Innovation in management services in supply chains(SCM) Essay

Innovation in management services in supply chains(SCM) - Essay Example Importance of innovation Innovation is best described as the development and creation of unique possibilities for making value added contributions in a particular industry. The entire process of innovation goes beyond the traditional method of implementing new manufacturing processes or developing innovative products because it comprises of much broader aspects such as innovation in the market, organization and input resources (Kim, Kumar, & Kumar, 2012; Ozturen & Sevil, 2009). Innovation in tourism and hospitality industry In the last few years, the researchers such as Boon-itt and Pongpanarat (2011), Martinez-Ros and Orfila-Sintes (2009) and Spekman, Spear and Kamauff (2002) have done extensive studies on the role of innovation in service sector especially tourism and hospitality industry. Tourism and hospitality industry consists of many areas and dimensions and the study is catered across different elements. As the world has become global, travelling to different destinations wor ldwide is now the favorite leisure activity of majority of the consumers of any society. It has been reported by many countries such as France, USA, UK, Malaysia, Singapore, Turkey, China and Canada that the number of tourists is increasing at a faster pace than expected (Nassiry, Ghorban, & Nasiri, 2012). In order to provide exceptional tourism experience to the visitors, the tourism and hospitality industry of each country has to introduce innovative products and services that will meet the expectation level of the customers (Anthony, Johnson, & Sinfield, 2008). This industry is mainly made up of tour operators, travel agencies, hotels and accommodation service providers and airline companies. One of the key areas of focus by the players in the respective industry is the development of an effective Supply Chain Management (SCM) that ensures that the tourists are provided the most satisfying level of services (Zhang, Song, & Huang, 2009). Real life examples of SCM initiatives and i nnovations Since the demands of customers change at an accelerating pace in each market, it is required by every company to closely monitor the changing patterns of innovation requirements in the products and services. The customers of tourism and hospitality industry are looking for open service innovation which was the concept introduced by FedEx. Almost all the firms existing in the industry have ensured that they employ the latest technology in their services so that they have a strong presence in the market (Gunasekara, 2006). The consumers need to know about the tourism and hospitality industries so that they develop an interest in trying out the services. Some of the initiatives that have been observed in the Tourism supply chain (TSC) are integration of supplier and buyer relationship (Rizova, 2006), taking the suppliers on board when developing new products so that the feasibility of the project can be effectively designed (Handfield & Lawson, 2008) and eliminating the unne cessary intermediary steps so that the cost can be saved to a much larger extent (Miles, 2008). Such types of initiatives is a necessary act to be conducted by the organisations as