Non-Incremental Innovations Effects: Procter & Gamble Case

Abstract

Background

Introducing innovations into the context of an organisation, especially the one that has a well-established presence in the target market, is a challenging task, the use of non-incremental innovations in the realm of an global organisation such as P&G being especially difficult. Therefore, the current research strives to answer the following questions:

1. What are the forms of non-incremental innovations (NIIs) in the FMCG industry?
2. What are the forms of non-incremental innovations at Proctor and Gamble?
3. How effective areWhat effects have the non-incremental innovations NIIs had on buyers’ attitudes at Proctor and Gamble?
4. Has the recent application of NIIs affected buyers’ attitudes in any way?
5. What recommendations can be given for the for the P&G company, as per research findings?

The questions listed above are important since the answers to these questions shed light on the issue of NIIs in the context of a modern organisation. Particularly, these questions help identify whether NIIs are used in the company, how they are implemented, and what effects they have on retaining customers. Thus, answering these questions will help reach the goal of the research, i.e., defining the relationships between consumer attitudes and NIIs adoption. The questions listed above help answer the key research question, which is: How effective are NIIs in improving customer attitudes at P&G?

Methodology

To answer the research question mentioned above, one will have to consider using a case study as the means of determining the effects that NIIs may have on an global organisation. A qualitative design has to be used to investigate the subject matter and explore the outcomes of using NIIs as an additional means of promoting change in a company.

Findings

The research results show that there is a need to incorporate NIIs into the design of global organisations such as P&G. In light of the fact that the global economy poses new challenges to companies on a daily basis, it is essential to make sure that a firm should be ready to handle the specified issues. Herein lies the gravity of adopting NIIs; providing a company with enough flexibility, they serve as the tools for managing new challenges in a manner as efficient and expeditious as possible.

Conclusions

Therefore, it is crucial to promote NIIs to increase customer retention levels. With the application of NIIs, an global organisation such as P&G will be able to respond to the changes in the global market within a comparatively short amount of time and provide the target audience with the outcomes that they require. Furthermore, meeting the highest quality standards will become a possibility once NIIs are incorporated into the company’s design. Thus, the corporate values and the leadership strategy must be reinforced so that the negative effects of NIIs could be reduced and that their application could contribute to a rise in customer attraction and retention levels.

Outline

1. Introduction: Non-Incremental Innovations (NII) as a Crucial Component of Procter & Gamble (P&G)
   1. Contextualising the Research Subject: Background
      1. Defining NII: their effects and significance
      2. Customer Attitude: Factors, Forces, and Trends
      3. Procter & Gamble: history and analysis
   2. Problem Statement: NIIs, Their Significance, and Effects
   3. Research Questions: Defining the Role of NII
   4. Aims and Objectives: Exploring the Significance of NII
2. Literature Review: NII, P&G, and the Effects of NII in the Target Context
   1. Non-incremental innovations at FMCG industry
   2. Non-Incremental Innovations at Proctor and Gamble
   3. Consumer aAttitude: Factors, Forces, and Trends
   4. Current Knowledge Gaps: NIIs and Their Significance
   5. Theoretical Premises: Through the Lens of the Induced Innovation Theory
   6. Conceptual Framework: Developing a Comprehensive Approach
3. Research Design and Methodology: How the Study Is Conducted
   1. Research Philosophy: Positivism as the Foundation for the Analysis
   2. Research Approach: A Deductive Framework as the Means of Exploring the Nature of the Problem
   3. Research Purpose: An Exploratory Perspective on the Effects of NII at P&G
   4. Research Strategy: Survey (the Environment of P&G)
   5. Data Collection: Retrieving Essential Information
      1. Questionnaires among the company managers as the primary data: a personal perspective
      2. Literature review: studying the available reports as the secondary data
   6. Research Instrument: a Survey with Three Open-ended Questions
   7. Sample Selection: How the Sample Will Be Taken
      1. Target population: company managers
      2. Sample size: identifying the formula
      3. Sampling techniques: convenience sampling as the primary tool
   8. Data Analysis Techniques: Thematic Analysis and Other Frameworks
      1. Thematic analysis: identifying the essential data
      2. Data analysis tools: coding as the way of determining general tendencies
      3. Limitations: data subjectivity, small samples, and other issues
      4. Ethical considerations: informed consent and other issues
4. Results, Analysis, and Discussion: NIIs as the Crucial Tool for Maintaining P&G’s Efficacy
   1. Crucial Findings: Obvious Connection between NIIs and Customers’ Attitudes toward P&G’sP&G’s Performance
   2. Analysis: Effects of NIIs Adopted in the P&G Environment
   3. Discussion: Significance of NIIs at P&G and Possible Strategies for Their Implementation
5. Conclusion and Recommendations: Further Steps to Be Taken at P&G to Encourage NIIs
   1. Summary and Recommendations: What Needs to Be Addressed
   2. Proposal Plan: Getting P&G’s Priorities Straight
   3. Limitations and Possible Side Effects: Reluctance among Staff Members and Other Concerns
   4. Implications for Further Research: Exploring Alternative Strategies and Means of Managing Limitations
6. Appendix A: Questionnaires
7. Appendix B: Informed Consent Letter
8. Appendix C: Induced Innovation Theory
9. Appendix D: Academic Integrity Statement

Introduction: Non-Incremental Innovations (NII) as a Crucial Component of Procter & Gamble (P&G)

The significance of innovations in the environment of the modern economy cannot possibly be underrated. Innovations serve as the driving force behind the development of companies worldwide. However, non-incremental innovations (NIIs) are typically viewed as potentially dangerous to global companies, i.e., the organisations that have been operating in the global economy environment for a significant amount of time. Exploring the effects that NIIs have on global companies, particularly, defining the positive outcomes and the means of magnifying the benefits, should be viewed necessary to retain customers and attract new ones.

Contextualising the Research Subject: Background

Defining NII: their effects and significance

The gravity of failing to introduce innovations to an organisation is quite big, especially in the context of the contemporary globalised environment, where innovative thinking defines a company’s success among the target population, as well as different aspects of its performance, including the efficacy of supply chain management processes (SCM), staff motivation levels, etc. (Barrett et al. 2015). However, it would be wrong to claim that any innovative ideas have an immediate positive effect on an organisation; quite on the contrary, positive changes are typically supported by an appropriate corporate philosophy (Tamosaitiene et al. 2014).

Traditionally, the innovative ideas that align with a firm’s system of values and standards are referred to as incremental innovations, whereas the ones that are not predisposed by an existing system of beliefs and values are termed as non-incremental ones (NIIs) (Habidin et al. 2015). Therefore, NIIs can be defined as the changes that are not tied to the company’s current system of values or its change management process; instead, they imply random alterations that are introduced into the company due to a change in the market environment, customers’ demands, etc.

Customer Attitude: Factors, Forces, and Trends

Customer attitude as another crucial variable must also be explored to shed light on the way in which NIIs affect the specified variable. According to the existing definition, the phenomenon of a customer attitude is a tendency to treat a particular product in the way that is shaped by buyers’ beliefs, systems of values, and emotional experiences associated with a particular product or brand (Repi, Massie & Rumokoy 2017).

Therefore, exploring the issue of customer attitude requires an insight into the culture-related specifics of the target audience. Herein lies the significance of a profound analysis of the issues associated with the gender-related specifics of the target population. Furthermore, it is essential to analyse the way in which a company communicates with the identified demographics; particularly, the tools for establishing a connection with potential customers to receive feedback about the satisfaction levels thereof, the changes in demand in the identified market, etc. must be identified and analysed accordingly.

Studies show that there is a tangible connection between the phenomenon of social intelligence (SI) and the alterations in customer attitudes toward a particular product or service (Needham 2013). By definition, SI is the awareness of one’s own identity and its constituents, as well as the essential characteristics of other people’s identities (Needham 2013). Combined with emotional intelligence, the identified characteristics allow customers to choose the brands that appeal to them on a personal and cultural level.

A detailed study of the specified characteristics, in turn, helps an organization create the tools that contribute to a gradual rise in customers’ interest and enthusiasm about experiencing the promoted product or service (Lehmann et al. 2015). Therefore, the issues associated with the level of self-awareness among the target population, as well as the tools used by the company to enhance them and analyse the essential culture-related characteristics of the customers also need to be explored.

In the context of the case under analysis, one must admit that the level of social intelligence affects P&G’s success in maintaining consumer attitudes consistently positive to a considerable extent due to the need to appeal to people of different cultures in the environment of a multicultural global market. Herein lies the significance of using NIIs, which help shape the company’s promotion strategies and marketing tools so that the brand image could become appealing to all demographics.

When considering the factors that shape consumers’ attitudes in the context of the target industry (FMG), one must admit that the correlation between quality and price remains one of the primary driving forces behind the choices made by buyers (Lehmann et al. 2015). According to a recent study, people see FMCG products as essential for their daily life, yet the variability and the amount of supply allows buyers to develop a rather high level of bargaining power (Danziger 2017).

Consequently, the attitude that customers typically have toward FMCG products, in general, and P&G products, in particular, can be defined as rather complex. Consumers’ attitudes are shaped by an array of factors from cultural to environmental. For example, the propensity toward buying environmentally friendly products can be considered as a current trend among FMCG buyers (Lehmann et al. 2015). Similarly, in the FMCG industry, customers tend to search for the items that align with their concept of beauty and hygiene. While most buyers consider purchasing FMCG products as a necessity, their choices vary depending on their opinions.

For example, people from lower societal tiers see FMCG products, in general, and P&G ones, in particular, solely as the means of maintaining their hygiene (Danziger 2017). Others, in turn, may view FMCG and P&G products as the items that they can not only use for hygienic purposes but also enjoy, hence the demand for products with nice flavours and extra properties (Danziger 2017).

At present, the attitudes of most customers toward P&G and its products can be defied as neutral. On the one hand, customers seem to react positively to the company adopting eco-friendly strategies and focusing on environmentalism, as well as using principles of diversity in foreign markets (Danziger 2017). On the other hand, there is evident miscommunication between the company and its customers as far as the pricing issue and the choice of brands is concerned.

Buyers tend to seek the products that are durable, efficient, and preferably cheap, whereas P&G tends to produce the goods that are highly priced because of its constituents and properties (Danziger 2017), hence a change in consumer attitude. At present, a significant portion of P&G customers views the company as lacking competence and communication skills for understanding changes in demand (Danziger 2017).

