Hello I need help with the following: Write a 1,050-word business proposal to the Xerox’s organization’s Board of Directors to revitalize the organization through some well thought out innovative strategies. Your proposal should include the following:Analysis of the missed opportunities for innovation which have negatively impacted the organization.Description of innovation measurement and reward systems for existing employees.A process for creative problem solving.Description of the implementation and evaluation of innovation.Evaluation of external technology acquisition and implementation processes.Analysis of the organization’s ecosystem in terms of innovation.Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines.(I’ve attached reference papers)
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Running Head: XEROX, BLOCKBUSTER, AND TAXI SERVICE ENTREPRENEURIAL
MISHAPS 1
Xerox, Blockbuster, and Taxi Service Entrepreneurial Mishaps
XEROX, BLOCKBUSTER, AND TAXI SERVICE ENTREPRENEURIAL MISHAPS
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Just like almost anything else in society, change is inevitable. Norms, environment,
economy, trends, laws, and regulations are just naming a few areas that no matter what, are
bound to change in some sort of way. When it comes to businesses, organizations, and managing
change internally, taking into account of these external factors is a huge key to being successful,
staying relevant, and remaining competitive amongst other organizations within the industry. In
doing this, Innovation becomes a key focus and is particularly essential in developing the
necessary knowledge society and competitive advantage in which the generation and
commercialization of new knowledge is key for, national, international, and organizational
success (Hisrich & Kearney, 2014). With the fast-past global environment and economy that has
been steadily increasing, business come in and out, up and down, and rise and fall with very
quickly. The reasons behind this are many and vary from organization to organization. However,
this slinky effect can be summed up to missed opportunities for innovation. When companies
refuse to see or take the necessary actions needed to implement new and innovative approaches
or practices they run the risk of closing down because a more innovative competitor has come in
and overtaken the market. The following report will analyze a couple of organizations that have
had missed opportunities and are on the verge of closing down because of it. Furthermore, it will
provide suggestions of innovative strategies that the organizations could use today to potentially
rebuild its entrepreneurial culture and remain successful for the future.
Xerox
Xerox is a company many still know, but at one time it was the most dominant company
name in the field of office management. “Xerox was founded in 1906 as “The Haloid Company”
in Rochester, NY. It was not until 1959 that the company came to prominence with the
introduction of Xerox 914, the first automatic commercial plain-paper copier which was based
XEROX, BLOCKBUSTER, AND TAXI SERVICE ENTREPRENEURIAL MISHAPS
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on the new xerograph process that replaced the carbons and wet process duplication methods
prevalent at the time (Heracleous, Papachroni, & Andriopoulos, 2017, p. 330). Unfortunately,
Xerox lacked the foresight to envision a future where other smaller, lighter copiers would not
only be made less expensive, but also small enough to be located in people’s homes. This was to
Xerox’s detriment. Between 1971 and 1982, Xerox developed materials ranging from laser
printers to optical fibers used in local area networks (LAN), but they still relied heavily on their
copier origins. As a result, the market Xerox once owned the majority of influence in moved past
them. Still a force in corporate America for large office printers and copiers, companies such as
Brother and Hewlett-Packard (HP) have risen to the leaders in personal printers, copiers and
scanners. While Xerox products were still respected, the price point became too much for its
customers to afford. The managers at Xerox did not fully appreciate the market forces that come
into play in any market. Price will always drive the success of a company in which there are
competitors. In the case of Xerox, the management grew so in love with their product, they
placed the price of it at a premium, caring little about the competitors nipping at their heels.
To counter its lack of foresight and to regain its standing in the market, Xerox developed
a division named Palo Alto Research Center (PARC). Instead of being a stuffy, conservative East
Coast company, like Xerox, the sole purpose of this division was to act independently, to apply
innovation uninfluenced by the management of the flagship Xerox division. In other words,
PARC was to be a loose cannon unaffected by anything Xerox saw as crucial to sustainment of
the company. Even its location in the tech Mecca of Palo Alto was a rebellious way of shirking
all tradition. To some, this would have been considered risky, but in actuality, it gave PARC the
freedom needed to explore other options/realities. “Steve Jobs, who was inspired after seeing
PARC’s ALTO computer and subsequently incorporated many of its features in the first Apple
XEROX, BLOCKBUSTER, AND TAXI SERVICE ENTREPRENEURIAL MISHAPS
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computer, believed that “Xerox could have owned the entire computer industry, could have been
the IBM of the nineties, could have been the Microsoft of the nineties” (Heracleous, Papachroni,
& Andriopoulos, 2017, p. 334).
Blockbuster
Blockbuster was the second best thing than going to the movie house. Renting movies
and video games for the weekend was pretty cool. Blockbuster was founded by David Cook in
1985 and by went public on the stock market. With 3,000 stores, owners of Blockbuster were
controlled by Waste Management to Viacom in 1994. In 1999 Viacom sold 18% of its stocks in a
public offering for $465 million. In 1997 a new company appeared by renting DVDs by mail for
just $1, and check this out, the rental company paid for postage round trip and no late fees.
Blockbuster could not beat that with a stick, and their late fees went from $500 million to $0.
