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Module1: Competitiveness
Definition 
Ability of a firm or a nation to offer products and services that meet the quality standards of the local and world markets at prices that are competitive and provide adequate returns on the resources employed or consumed in producing them. (Business Dictionary)
Competitiveness can be discussed in different levels: Firm Level Regional Level National Level
Competitiveness becomes international if it is pertinent to two or more countries
Firm Level Competitiveness
Competitiveness of a company in the local or international market
Mainly encapsulates two factors:
Price (resource costs, investment for future, returns to owners)
Quality (Level of suitability to market needs, expectations and conditions)
Competitiveness can be sustained when an appropriate balance is maintained between these factors which can be conflicting nature.
Competitiveness is a survivability issue in today’s environment; not a preference.
Generic Strategies
Low Cost Reducing unit costs (fixed costs, operating costs, value chain) Differentiation Somewhat different product or service in the market (in competitive market environment, specific or varieties of customer demands, ownership of unique resources or wrights, etc ) Focus Focusing on a particular market segment (strategic target) (moving to a less competition areas, customers with special needs/preferences, geographic segmentation, sectoral segmentation)
Hybrid Strategy for SMEs
Competitiveness implies that companies are able to satisfy customer needs more effectively than their competitors.
In order to be competitive in the market, companies must be strategically aware and combine all three generic strategies in a flexible way as its unique strategy best suitable to the internal and external conditions of the firm.
Module 2: Innovation
Definitions
Oslo Manual defines innovation as: “the implementation of a new or significantly improved product (good or service), or process, a new marketing method, or a new organizational method in business practices, workplace organization, or external relations.”
This definition describes 4 types of innovations, "Product Innovation", "Process Innovation", "Marketing Innovation", and "Organisational Innovation”.
Innovation requires implementation in business practices namely transfer into economy.
Innovation = Invention + Commercialization
Innovation And Competitiveness
Innovation is the driving force behind the most successful companies today,
Competition and innovation influence each other. Competition drives companies to innovate and to adopt the known innovations. On the other hand innovation supports competition while making it more intense.
Innovation is the most powerful support to competitiveness strategies: enables the companies to reduce their costs, increase their productivity and differentiate in the market.
Innovation should be considered as an inherent culture, and the environment which encourages innovation must be strategic priority regardless of the size of company.
Innovation processes resulted many new goods and services that customers even cannot imagine and normally not in their consumption function.
Innovation Process Module 3: Design
Definition
Research And Development: Research and experimental development (R&D) comprise creative and systematic work undertaken in order to increase the stock of knowledge – including knowledge of humankind, culture and society – and to devise new applications of available knowledge. *
Innovation: The implementation of a new or significantly improved product (good or service), or process, a new marketing method, or a new organizational method in business practices, workplace organization, or external relations.**
New product development: The process that transforms technical ideas or market needs and opportunities into a new product launched on to the market. ***
Design: Design is the very core of innovation, the moment when a new object is imagined, devised and shaped in prototype form. **
Design Spectrum
Architecture Fashion design Craft work Product design Graphics Typography
Product Design
Product design is a multi-disciplinary process.
Product design need not necessarily utilise the new technologies to create a novel product.
Product design can be divided into different design activities in the industry: electronic design, mechanical design, aesthetic design, industrial design, engineering design, man-machine interface design (ergonomic design) and graphic design, etc.
Design and Competitiveness
Design capability of a company can : Enable high level of product differentiation; Improve the producibility and maintainability ,so reduce costs; Increase the adaptability of the product to focus markets Help environmental friendliness of the product by systematic approach to energy saving features, recyclable parts etc; Increase the value of the product by better user interface functionality, safety, aesthetic and visual quality ; Enhance the brand building
Design Process
Companies applies their design processes according to existing capabilities, sources, product, customer and environmental conditions. Typical design process steps are:
Idea, Starter Market needs and feasibility Project planning Design Brief Concept design Product Design Specification Concept development Prototyping Detailed design Design for manufacture Production, marketing product support Design review and evaluation Post production design and improvement
Module 4: Labeling
Definition
Display of information about a product on its container, packaging, or the product itself. For several types of consumer and industrial products, the type and extent of information that must be imparted by a label is governed by the relevant safety and shipping laws. (Business dictionary)
Functions of Labelling
Describes the product and specifies the content,
Identify the product and/or the brand,
Grade the product,
Promotes the brand and sale of the product,
Provide the information obligatory by law.
Content is generally different for different products
Regulations
In general labels must not be misleading as to:
Quantity or size The price Composition Method of manufacture Place and date of manufacture Fitness for stated or implied purpose Endorsements by people or organisations
Module 5: Patent
Introduction
Intellectual Property: Intellectual property (IP) refers to creations of the mind, such as inventions; literary and artistic works; designs; and symbols, names and images used in commerce. (WIPO)*
IP is divided into two categories: Industrial Property includes patents for inventions, trademarks, industrial designs and geographical indications. Copyright covers literary works (such as novels, poems and plays), films, music, artistic Works (e.g., drawings, paintings, photographs and sculptures) and architectural design.
Patent Procedure
Patent: A patent is an exclusive right granted for an invention – a product or process that provides a new way of doing something, or that offers a new technical solution to a problem.
A patent provides patent owners with protection for their inventions. Protection is granted for a limited period, generally 20 years.
An invention must, in general, fulfil the following conditions to be protected by a patent. It must be of practical use; it must show an element of “novelty”, meaning some new characteristic that is not part of the body of existing knowledge in its particular technical field.
In many countries, scientific theories, mathematical methods, plant or animal varieties, discoveries of natural substances, commercial methods or methods of medical treatment (as opposed to medical products) are not generally patentable. (WIPO)
Patent and Competitiveness
Innovation creates the competitive advantage by increasing productivity, by reducing costs and by differentiating the products.
Patent protects the use of the knowledge behind the innovation from the competitors in the market.
Patent ownership will provide:
Pre-eminent market position Pre-empting competitive entries Pricing flexibility with new technologies Opening the door for licensing and internationalisation Strategic patent alliances Patent ownership as an advantageous negotiating tool Favourable image Improving the competence of the enterprise
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