Procter & Gamble: history and analysis

P&G has been known as the producer of goods for personal care and hygiene, as well as pharmaceuticals and the associated items (Napolitano 2014). Founded in 1837 in the U.S., P&G has undergone significant changes to adjust to the demands of the globalised economic environment.

With more than 100 brands in its portfolio, the company is currently represented across the globe and is enjoying wide popularity. According to the recent market data, the pace of the P&G’s shares’ growth could use more consistency, with the current share price being set at the $92.45 mark (‘Procter & Gamble Co.’ 2017)(Procter & Gamble Co. 2017). Nevertheless, the organisation landed at the 89 spot in the Forbes list of the world’s most innovative organisations and has been credited as the America’s 17^th top public firms (Forbes 2017).

Much to its credit, P&G has been attempting at incorporating innovations into its design. According to a recent report, the firm has included the idea of a consistent improvement of its services and products as the foundation for its functioning (P&G’s 2016 annual report 2016). However, P&G has been using NIIs rather inconsistently (Brown & Anthony 2011). The reasons for the specified choice are quite obvious; without a proper platform on which innovations are implemented, a firm is likely to lose its customers due to a drastic change in its functioning (Brown & Anthony 2011). However, P&G may need NIIs to make fast and efficient changes to its design so that it could align with new demands (Kell & Lurie-Luke 2015). Therefore, the current approach toward managing NIIs could use significant improvements.

The organisation has been focusing on building customer loyalty as the pathway to attaining global recognition and enhancing its success in the target market (Wright 2015). There have been countless programs designed to attract new clients and retain the old ones by offering new opportunities and providing numerous benefits. While the effects of the programs mentioned above have been varying, there has been a strong indication that P&G is aimed at designing the framework for meeting its customers’ demands by offering innovative solutions.

Problem Statement: NIIs, Their Significance, and Effects

Global organisations, i.e., the firms that have established a rather strong and positive presence in the environment of the global economy, usually refrain from incorporating NIIs into the context of their environment since, without proper support from the organisation’s value system, the redesign of certain processes may disrupt the rest of a company’s operations and, thus, jeopardise its success and, possibly, existence (Colombelli, Krafft & Vivarelli 2016).

That being said, NIIs have a very powerful potential that needs to be explored and fulfilled in the realm of the global economy so that the firms operating in it could experience consistent growth and explore new opportunities (‘Procter & Gamble Co.’ 2017)(Procter & Gamble Co. 2017). Particularly, it is expected that NIIs may provide the boost that will enable organisations to excel in their performance and challenge themselves, pushing the envelope even further (Wright 2015).

Herein lies the problem of the study; while being admittedly necessary, NIIs may have a detrimental effect on global organisations such as P&G (Brown & Anthony 2011). Therefore, it is crucial to explore positive and negative effects of deploying NIIs in the context of an organisation such as P&G, i.e., a company that has a well-established presence in the target market. To be more exact, it is crucial to determine the impact that NIIs have on customer attitudes, in general, and customer loyalty to the brand, in particular (P&G annual report 2016).

Research Questions: Defining the Role of NII

Even though there has been a noticeable propensity toward enhancing the role of innovations in the realm of P&G, the organisation has been using incremental innovations for the most part as the means to an end. Being an global firm that may sustain significant damages from half-baked ideas, P&G seems to have a good reason to avoid NIIs. However, the time and resources that it takes to introduce changes to the organisation may take their toll and trigger a drop in the quality of the products, thus, causing the current customers to reconsider their choices (P&G n.d.). Therefore, the adoption of NIIs as possible solutions to some of the issues that need an urgent resolution may be the answer to some of the P&G’s problems associated with change management. Therefore, the research questions can be formulated in the following way:

1. What effects do non-incremental innovations have on the FMCG industry?
2. What effects do non-incremental innovations have on P&G?
3. How do non-incremental innovations influence customer attitudes toward P&G and its brands?
4. Has the recent application of NIIs affected buyers’ behaviours in any way?
5. What recommendations can be given for P&G as per research findings?

It is crucial to provide guidelines concerning the further application of NIIs in the context of the P&G environment so that further progress could become a possibility for the company. Otherwise, P&G will not be able to develop the competitive advantage that it will need to handle increasingly high rates of competition in the global market. Therefore, a comprehensive model for managing the needs of an organisation that has a well-established presence in the FMCG industry and needs including NIIs into its design will be provided.

Studying the effects of NIIs on changes in customer attitudes toward the products and services provided by P&G, in its turn, can be viewed as the primary research goal. The aim of the study is, therefore, to forecast the ways in which the application of NIIs into the design of P&G’s operations will help improve the current attitudes among customers toward P&G’s brand products, as well as examine the changes in the loyalty and customer retention rates.

The general question to which the current study seeks to find the answer can be framed in the following way: “How effectiveness are the non-incremental innovations at Procter & Gamble as far as customer attitudes toward the company and its products are concerned?” By answering the question provided above, one will shed light on the key aspects of functioning in the global FMCG market. Thus, a better understanding of the challenges faced by P&G and similar companies will be possible. Furthermore, strategies for a better direction of change management in the company will be designed.

Aims and Objectives: Exploring the Significance of NII

At present, it is crucial to define the nature of NIIs, as well as their possible effects on the performance of P&G in the environment of the global economy. Because of the nature of NIIs, particularly, the fact that they have little to do with the system of a company’s values, its philosophy, leadership strategies, and quality standards to begin with, it is imperative to explore both positive and negative implications of applying them to the environment of P&G and retaining customers. Seeing that there might be drastic side effects along with ostensible improvements, a scrutiny of the subject matter is required. Therefore, the following objectives will have to be attained so that the role of NIIs in P&G could be inspected properly:

• Studying the NIIs in the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry;

To explore the effects that NIIs have on customer attitudes, including changes in their satisfaction and loyalty levels, one will have to consider the phenomenon of NIIs in the context of the FMCG industry, in general. Thus, a better understanding of the effects that NIIs have on the choices made by customers is possible.

• Identifying NIIs, the method of their implementation, and the effects that they have on customers’ attitudes in the context of the P&G environment;
• Studying the effectiveness of non-incremental innovations at P&G;

To make sure that the context of applying NIIs is defined accurately, one must study the essential characteristics of P&G, especially as far as its value system and approach toward change management are concerned. As a result, the levels of flexibility and motivation required to carry out the necessary changes will be identified precisely.

• Studying the nature of NIIs so that their effects on the change in the attitudes among customers toward the adoption of NIIs at P&G could be assessed accordingly;

To make NIIs fit the context of P&G, one will have to explore the nature thereof and, thus, determine possible hiccups in putting the framework to practice. As a result, the very plausibility and sensibility of promoting NIIs at P&G as the means of retaining customers will be proven.

• Providing recommendations for P&G as per research findings;

Seeing that the current design of the organisation does not allow for a significant change in the strategy of managing change, it will be crucial to provide instructions concerning the redesign of the existing innovation management framework and incorporating NIIs into its context.

Therefore, the aim of the research is to study the ways in which NIIs shape consumers’ attitudes using the scenario of P&G as an example. Thus, the opportunities for improving the quality of services and products delivered to customers will be created. Furthermore, the very concept of NIIs may be reinvented after the effects thereof on customer attitudes are studied.

Seeing that NIIs are currently viewed as undesirable due to possible disruptions that they may cause in the context of a company operating in the global market, NIIs are not typically viewed as the tools for changing customer attitudes, i.e., rebranding products, shaping the existing marketing strategies, etc. A detailed overview of the effects that NIIs have on the changes in consumer attitudes, particularly, the increase in the levels of brand loyalty, will allow proving that NIIs must be viewed as a crucial addition to the set of marketing tools used by any organization operating in the global market.

Literature Review: NII, P&G, and the Effects of NII in the Target Context

Non-incremental innovations at FMCG industry

In the increasingly challenging environment of the global market, flexibility and the ability to apply changes to the environment of an organisation based on new demands of customers is crucial to the successful operation of a company. Without the skills allowing an FMCG firm to alter its services, products, and business operations, it may face significant issues with maintaining the quality of its products and services high.

Particularly, complications associated with transportation, information management, communication, and other crucial aspects of SCM, are expected unless an organisation displays the ability to use NIIs successfully. The latter, in turn, allow managing the problems occurring in the process of SCM more efficiently. While NIIs are not linked directly to a company’s value system, they offer extensive opportunities for managing the issues that occur randomly in the target market environment and, therefore, cannot be predicted. As a result, the companies operating in the FMCG industry can adjust their processes so that their products and services could meet new demands (Frow et al. 2015).

The specified aspect of NIIs is especially important for FMCG organisations due to the possible issues related to the quality of products, as well as customer safety and satisfaction levels. For instance, after a certain component of a specific personal hygiene product is proven inefficient or even harmless, an FMCG company can use NIIs to alter its production process so that the identified component could be replaced with an alternative without affecting the performance levels negatively (Levine, Agogino, & & Lesniewski 2014).

The fast and effective response produced by an FMCG organisation to meet newly set standards and the ever-changing demands of the target population hinges on the deployment of NIIs to a considerable degree, as a recent study indicates (Ravichandran & Ramasamy 2016). Particularly, the research indicates that the application of NIIs in the realm of the global market serves as the platform for constructing a new and improved model of supply chain management (SCM) by redesigning the existing procurement approaches and introducing new ways of carrying out essential transactions.

The improvement of the SCM infrastructure helps make the transportation processes much more efficient by reducing time, costs, and possible damages to raw materials, end products, etc. Consequently, the quality of the produced goods rises exponentially, leading to a significant improvement in customer attitudes, particularly an increase in satisfaction and loyalty rates among the target population (Staal & Tookey 2015).

Unfortunately, NIIs also have several flaws that may hamper the process of the FMCG industry growth and serve as severe impediments to increasing the levels of customer loyalty. The drop in efficacy of the risk aversion strategies adopted by an FMCG organisation that deploys NIIs can be deemed as the primary area of concern when considering the incorporation of NIIs into the framework for a firm.

