Section A: Manufacturing Innovation, Research & Development - UK manufacturers that fail to innovate will inevitably fail. Do you agree? - Advantages and disadvantages table in A Level and IB Business

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Created on: 14-06-15 21:38


	Section A: Manufacturing Innovation, Research & Development - UK manufacturers that fail to innovate will inevitably fail. Do you agree?
	Advantages YES, manufacturers who fail to innovate will inevitably fail because... UK's future lies in high value-added manufacturing which tends to require a significant investment in R&D. Significant R&D is used to support both product and process innovation by manufacturers. Some of the UK's best performing high value-added manufacturers invest heavily into R&D, such as BAE Systems, GSK and AstraZeneca. Those manufacturers are all very competitive and highly successful multinationals and this has been down to sustained investment in R&D. More innovation as a result of higher levels of R&D. High value-added manufacturing should give UK manufacturers a competitive advantage. More demand from overseas due to high value-added expertise and manufactured products being made in the UK. Manufacturers who have invested heavily in R&D to innovate therefore have not failed. EV: Other generic drug makers in the UK who sell drugs to the NHS and supermarkets don't need high levels of innovation and they have not failed. YES, manufacturers who fail to innovate will inevitably fail because... Innovation requires long-term thinking and investment in R&D. Dyson investing 1.5 billion in long term innovation announced in November 2014. If manufacturers fail to invest and innovate in the long-term it's likely they will lose market share if others are innovating. UK manufacturing sector may be slipping behind competition in the rest of the world as the proportion of R&D spending has decline over the past decade. Loss of market share on a global scale can occur as competitiveness is loss due to lack of innovation. Manufacturing firms may then fail as a result if they are unable to compete on a global scale. EV: Some manufacturing doesn't need high levels of innovation to ensure competitiveness - but due to the nature of UK manufacturing (high value-added) it is likely innovation is needed in order to succeed.	Disadvantages NO, manufacturers who fail to innovate will not inevitably fail because... R&D is not the most important factor in manufacturing, but the scale and efficiency can determine the success or failure of UK manufacturing. Rolls Royce have a world-class engine innovation, but they also use rationalisation to maintain efficiency. Ensuring UK manufacturers are efficient is important because it can reduce waste and improve productivity. GSK have invested heavily in automation in order to improve productivity - cut thousands of jobs. Costs of production are reduced and manufacturers are able to remain cost competitive. Cost competitive is a very important factor in remaining competitive on a global scale. Don't need to innovate to remain competitive in order to avoid failure, but cut costs instead. EV: GSK are still one of the highest investors in R&D in UK manufacturing - global success. Without innovation they were unlikely to succeed on a global scale, but follow other objectives of cost cutting too to avoid failure.
	Evaluation I don't believe that UK manufacturers who fail to innovate will inevitably fail because while R&D is important, it is not the only factor affecting the success of manufacturers - cost management is also important. Also, it can't be guaranteed that a substantial investment in R&D and innovation will prevent failure, as investment could be wrong and lead to losses as a result. For some manufacturing firms I agree that if they fail to innovate it is likely that are going to fail, such as the pharmaceutical industry because it requires the high levels of innovation to create new drugs or the aerospace industry because it requires constant improvement on the planes it creates in order to remain competitive world-wide. Even with these industries that generically have high levels of R&D as they need it, it is still only likely they will fail and not inevitable as firms follow other objectives despite innovation.

Section A: Manufacturing Innovation, Research & Development - UK manufacturers that fail to innovate will inevitably fail. Do you agree?

Advantages

YES, manufacturers who fail to innovate will inevitably fail because... UK's future lies in high value-added manufacturing which tends to require a significant investment in R&D.
Significant R&D is used to support both product and process innovation by manufacturers.
Some of the UK's best performing high value-added manufacturers invest heavily into R&D, such as BAE Systems, GSK and AstraZeneca.
Those manufacturers are all very competitive and highly successful multinationals and this has been down to sustained investment in R&D.
More innovation as a result of higher levels of R&D.
High value-added manufacturing should give UK manufacturers a competitive advantage.
More demand from overseas due to high value-added expertise and manufactured products being made in the UK.
Manufacturers who have invested heavily in R&D to innovate therefore have not failed.
EV: Other generic drug makers in the UK who sell drugs to the NHS and supermarkets don't need high levels of innovation and they have not failed.
YES, manufacturers who fail to innovate will inevitably fail because... Innovation requires long-term thinking and investment in R&D.
Dyson investing 1.5 billion in long term innovation announced in November 2014.
If manufacturers fail to invest and innovate in the long-term it's likely they will lose market share if others are innovating.
UK manufacturing sector may be slipping behind competition in the rest of the world as the proportion of R&D spending has decline over the past decade.
Loss of market share on a global scale can occur as competitiveness is loss due to lack of innovation.
Manufacturing firms may then fail as a result if they are unable to compete on a global scale.
EV: Some manufacturing doesn't need high levels of innovation to ensure competitiveness - but due to the nature of UK manufacturing (high value-added) it is likely innovation is needed in order to succeed.

Disadvantages

NO, manufacturers who fail to innovate will not inevitably fail because... R&D is not the most important factor in manufacturing, but the scale and efficiency can determine the success or failure of UK manufacturing.
Rolls Royce have a world-class engine innovation, but they also use rationalisation to maintain efficiency.
Ensuring UK manufacturers are efficient is important because it can reduce waste and improve productivity.
GSK have invested heavily in automation in order to improve productivity - cut thousands of jobs.
Costs of production are reduced and manufacturers are able to remain cost competitive.
Cost competitive is a very important factor in remaining competitive on a global scale.
Don't need to innovate to remain competitive in order to avoid failure, but cut costs instead.
EV: GSK are still one of the highest investors in R&D in UK manufacturing - global success. Without innovation they were unlikely to succeed on a global scale, but follow other objectives of cost cutting too to avoid failure.

Evaluation

I don't believe that UK manufacturers who fail to innovate will inevitably fail because while R&D is important, it is not the only factor affecting the success of manufacturers - cost management is also important. Also, it can't be guaranteed that a substantial investment in R&D and innovation will prevent failure, as investment could be wrong and lead to losses as a result. For some manufacturing firms I agree that if they fail to innovate it is likely that are going to fail, such as the pharmaceutical industry because it requires the high levels of innovation to create new drugs or the aerospace industry because it requires constant improvement on the planes it creates in order to remain competitive world-wide. Even with these industries that generically have high levels of R&D as they need it, it is still only likely they will fail and not inevitable as firms follow other objectives despite innovation.

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Section A: Manufacturing Innovation, Research & Development - UK manufacturers that fail to innovate will inevitably fail. Do you agree?