Blockbuster needed a new strategy, their strategy was to remove and hired new CEO’s
with no luck. The “Total Access” program could not keep up with Netflix, there stocks plummet.
In 2005 the company was offered to buy Netflix, not once, but twice, and they refused. Again
this was in 1997, the beginning of E-commerce. Yes, year of the .com. What were they thinking,
consumers are going to purchase inexpensive products and service, and no late fees, some
consumers must have kept that in the back of their mind. Technology is mobile without you
having to be mobile, order movies online, and pick it up at the mailbox. Now there is
streamlining, using your laptop, cellphone, Blue-ray players, and IPad as a mobile tv.
Blockbuster had business in the United States and internationally. The technology was
advancing, and it appeared at first that they did not want anything to do with the internet or
change their business practices. When they refused to buy Netflix, and Netflix began to make
millions, and Blockbuster began losing millions, who was tracking their records? It takes a team
XEROX, BLOCKBUSTER, AND TAXI SERVICE ENTREPRENEURIAL MISHAPS
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to mail a package across the country. Did they have teams working on solving or making a
suggestion? Change was one thing they didn’t want to do. Stay on top of trends that are going on
within industry. The franchise could have been an option. Survey store managers and find out
what customers wanted.
“Competitive advantage is not about how good you are but about whether you are faster,
better, or cheaper than competitors in your particular market (Boyd, 2014)”. BB had over 3,000
stores in the United States and international possessions, without questioning they had the
market. Netflix created something different, (a cheaper way of serving a product) and innovation
became a reality when they net growth was over $95 million, and today it is $4.5 billion. How do
you change a service from a structure to online? Being creative could have turned the stores into
an online service for movies, and games. Lower the price, drop the late fee charge. May be there
was nothing they could have done. Now the mail service has played out. What’s next?
“DISH Network will retain the Blockbuster brand, and key properties and the video
library (blockbuster.com, 2013)”. As of now, there are proximally 15 movie channels and over
20,000 movies that are offered on Blockbuster@Home, Blockbuster on Demand. Blockbuster
now offer movies, all you need is a mobile devise an the internet. They are no longer in the rental
business. Goodbye DVDs, hello on demand. Electronics and technology are the future of
globalization. Having people within the organization is were creativity can come from.
Taxi
The standard taxi is a traditional method of transportation. A traveler can get to a cab by
waiting in line at a taxi bay, hailing, or booking through telephone call or application. Taxis have
introduced simple meters that compute the price. The main technique for payment used in this
mode is money. This inability to improve and change with the circumstances prompted the ascent
XEROX, BLOCKBUSTER, AND TAXI SERVICE ENTREPRENEURIAL MISHAPS
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of Uber, a Transportation Network Company created to connect travelers and drivers through a
cell phone application (Bond, 2015). Its leverage on innovation has from that point forward turned
into a pattern in the worldwide public transport industry.
Uber is notable to be the taxi business’ “disruptor” (Bond, 2015). In any case, Uber is
beginning to win the taxi traveler industry, whether people like it or not. But once a taxi
organization or group had a lock-in off all cabs in a given jurisdiction, it had a minimal motivation
to modernize or improve its administrations. Both Uber and the taxi provide door to door service.
Uber, best takes after a taxi in a pre-booked market. In a regular pre-booked market, clients contact
an administrator or dispatch organization through the phone. Dissimilar to a hail market, a prebooked market gives clients the opportunity to pick a favored driver (Bond, 2015). This urges
operators to enhance their services keeping in mind the end goal to draw in loyal clients, prompting
the developing popularity of the organization.
XEROX, BLOCKBUSTER, AND TAXI SERVICE ENTREPRENEURIAL MISHAPS
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Reference
Blockbuster to End Domestic Retail, DVD By Mail Services, (2013), Retrieved from
www.blockbuster.com
Bond, A. T. (2015). An app for that: Local governments and the rise of the sharing economy.
Boyd, D., Business Innovation, (2014) Retrieved from Linda.com
Chesbrough, H., & Rosenbloom, R. S. (2002). The role of the business model in capturing value
from innovation: evidence from Xerox Corporation’s technology spin‐off
companies. Industrial and corporate change, 11(3), 529-555.
Gandel, S. (2010). How Blockbuster failed at failing. Time Magazine.
Hisrich, R. D., & Kearney, C. (2014). Building an Innovative and Entrepreneurial Organization.
In Managing Innovatin and Entrepreneurship (pp. 63-82). Thousand Oaks: Sage
Publications, Inc.
Heracleous, L., Papachroni, A., & Andriopoulos, C. (2017, April). Structural ambidexterity and
competency traps: Insights from Xerox PARC . Technological Forecasting and Social
Change, 117(), Pages 327–338. doi:http://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2016.11.014
Peterson, A., Netflix has won: Blockbuster is closing their last retail stores (2013)
The Washington Post, Retrieved from htps//search.proquest.com
XEROX, BLOCKBUSTER, AND TAXI SERVICE ENTREPRENEURIAL MISHAPS
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XEROX ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPY
Xerox Annotated Bibliography
1
2
XEROX ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPY
Annotated Bibliography
Chesbrough, H., & Rosenbloom, R. S. (2002). The role of the business model in capturing value
from
innovation:
evidence
from
Xerox
Corporation’s
technology
spin‐off
companies. Industrial and corporate change, 11(3), 529-555.