Furthermore, the adoption of an NII typically implies that a corresponding old technique should be treated as obsolete and, thus, must be abandoned immediately. The specified approach toward managing operational strategies does not seem sensible in the environment where flexibility is the greatest asset that a company can have. By refuting the idea of using the strategies that were deployed before the adoption of new ones, the members of the FMCG industry deprive themselves of essential corporate resources.

Some of the approaches that a company has been using for quite a while may have worn out their welcome by the time that NIIs are introduced into the company’s design, yet some of the frameworks may still be viable. However, even though some of the concepts remain quite legitimate, NIIs compel the members of the FMCG industry to abandon them and make way for new approaches that still require testing and adjustment. As a result, NIIs may create impediments in the process of running an FMCG organisation, especially a global one.

It could be argued that the incorporation of NIIs into the realm of global companies such as P&G must be viewed as a necessity since the specified changes are bound to contribute to a consistent rise in the enhancement of communication between customers and organizations and, therefore, enhancing the quality of the end products and services, yet the incorporation of NIIs into the organizational environment must be implemented in the context of a flexible corporate strategy and rigid corporate values. Thus, the further changes will not affect companies negatively (e.g., disrupt the principles of decision-making in the corporate environment, alter the existing framework of carrying out the information management processes, etc.

It can be suggested that the introduction of NIIs into the design of the organization will have a direct effect on customers’ attitudes since the use of NIIs will help locate changes in demand faster and, thus, offer improved goods and services faster. In other words, the adoption of NIIs will supposedly contribute to a positive change in customers’ attitudes. With the active use of NIIs in the environment of an FMCG organization such as a drastic change in people’s perception of FMCG products.

Particularly, the introduction of NIIs will ostensibly convince people that FMCG products should serve as not only the means of addressing hygienic issues but also carry aesthetic elements. Therefore, a shift in customers’ attitude toward P&G’s products as not merely expensive versions of basic FMCG items but also as the goods that provide better outcomes and are, overall, more pleasant to use, will be possible (Danziger 2017). The specified relation points to the evident link in the customers’ attitudes and the use of NIIs.

Furthermore, one must keep in mind that the process of change implies that a specific model of interactions should be introduced not only within an organisation but also outside of it. Put differently, the framework for change must encourage the creation of intra-organisational links along with inter-organisational ones (Yun et al. 2015). Thus, the role of an innovator is crucial to the overall efficacy of the deployed changes, as a recent study points out (Jan et al. 2016).

By including the role of a technological gatekeeper into the list of the managers’ responsibilities, one will be able to make sure that the process of promoting innovation in the context of an organisation should be levelled and kept consistent: “Gatekeepers establish an information and communication exchange network, filter the information needed, assemble information from internal and external sources, and provide it to their organisation and its workgroups” (Gemunden, Salomo & Holzle 2007, p. 409).

Therefore, the introduction of innovative approaches to the design of an organisation requires the creation of new roles so that staff members could cope with new responsibilities and handle the threats that may occur during the implementation of NIIs. Thus, it will be reasonable to assume that the implementation of NIIs in the context of the FMCG environment will cause the industry to experience both a massive improvement and a significant shock because of the severity of changes that will have to be implemented in the context of the industry.

It should also be borne in mind that resource scarcity may affect the implementation of NIIs to a considerable degree (Beninger & Francis 2015). A recent study points to the need of reconsidering the existing resource management framework so that NIIs could be applied successfully (Hitt, Carnes & Xu 2016). The identified phenomenon can be explained by the fact that larger companies have a more rigid system of change management than small and medium entrepreneurship (SME).

As a result, large corporations such as P&G may have troubles including NIIs into their design as opposed to comparatively small firms: “However, at the same time, other researchers have claimed that SMEs are better able to introduce radical innovations than larger and more established firms, since they display greater entrepreneurial activity” (Woschke, Haase & Kratzer 2017, p. 197).

Nevertheless, the effects that NIIs have on the FMCG industry when applied correctly are beyond impressive. The use of NIIs in the FMCG industry context can also be viewed as the tool for revolutionising the industry and making a huge difference in the target environment.

Non-Incremental Innovations at Proctor and Gamble

As stressed above, P&G has attempted at deploying NIIs to address some of the problems currently faced as far as a positive change in customer attitudes is concerned, yet there seems to be no system yet in implementing NIIs in the environment of the organisation. Particularly, the fact that the company has been focusing mostly on using incremental innovations as the means of managing changes within its environment should be mentioned as one of the current problems.

On the one hand, the design of a change management framework that can be utilised on a regular basis should be viewed as an impressive contribution to building a strong competitive advantage. On the other hand, the approach based on incremental innovations does not allow the company to adjust to random and unpredictable changes in the FMCG market; as a result, a range of opportunities for addressing the needs of the target market are missed (Papadopoulos et al. 2015).

One must give the company credit for settling between the adoption of radical innovations and the focus on institutionalising change. Instead of shifting to one of the extremes and, thus, restricting the number of opportunities that it could enjoy in the global economy environment, P&G found the solution that allowed it introduce rather daring and even game-changing ideas into its design without having to sacrifice its values or company’s philosophy. Particularly, the adoption of open innovations as the source for meeting the needs of target customers should be mentioned as a rather elegant solution to the issue. While being a temporary tool for managing NIIs, the use of open innovations as a change management technique has been working quite well for the company up until recently.

It is assumed that the adoption of incremental innovations is bound to affect customers’ attitudes toward the products created and offere to target population by P&G to a considerable extent. At present, the attitudes of the target demographic toward P&G products can be defined as rather indifferent (Swamynathan 2018).

People typically see P&G as another organization that offers products for personal care and, therefore, tend to overlook some of the more expensive products that they could use to improve the quality of care and, therefore, their health (Swamynathan 2018). It is believed that the promotion of NIIs will convince people that P&G’s products stand out of teh rest of the FMCG market. Consequently, a rapid improvement in consumers’ attitudes toward the products offered by P&G can be expected.

At present, NIIs are managed with the help of the scaling design thinking model (Levine, Agogino & Lesniewski 2014). By definition, the specified concept implies that traditional workshops should be discarded as the method of promoting change-oriented thinking in the organisational environment; instead, design thinking (DT) should be adopted as the model for decision-making and managing company-associated issues. It is remarkable that DT is not a recent concept, yet it allows promoting innovations in the context of any organisation successfully due to the emphasis on prototyping as the simplest and the most available tool for enhancing change (Masters & Thorold 2017).

The DT framework that P&G is currently using can be considered a platform on which a more comprehensive approach toward change management can be built and where NIIs can be deployed as one of the tools for enhancing positive alterations and increasing the quality of the end product. Particularly, the report indicates that the incorporation of prototypes into the change management system used at P&G allows modelling most of the possible scenarios that may occur in the company setting, thus, allowing the firm to be flexible and handle emerging issues in a manner as efficient and expeditious as possible (Kolko 2015).

The number of projects based on NIIs, in turn, is comparatively small in P&G, which makes it rather vulnerable in the context of the global economy. With new organisations delivering products and services based on the active usage of disruptive innovations, there is a threat that P&G may finally lose its appeal to the target demographics and become quite outdated. In fact, the current approach to managing change in the organisation can be defined as the propensity toward encouraging low-impact alterations to end products (Papadopoulos et al. 2015).

On the one hand, the specified approach allows retaining loyal customers that are used to certain types of brands and products offered by the company and are unwilling to try new options. On the other hand, by using the identified approach toward NIIs, P&G refuses from a plethora of inspiring opportunities, including a chance to reinvent the FMСG industry and making history, thus, cementing its position as a game-changer in the global market. The identified approach toward NIIs affects the company rather negatively since the buyers that are willing to see a rapid improvement remain dissatisfied. That being said, NIIs are likely to alter corporate policies and even affect their values, which may lead to negative changes.

The introduction of a system allowing for a balance between the ideas underlying NIIs and the corporate values must be designed. It is assumed that , when implemented in the corporate environment that allows using the available information management tools successfully and focuses on meeting the needs of all stakeholders in accordance with a rigid ethical code and corporate standards, the adoption of NIIs will not cause significant controversies; furthermore, it is likely to cause customer attitudes change toward more positive ones due to the design of more appealing brand images.

Consumer Attitude

The phenomenon of consumer attitude (CA) is currently viewed as one of the most problematic areas in marketing studies due to the range of factors that shape the specified variable (Sierzchula et al. 2014).The connection between the quality of a product and CA is typically viewed as direct, although there are other issues such as the quality of communication that may reduce the level of CA despite the application of certain NIIs in the realm of the target market (Sierzchula et al. 2014).

The reason for the specified phenomenon to be observed concerns the opportunities for enhancing the speed of a product or service delivery and the chances for maintaining the communication between a customer and a company consistent, as a recent study points out (Sierzchula et al. 2014). There are certain limitations to using innovations as the means of keeping customer attitude levels high, as the study points out; for instance, the lack of awareness among the target population can trigger a drop in buyers’ interest toward the opportunities that the said innovations provide, hence the failure to ustilise innovations as the drivers for increasing customer satisfaction and altering attitudes among the target population.

This is the point at which a connection between SI and the strategy used to introduce changes in the company’s branding process, marketing framework, etc., must be made. Despite the fact that the application of innovative tools and devices used to be considered as a crucial factor in enhancing the levels of customer engagement and, therefore, the contributors to the further development of consumer loyalty levels, a more detailed analysis of the subject matter has shown that the link between the said factors is more complex: “Innovations that are further away technologically from the dominant design are associated with greater levels of uncertainty” (Sierzchula et al. 2014, p. 184).

In other words, in case the target audience fails to trace the connection between the alterations made to a specific brand, they may disconnect from the suggested product or service (Ojasalo & Ojasalo 2015). While NIIs are generally viewed as the changes that are likely to lad to disruptions in the corporate processes, NIIs are also necessary for organizations to adjust to the realm of the global economy and appeal to rapidly changing demographics.

At present, the consumer attitudes toward P7G and its products arrange from indifferent to rather loyal (Swamynathan 2016). The specified phenomenon can be attributed to the fact that the company has been deploying a customer-focused strategy. Particularly, P&G strives to attain high quality of its products to cater to the needs of target populations (Michelman, 2017). Furthermore, one must give the company credit for being geared toward the concept of the consistent improvement as the foundation for its decision-making (Swamynathan 2016). As a result, the very nature of the organization’s philosophy is rooted in innovation (Michelman, 2017).

