Innovation

There is a lot of competition for companies focusing on zippers. For companies that are not popular or known to the public, it can be challenging for them to gain profitable sales. For most of the companies, it takes time for them to even be recognized by the rest of the consumers as there is an already dominating group running the market. However, there are always loyal consumers, who hold the business afloat. The aim of the project is to change this market projection for the Jiekai Zipper company. The innovative solution in this is to create decent work and economic growth, promote gender equality, and promotion innovation.

One way to do this is through differentiating itself from the rest of the companies. Differentiation strategy ensures that a company has one principle or rule that can help identify itself in the market. The differentiation strategy that is used in this project is the promotion of gender equality in its company. This will help to improve the brand image of the company. Gender equality involves showing the customers that the company shows responsibility to its employees, as much as it is looking to make profits. Employee perception can be a strategy to improve the brand image. Also, equality in workplace employment in gender consideration is outlined in the Civil Acts. Starting this trend would differentiate it from other companies.

The company will also employ the low-cost provider strategy. With the company’s major headquarters being in China the company can look to expand in other countries, especially in the developing regions. In such an environment, it can be easy to introduce competition, as the products will be offered at a slightly lower price than the locally afforded zippers. This will create a competitive advantage for the company.

Inspiration

The main inspiration for the leader was to create growth for the company. Having run the company for almost two decades, there was a need to move the company to the next level. This was only possible by engaging innovative practices to help the company move from one position to another. The leader was very ready to contribute in all ways towards the improvement and growth of sales for the company.

The leader was also motivated by the need to create a difference in the industry. For a long time, the industry was stagnated with only a few key players recognized at the top. There was lacking competition, which meant that the companies at the top had gotten comfortable. This also means that lack of competition of the top could lead to low-quality products or even counterfeit goods as the market sales, profits and trends are already predetermined. There was a need to shake the market and create competition, which would improve both the quality of the company’s products and also other companies. Competition is healthy in maintaining a good market economy.

Overall impact

The innovation brought different effects for the company. The short-term effect of the innovation would be the inclusion of a more equalized employment system for the company. The company emphasized the need to ensure equality in its hiring, which led to freshly hired employees, creating an equal number of male and female employees. This, however, did not mean that it would fire some of the previous staff. The only thing they did was hire more female employees to equate the gender. Also, there were random campaigns selling the idea for the people to identify with their strategy, and also encourage other employers to take on this approach.

The long-term effect would be felt with the introduction of new branches in developing countries using the cost leadership strategy. While this was not a small innovation, the company would enjoy a long-term effect of the profitability this would bring. The cost of establishment would be high, which is why it would take some time. However, after its establishment, the company would flourish under lower prices and cover all the costs incurred.

The evidence for the occurrence of this is from the case studies and research conducted for both strategies. The research showed that consumers were likely to consider the ethics in the employment of a company when they are purchasing their goods. Also, the cost leadership strategy was one of the leading strategies in the profitability of a business.

Business benefit

With the proposed differentiation and cost leadership strategies, there are various benefits for the company. For one, the differentiation strategy will lead to the hiring of new employees. It will not only be the hiring of new employees but the hiring of female employees who help to contribute towards the gender equality rule in the civil acts. Also, there will be no employee layoff to facilitate this, and therefore, other employees will be retained despite the addition.

For the cost leadership strategy, there will be the opening of new markets. The idea is to expand the services of the company to a global level where they will tap markets in developing countries. We chose the developing countries for this because there are limited choices of such companies in these countries. Therefore, introducing another brand would increase the choices that the customers in these countries have. It would also save on some of their spendings since the company will be a cost leader, which means it will provide its goods at slightly lower prices hence winning more consumers.

The introduction of new branches in developing countries will also increase competitiveness in these countries. This will prompt other brands to improve their quality or lower their costs of production to accommodate the low-price set by the Jiekai company. This will be an advantage to the consumer.

Social and environmental benefit

There are many benefits accrued to this innovation. One advantage is that the innovation creates job opportunities for the unemployed. This is, therefore, a solution for unemployment to the hired group of employees in the company. Also, considering that the initiative is towards the employment of women to ensure equality in the workplace, it solves the problem of inequalities in the workplace. Many workplaces, especially in this century do not consider the place of women in these companies, and the diversities they would bring by being in the company. This is, therefore, a beneficial step for community activists towards equality in the workplace.

Another benefit is that introduction of a new brand with a cost leadership strategy can reduce the cases of consumer exploitation. In some developed countries, research showed that some brands tend to operate in a monopoly. Monopoly businesses are known to exploit the consumer since they are the only provider of this service in the area. The introduction of a new brand would mean that competition is introduced, and hence the market forces can now be reformed. The price of the products will be determined by the demand and supply in the market.

The differentiation strategy also encourages other companies to respect the equality of employment in the workplace. Therefore, this campaign can help in the adoption of equality in many workplaces. The employment of equal male and female employees in the companies would gradually lead to equal pays, which is still a problem in today’s workplaces. This cause-consequence process would eventually bring benefits to the entire business environment and society.

Interview

Yuejie Huang, The Managing Director of the Zhejiang zippers company