InnovMgmt - Assignment

Assignment 1
Answer the following Review Questions:
1. Explain why it is necessary to view innovation as a management process.

- A management innovation creates a long-lasting advantage when it meets one or more of three
conditions: The innovation is based on a novel principle that challenges management orthodoxy; it is
systemic, encompassing a range of processes and methods; and it is part of an ongoing program of
invention, where progress compounds over time.
2. What is wrong with the popular view of innovation in which eccentric scientists develop new products?
- It is misleading or damaging the image of the innovation process and causes an immense harm to
understanding of Science and Technology.
3. How does an ‘open innovation’ approach help firms?

- It helps firms through the use of cheap and instant information flows that places even more emphasis on
the linkages and the supply chain in particular that firms have to ensure that they have the capability to
fully capture and utilize ideas with further externalization of the innovation process in terms of
knowledge inputs and collaboration to exploit knowledge outputs
4. What is the difference between an unsuccessful innovation and an invention?

- The differences between unsuccessful innovation and an invention, unsuccessful innovation attempts at
innovation that have been abandoned or have failed, due to lack of resources while inventionis about
moving these ideas into physical reality via technical implementation, which requires the commitment of
organizational resources.
5. To what extent do you agree with the controversial view presented by the chairman of Sony?
- Sony’s dominance in the 80’s and 90’s could only be followed by their massive fall from grace as
competitors like Apple and Samsung and then unknown players like GoPro and Sonos dismantled Sony's
Grip on consumer electronics, product by product. In the past years while Sony was once the hardware
maker for TVs, phones and everything in between, in the new century which was led by software first,
Sonysuddenly found itself a non-player and in the process, lost not only countless amounts of money, but
the backing of consumers as well.
6. Show how the three forces shaping the twenty-first century, according to Salkowitz (2010) – youth,
entrepreneurship and ICT – are captured in the cyclical model of innovation.
- Salkowitz opines that 3 forces are reshaping the world of the 21stcentury: youth, ICT and
entrepreneurship, and he believes these intertwined forces will have some impact in the Western
world,he expects them to completely remake business in less developed nations with populations that
skew toward youth, including India, Vietnam, Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, Mexico and Columbia. Tech-
savvy twenty-somethings with mobile devices in hand will figure out ways to serve the base of the
pyramid markets.He identifies an exciting new trend in global business and introduces us to a fresh young
cast of entrepreneurs whose ideas are literally changing the world.
7. Explain Sergey Brin’s (co-founder of Google) comment that coming up with an idea is easy, but innovation is
difficult.
- Sergey Brin’s statement shows that we should start to look at innovation as a management of process. It
is not a simple event but rather a complex process that involves series of activities which also involves:
● A response to either a need or an opportunity that is context dependent;
● A creative effort that, if successful, result in the introduction of novelty;
● The need for further changes.
Assignment 2
1. Discuss the tangible features that it is necessary for the state to put in place to foster innovation.
- Your teams will magically come up with creative ways of improving the workplace, fostering imagination
and solving problems. Increasing one's imagination creates possibilities and can enable a person to
pursue and accomplish many great goals. Creativity also increases curiosity that drives the desire to
learn.
2. How can the state encourage entrepreneurs and businesses to invest in longer time horizons?
- Since the beginning of time, it's been entrepreneurs that drive the creation of innovation. True
breakthroughs have been the result of an individual or small team who had an idea and the determination
to see it through to fruition. In many cases, ignoring the advice of friends and the lack of what many
would call standard market research/validation. While we enjoy the fruits of the rapid pace of
innovations, it is the entrepreneur, slaving away alone or within a small firm.
3. Explain Schumpeter’s view of entrepreneurial behavior and economic growth.