The specified approach becomes especially clear when it comes to exploring the firm’s strategy for maintaining its research and development (R&D) processes (Swamynathan 2016). A recent report indicates that P&G has been using the principles of agile research to encourage a gradual improvement (Michelman, 2017). Therefore, it could be argued that there have been certain NINs incorporated into the corporate processes over the past few years (Swamynathan 2016).

However, the current attitudes of target populations toward the products that P&G offers to its target demographic could use a significant improvement. For instance, a concern about some of the ways in which the issue of regional control has been handled by the organization (Michelman, 2017). The problems in the expositing approach toward innovations have affected the attitudes of customers, reducing the levels of loyalty among buyers in China significantly: “While the company does not break down its sales geographically, Moeller said on a post-earnings conference call in January that sales in China were “significantly down” compared with a year earlier” (Swamynathan 2016).

Thespecified phenomenon shows that, despite NINs being carefully introduced into the design of P&G, the effects thereof still have to be studied. Thus, a better understanding of how they affect people’s attitudes toward the company and change their behaviour will be possible.

Current Knowledge Gaps: NIIs and Their Significance

The subject of NIIs seems to be well researched, with a range of strategies used to deploy the identified type of changes in the environment of any organisation, and numerous approaches being designed to support the idea of radical innovations as a powerful impetus allowing organisations to excel in the target market and become instantly visible among their competitors.

That being said, there is a significant knowledge gap that needs to be addressed so that NIIs could be utilised in the realm of global companies that have settled in the target market yet demand changes to retain their customers. The specified knowledge gap can be defined as the lack of strategies allowing one to address the incongruence between the values of NIIs and the values of the organisation in the context of which the specified innovations are implemented (Hitt, Carnes & Xu 2016).

Indeed, a detailed review of the way in which innovations are executed in a firm will show that the changes in question are typically linked to the corporate values and philosophies that define the outcomes of decision-making processes (Hajir et al. 2015). Particularly, management-related values need to be listed among the ones that determine the application of innovative decisions in an organisation and, therefore, affect the way in which innovations are perceived by employees, how innovative solutions affect essential processes within a company, including production-related ones, etc.: “management values are cultural antecedents of information processes, and as such, they affect innovation and new product performance” (Baker et al. 2014, p. 1217).

Radical innovations, in turn, have comparatively little to do with the philosophy of an organisation, its values, and concept of managing relationships, which means that the adoption of NIIs is likely to disrupt the relationships between the key stakeholders of an organisation (Gregor & Hevner 2014). The specified phenomenon is especially dangerous for the companies that are deemed as global, i.e., the ones that have been operating in the environment of a particular market for a significant amount of time and, therefore, have established a very strong and rather positive performance in the identified market (Gubbins & Dooley 2015).

The lack of strategies allowing company managers to address the specified inconsistency and promote successful management of NIIs despite the lack of connection between the values associated with NIIs and the ones of a specific organisation, particularly, P&G, can be deemed as the primary knowledge gap that the current study is aimed at addressing.

Therefore, the current study will address the identified knowledge gap by examining the opportunities for implementing NIIs at P&G. The significance of NIIs as an essential tool for improving the rates of quality improvement and, therefore, customer satisfaction will be explored with the help of a thematic analysis. Moreover, the study will show the significance of NIIs, in general. As stressed above, NIIs are looked down at currently by most companies since the changes that they trigger often disrupt the course of corporate processes.

Furthermore, the fact that NIIs are most likely to fail to align with the corporate values accepted at a specific company makes organisations with global influence take NIIs with a grain of salt. The current study, in turn, will shed light on the ways in which NIIs can be incorporated into the design of an organisation without affecting its value system or corporate philosophy negatively.

Last but definitely not least, the effects that NIIs may have on customer attitudes will be examined extensively. Consumer attitudes are typically listed among the key factors that define the well-being og an organisation. Therefore, a closer look at NIIs as a force that may possibly cause customer satisfaction rates to rise and, therefore, trigger a positive change in consumer attitudes will become a possibility once the study is carried out. Therefore, the outcomes of the research will supposedly close the identified knowledge gap successfully.

The effectiveness of non-incremental innovations at P&G

As stressed above, P&G does not have a specific strategy for introducing NIIs into its production processes, SCM-related activities, communication with customers, etc. Although the concept of open innovations that the firm has been promoting over the past few years as the foundation for its further success, it will not make any breakthrough in the realm of the FMCG industry because it does not allow responding to new challenges immediately (Grace et al. 2016).

Therefore, it can be assumed that P&G is currently in dire need for the tool that would allow it to introduce NIIs into the processes occurring within the company. The lack of a strategy that would help make the process of using NIIs effortlessly and without significantly negative effects on the company’s value system and philosophy is glaring at P&G. The introduction of a framework that will help promote NIIs in the company’s environment is bound to have a positive effect on the relationships between the organisation and its customers.

Particularly, a focus on processing customers’ demands more efficiently so that a radical change could be introduce into the company’s design based on the needs of the target population. Seeing that P&G operates in a multicultural environment, an increasingly large number of NIIs allowing meeting the needs of a wider range of customers will have to be introduced into the realm of the firm.

Therefore, while the current effectiveness of NIIs at P&G is close to zero because of the absence of an appropriate NII management framework, the use of one is bound to change the organisation’s performance significantly. To be more accurate, the focus on the issues that used to be erroneously dismissed as irrelevant will be maintained. As a result, the needs of customers will be met faster and more successfully, thus, leading to a change in customers’ attitudes and the overall perception of the company by the target population.

The adoption of NIIs is believed to help alter the brand image of products or services delivered by organizations operating in the context of the global economy realm. Correspondingly, it is crucial to focus on the further introduction of NIIs into the realm of the corporate environment as the means of encouraging buyers to alter their perception of a product or service and explore new opportunities.

Theoretical Premises: Through the Lens of the Induced Innovation Theory

The promotion of innovations in the context of an organisation is a challenging task that requires addressing a number of issues from social to technological ones. Therefore, the problem can be viewed form a range of theoretical perspectives. However, the current focus of P&G needs to be placed on building a strong connection with its customers and other stakeholders so that the popularity of the organisation could remain high. Therefore, the macroeconomic perspective seems to be the most obvious choice. In light of the need to explore the opportunities for sustainable use of the available resources, as well as developing a better understanding of the choices that customers make when considering P&G’s products, the application of the Induced Innovation (II) seems to be sensible.

Suggested by J.R. Hicks in 1932, II suggests a rather basic idea about the significance of innovations as the drivers for the economic success (Ashford & Hall 2011). However, the approach allows placing NIIs in a context by defining the point at which they must be encouraged in the environment of a firm. Therefore, the theory provides an opportunity to glance at the existing innovation hierarchy and identify the place that NIIs take in the specified classification. Particularly, the theory dictates that the adoption of NIIs should be explored in the context of the cost thereof and the effects that the said innovations will ostensibly have on the company’s performance (see Appendix C).

One must give the theory credit for allowing encouraging NII as a part of a sustainability-based approach. Indeed, Ashford and Hall (2011) claim that the II framework helps maintain a balance between sustaining innovation within the current environment (i.e., the value system adopted at P&G) and the enhancement of new ideas that may be viewed as disruptive innovations. As a result, the foundation for incorporating NIIs into the context of the organisation can be built.

Particularly, NIIs can be referred to as the link between the current and new sustaining technology. Consequently, NIIs are no longer detached from the realm of the firm’s operations and management processes; quite on the contrary, NIIs become the tool for connecting the principles by which P&G is guided at present and the ones that will define the decision-making processes in its environment in the future.

From the perspective of the II theory, the approach used at P&G currently could use certain improvements. Particularly, the absence of the tools for promoting NIIs as the means of adjusting to the ever-changing environment of the global market can be deemed as a serious dent in the overall change management framework. Therefore, it is desirable to make sure that P&G should include the framework for addressing the issues that may randomly emerge in the context of the global market.

By placing NIIs as the missing link between the application of the currently existing technology and new sustaining technological tools, one will be able to improve the transfer from using traditional tools to applying new and improved ones. As a result, the process of altering between the old and the new approaches will become less uneven and rough (Gregor & Hevner 2014).

In other words, the promotion of NIIs in the context of a global organisation such as P&G is likely to lead to significant improvements. While often viewed as disconnected from a company’s operations, values, and philosophy, NIIs, in fact, can be deemed as the missing link between traditional innovations and disruptive ones. The II theory perspective allows viewing NIIs as the means of reducing the negative effects of disruptive innovations and creating the environment where change may occur in an uninhibited and efficient manner.

Furthermore, the II theory will provide tools for measuring the efficacy of NIIs in the context of P&G. Among the primary factors that will define the efficacy of NIIs, one must mention the following characteristics:

1. customer retention rates;
2. customer attraction rates;
3. brand loyalty rates among the target population;
4. current image of the company as customers see it.

By analysing the changes in the identified variables, one will be able to measure the efficacy of the suggested strategy for implementing NIIs, as well as evaluate the overall significance of NIIs promotion in the environment of P&G.

The use of the Theory of Disruptive Innovations (TDI) should also be viewed as a necessity. Suggested by Clayton M. Christensen in the early 21^st century, the theory suggests that the adoption of innovative ideas that require the reconsideration of the existing processes and massive changes in the structure of a company’s operations will ultimately lead to significant positive changes. The specified framework implies that incumbent organizations such as P&G can develop the approach toward NIIs that will help them retain their sustainability and at the same time meet the increasingly high needs of the target population (Sierzchula et al. 2014).

In other words, as shown in Figure 1, TDI contributes to a better understanding of what factors lead to a change in consumer attitudes toward the products and services delivered by organizations in the realm of the global market.

Conceptual Framework: Developing a Comprehensive Approach

To explore the problem fully, one will have to consider designing a conceptual framework that will provide an algorithm according to which the process of implementing NIIs in the context of modern firms, in general, and P&G, in particular will be conducted. The framework will have to include the algorithm according to which innovations affect customers, including positive and negative effects. Therefore, the conceptual framework of the study can be visualised in the following way:

As the framework provided in Figure 2 shows, the introduction of NIIs allows for a significant change in customer satisfaction levels since it provides a rapid and efficient improvement of a company’s performance. In case of P&G. The identified change implies that the organisation may become more competitive and gain more customers by focusing on addressing the requests regarding product quality that customers produce on a regular basis. As a result, a gradual change in the corporate policy and values with the further promotion of consistent change will become a possibility.