This article from an online journal suggest that technology can be used to leverage
economic value. This paper explores the inevitability of change in all industries. With
Xerox as an example, and by use of five articles that illustrate Xerox’s innovation
measurement and reward systems, creative problem solving, and innovation
implementation and evaluation. Chesborough and Rosenbloom (2002) researched on the
influence of business models to company’s innovation. Their company of focus was Xerox.
They looked into how business models attract value from early stages of technology
embracement. According to the researcher, business models are aimed to create a learning
experience at the organizational level; a logic that is supposed to connect the organization’s
potential with its real time economic output. The researchers look at how Xerox rose after
implementing a working business model in a bid to commercialize technology which was
already rejected by other companies that lead the market at that time. The business model
embraced assisted Xerox to analyze the potential of the rejected technologies, and they
were able to convert the potentials into economically empowering businesses. According
to the researchers, a long shadow was cast on the succeeding management for a long time,
and Xerox was able to join the technology elite through the effect of a successful business
model.
XEROX ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPY
3
This source is essential in providing details on how Xerox became creative. Some of the
details include how they used their new business model. The new business model was
able to evaluate spin-offs and come up with the best entrepreneurial decision that brought
the company to its current level. Some of the benefits, therefore, include longer revenues,
easier ways to evaluate chances through innovative measures, and profitability or growth.
Even though other spin-off technology companies have tried to copy this model, Xerox
has been the leading user of the blueprint idea.
Hisrich, R. D., & Kearney, C. (2014). Building an Innovative and Entrepreneurial Organization.
In Managing Innovation and Entrepreneurship (pp. 63-82). Thousand Oaks: Sage
Publications, Inc.
This book, a University of Phoenix online resource, provides detailed descriptions of
how to utilize innovation and entrepreneuship to develop a business plan. Organizations
managing change internally and considering entrepreneurship and innovation is key to
being successful, staying relevant, and remaining competitive amongst other
organizations within an industry. Through the examples of IKEA, and L’Oréal, chapters
5 and 6 detail how innovation and entrepreneurship cannot not rely on the status quo to
remain relevant. Both companies capitalized on a revolutionary concept, exploited those
concepts for everything they were worth, then expanded on the theme they created. In a
sense, they told the customer what they desired, then they provided it for the customer.
Heracleous, L., Papachroni, A., & Andriopoulos, C. (2017, April). Structural ambidexterity and
competency traps: Insights from Xerox PARC . Technological Forecasting and Social
Change, 117(), Pages 327–338. doi:http://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2016.11.014
XEROX ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPY
4
This article from an online journal validates Xerox’s constructive change by
understanding how ambidexterity at all levels of an organization assists in managing
tensions brought on by innovative change. Refusing to take necessary actions to
implement new and innovative approaches, organizations run the risk of shuttering their
doors when a more innovative competitor overtakes the market. Xerox identified several
obstacles to innovative change in its company, some of which were dominant logic and
focus on their core business, culture clash and politicking, separation and isolation and
disjointed inventions. The perfect Petri dish for Xerox innovation was their newly
established, the Palo Alto Research Center (PARC). However, Xerox realized that the
results they received form that specific site, did not easily translate to its already
established sites. That was a follow-on hurdle remaining to be overcome.
Rai, S., Duke, C., Lowe, V., Quan-Trotter, C., & Scheermesser, T. (2009). LDP Lean Document
Production—O.R.-Enhanced Productivity Improvements for the Printing
Industry. Interfaces, 39(1), 69-90. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/25622775
This article from an online journal focuses on Xerox’s development of Lean Document
Production (LDP). With business solutions being a $100 billion industry in America,
Xerox has taken this new concept to 100 sites with varying degrees of success, all
positive. With a four step process, beginning with data collection and ending with
implementation of the new process, Xerox moved purposefully along with their
innovative course correction. With a decrease in labor costs from 20%-30%, along with a
solid increase in production $20-$ 40 billion, Xerox has struck the perfect balance in
innovation to hold onto its market share and stay competitive.
XEROX ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPY
Wageman, R. (1997). Case study: Critical success factors for creating superb self-managing
teams at xerox. Compensation and Benefits Review, 29(5), 31-41. Retrieved from
https://search.proquest.com/docview/213665132?accountid=35812
This article from an online journal suggests that for teams to be effective, forwardthinking and responsive to change, they must be self-managing. This means that the
teams take responsibility for what they accomplish or fail to accomplish. This is
exemplified by Xerox’s Customer Service Teams. Teams which Xerox self-described as
their best and worst teams were compared and contrasted to see the differences in their
self- managing skills. To the leaders, the key element was how leaders, themselves,
coached their teams. Where coaching was in-depth, there was success. But, actual
empirical evidence proved that it was the design of the teams that made them successful.
5
XEROX ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPY
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