Reactive or Proactive Innovation

Running Head : Business Innovation

Business Innovation

Proactive and Reactionary Innovation

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A proactive strategy involves assessing customer needs and preemptively investing in new technologies so as to come up with new innovations According to Laeeq (2005 , this is also referred to as the Top Down or rational approach strategic planning (P .14 . On the other hand , a reactive strategy is one where the organization responds to innovations by other peers . In today 's business environment with a global recession and increasingly contracting business landscape

, proactive and reactive strategies both have their merits and pitfalls

Proactive strategies , that plan their innovations , have , according to BPP (2008 , the advantage that they help in the definition of strategic issues facing the firm , provide consistency of goals , allow for an optimum use of resources , emphasize the importance of the environment and by controlling the growth of the organization improve chances of survival through a well ingrained performance (P .25

On the other hand , according to FTC (2008 , proactive strategies cost time and money , foster a bureaucratic culture , have less relevance in times of crisis and that a planned approach to anything is a straight jacket (P .35 . Therefore , the point of contention is that reactionary innovations are more advantageous

Lets first analyze both strategies in the short and long term . The short run effects of using a proactive innovative strategy would imply that the firm is unable to adapt to changing trends in the market and , if these trends...