The framework helps explore the effects that the use of NIIs has on customers’ attitudes. Particularly, the effects of the factors that NIIs introduce into building a rapport between an organization and its customers, including social intelligence, communication, and quality management, on the key characteristics of a customer’s attitude, such as brand loyalty, engagement, and positive attitude, are defined. Thus, changes in customers’ perception of the P&G brand becomes a possibility.

Particularly, the enhancement of brand loyalty among customers is expected. Furthermore, by using the available communication tools with the help of NIIs, a company may establish a more efficient dialogue with a customer. Consequently, a step rise in the levels of SI among the later can be expected. Furthermore, a company may analyse the SI levels and the way in which they shape consumer attitudes more efficiently, thus, improving the branding tools and creating the brand image that appeals to the target population (Soderquist, Tirabeni & Pisano 2016).

Research Design and Methodology: How the Study Is Conducted

Research Philosophy: Positivism as the Foundation for the Analysis

Seeing that the nature of innovations at P&G is explored in the paper, it is crucial to consider the factual information gathered from the available resources. Therefore, the adoption of the positivism framework will have to be viewed as a necessity. According to the existing definition of positivism, the philosophy thereof implies that the construction of reality should become possible with the help of a “reflective action” (Young & Temple 2014, p. 42). Put differently, the framework allows modelling reality based on the observations made and experiments taken in the course of the study. As a result, a deep understanding of the phenomenon explored in the study under analysis becomes a possibility. Therefore, the positivist approach will have to be viewed as the primary research philosophy.

The positivist approach as the foundation for the research philosophy will also help model the recommendations for introducing NIIs into the context of the company’s design. The exploration of the current situation and the way in which innovations are handled at P&G will ultimately lead to the design of the framework that will help make NIIs part and parcel of the company’s design (Young & Temple 2014).

Furthermore, the fact that positivism focuses on actual experiences and the exploration thereof can also be viewed as a significant advantage of the approach. Seeing that any organisation operating in the realm of the global economy is affected by not only general factors but also a range of specific ones that are unique to the said firm, it is crucial to engage in the active analysis of what makes the company in question so unique (Young & Temple 2014).

Thus, the positivist approach that is rooted in the analysis based on real-life observations will serve as the means of identifying the factors affecting P&G quite accurately. Moreover, the positivist approach will allow building a new and improved model of managing innovations based on the observations made in the process of data collection, as well as the outcomes of the analysis (Young & Temple 2014).

Therefore, the positivist framework should be considered an appropriate foundation for the research. It allows aiming at a specific result and predicting possible outcomes, which means that it is bound to contribute to the design of an appropriate strategy for managing the issue of NIIs at P&G. Moreover, the approach will allow improving the current framework for managing NIIs at P&G after surveys among the study participants are conducted, and the necessary conclusions are made. Thus, the pathway to improvements will become evident (Young & Temple 2014).

Research Approach: A Deductive Framework as the Means of Exploring the Nature of the Problem

In light of the fact that the issue under analysis requires primarily exploring the nature of NIIs and contextualising their effects by considering the environment of P&G, using a deductive framework for the analysis seems a legitimate step to take. Indeed, a deductive framework suggests that the cause-and-effect connection between the variables of the study, i.e., NIIs and levels of customer satisfaction, should be studied and scrutinised thoroughly (Ahmed, Opoku & Azis 2016).

Indeed, establishing a connection between the application of NIIs and the enhancement of a company’s performance, as well as the rise in customer retention and loyalty levels, should be viewed as the questions that the study seeks to answer. Therefore, the adoption of a deductive approach as the tool for determining the linsk between customer satisfaction levels and the introduction of NIIs into the context of companies such as P&G should be considered appropriate (Ridder 2016).

Therefore, the study will be based mostly on establishing a connection between the key variables with the help of deductive thinking. As a result, the connection between NIIs and customer satisfaction, as well as the effects that they will ostensibly have on the company’s operations and the overall performance rate will be identified successfully.

By exploring the factors that affect the introduction of NIIs into the context of an global organisation such as P&G, as well as studying the nature of NIIs, in general, one will build the innovation management framework that will allow including not only planned changes but also the innovations that are deemed as radical into the framework of the organisation without leading to any negative outcomes. Furthermore, the opportunities for maximising the positive effects of NIIs will be located successfully (Skinner, ‎Edwards & Corbett 2014).

Research Purpose: An Exploratory Perspective on the Effects of NII at P&G

The paper is aimed at defining the effects that NIIs will have on the performance levels at P&G, as well as the overall success of the company among the target population. There is no need to stress that changes are necessary to improve the quality of a company’s services and meet the needs of customers. Furthermore, a change management framework must be created so that an organisation could adjust to the ever-changing realm of the global economy. The speed and efficacy of the response that a company produces to an unforeseen circumstance often define the organisation’s existence in the target market.

Therefore, it is crucial to explore the opportunities that NIIs, or radical changes, offer to the organisations that have a well-established presence in the target market. Even though incremental changes have become part and parcel of modern companies and are used to explore new opportunities and provide buyers with new options, a company must be ready to deploy the changes that can be defined as unexpected, unforeseen, and, therefore, alien to the firm’s design. Thus, the purpose of the paper is to study the nature of the changes in question and identify the effects that they have on global companies based on the case of P&G (Ridder 2016).

Put differently, the paper is aimed at identifying the effects that NIIs will supposedly have on the performance of P&G, as well as proving that global companies also need NIIs as a part of their change management framework. Despite the fact that the very concept of an NII is considered controversial as far as its effects on the development of organisations are concerned, it is assumed that companies need to be able to use radical innovations as the means of addressing specific market challenges and cater to the needs of target audiences (Skinner, ‎Edwards & Corbett 2014).

Research Strategy: Survey (the Environment of P&G)

The research will be carried out as a survey. Particularly, a detailed overview of P&G’s environment and the attitudes toward innovations in the specified context will be made so that the essential tendencies could be identified. Thus, the effects of NIIs on the overall development will be located by conducting a survey in the environment of P&G.

One must admit that the use of a survey allows for a range of opportunities for a researcher. For instance, the adoption of the identified research strategy helps make rather intricate concepts comparatively simple and easy to not only understand but also embrace. For instance, the idea of applying NIIs in the realm of the global economy might seem far too vast a notion to analyse in a single study (Fisher & Hill 2015).

However, by narrowing the research down to an analysis of a single company, one will be able to showcase the phenomenon without detailing every single factor that may be related to the subject matter in the realm of the global market. Indeed, although the crucial forces affecting the application of NIIs to global firms’ organisational design will be studied, the identification of every single factor is barely a possibility since the environment of the global market invites an array of opportunities and threats, some of which are unique to the organisations that operate in the global economy realm.

Therefore, by scaling the research down to studying the ostensible effects of NIIs in the context of P&G, one will have to focus mostly on the global factors and the issues that are inherent in the identified company. Therefore, the results of the study will have to be generalised so that they could, later on, be applied to any business environment (Johnson 2014).

The adoption of a survey, however, will imply that certain limitations will emerge in the course of the study. Particularly, the lack of personal interactions with the participants may condition them not to provide honest answers to the survey questions. Indeed, unless the respondents are motivated to describe the current situation of the company in details or feel safe about their anonymity, the answers to the questions are unlikely to contain any reliable information.

While the specified issue can be viewed as a major problem, it can be addressed by explaining the importance of the study to the research participants and guaranteeing them complete anonymity. Thus, retrieving trustworthy results that can be processed to produce a detailed analysis will become a possibility (Johnson 2014).

Data Collection: Retrieving Essential Information

Questionnaires among the company managers as the primary data: a personal perspective

In order to collect the necessary qualitative data, one will have to survey some of theP&G customers, as well as some of the managers at P&G. Thus, the techniques used to apply changes to the company’s design, as well as the types of innovations that the company uses to encourage positive change, will be identified. The surveys will address the nature of innovations at the organisation, the current framework for administering changes, and the approach that the organisation uses to manage NIIs.

It is expected that the surveys will return ample results allowing for a detailed analysis of the current concept of NIIs at P&G. Particularly, it is assumed that the survey results will show that P&G is presently unwilling to embrace the significance of NIIs since they may disrupt its crucial processes, especially the ones associated with production and communication. Furthermore, the company-related factors affecting the promotion of NIIs will be identified in the course of the data collection process.

The surveys will include five open-ended questions that will encourage the participants to describe the essential types of innovations that are typically promoted in the organisation, the methods of managing changes, and the attitude toward NIIs at P&G (see Appendix A). Thus, a better understanding of the problem will become a possibility.

It could be argued that surveys as the tool for retrieving the crucial information that will, later on, be used in research cannot be considered objective enough. Indeed, the data represented in surveys tends to be quite subjective since it provides respondents with an opportunity to include their personal opinions and experiences into the answers to the questions. Filtering the information, in turn, does not seem a possibility because of the design of the tool.

Therefore, there is a threat that some of the information will be quite subjective. Nevertheless, the use of surveys will help shed some light on the situation and obtain objective data since several participants will take part in the data collection process and will provide different perspectives. Viewing the situation form different lens, one will be able to define objective facts and, thus, determine the significance of deploying NIIs in the context of the organisation.

Literature review: studying the available reports as the secondary data

Apart from conducting surveys among the target population, one will have to consider the analysis of the available literature as the means of retrieving crucial data. The company’s reports, peer-reviewed articles, and other trustworthy sources will be explored so that the significance that NIIs have on the further development of an organisation, the management of change, increase in customer satisfaction levels, and overall improvement in the company’s performance rates could be identified.

The use of a literature review was used as one of the essential tools for retrieving the key data. As an overview of the existing information concerning the application of NIIs in the context of an global organisation, the specified method of data collection served as the foundation for defining the crucial factors that affect the promotion of innovations, in general, and NIIs, in particular, in the realm of an global company such as P&G. As a result, the available tools for change management, impediments that may prevent the change from being implemented, and other important aspects of the problem were studied thoroughly with the help of the review.