- Schumpeter described development as historical process of structural changes, substantially driven by
innovation which was divided by him into five types [4]:
1. launch of a new product or a new species of already known product;
2. application of new methods of production or sales of a product (not yet proven in the
industry);
3. opening of a new market (the market for which a branch of the industry was not yet
represented);
4. acquiring of new sources of supply of raw material or semi-finished goods;
5. new industry structure such as the creation or destruction of a monopoly position.
4. Explain how the success of companies like Apple and Google is due partly to the state.
- One major reason for Apple's success is its dynamic, constantly changing business plan. ... Apple originally
started as just another computer company. But Jobs always knew that it was meant for much bigger
things. Apple had to expand its offerings if it was to grow.
- Google's success originated in one simple insight from its founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin. They
realised in the late 1990s that the sprawling, chaotic mass of material that was cascading onto the world
wide web could be tamed by ranking search results according to their popularity. They haven't looked
back, making millions from online advertising and embracing some of the most challenging new ideas in
the world of technology. And most of us use it day in, day out: to check out the snowfall before you book a
last minute ski-ing holiday; to email the boss you won't be in; to translate your child's French homework.
5. Discuss the evidence for the fifth Kondratieff wave of growth.

- Previous research in the development of a comprehensive theory of the Kondratiev cycle/structure is
reviewed. The problem of paradigm exhaustion is emphasized. The structure of the first four Kondratievs
is contrasted with that inferred for a possible fifth. The main driving forces and constraints characteristic
of a fifth Kondratiev recovery are discussed. These are new technologies, job creation, new sources of
energy, environmental constraints, and availability of financial capital. It is concluded that many of the
ingredients for a recovery are present but that there are countervailing factors as well. Further, the
contextual field of forces in which the Kondratiev is embedded is now more turbulent, and a Kondratiev
recovery would have to be part of a radical transformation in social, economic, and environmental
thinking.
6. What is meant by a ‘weak business system’?

- A weak business analyst usually has poor organizational skills. Most of these professionals are expected
to complete multiple projects each month or quarter. For example, a business analyst of a small pet
manufacturing firm may be studying the efficiency of the manufacturing plant, analyzing engineer
practices and assessing new regulations simultaneously. Poor organizational skills may prevent him from
prioritizing his list of tasks. Hence, he may fail to meet project deadlines or omit crucial aspects of an
assignment.
- The weak business analyst often fails to make use of all available resources. He may be unfamiliar with
some resources as well. These resources may include industry reports, software packages or
assessment tools. A business analyst unfamiliar with financial ratio software, for example, may omit
important numbers to assess financial results properly in a specific region. Financial ratio software helps
firms compute and interpret extensive financial data, including leverage ratios, which detail a company's
debt situation. Similarly, weak business analysts may not resource all the experienced professionals in
their organization when conducting an analysis.
7. Explain the role played by entrepreneurship in innovation.

- The importance of innovation in entrepreneurship is shown by coming up with new way to produce a
product or a solution. A service industry can expand with another type of service to fulfill the ever
changing needs of their clients. Producers can come up with another product from the raw materials and
by-products. The importance of innovation in entrepreneurship is another key value for the longevity of a
business. Entrepreneurs and businesses began with a need. They saw the need within the community and
among themselves that they have come up with a solution. They seize the opportunity to innovate to
make the lives more comfortable. And these solutions kept evolving to make it better, easier and more
useful. Entrepreneurs must keep themselves abreast with the current trends and demands.
Manufacturers are constantly innovating to produce more without sacrificing the quality.
8. How do universities help to deliver entrepreneurship?

