Open and Closed Innovation
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Open and Closed Innovation
The following research proposal reports on the relevance of open and close innovation in the renewable energy industry to help sustain the environment and meet the EPA policies for environmental protection. The energy industry is faced with several issues that delay performance ranging from economic to environmental issues that need to be addressed to improve profitability and performance while operating in the US (Aslani & Wong, 2014). Renewable energy products and processes are believed to be environment friendly; however, innovations are made to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the products. The closed innovations are carried out within the company, while the open innovations also include external issues.
Background of the study
The USA is at the age of operating in a circular economy with profitable and economically friendly forms of renewable energy. There are issues related to the quality and cost of coming up with upgraded and efficient products that are environmentally friendly (Beck & Martinot, 2016). There have been emerging cases in environmental pollution from the vehicles that use lead fuels in the USA, and this has put the lives of many people at risk. The fuel costs are also high since the USA depends on fuel imported from other countries, such as the Middle Eastern countries. TESLA company has, however, come in handy by innovating cost-effective and reliable electric cars that meet the current taste and demands in the country. Tesla company, however, has issues related to product quality and employee engagement, and this necessitates the need for closed and open innovation to improve firms’firms’ performance and corporate social responsibility in environmental sustainability.
Purpose of the innovation research
The innovation research is carried out to improve the USA’sUSA’s EPA measures by providing environmentally friendly cars that use electricity instead of lead fuels that cause environmental pollution. Likewise, the TESLA company aims to produce quality products that will meet customer demands and expectations, which is achievable through quality employee management (Van den Steen, 2015). Therefore, the innovation process seeks to find the internal and external factors that can help in improving employee motivation and concentration in their areas of work. At the same time improving the vehicle quality and minimizing production cost to meet customer demands.
The innovation process also helps the firm to outperform other companies that produce internal combustion engine-powered vehicle companies. TESLA also aims to improve the quality of batteries to a fast-charging battery that can last longer when in use so that their electric vehicle can have a stronger brand position than that of other rival firms while maintaining the environmental protection aspects.
In line with tesla’s mission objective for transmission in the energy production, transportation, and quality customer management, the innovation process ensures that employees are taken through a proper training process and new forms of benefits like scholarships provided to keep them motivated and focused on their task (Chen & Perez, 2018). Therefore, the employees are taken through the benchmark process in other well-performing companies and trained on the use of technology in producing renewable energy products and quality customer management practices that will help the firm maintain sustainable performance and profitability.
Despite the vehicle battery quality being improved for longer travels and solving the issue related to lead fuels, the TESLA company has also planned at improving the graphics and design of the vehicles, including the color and inner fittings to make the vehicles more attractive and appealing to customers. Innovations are also done to come up with low-cost batteries and other products through mutual relationships with reliable suppliers. The vehicles can be accessed by many people in the USA and used to reduce environmental pollution by fueling consuming vehicles by a greater percentage. The innovation process is also carried out to modify the vehicles into producing less or n sound when in use to reduce noise pollution; thus tesla company aims at coming up with a cost-effective vehicle maintenance program for their customers.
Plans for the research
The research process will be conducted through questioners, surveys, and observations from different populations and institutions within the company and in the country. The rationale for the quantitative research skill used in the research process is to provide long-term solutions for sustainable performance in the tesla company via statistical and mathematical research methods (Swift & Piff, 2014). The questionnaires will be given to employees to provide their suggestions on the innovation for employee management. At the same time, other external parties and customers are surveyed to get their remarks on product performance and conformity to environmental policies.
Face to face interviews is also conducted. For the analysis report, close to 80% of the employees support the innovation process, which entails improving employee benefits, incentives, and benchmark processes. The internal and external stakeholders also support that electric vehicles should be improved in their design to attract more customers. From surveying the sale prices, the electric vehicles have increased in sales by over 20% due to the improvement in battery quality and durability. Tesla company also approximates a profit of $2million increase in the next fiscal year by implementing the innovation plans.
References
Aslani, A., & Wong, K. F. V. (2014). Analysis of renewable energy development to power generation in the United States. Renewable Energy, 63, 153-161. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960148113004631
Beck, F., & Martinot, E. (2016). Renewable energy policies and barriers. http://biblioteca.cejamericas.org/bitstream/handle/2015/3308/Renewable_Energy_Policies_and_Barriers.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
Chen, Y., & Perez, Y. (2018). Business model design: lessons learned from Tesla Motors. In Towards a Sustainable Economy (pp. 53-69). Springer, Cham. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-79060-2_4
Swift, L., & Piff, S. (2014). Quantitative methods: for business, management, and finance. Macmillan International Higher Education. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=n0YdBQAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=quantitative+methods&ots=9xLDMEvROG&sig=IfnfBCBmI-vwUdZFPSUoF7Cm6kM
Van den Steen, E. (2015). Tesla Motors. Harvard Business School Publishing. https://www.sobtell.com/images/questions/1496215649-tesla_2.pdf