Research Instrument: A Survey with Six Open-ended Questions

As stressed above, customers and the members of P&G were surveyed so that essential information about innovations and change management in the context of the company could be retrieved. The survey for customers will incorporate the following questions:

1. What do you think of rapid changes made by companies to produce innovative solutions?
2. Would you change your attitude toward a brand in case an out-of-context innovation is introduced into an organization?
3. Do you think that rapid innovations are necessary for organizations?
4. What do you think of P&G products?
5. Do you buy P&G products? Why/Why not?
6. How would you react if P&G would introduce a sudden innovation to its products?

The survey for managers will consist of three open-ended questions and two that will compel the participants to describe the crucial processes related to innovations that are implemented in the environment of P&G. The following questions will be included in the survey:

1. What is the current change management policy deployed in the organisation?
2. How are innovations managed in P&G?
3. Are NIIs (disruptive innovations) viewed as essential to the company’s well-being and success in the global market?
4. Are NIIs supported by any policy concerning change management used in the organisation?
5. Has the recent application of NIIs affected buyers’ behaviours in any way?
6. What are the main problems regarding the promotion of innovations that P&G has been facing lately?

As shown in the list above, the survey will also contain two general ones. While the open-ended, or special, questions will provide an opportunity for the respondents to give a detailed description of the corporate change management framework, in general, and the innovation management tools, in particular. The questions invite the respondents to contemplate the nature of the corporate changes that are promoted in the context of P&G; as a result, the participants are expected to define the essential characteristics of the corporate change management frameworks, as well as describe the attitudes toward the enhancement of innovations, especially non-incremental ones.

Consequently, the chances for identifying the key trends and determining the possibility of NIIs application in the realm of P&G will be proven. The survey will help acquire the essential information that will contribute to a better understanding of why NIIs are essential to the economic growth and successful performance of an global company such as P&G operating in the global market (Kuratko, Covin & Hornsby 2014).

Sample Selection: How the Sample Will Be Taken

Target population: customers and company managers

To define the effects of NIIs on the performance of a global company, one will need to carry out surveys among its buyers and managers. The latter must be aware of the crucial processes occurring in the context of the organisation and, therefore, will be capable of identifying the strategies used by the organisation to manage innovations and meet the expectations of its customers. Thus, objective information concerning the issues associated with change management will be retrieved.

The target populations will consist of a) a group of people aged 20-55 who are currently employed at P&G and perform the tasks related to management, quality assurance, and production processes (“Group A”); b) a group of people that will be selected from a local FMCG outlet (“Group B”). While Group A will offer extensive information about changes in buyers’ behaviour, in general, Group B will provide information as to how they see P&G and how their opinion thereof has changed with the company’s adoption of NINs.

Sample size: identifying the formula

In order to carry out a proper analysis, one will have to determine the size of the sample that will be considered in the course of the research. At this point, one must bring up the fact that sample sizes for qualitative research are typically smaller than those required for conducting a statistical analysis. The actual formula for the sample size remains a subject of numerous debates: “the researcher must weigh all factors and determine what size is just right for the proposed study” (Salmons 2014, p. 162).

Seeing that there is no specific formula for carrying out a qualitative study, one may have to consider ten samples as the most appropriate sample size to be used in research. According to the existing evidence, the specified number of samples allows for retrieving objective results in qualitative research, at the same time creating the environment in which a thorough analysis can be conducted, and essential details can be scrutinised (Creswell 2014). Therefore, the study will be carried out by selecting a sample of 10 participants. Thus, a close overview of the responses will be a possibility, while the objectivity of the results will remain high.

The company’s managers and customers from a local FMCG outlet will be selected as the population sample that will be considered in the course of the study. It is crucial that the opinions of the managers should be the priority as far as the selection of the available sources of data is concerned. Offering a plethora of information about key production and organisational processes, as well as the strategies deployed to encourage innovation and the issues associated with the incorporation of NIIs into the company’s design despite the current values, they will shed a lot of light on the effects of NIIs on customer attitudes and loyalty.

Sampling techniques: convenience sampling as the primary tool

Seeing that the analysis will be conducted in the realm of a specific company (i.e., P&G), the use of convenience sampling seems to be the most obvious choice. The application of the specified strategy will help collect the necessary information within the shortest amount of time and recruit the required number of participants quickly.

Carried out within the environment of P&G, the specified sampling technique will imply selecting the people that are available at the identified time slot and, therefore, will have time to respond to the survey questions without the production processes being disrupted. As a result, the atmosphere in which the target population will feel relaxed and inclined to share the essential details about innovation-related issues will be created (Patel & Deshpande 2015).

When considering the benefits of the identified sampling tool, one must mention that, apart from a time-related advantage, the use of convenience sampling provides an opportunity to generate hypotheses regarding the problem. In other words, in the course of the sampling process, suggestions concerning the nature of NIIs and their role in shaping the overall performance of the company, as well as the current customer loyalty levels and the means of enhancing them, can be made.

Herein lies the significance of applying convenience sampling in the target environment; it will build the foundation for exploring the issue of NIIs in the context of an global organisation such as P&G in depth. Therefore, convenience sampling should be considered as the primary tool for data sampling in the study. It will help carry out the data collection easily and build the atmosphere in which the respondents are likely to share the relevant information eagerly.

Data Analysis Techniques: Thematic Analysis and Other Frameworks

Thematic analysis: identifying the essential data

Exploring the crucial information and exploring the nature of innovations at P&G, as well as the possible effects of incorporating the principles of NIIs into the company’s environment will require a profound analysis. Essential themes, concepts, and notions will be identified in the course of the research. Therefore, the application of a thematic analysis as the means of arranging and exploring the data obtained from the respondents must be viewed as a necessity.

As the existing definition specifies, a thematic analysis is an “analytic method for identifying, analysing and reporting patterns (themes) within data” (Eshetu 2014, p. 70). As its name suggests, the approach mentioned above implies that recurrent themes should be defined, recorded, and examined accordingly when collecting the necessary information from research participants.

The framework allows locating the themes, concepts, and notions that are referred to very frequently in the target environment; as a result, assumptions concerning the current tendencies in the specified setting can be made. The use of a thematic analysis as the means of interpreting research data requires that several essential stages should be passed; these include acquiring the necessary information, scrutinising the facts, producing the codes for the further data management, isolating specific themes within the generated codes, identifying the themes, and reporting the findings (Chesnay 2014).

To be more specific, the themes associated with the promotion of changes, in general, and the inclusion of NIIs, in particular, into the design of P&G, will have to be located based on the codes used when analysing the survey results. The identified step will help isolate the crucial data from the rest of the information, therefore, determining the general tendency within the company (Ibarra, Rueda & Arenas 2015).

Data analysis tools: coding as the way of determining general tendencies

As stressed above, codes will be used to analyse the data successfully. The codes will be designed when processing the information retrieved from the respondents. The use of codes will allow assigning specific attributes to the recurrent data, therefore, marking it as the information that sheds light on the tendencies that can be currently spotted in the target environment (Saldana 2015).By providing an opportunity to identify a pattern in the retrieved information, codes help build the platform for the further categorisation of the available data. As a result, the foundation for its efficient analysis is built successfully (Creswell 2014).

To manage the information retrieved from the surveys conducted among the target population, one will have to focus on the codes that will mark the signs of NIIs application in P&G’s environment. For instance, the presence of the data that indicates the need for NIIs in the realm of the organisation will have to be identified and marked accordingly (e.g., “NIIs: urgency”). Similarly, the impediments to the implementation of NIIs in the environment of P&G will have to be located in the responses of the participants and defined appropriately (e.g., “NIIs: obstacles”).

As a result, a detailed analysis of the factors that encourage the enhancement of NIIs at P&G, as well as the possible effects that NIIs will have on the company’s performancecustomers’ attitudes and their overall level of loyalty toward the organization, will be located (Kalogeropoulos 2017).

It should be noted, though, that the codes will be created in the course of the data analysis instead of determining them prior to reading the survey results closely. As a result, an unbiased approach toward the analysis of the available information will be facilitated. Furthermore, predicting every single category that may emerge in the process of exploring the information obtained from the surveys is barely a possibility. Thus, codes will be designed during the data categorisation process.

Limitations: data subjectivity, small samples, and other issues

Like any other approach, the chosen data management tools have their advantages and disadvantages, which affect the credibility and reliability of research results. The research strategy, i.e., the use of a case study as the basis for making assumptions concerning the use of NIIs in the context of global companies, implies that the research results may require a further generalisation. Indeed, when conducted in the environment of a particular organisation, the analysis is likely to lead to the outcomes that will be specific to the setting of the firm in question. Thus, further generalisation of the research results will be required (Sah et al. 2014).

Finally, the fact that the research design requires a comparatively small sample needs to be addressed as one of the research limitations. As stressed above, qualitative studies do not require large samples; therefore, a total of 80 participants will be used in the study. While allowing for a rather accurate and comparatively fast data analysis, the size of the sample also means that the target population may be underrepresented in the course of the study.

Herein lies the primary limitation of the research. However, the identified issue can be avoided by generalising the results of the research so that they could be applicable to any setting. Both customers and managers were included into the analysis to receive an exhaustive picture of the current issues regarding the use of NIIs in the environment of the organization.

Ethical considerations: informed consent and other issues

The analysis of NII implementation in the context of the P&G environment will be carried out in accordance with the existing ethical standards and requirements. The first and most important, the principles of non-disclosure must be used as the primary guidelines for managing the information related to the research participants. Each of the surveys will be taken anonymously, with every respondent being referred to as “Participant A,” “Participant B,” etc. Thus, the safety and personal security of the people that will take part in the study will be guaranteed.

Furthermore, it will be crucial to make sure that each of the respondents should provide the requested information voluntarily and be fully aware of the way in which the data will be used, including the process of research, the presentation of the study results, etc.

For this purpose, a letter of informed consent will be distributed among the people that will be recruited for the study. The letter will contain crucial information about the goals and nature of the research, as well as the way in which the collected data will be used in it (see Appendix B). By signing the informed consent form, the participants will agree that the data provided by them will be used as the material for research. As a result, numerous misconceptions about the usage of the information retrieved from surveys will be avoided successfully.

