Introduction
In the modern world, being innovative enables countries and organizations to stay ahead in terms of technological advancement and finding solutions to the most critical problems. Innovations are not as a result of just one sector of the economy. Different stakeholders should play their role to ensure that they all work towards a common goal. For instance, India is a developing country with a lot of potential due to availability of highly skilled personnel, a wide range of resources, a stable government, and large industries. Innovation in India is a topic of interest to both the private and public sector.
The major determinants of the amount of success regarding innovations in a country are; education, the government, finances, the manufacturing sector, the automobile sectors, and information technology (Madhok and Keyhani, 2012). Such sectors are interconnected in one way or the other. For instance, people need to become educated to gather skills and knowledge that will enable them to come up with innovative ideas. Once ideas are developed, individuals need to seek finances from relevant institutions such as the government and industries. The information technology sector helps to create sustainable digital solutions that will not be obsolete after a short period.
Critical Review
Education plays a major role in determining the future of any region. Young children will form the next labour market in the next two decades. Therefore, the education system should be designed a way that it will prepare students for future innovations and job opportunities. The present students should be prepared to use technologies that do not exist at the moment. The world is dynamic and technological advancements are made at a rapid rate. Through education, students can be prepared to solve problems that have not been identified. Education also plays a major role in advancing the knowledge and skills of students thus increasing their innovative capability (Szirmai, Naudé and Goedhuys, 2011). Education may not solve all problems directly, but it is important to address issues as soon as they arise and determining knowledge learnt in school and through experience could help solve such problems and create solutions.
Educational development in India in terms of curricular changes, improvement of standards, and improving educational administration, and planning will lead to increased productivity through innovations (Almond, 2011). Further, giving national innovative scholarships to support talented students encourages learners to become innovative through identifying solutions of the existing problems (Joshi and Ruparel, 2016). Nonetheless, offering scholarships helps students to advance their skills and knowledge thus coming up with great innovations.
According to Yuan, Powell and Cetis (2013), mapping of cultural heritage, ecology, and local history enables students to understand their country, find out problems and become motivated to make innovations that will solve the available challenges. Establishing a Meta University helps to exploit, utilize, create a connection between institutions, activities, and programs, thus, enhancing innovations. The university will create a platform for cooperation, collaboration and communication to optimize limited resources.
Additionally, educational innovation in a country like India is a multi-dimensional effort that can help to transform the life of people. Changing an economically underdeveloped country into a modern and self-reliant nation is a challenging process. The financial procedures and administrative procedures set by past colonial rule to maintain the status quo of India may create obstacles that hinder dynamism and flexibility of the country. Moreover, facilitating innovations through education may not be fully supported by ignorant masses, and traditions that attack innovation promoters as well as innovative projects. Criticism and opposition may make innovators become sensitive to self-security and self-protection such that they may retreat (Joshi and Ruparel, 2016). However, making changes in any sector in India may be slowed down due to long cultural traditions and colonial heritage that are determine whether changes will be made or not.
Collaboration between different companies and learning institutions should be encouraged to support innovations. Such companies can start programs that fund or nature innovative ideas meant to solve problems. The government can also support such projects by setting aside funds for development activities (Madhok and Keyhani, 2012). Finally, creating awareness on existing challenges, giving support to projects, and funding start-ups will play a major role in encouraging innovations.
Analysis
Life Insurance Corporation of India has been a key market player in India’s competitive insurance and investment market. While facing stiff competition from international companies and new market entrants, it is important to explore Life Insurance Corporation of India’s internal network in terms of sub group, k-core, structural holes, density, and centrality.
Centrality
Centrality can be measured using eigenvector, closeness, betweeness, and degree (Borgatti, Everett, and Johnson, 2013). It reflects the ability to control the flow of information between nodes (Burt, 1992).
Degree. Degree represents the number of connections between nodes. Life Insurance has a degree of 61, which is the highest. National Bank of Pakistan has a degree of 59, Alfalah GHP Investment Management Limited has 32, while United Bank Limited has 30. Therefore, Life Insurance Corporation has a better chance of getting a higher market share given its role in the market. Therefore, the company is the largest connector in the industry, which reflects its dominance. However, National Bank of Pakistan is also strong and poses a real threat to Life Insurance Corporation of India.
| ID | Degree |
| Life Insurance Corporation of India | 61 |
| National bank of Pakistan | 59 |
| Alfalah GHP investment management limited | 32 |
| United bank limited | 30 |
Structural Hole
The attribute network size determines the closeness and importance of all subsidiaries or the distance between two firms or networks (Burt, 1992; Borgatti, Everett, and Johnson, 2013). The structure hole that is based on the size of the attribute system and practical constraints indicate how Life Insurance can improve its dominance in the industry.
Life Insurance had a constraint of 0.016, National Bank 0.018, Alfalah, 0.031, and United Bank 0.034. Therefore, Life Insurance is the structural hole given the link it provides other firms in the market, which gives it a competitive advantage.
Density
Based on Cohen and Havlin’s (2010) analysis, density represents how a node is connected in any given network. For instance, for Life Insurance, the density of 0.003724, which is different from National Bank of Pakistan with a density of 0.002, Alfalah GHP investment with 0.000, and United Bank at 0.002. However, the average degree is 61, which illustrates the network connectivity with other nodes for Life Insurance.
| Possible ties | Density | Average degree |
| 144453 | 0.003724 | 1.996282528 |
The density (0.003724) is by far too low, which means that the relation between nodes is difficult.
K-Core
Cohen and Havlin (2010) note that K-cores consist of networks with nodes that have a degree equal to or greater than k. The core is usually obtained after removing nodes that have a degree less than k until no further nodes can be removed (Cohen and Havlin, 2010). In this case, however, only one k-core is present, which cannot be effectively used in providing further analysis for the company.
Subgroups
Cohen and Havlin (2010) are of the opinion that subgroups help characterize different networks into groups. Therefore, with a closely related scatter of nodes, subgroups provide a picture on how the groups are distinct from each other despite their close relationship (Borgatti, Everett, and Johnson, 2013).
In this case, there are two main subgroups with a subgroup score of 0.496. Life Insurance Corporation of India has taken a lion share of the market as evidenced in the red group while the other companies share an even smaller market. Therefore, the market share for Life Insurance is significantly high.
Conclusion and Recommendations
The insurance industry has experienced many changes and developments that warrant that a company like Life Insurance Corporation of India establish new strategies to gain a higher market share. As Almond (2011) suggests, innovation and improving the network of a company go a long way in ensuring that it provides a better customer experience. India has a large market and venturing into new markets only adds to the potential profits that any market player can achieve. Besides, the competition in India is not as that in foreign markets such as the U.S.
Improving the company’s network can be a great venture that will help in increasing the company’s chance to venture into new markets. Life Insurance currently enjoys the greatest network as compared to its key competitors. However, the company has not focused on its closeness and betweeness of its nodes. This tantamount to low communication between nodes, which results into a system that is inefficient. This should be the major investment for the firm. Connecting all departments globally will be the best investment to ensure efficiency and also boost its online presence.
Besides, offering better packages for new markets in Africa and other areas the company wish to focus on will also be a great investment opportunity as an internationalization strategy. Nonetheless, given the many nodes that the company has, Life Insurance can capitalize on increasing resources to these stations. Instead of a centralized system, it will be better to have businesses in each new market operate on its own.
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