(go over to question 5)
1) Title Page and Table of Contents
2) Introduction2 [approximately 600 words]:
A brief overview of the selected company in terms of size and location; the analysis of the entrepreneurial context in which the company operates by introducing the products/services it offers and its main competitors;
3) Historical Development [approximately 700 words]:
In this section, you are expected to discuss the story of your chosen company and its evolution. Please organize the discussion as a temporal sequence of events3 .
4) Innovation space [approximately 700 words]:
Analysis of the company’s innovation space by applying the 4Ps model developed by Bessant and Tidd. After looking into the story of your company, you will identify and classify the innovation activities which have led to different forms of change.
Try to capture as many activities as possible and map them onto the 4Ps model. Discuss the results of the mapping exercise by focusing attention on what the company has already done, what it is trying to do next and what areas of the model are not covered4 .
Does the organization explore all the innovation space or is the attention focused only on specific types of innovation (product, process, position or paradigm innovation)? Does the organization have a portfolio in which incremental and radical changes are balanced? What space has the organization left untouched?
START ASSESSMENT FROM HERE. (2000 WORDS).
5) Managing the innovation process [approximately 1200 words]:
Innovation is a process and rises from an extended sequence of actions. This process can be broken down into four key phases: (1)
Search; (2) Select; (3) Implement; and (4) Capture. These four phases, which compose the innovation model designed by Bessant and Tidd, will be discussed in-depth during the Module. In referencing Bessant and Tidd’s model, the teams shall analyse how their selected company manage the innovation process. The results of this analysis will be discussed in a Team Report which must be organized into 7 section.
In this section you will discuss how the company manages the innovation process. A set of questions is provided for each phase (see below) to help you identify the relevant information. Your discussion may consider, but not be limited to, such questions. Please note that you are not expected to answer every question:
5.1) Phase 1. Search: What is the company’s innovation process triggered by? How does the company carry out the search activity? Which tools and techniques do they deploy? Is the company adopting an open innovation approach? When searching for innovative ideas, do they balance the exploration of completely new territories (external knowledge) with exploiting the knowledge they already have (internal knowledge)? Does the company tap into the rich knowledge and innovative ideas which are embedded in its existing structures and workforce? Is their approach more technology/knowledge push or need pull?
5.2) Phase 2. Select: How does the company select the innovative ideas to implement? How is the technical coping with decision making under uncertainty? Is there a formal decision-making structure in place which reviews information about technical and market aspects of the innovation activities to push forward?
What tools are used to help manage high 2 Section 2, Section 3 and Section 4 includes most of the contents that your Team Presentation will report on. 3 For example, look at the timelines that Business Insider uses to highlight some of the most crucial moments and innovations shaping the history of McDonald’s .
4 An example of how to discuss a company’s innovation space is presented in Appendix A to this guide. Please consider this simple but effective example when working on your assessment tasks. ENT08101 Creativity, Innovation and Enterprise: Assessment Brief 7 uncertainty decision making? Is there a formal evaluation process for project ideas? How is risk assessed during the selection process? Does the company have an innovation plan? How is their portfolio of innovation structured, if they have one? Does the organization balance radical and incremental innovation?
5.3) Phase 3. Implement: How does the company approach product and service innovation (development of new products and services or improvement of the existing ones)? How are product and service innovation projects executed? Where is the knowledge necessary to implement such projects sourced from? Does the company make use of specific tools and techniques to manage the implementation process? Is there a development team responsible for the implementation of product and service innovation projects and how are these teams structured? How is the company coupling technological possibilities with market opportunities?
oes the company work with active users to develop new products and services or improve the existing ones? When looking at the technological/market maturity matrix, in which position do you think that the company’s strategy to innovation can be placed in (technological, complex, differentiated or architectural)?
How is the company dealing with the factors affecting the success and failure of new product and service development?
5.4) Phase 4. Capture: What value and benefits have the company’s innovation projects generated? How does the company capture this value and transform it in competitive advantage? Can this value be expressed only in economic terms (returns) or is it also related to additional benefits leading to competitive advantage, such as, greater sustainability or new knowledge?
Does the company have any patents? How is the company protecting its intellectual property? What tools and approaches is the company using to capture experiential learning and improve the management of the innovation process?
6
) Recommendations [approximately 600 words]: in this section, you should provide recommendations as to how the company can improve its approach to innovation management by critical reflecting on the results of your research activity and linking such results to the theoretical background acquired during the lectures.
7) References: in this section you shall list all the references you used to conduct the analytical process. The report must be between 3,800 and 4,000 words. When counting your words, please exclude the text in figures, tables, Section 1 (Title Page and Table of Contents) and
Section 7 (References). The word count must be included in the Title Page. In the Team Report, there should be clear evidence of critical thinking and the contents of every section need to be included. In addition, please pay attention to the quality of the presentation, for which marks will be allocated.
Essential reading books:
Managing Innovation: Integrating Technological, Market and Organizational Change. 5th Edition.
Author: Tidd, Joseph; Bessant, John
Managing Innovation: integrating technological, market and organizational change. 5th edition.
Author: Tidd, Joseph 1960 Author