- 1. Focus More on Case Studies - Case studies are an effective method to spur students’ curiosity, putting
them face-to-face with real-life business situations. By studying past or present corporate success stories
and operational hiccups, students can dig deeper into processes and procedures that executives follow
to make decisions.
2. Link Curricula to Real-World Business Challenges - Universities can jumpstart their business degrees by
linking their curricula to real-life business challenges. For example, when teaching social media marketing,
a lecturer can point to how companies like Facebook and Twitter have become the promotional fulcrum
for many businesses around the world. Similarly, a finance professor can use the 2008 mortgage crisis to
instill in students notions as diverse as quantitative easing, inflation and monetary policy.
3. Create Opportunities for Students to Participate in Social Entrepreneurship Contests - There is nothing
more engaging and hands-on than letting students participate in some type of entrepreneurship contests.
This includes both social entrepreneurship businesses that may focus more on a social cause and tech
startup ventures. No wonder shows like The Apprentice and Shark Tank have drawn viewers and critical
acclaim from all over the world.
4. Partner with Businesses - Prominent universities already have partnership agreements with businesses,
whereby they regularly send students to work temporarily as interns at specific organizations.
Entrepreneurship-in-Residence is also an innovative way to foster practical knowledge and allow young
professionals to rub elbows with established and experienced entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurship-in-
Residence programs facilitate pairing of successful entrepreneurs and startup founders—who serve as
mentors and give lectures—with campuses to offer students a real-world perspective of business and
entrepreneurship. As Michael Simmons, co-founder and partner of Empact, put it: “Colleges and
universities can now contribute the most by serving as the glue that connects students to the rest of the
ecosystem.”
5. Invite Business Executives to Deliver Lectures - Some institutions, like the Kellogg School of
Management, have found new ways to make entrepreneurship teaching more engaging, vibrant, and
effective. They occasionally invite business executives and ask them to teach a full course, make a
presentation, or share their experiences with students.
6. Provide Consulting Services to Small Businesses and Nonprofits - Universities can make money—and
make business courses engaging—by providing consulting services to small businesses and nonprofit
agencies. Conceptually, a professor would lead the consulting team of students, formulating operational
priorities and guiding students throughout the consulting engagement.
7. Help Students Launch Their Own Businesses - In a global economy plagued by high levels of
unemployment, nothing would be better than helping students launch their own businesses. Universities
can work in partnership with student-entrepreneurs—and institutions such as the Small Business
Administration—to conduct market research, obtain financing, and create viable businesses.
8. Emphasize Technology Topics in Curricula - Technology has asserted its supremacy on today’s global
economy. Higher-learning institutions can jumpstart their students’ careers by incorporating more
technology topics in curricula.
9. Foster Global Exchange Programs with Other Institutions - Global exchange programs are nothing new,
but the concept has not expanded as it should to business programs. For example, the Erasmus program
in Europe allows students of Eurozone countries to start a degree program in one country and finish it in
another. Similar programs, such as the one spearheaded by the New York Institute of Technology, also
exist in the United States and elsewhere.
10. Encourage Student-in-Residence Programs - To encourage entrepreneurship in students, whether it be
social or for-profit, universities must offer more practical coursework, blending the theory in the
traditional economic literature with the tangible needs of everyday business management. The education
should be experiential, hands-on, and action-driven to give students a real-world experience. Let’s give
entrepreneurship students the sink-or-swim test in the Shark Tank.
Assignment 3
1. Explain how crowdsourcing is used to generate product ideas.

- Using crowdsourcing for innovation has been an option for a long time. As the marketplace gets
increasingly more competitive, innovative ideas will need to come from a larger variety of sources.
Crowdsourcing is the way to both stay competitive and stay in touch with the heartbeat of your
customers’ desires.
2. Discuss the merits and limitations of lead users as a source of innovations.

- Innovation has become the buzzword of the industry in the 21 century from business to other
areas everywhere innovation is being talked of several emerging businesses have proved that
innovation can be the way to the Top. From Amazon to Google and Facebook, all have proved it
many times people use the terms innovation and improvement interchangeably. However the
two terms vary and innovation is the same as that between evolution and revolution.
Improvement is like making Improvements an existing products or service to help better
respond to the market demand.
3. How does diffusion differ from adoption?

