1), 48-65.
Rizvi, S. K. A., Naqvi, B., & Tanveer, F. (2018). Is Pakistan Ready to Embrace Fintech Innovation?. The Lahore Journal of Economics, 23(2), 151-182.
Thakor, A. V. (2020). Fintech and banking: What do we know?. Journal of Financial Intermediation, 41, 100833.
Vives, X. (2017). The impact of FinTech on banking. European Economy, (2), 97-105.
Zveryakov, M., Kovalenko, V., Sheludko, S., & Sharah, E. (2019). FinTech sector and banking business: competition or symbiosis?. Економiчний часопис-XXI, 175(1-2), 53-57.
Innovation Management
Innovation Management
Critical Thinking Writing
Management of Innovation
In an innovation focused companies there is huge problem in managing the innovative and creative ideas generated at an instant. Companies dealing are not able to manage properly due to hurdles they are facing due to their working strategy and human resource structure. These companies need to change the management strategy of their company which depends on the business of the company or the kind of innovation. Different companies face different issues in their planning and information sharing management. For example a company like Pixer which is based on creative arts must have a mobile computer enabled everywhere else the employees working in the company will not be able to produce their idea at that instant and they will lost their unique thinking style for the art while companies which are based on innovation must monitor and record each and every information carefully as any information can be the milestone of the innovation. So it is an established facts that a proper planning and strategy is required for effective sharing of information and innovation ideas in an organization and there is no hard and fast rule for making those plans and strategy, every company has think about it on their own.
Key Issues in Innovation Management
Reinvention of our Business Model
One of the biggest key issue companies are facing in their re-innovation. For making their information system better for innovation they need to reorganize their structure and their employees. Every company needs to think and decide about the rules and regulations for their employees. While most companies have proven processes for product innovation in place, only few follow process models for innovating business models. If companies want to survive this 21st century then most of the business houses need to do a re-innovation in itself. For example the Biggest Mobile handset manufacturing company lost its shine from the last 4-5 years because of lack of innovation in their products and organization as well while the other manufacturers like Samsung or Apple on the same period rises to their fortune due to fall of the giant Nokia.
Innovation through Open and Social Connection
Growing complexity in tools and technology developed, organizations are finding it increasingly impossible to be successful when entirely working and depending on their own employees and services. For making better innovation environment they collaborate with other institutions for the same cause which helps in sharing the burden and sharing the same information in a broad region and among the masses. To move innovation forward more effectively and efficiently, they aim at building appropriate networks and partnerships. Recent research shows that the employees are doing better in shared environment because of the competitiveness between the employees of the two companies. If we combine both internal and external capabilities only then companies can thrive in this environment where each and every company struggling for their survival.
Culture of Innovation within Organization
Organisations need to develop a collaborative environment culture as well as innovative culture. Innovation capability is in our hand and can be improved through practical knowledge and experimentation. Practical training given to the employees enriches their understanding of the concept and they perform better. We often think that great businesses are built basically on great ideas but the story is very different from our belief that great businesses are usually built by great innovative ideas and unique concept. Experimentation is considered as an organizational skill so only an organization is responsible for the experiment that’s why atmosphere within the organization must be creative and motivational which will help in making employees more productive so that they can give their best during work. It can be solved using incentive approach. Best idea chosen must be given award.
Integrated and Differentiated Concepts of Innovation
Sustainable innovation means which is beneficial for both human and environment and does not produce pollution in any case cannot be achieved by only a single person approach. It requires a common understanding among all the people within the organization on particular products and its variables. Only then product can be realized. Further, innovation is about balancing complementary, and often opposing, variables. Therefore, integrative frameworks may help to gain a more realistic perspective. For example, innovation matrix can tell us about the problems faced by the company and it helps in assigning a particular task to a suitable individual. Depending on the characterization, a tailored approach can be developed in order to define where innovation should sit in the business model and how to drive growth.
Other people may well come up with other innovation issues that are important. There can be other issues with innovative organization as everyone’s work culture and environment is different from each other. But In addition to all these companies should focus on security of their innovative ideas as these ideas can be beneficial for other companies as well so they may try to steal it from your database or offices. So companies must also care for the security and integrity of the ideas they are generating during office hours. At individual levels we face the same issue in idea management as each and every person is different from each other so it becomes very difficult for companies to give different direction and job profiles to the right candidate and most of the time it happens that the employees are not in their right position at the right time. So we need to take care of this problem as well so that employees can give their best. Now we just need to start making progress on them! Therefore, we’ll try to elaborate on these issues in the time to come, in order to provide further ideas to help make innovation more successful.
Reference
BIBLIOGRAPHY l 1033 Andrew. (2010). Central Problems in the Management of Innovation. inForms.
Lynch, R. P. (2002). Four Critical Skills for Managing High Performaance Alliances. Netherlands: Imperiel College Press.
Margaret Alice White, G. (2010). The Management of Technology and Innovation: A Strategic Approach. In G. Margaret Alice White, The Management of Technology and Innovation: A Strategic Approach.
White, M. (2014). The Management of Technology and Innovation: A Strategic Approach (2nd ed). South-Western.Retrieved from http://online.vitalsource.com/books/9781285214573/Root/0
White, M. (2014). The Management of Technology and Innovation: A Strategic Approach (2nd ed). South-Western.Retrieved from http://online.vitalsource.com/books/9781285214573/id/ch3