OPERATIONS AND PROCESS INNOVATION

1. What do you understand by innovation within the education sector?

Education, being a social institution serving the needs of society, is indispensable for
society to survive and thrive. It should be not only comprehensive, sustainable, and superb, but
must continuously evolve to meet the challenges of the fast-changing and unpredictable
globalized world. This evolution must be systemic, consistent, and scalable; therefore, school
teachers, college professors, administrators, researchers, and policy makers are expected to
innovate the theory and practice of teaching and learning, as well as all other aspects of this
complex organization to ensure quality preparation of all students to life and work.

To innovate is to look beyond what we are currently doing and develop a novel idea that
helps us to do our job in a new way. The purpose of any invention, therefore, is to create
something different from what we have been doing, be it in quality or quantity or both. To
produce a considerable, transformative effect, the innovation must be put to work, which
requires prompt diffusion and large-scale implementation.

Innovation is generally understood as the successful introduction of a new thing or

method. In essence, innovation seems to have two subcomponents. First, there is the idea or
item which is novel to a particular individual or group and, second, there is the change which
results from the adoption of the object or idea. Thus, innovation requires three major steps: an
idea, its implementation, and the outcome that results from the execution of the idea and
produces a change. In education, innovation can appear as a new pedagogic theory,
methodological approach, teaching technique, instructional tool, learning process, or
institutional structure that, when implemented, produces a significant change in teaching and
learning, which leads to better student learning. So, innovations in education are intended to
raise productivity and efficiency of learning and/or improve learning quality. For example,
Khan’s Academy and MOOCs have opened new, practically unlimited opportunities for massive,
more efficient learning.

Efficiency is generally determined by the amount of time, money, and resources that are
necessary to obtain certain results. In education, efficiency of learning is determined mainly by
the invested time and cost. Learning is more efficient if we achieve the same results in less time
and with less expense. Productivity is determined by estimating the outcomes obtained vs the
invested effort in order to achieve the result. Thus, if we can achieve more with less effort,
productivity increases. Hence, innovations in education should increase both productivity of
learning and learning efficiency.

2. Apply Braun’s principles to your university or college.

Quality and usefulness;

 College students today seem to be spending much less time on their course work than
their predecessors did 50 years ago, and evidence of their abilities suggests that they
 are probably learning less than students once did and quite possibly less than their
counterparts in many other advanced industrial countries.
 Most of the millions of additional students needed to increase educational attainment
levels will come to campus poorly prepared for college work, creating a danger that
higher graduation rates will be achievable only by lowering academic standards.

3. Which elements of the TQM philosophy could you apply to your university or college? What
might be the benefits?

The second pillar of TQM applied to education is the total dedication to continuous
improvement, personally and collectively. Within a Total Quality school setting, administrators
work collaboratively with their customers: teachers. Gone are the vestiges of “Scientific
management”… whose watchwords were compliance, control and command. The foundations
for this system were fear, intimidation, and an adversarial approach to problem-solving. Today
it is in our best interest to encourage everyone’s potential by dedicating ourselves to the
continual improvement of our own abilities and those of the people with whom we work and
live. Total Quality is, essentially, a win-win approach which works to everyone’s ultimate
advantage.

According to Deming, no human being should ever evaluate another human being.
Therefore, TQM emphasizes self-evaluation as part of a continuous improvement process. In
addition, this principle also laminates to the focusing on students’ strengths, individual learning
styles, and different types of intelligences.

4. Do you think the EFQM model of excellence could apply to your university? What might be
the benefits?

EFQM Excellence Model that reflected the increased understanding and emphasis on
customer (and market) focus and is results-oriented. The underlying idea is that results (people,
customer, society and key performance) are achieved through a number of enablers in
managing and controlling the input/output trans- formation processes involved. Performance
measurement is by self-assessment, which EFQM defines as ‘a comprehensive, systematic, and
regular review of an organization’s activities and results referenced against a model of business
excellence’. It may be easier to understand and apply this approach than is the case with some
of the more philosophical concepts within TMQ. Furthermore, the EFQM excellence model also
embeds innovation and learning in the performance of the organization.

5. Consider the innovation activities of the design spectrum. How much of the range would
involve patents?

An innovative new or improved product that meets customer expectations offers an

existing or new business, new market territory without competition for so long as it retains its
innovative advantage. The IP system plays a significant role in helping a business to gain and
retain its innovation-based advantage. As a consequence, the competitive edge that an
entrepreneurial business may gain with a basic or disruptive innovation is likely to be longer
lasting than that obtained merely from an improvement innovation, assuming that the
technological barriers to competitors taking advantage of similar innovations are approximately
equivalent, since a basic innovation establishes a new class of product or service, entry of
competition requires that the opportunity provided by that class is recognized by a potential
competitor before it attempts to enter the market. In the case of an improvement innovation,
not only are competitors for the class of product already in place, but since the improvement
innovation typically amounts to a better, faster, or cheaper way to build the product, its
advantages are far more quickly understood and replicated. Hence the need to use the tools of
the IP system for both types of innovations, except that generally there is a need for devising an
offensive IP strategy for a basic innovation versus a defensive IP strategy for an improvement
innovation.

6. Can you think of any circumstances in which the philosophy of ‘keeping things simple’ would
not apply?

Running your own business is a complicated affair; making it successful can be even
more complicated.  If you don’t have a plan to be productive and keep focused, the details that
you are responsible for can quickly overwhelm you.  In fact, one of the biggest failings of new
entrepreneurs is to get so caught up in an avalanche of unimportant details that more
important priorities get left unattended on the table. What can you do to be a productive
entrepreneur, focused on what really matters?  Start by making your life itself simpler –
become a minimalist.

7. Technology changes. The laws of economics do not.’ Discuss the implications and validity of
this statement.

Technology is something to resist. Whether it foments antisocial behavior, cultural

polarization, or wide-scale labor disruptions, technological change is a frustrating and perennial
struggle facing society. The benefits largely accrue to a few oligarchs. More existentially, digital
technologies rob us of our humanity, as automation and machine learning become a  dangerous
master we must serve. It is true that antipathy to technological change animates many
proposals for limitations or outright bans on certain applications of technology. Yet apart from
a few odd countries, no governments prohibit technological innovation altogether. The truth is
that many people realize that technological innovation, economic growth, and overall human
wellbeing are intricately linked and that stemming our innovative capacity means handicapping
our potential to progress. If we don’t allow some disruption today, then our overall quality of
life will be much lower tomorrow.