INTRODUCTION
Macy’s is a prominent departmental store in the United States of America. The company was founded in 1858. The main products of the company for customers in the competitive market are Clothing, footwear, accessories, bedding, furniture, jewelry, beauty products, and Houseware.
MACY’S AND INNOVATION
A Broad Overview
Disruptive innovation is the main initiative taken by the company. Disruptive innovation is a process of starting from a small product and ending up completely replacing the same product. It shows the remarkable evolution of the company. The purpose of the disruptive innovation is to gain and sustain the competitive advantage in both global and domestic markets. It has been observed that the company has a good product range for customers (Colvin and Derousseau). The innovative culture triggers the broad range of product lines. The company has created this innovative culture to streamline different ideas and thoughts. The innovative culture has helped the company to rationalize creative and innovative ideas. People depict the culture of togetherness, and it supports innovation as well. However, the main action of the company is disruptive innovation. Disruptive innovation is used by any company through the research and development process. For instance, after the development of the product, Macy’s likes to make some changes in accordance with the expectations of the customers, which are derived from the research and development process. It looks a lot like product evolvement, which justifies the disruptive innovation. Macy’s intention is quite clear. Through the disruptive innovation, it intends to justify the differentiation as well. Thus, all key factors revolve around the disruptive innovation in the innovative culture. It helped the company to come up with some good results. Interestingly, it also refers to the reverse innovation. It is a low-cost process for the company. The improvement of products in this department store also helped to attract customers and increase profitability. However, when the company takes the initiative, it usually faces different challenges. The firm has to understand these challenges or problems to sustain the business process or initiative (Dawson and Andriopoulos 108).
Specific Problems or Challenges
Macy’s is facing the problem, which is associated with innovation or disruptive innovation. Change resistance has become a major problem for the company, which also disrupts the innovative process. When the firm intends to make the change in the form of the disruptive innovation, people resist. They resist because they usually feel insecure, angry, and confused. The disruptive innovation sometimes makes people frustrated. People usually want the same process to make the job process simple and easy. On the other hand, the goals and objectives of the company to gain a competitive advantage are quite clear. The change process is integrated with the innovation process. However, the change resistance is a big barrier to sustain the innovation.
The second big problem, associated with innovation, is lack of understanding. The firm does not understand millennials. For Instance, the intention to get a competitive advantage through disruptive innovation is good. However, it is not just relevant in this contemporary business era. The company is just focusing on the product to enhance the visibility of innovation. It is a big issue because it does not meet the expectations of customers. People want to experience the new look of the department store. The current design of the store is quite boring compared to other stores. Thus, irrelevant innovation is the second major problem for the company, and it needs to be tackled to regain growth in the competitive landscape (Loeb).
Another issue is the declining financial performance (Dennis). Financial performance is not up to the mark, which can create problems or barriers in the development and innovation process. Due to inadequate financial resources, it seems tough to make changes and justify the innovation. Consequently, all these problems are linked to the innovation, and a pertinent solution is needed to make the difference.
Solutions to the Problems
Two solutions are to be streamlined to eliminate these mentioned problems. The executive leadership of the firm is responsible for the implementation process. The first solution to eliminate these problems is to make effective and innovative teams in different departments. These teams will be working in different departments such as sales, finance, human resource production, and marketing. Instead of focusing on product innovation, the whole business process will be part of the innovative process. It is the best approach that has been adopted by many retail chains and other department stores. The management will be able to demonstrate a glimpse of innovation in department stores to attract young adults.
To eliminate the change resistance, it is necessary for the management to create urgency in all departments. Creating the urgency and communicating the vision to all key stakeholders in the company can facilitate the effective implementation of innovation. Innovation is to be justified at all levels in an organization. Creating the urgency and communicating the vision can help stakeholders. Employees understand the change and purpose. It can increase the assertiveness of people and drive long-term benefits. The role of the management is quite visible in this process. It can create an innovative culture at all levels to align with the modern era innovation.
CONCLUSION
In the end, it is to conclude that Macy’s contains the capability to drive innovation effectively. However, some improvisations are needed to implement these solutions. Integration with new customers and market trends in the retail industry is necessary to be relevant or specific. Several problems can be eliminated through successful implementation of these solutions or strategies.
Work Cited
Colvin, Geoff and Ryan Derousseau. “Macy’s Falls for Innovation’s Trap.” Fortune. Fortune, 5 January 2017. Web. 11 November 2018. http://fortune.com/2017/01/05/macys-falls-for-innovations-trap/.
Dawson, Patrick and Costas Andriopoulos. Managing Change, Creativity and Innovation. SAGE Publications Ltd, 2014.
Dennis, Steve. “Will Macy’s Ignite A New Era Of Legacy Retailer Innovation?” Forbes. Forbes, 22 June 2018. Web. 11 November 2018. https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevendennis/
2018/06/22/will-macys-deals-ignite-a-new-era-of-legacy-retailer-innovation/#171f150f35c9.
Loeb, Walter. “Why Don’t Millennials Want to Shop at Macy’s?” Forbes. Forbes, 15 May 2015. Web. 11 November 2018. https://www.forbes.com/sites/walterloeb/
2015/05/15/why-dont-millennials-want-to-shop-at-macys/#720f22753223.
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