Tenney the First Step of the Innovation

TENNEY

The first step of the Innovation Business Design Model (IBDM) involves assessing the current situation through internal and environmental scanning to determine how to create a competitive advantage. From an external perspective, Tenney Electronics customers view the brand as not particularly innovative and moderately expensive. This indicates that Tenney does not have a secure competitive advantage in terms of establishing its value as a niche product for a specific demographic or a general price advantage relative to competitors. There is also a lack of awareness of the full, current range of Tenney products. The research indicates that unique value in terms of quality rather than price is more important for the company's core base of customers.

The second step is the identification of both problems and opportunities. One opportunity is that although the public views Tenney as less innovative than ideal, it is still seen as more innovative than most competitor brands. This could be developed into a possible competitive advantage. Such innovations according to the Strategies, Processes, Products, and Services (SPPS) model can occur in the strategy of the company (the degree to which it emphasizes quality or price relative to its competitors' market position); range of product offerings (creating new items for consumers to purchase); processes (finding ways to save money and pass value on to the consumer through streamlined processes); and services (offering new services to add to the continuing value of purchasing the product). Tenney decided to innovate in terms of its product development.

The third step is that of creative concept development: the new design needs to be substantially innovative to address the challenges and opportunities identified in the first steps of the process. It was determined that Tenney Electronics, once mainly known for automotive parts, should either develop a HD radio or MP3 player. Given the positive associations with radios consumers currently attach to the brand, the HD radio seemed to better capitalize upon the company's strengths of existing brand awareness. The new radio combined the existing innovative features associated with Tenney but answered consumer demand for enhanced quality (an area in which Tenney was deemed to be lacking).