Results, Analysis, and Discussion: NIIs as the Crucial Tool for Maintaining P&G’s Efficacy

Crucial Findings: Obvious Connection between NIIs and Customers’ Attitudes toward P&G’s Performance

Research question: “How effective are NIIs in improving customer attitudes at P&GWhat effects, including positive and negative ones, will NIIs have on the performance of P&G in the global market, and what opportunities for the further growth do they provide?”

A closer look at the survey results has shown that several themes are recurrent in the participants’ responses. For instance, the issues associated with feedback (the “Feedback” theme) can be deemed as central to how customers’ attitudes toward P&G and its brand products are shaped. Particularly, a comparatively slow pace of the response that the organisation provides (the “Response timeliness” theme) provides a reason for concern. Furthermore, the respondents indicated that, when implemented in the context of the organisation, NIIs contributed to a gradual increase in the number of positive feedbacks.

The identified tendencies in the organisational environment point to the fact that the introduction of NIIs may have a positive effect on the customer attitudes. For instance, the fact that the “Product quality” theme was addressed very often along with the NII-related issues points to the possibility of improving the quality of the end products by introducing NIIs into the framework of the organisation. Furthermore, the theme of the consistent improvement as a corporate philosophy that could help meet the ever-changing demands of the target population was mentioned during the surveys (i.e., the “philosophy of improvement” theme).

It should be noted, though, that the theme defined a ‘resistance to change” also appeared during the survey several times. Particularly, the respondents expressed concerns about the incorporation of NIIs increasing their workload and introducing new challenges into their lives. The specified phenomenon points to the fact that P&G might not be ready to face NIIs yet. Before implementing NIIs, one should consider altering the company’s values and philosophy slightly so that the employees could adjust to the changes and accept new roles and responsibilities.

The study results have shown quite clearly that the adoption of NIIs has a direct effect on the performance of the organisation. Particularly, based on the survey analysis, P&G is currently facing the need to be more flexible in its responses to the outside influences and the adoption of changes to its design. As the responses of the managers surveyed in the course of the study show, there is an obvious tendency for innovations to be tested for a significant amount of time before they are incorporated into the framework of the organisation.

In the process, the identified novelties are altered significantly, which sometimes leads to a change in their expected defects on the company’s performance. In fact, in 28% of the responses, the participants of the study mentioned that the unexpected changes which the newly adopted tools underwent could be deemed as negative since they hampered the process of their implementation. The specified phenomenon could be seen as the toll for adjusting innovations so that they could fit the corporate value system and, therefore, become part and parcel of the organisation.

Figure 3. Key Themes: Thematic Analysis (Customers).

Figure 4. Key Themes Analysis: Managers.

As Figure 3 provided above shows, several crucial themes were identified in the course of the case study. Specifically, the propensity among customers to seek the organizations that implement innovative decisions allowing buyers to relate to the brand image and the notions that it incorporates should be noted as important issues that affect customer attitudes. Particularly, with the inclusion of the identified elements, a company has a chance to improve the levels of positive attitude among the target population. In other words, buyers are more likely to relate to the products designed by companies such as P&G as long as organizations remain flexible enough to appeal to the specific needs and cultural specifics of the target population (Cervantes 2015).

The analysis of customers’ responses has also shown that people are mostly wary of the changes that occur suddenly (87%), yet customers are also open to innovations as long as they are made to improve the overall quality of products. Furthermore, a significant part of the respondents (71%) indicated that they considered rapid innovations as an important part of a company’s functioning. The fact that these innovations may turn out to be NIIs did not seem to affect buyers’ attitudes toward the product since 94% of them pointed out that they would remain loyal to a brand even if an out-of-context innovation was incorporated into its design.

Regarding the changes that have occurred to P&G, the target audience explained that they are mostly loyal to the brand (76%) and that they deemed the company’s products as worth purchasing (77%). Finally, responding to the last question, 59% customers replied that they would not object to an innovation as long as it would affect the quality of the product positively or, at the very least, would not make it worse.

Managers at P&G have also indicated that NINs bring significant improvements in the environment of the company. However, the necessity to align the corporate values with newly developed solutions seems to be the primary cause of concern.

Furthermore, the information provided by the target population indicates that potential buyers do not mind radical changes in the organization’s strategies, including branding and communication, as long as their needs are taken into account. Particularly, 67% of the participants stated that they preferred the decisions that ultimately contributed to the further improvement of the services even if they implied a rapid change in the way in which products and services were branded or represented in the target market.

Furthermore, 84% of the respondents pointed to the fact that they were in favour of the active use of disruptive technologies by companies as the means of maintaining the connection with buyers and keeping them informed. It should be noted, though, that 47% of the participants mentioned that the changes made to companies must not affect the environment to a greater extent than the alternative approach. The specified information points to the fact that the levels of SI are quite high among potential P&G buyers, hence the need to deploy the NII tools that will allow for a sustainable approach toward the management of the key operational processes.

Analysis: Effects of NIIs Adopted in the P&G Environment

Based on the results provided above, one may assume that the adoption of NIIs as the concepts that do not require an immediate adjustment to the realities of the corporation are likely to have a positive effect on the performance of the organisation. Particularly, the speed of the response to the new challenges and demands can be improved considerably due to the opportunity to skip the phase requiring the further shaping of the innovation.

To potential buyers:

• What do you think of rapid changes made by companies to produce innovative solutions?

84% of participants claimed to accept NIIs as the means of enhancing product quality. 76%, however, voiced concerns about the possible rise in prices and the following need to seek alternative product and services of other firms. 84% emphasized the importance of communication enhancement and the need for companies to hear customers’ voices as the primary condition for improving customer attitudes toward the suggested products.

• Would you change your attitude toward a brand in case an out-of-context innovation is introduced into an organization?

97% of the participants indicated that they would stay loyal to the brand in case the innovation addressed the issue of quality and communication. Therefore, the importance of promoting NIIs in the context of global companies should be viewed as a necessity to meet the needs of buyers and improve their satisfaction rates, thus, changing their attitudes toward more positive ones.

• Do you think that rapid innovations are necessary for organizations?

73% of the respondents claimed that fast changes are likely to be fraught with numerous challenges and may fail to meet the needs of buyers. However, 58% also mentioned that there is a need to adjust to the new demands and quality requirements to meet the standards that the respondents set for organizations such as P&G. Thus, there are strong indications that NIIs allow improving customer attitudes significantly once they are implemented appropriately.

• What do you think of P&G products?

85% of people participating in the survey indicated that they viewed the company’s products as essential products for personal hygiene.

• Do you buy P&G products? Why/Why not?

95% of the participants confirmed that they purchased P&G products on a regular basis. 67% of the respondents admitted that they typically purchased cheaper substitutes whenever possible. 79% of the respondents stated that P&G is rather expensive for the company that has a large number of substitutes.

• How would you react if P&G would introduce a sudden innovation to its products?

59% of the respondents stated that they will view the innovation as positive and, thus, would become even more loyal to the company. 14% stated that they would switch to another brand. The rest (27%) claimed that they would be indifferent toward the change.

To P&G managers:

• What is the current change management policy deployed in the organisation?

All of the respondents included a variation of the term “open innovation” in their answers. Therefore, it can be assumed that the concept of NIIs is not viewed as central to the company’s operations and the overall performance. For instance, one of the research participants mentioned that radical changes are deemed to be “potentially threatening to the company’s integrity” due to the necessity to align the corporate values with sometimes controversial ideas behind NIIs. The themes of corporate integrity, innovation management, and disruptive innovations as the tool for improving quality and retaining customers were identified.

• How are innovations managed in P&G?

Survey results point to the fact that, while being comparatively flexible, the current approach toward change management and the promotion of innovations seems to discard the importance of NIIs. For instance, some of the respondents indicated that innovations are viewed as “part and parcel of the corporate philosophy.” Therefore, it is imperative to incorporate the principles of NII management into the current framework of the organisation. An especially powerful emphasis must be placed on the process of decision-making. The themes of ethical decision-making, corporate values, and NIIs as an impediment to ethical problem-solving could be noticed in the responses.

• Are NIIs (disruptive innovations) viewed as essential to the company’s well-being and success in the global market?

As stressed above, most of the respondents addressed NIIs as “potentially dangerous.” The results of the survey also showed that the participants associated the innovation strategies deployed at the organisations with the concepts such as sustainability, meaningful value, and cost reduction. As a result, the strategies that P&G has been using as the means of encouraging innovation in its environment have hinged on the corporate values of P&G to a considerable degree. Thus, the firm made the application of NIIs practically impossible in its current design.

• Are NIIs supported by any policy concerning change management used in the organisation?

The respondents claimed that P&G’s policy dis not approve of NIIs as a recurrent phenomenon. The research results also point to the fact that a number of people feel that the reconsideration of the current innovation management technique could use a grand reorganisation, and that the introduction of NIIs into the design of the firm could be viewed as a breath of fresh air. Indeed, according to the survey results, 83% of the respondents believed that P&G lacked NIIs as an essential part of the change management process. In addition, a range of surveys expressed their willingness to see the promotion of NIIs in the context of the organisation so that the current decision-making model could be shifted toward a more dynamic and less rigid one. The theme of NIIs as the tools for increasing customer retention levels was central in most responses.

• Has the recent application of NIIs affected buyers’ behaviours in any way?

According to the responses provided by the participants, the few NIIs that were applied in the context of the organisation had a slightly positive impact on the relationships between the company and its customers. As the P&G mangers reported, a “rise in loyalty rates” among customers could be observed after one of the recent open innovations had been implemented. The answers included the themes such as customer attitudes, customer loyalty, customer retention rates, and communication between customers and the organisation.

• What are the main problems regarding the promotion of innovations that P&G has been facing lately?

The information provided by the research participants shows that the lack of “focus on NIIs” as the driving force behind keeping customers’ motivation levels high should be deemed as a primary problem. The themes of data management, mistakes made in the process, and SCM-related activities were addressed in most of the responses. Moreover, the fact that NIIs offer a plethora of opportunities for the further development of customer retention rates, as well as creating the foundation for an increase in their loyalty levels needs to be brought up.

Indeed, the outcomes of the surveys indicate that the target population reacts quite positively to the introduction of innovative approaches to the company’s design. Therefore, it is crucial that NIIs should be incorporated into the context of P&G’s environment; as a result, a rapid rise in the firm’s popularity, as well as the prerequisites for a gradual improvement in its performance, can be built.

