CASE STUDY: CONTINUOUS INNOVATION AT CISCO SYSTEMS

Submitted by Juhi Shakya Madhuri Virde Prachi Shirvas Pushpa Tekam Sapna Verma Sonam Paraswani

Continuous Innovation
Innovation is what gives life to your business initially, and keeps it alive in the long term. Modest, gradational, ongoing upgrades or enhancements of existing technologies or products; continuous innovation generally does not fundamentally change the dynamics of an industry, nor does it typically require end users to change behavior. Continuous innovation is required to survive in all businesses, beginning with startup, and increasing in importance as the business matures. Sustainable innovation is really the only sustainable competitive advantage. But innovation is hard.

Innovation Process
One of the easy to remember approach found in Roberts Rules of Innovation: A 10-Step Program for Corporate Survival, by Robert F. Brands. Inspire New product development process No risk, no innovation Ownership Value creation Accountability Training and coaching Idea management Net result and reward Observe and measure

INTRODUCTION OF CISCO
Cisco Systems, Inc. is an American-based multinational corporation that designs and sells consumer electronics, networking and communications technology and services. Cisco is one of the world's biggest technology corporations. Headquartered in San Jose, California, Cisco has more than 65,000 employees and annual revenue of US$40.0 billion as of 2010. The stock was added to the Dow Jones Industrial Average on June 8, 2009, and is also included in the S&P 500 Index the Russell 1000 Index, NASDAQ100 Index and the Russell 1000 Growth Stock Index.

CONTINUOUS INNOVATION AT CISCO SYSTEMS

The Right Products at the Right Time Because time to market is important for success, you need to speed product development and get to market faster. Connect and collaborate with suppliers, partners, and customers to satisfy market demands and improve project success Provide updated information, make design changes, and respond quickly to shifting market conditions Improve development efficiency by securely sharing real-time project status and information across multiple functions and locations

BENEFITS OF CONTINUOUS INNOVATION

Reduce time to market for new products and services
Create sustainable competitive advantage Increase the rate and market impact of innovation Reduce product development costs Increase product pipeline success rate Improve new product vitality Increase product quality Expand and protect intellectual property and patent portfolios Drive successful new product introduction

SWOT
Strengths
* Asset leverage * Market share leadership * Strong management team * Strong brand equity * Strong financial position * Well planned Channel Network * Technology Leadership * Human Network

 Weaknesses
* Poor supply chain * High pricing * Constant re-engineering of network engineers (availability) * High risk in a company relying solely on Cisco

Opportunities
* Innovation * Product and services expansion * Market of Airline Industry * Reusing existing Cisco gear to act as mobile POPs

 Threats
*Economic slowdown *Price wars *Product substitution *IBM and Dell *Margin erosion *Consolidation Trend *Consumer loyalty

RECOMMDATIONS
Improve Supply Chain Decrease price Prepare strategies to compete with Dell & IBM Prepare strategies to face economic slowdown