Insights gained regarding innovation
For this interview, I gained many crucial insights about innovation. Firstly, Mr. Ahuja told me that initially, his company focused on incremental innovation, which focuses on making gradual progress and refinements in its offerings. However, the interviewee also shared that his company experienced a radical change, during the Covid era, which actually tripled the company’s earnings, overnight. This pushed the company to adopt new strategies, mechanisms and decisions to stay ahead of its competitors (Ettlie et al. 1984). The company transformed with time, and focused on radical product innovation and changed the entire products, according to changed customer needs and demands of the situation (Chandy, & Tellis, 2000).
Furthermore, Mr. Ahuja discussed customer-centric innovation. He emphasized on the importance of understanding and anticipating customer needs, which was the base of his company's products and services. He explained that this approach is crucial in developing a name in a new industry, and to address specific market demands. Additionally, Mr. Ahuja highlighted the role of technology (Digital innovation) in driving innovation, particularly in the Covid era. He said that the use of technology increased massively and was used in optimizing the service delivery process and enhancing customer experience. Moreover, the interviewee also discussed about ‘open innovation’ culture at M.A Services, where individuals are now encouraged to come up with new ideas and solutions and are encouraged to experiment (Clearfield, 2022). This has helped his company to meet the new customer and market demands and bring speedy solutions and innovations to the market, before the competitors (Bettenmann, et al. 2021).
Key skills concerning innovation
Mr. Ahuja shared some key skills he used when innovating or designing a new strategy of product.
- Imagination skills with long-term vision: Innovation skills are the knowledge and abilities that help the entrepreneur to adapt to change and come up with new solutions. He further explained that this skill should be future-centric, and helps to come up with innovative ideas that are beneficial for the future.
- Problem-solving skills: The interviewee said that problem-solving skills are a must for innovation, as the key goal of innovation is to come up with the best solution for a certain problem. This will not only help in coming up with solutions but also help in improving individual and company efficiency and meeting customer demands (Indeed, 2022).
- Critical Thinking skills: Another key skill he used as an innovator is critical thinking. It helps to analyze, evaluate, and blend information m to make right and informed decisions. These skills help the individual to make logical thinking, reasoning, and evidence-based decisions (Kop, 2023).
- Learning skills: The person interested in innovation should always keep learning new skills, and ideas and collect knowledge about different aspects, like: customer needs, changing market scenarios, new technologies, etc. (Kop, 2023). This helped Mr. Ahuja to come up with new offerings and adopt new technology, as per his online searchers, understanding of customer needs and market gaps, etc.
Risk-taking skills: An entrepreneur always takes a risk and experiments with new ideas and products, which are not been tested or introduced before. According to Mr. Ahuja, taking risks is essential to make innovations and come up with breakthrough solutions.