It would be wrong to claim that little to no significance is placed on the application of NIIs at P&G. According to the results of the surveys, at least 52% of the respondents believe that the use of radical change as the tool for retaining customers and enhancing the further development of the company is essential and, thus, must be supported extensively. One must mention that the remaining 48% assumes that the usage of NIIs at P&G is bound to affect the company’s position in the target market negatively due to the possible difference in values of NIIs and those of P&G.

Indeed, due to their nature, NIIs do not allow adjusting the company’s values and philosophies to the ones of the changes that are to be implemented in the context of an organisation. However, the concept of NIIs implies that an organisation should be ready to transform and develop a pliable approach toward change management with the introduction of the principles of NIIs into it (Chinomona & Hove 2015). Therefore, it can be assumed that, for the time being, P&G needs to redesign its current approach toward change management and focus on designing the tools that will allow it to develop enough flexibility to implement NIIs as the pathway to consistent quality improvement.

Furthermore, the fact that the organisation lacks the policies that allow for a successful introduction of NIIs into the company’s design needs to be brought up as one of the primary pieces of information retrieved from the surveys. The organisation clearly needs a solid foundation for the further improvements, which means that a set of guidelines concerning the implementation of non-incremental changes should be designed. The existence of the policy would make it possible for NIIs to exist in the environment of the organisation, as some of the respondents noted during the surveys.

Discussion: Significance of NIIs at P&G and Possible Strategies for Their Implementation

As the description of the results provided above shows quite explicitly, it is crucial that NIIs should be incorporated into the company’s framework. Particularly, the outcomes of the research prove that NIIs are not only possible but also necessary even or global firms such as P&G. The importance of adopting NIIs lies primarily in the effects that it has on the company’s ability to retain customers and shape their behaviours, as well as the opportunities for sustaining positive alterations that it offers (Staal et al. 2014).

Thus, the analysis carried out above shows quite clearly that, when used carefully and with a good understanding of their properties, NIIs are likely to have a tremendously positive impact on a company’s performance by allowing it to adjust to the ever-changing demands of the target population and the environment of the global market. Consequently, reliable frameworks for implementing NIIs need to be developed (Sierzchula et al. 2014).

The management of NIIs, particularly, the process of addressing the adverse effects that they may possibly have on the value system of the organisation in question, will have to be carried out by promoting integrity across the company. A close focus on the characteristics of P&G that make the relationships between the key stakeholders, i.e., its managers, employees, customers, shareholders, etc. work will help the organisation retain its values and not succumb to the adoption of the ethical standards that do not align with the corporate ethics, at the same time accepting new approaches that NIIs suggest.

The enhancement of the significance of the corporate values, including the importance of diversity, multiculturalism, corporate integrity, etc., will become a possibility with the use of an appropriate leadership model (Ravichandran & Ramasamy 2016).

The impact that NIIs have on the further development of an global organisation, therefore, cannot possibly be denied. While the adoption of NIIs is fraught with serious difficulties, the necessity to alter the existing change management strategy and alter the company’s philosophy and values being the key points of concern, NIIs have an admittedly positive effect on the overall company’s performance, as well as the levels of loyalty among the target population. Serving as the means of retaining buyers’ attention, NIIs need to be incorporated into P&G’s framework so that the organisation could maintain a strong competitive advantage in the realm of the global economy (Ozkan 2015).

Conclusion and Recommendations: Further Steps to Be Taken at P&G to Encourage NIIs

Summary and Recommendations: What Needs to Be Addressed

What effects do non-incremental innovations have on the FMCG industry?

Radical and disruptive innovations are usually deployed as NIIs in the FMCG industry. While often viewed as dangerous for the companies that have a long history of operating in the global market and a well-established presence therein, NIIs, in fact, grant organisations with the flexibility that is needed to respond promptly and efficiently to the new opportunities associated with technology, economy, and other relevant issues. Therefore, global companies such as P&G are in especial need of incorporating NIIs into their design.

What effects do non-incremental innovations have on P&G?

At present, open innovations are used in P&G as the key type of NIIs. Despite the fact that P&G is, in general, open to innovations and accepting of new ideas, the current approach toward change management needs to be reconsidered so that the promotion of NIIs could become a possibility. As the analysis carried out above has shown, NIIs are crucial to the development of a company in the global market realm; therefore, the further encouragement of NIIs in the context of the firm is a necessity.

How do non-incremental innovations influence customer attitudes toward P&G and its brands?

NIIs currently lack efficacy in the P&G setting. The identified phenomenon can be attributed to the fact that NIIs are not incorporated into the change management framework in the company. Thus, tools for enhancing their efficacy must be designed.

Has the recent application of NIIs affected buyers’ behaviours in any way?

The recent use of NIIs helped P&G retain customers’ attention toward its brand product. Furthermore, customer loyalty levels remained high because of the application of NIIs. NIIs have a tangibly positive effect on the performance of P&G.

What recommendations can be given for P&G as per research findings?

It is strongly recommended that P&G should consider using NIIs as the means of improving customers’ attitude toward its products. Particularly, the adoption of the NII-based strategies that will contribute to a more efficient communication with potential buyers should be deemed as a necessity since it will lead to the further improvement in the analysis of buyers’ feedback. The latter, in turn, will inform the changes that the company will apply to its production process.

Furthermore, the use of NIIs will lead to an enhanced process of information management; as a result, opportunities for improving the supply chain management will be created. Furthermore, the development of the brands that will appeal to the target population and, thus, create the foundation for altering customers’ attitudes toward more positive ones will become a possibility.

Moreover, the tools that will allow scanning the impact produced by P&G and its products should be deemed as a necessity. As the analysis carried out above has shown, customers are concerned with the environmental impact produced by the organization and are unwilling to purchase its products unless they have no tangible effect on the environment, thus, devices for the scanning of the social and environmental effects, as well as the levels of customer satisfaction among the target population. The specified system will allow for a massive improvement in the overall image of the organization in the eyes of the target population that is clearly concerned with the issues of environmentalism and the quality of the end product. As a result, a significant improvement in the levels of customer attitudes toward the brand, its image, and its quality can be expected.

Proposal Plan: Getting P&G’s Priorities Straight

In order to improve the current situation at P&G and encourage the adoption of NIIs, one will have to consider several crucial steps. The action plan is bound to create prerequisites for a rapid improvement of the company’s performance, particularly, the opportunities for raising customer retention levels. The following elements of the action plan will have to be taken into account:

1. Purpose: increasing customer retention levels and company performance rates by introducing NIIs into the P&G’s design;
2. Procedure and resources: introduction of the principles of sustainability and the focus on improving the information management system for monitoring the organization’s footprint and customers’ satisfaction and retention levels;
3. Timeline and sustainability: the goals will be accomplished within two years;
4. Evaluation: customer retention levels before and after the inclusion of NIIs into P&G’s environment will have to be compared.

Limitations and Possible Side Effects: Reluctance among Staff Members and Other Concerns

Naturally, it is expected that some of the employees will take the idea of transferring to a new system of change management with a grain of salt. As a result, they are likely to be reluctant to accept the suggested behaviours and values. Indeed, a recent study shows that negative emotional reactions of the staff members toward changes to the organisational design affect the legitimacy judgments and, which is even more important, they impede the promotion of NIIs in the context of an organisation (Huy, Korley & Kraatz 2014).

The identified tool for managing resistance among the staff members is likely to have a vast positive impact on the organisational behaviour of the staff members, in general, since it will compel them to alter their perception of change. Specifically, it is assumed that the employees will use the principles of the Corporate Social Responsibility, which is currently promoted among the members of the organisation to develop the necessary attitude toward the new concept of change management and, therefore, acquire the skills necessary to handle NIIs in the corporate environment (Bader & Enkel 2014).

Implications for Further Research: Exploring Alternative Strategies and Means of Managing Limitations

Even though the significance of NIIs for global organisations has been proven, there is a range of issues that need further clarifications and exploration. For instance, the strategies that will allow for an even faster and more efficient promotion of NIIs in the environment of global companies such as P&G will need to be designed and tested. Thus, the focus on alternative strategies for NIIs management should be considered the essential target of follow-up studies.

Particularly, it is crucial to consider the use of the tools for scanning the environmental imprint of the organization and the changes in customer satisfaction rates should be viewed as the crucial steps in managing the attitudes of the target population and maintaining them at the necessary level. Furthermore, innovative devices such as social intranet software for enhancing the communication between the organization and its target audience must be viewed as a necessity.

Therefore, the present study is bound to lead to a shift in focus in further studies on the subject matter toward the identification of NINs that will enhance the quality of communication, the goods and services produced by P&G, and the redesign of the existing framework for introducing innovative solutions into the business environment of P&G.

The limitations listed above, in their turn, will have to be addressed so that the credibility and reliability of the further studies could be improved. For this purpose, one will have to consider the issues associated with promoting the use of NIIs as a foundation for the decision-making process and the management of internal processes, as well as the communication with customers. The tools for scanning changes in buyers’ attitudes, the imprint that the company leaves, the tendencies among the target population and the changes in the culture thereof must be studied accordingly. Intranet devices have to be included in the array of tools for communicating with customers.

The need to promote consistent change is typically referred to as one of the primary tasks for companies operating in the global economy realm. Because of the ever-changing demands and the technological innovations that define the quality of the produced goods, P&G and similar global organisations need to adopt NIIs as the means of staying relevant and retaining their customers. Serving as the catalyst of change, NIIs become the platform for a rapid increase in global companies’ competitive advantage and customer retention rates.

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Appendix A: Questionnaires

1. What do you think of rapid changes made by companies to produce innovative solutions?
2. Would you change your attitude toward a brand in case an out-of-context innovation is introduced into an organization?
3. Do you think that rapid innovations are necessary for organizations?
4. What do you think of P&G products?
5. Do you buy P&G products? Why/Why not?
6. How would you react if P&G would introduce a sudden innovation to its products?

Appendix B: Informed Consent Letter

Appendix C: Induced Innovation Theory (Ashford & Hall 2011)

Appendix D: Academic Integrity Statement

I assure that, with the exception of the parts that have been marked as direct quotes and cited accordingly with the help of the Harvard referencing System, the paper above was written entirely by me. I understand the current definition of plagiarism and confirm that the paper does not contain it. I also claim that I am strictly against cheating or any other form of violating academic integrity.