- Diffusion refers to the process by which innovations are spread among the members of a social system
over time (in your organizations), whereas adoption is a decision of implementing innovations based on
knowledge, persuasion of individuals within a given system
4. How does frugal innovation differ from targeting low income segments?
- this refers to removing non-essential features from a durable good, such as a car or phone, in order to
sell it in developing countries. Designing products for such countries may also call for an increase in
durability and, when selling the products, reliance on unconventional distribution channels.
5. What role should marketing play in the early stages of product innovation?
- Marketing plays a critical role in sales. The marketing department introduces products to the consumer,
and creates strategic messaging that elevates appeal and ultimately drives sales. The feedback and
response from consumers is measured by the marketing team on a variety of levels. Advertising is one
means of seeing what performs and what does not perform. Marketers will note trends and demand in
their specific markets. This plays into new product development, because the marketing team can work
with product developers to create products based on that demand. It's the role of marketing
management to make this connection, and to find an efficient way to communicate responses from the
marketing department to the product development team.
6. List some of the additional factors that affect the adoption of highly innovative products.
● Relative Advantage. The relative advantage refers to the degree to which an innovation appears
superior to existing products.
● Compatibility. Compatibility is the degree to which an innovation fits the values and experiences of
potential consumers. It belongs to the product characteristics that influence the adoption rate because
consumers will only slowly start adopting a product if it is not compatible with their mindset.
● Complexity. The degree to which an innovation is difficult to understand or to use is also one of the
product characteristics that influence the adoption rate.
● Divisibility. Divisibility refers to the degree to which an innovation may be tried on a limited basis.
● Communicability. Even if all other product characteristics that influence the adoption rate are favourable,
communicability can still slow down adoption significantly. Communicability is the degree to which the
results of using an innovation can be observed or described to others.
7. Explain how market vision can help the innovation process.

- Having the “right” market vision (MV) in new product scenarios has been shown to help firms achieve a
significant competitive advantage, which can ultimately lead to superior financial results. MV is a clear
and specific mental model/image that organizational members have of a desired and important product‐
market for a new advanced technology.
8. How does the pattern of consumption influence the likely success or failure of a new product?
- Consumption pattern refers to the degree of change required in the thinking and behaviour of the
consumer in using the product. Products involving consumption pattern changes can require customers to
alter their thinking and habits and this may affect their willingness to embrace a new product.
Assignment No. 4
1. Can organizations operate across the entire spectrum of innovation activities?

- This question refers to Pearson’s uncertainty map. Many firms concentrate their efforts on one or two of
these activities. For example, component suppliers in the automotive industry would concentrate on
improving existing components (quadrant 2) and working with the automotive manufacturer to develop
new features for the final product (quadrant 3). Some large firms may cover three of these areas of
activities. Only the largest firms, for example Microsoft, Siemensand Mercedes are able to operate
across all areas. Even the largest firms are increasingly using collaborations and alliances to improve
their performance in the areas in which they perceive they are not strong
2. Explain the fundamental dilemma facing organizations and the tensions it creates.
- Fundamental tension between opposing needs: stability vs creativity. Companies require high levels of
productivity and control to compete in today’s world.Reduce costs and inefficiencies.On the other hand
also need to develop new ideas and new products to be competitive in future. Need environment to test
new ideas.
3. Discuss the impact to the firm of changes in architectural knowledge and component knowledge.
- This simple representation of the different environments in an R&D environment helps to
identify the different organisational and managerial requirements necessary for one to be
successful in each of the four areas. For example, development engineering is a very different
activity to that of applications engineering . The former requires much more input and emphasis
on manufacturing technologies, whereas applications engineering requires considerable input
from the market in the form of intelligence about routes to market, competitor products, etc.
4. Explain how management tools for innovation may help a firm regain its innovative performance.
- The conductor of any orchestra has to try to organise a large group of highly creative and
talented individual musicians. It is his ability to get the musicians to work together, which will
determine whether the orchestra sounds any good. While individual creative inspiration on the
football pitch may sometimes be desirable there is no place for such individual inspiration within
an orchestra. Yet, at the same the conductor needs his musicians to perform at their best, so he
can hardly go around scolding them. Such individual creativity and talent is found in scientists,
they too need to be encouraged to work together.
5. Explain how organizational characteristics can facilitate the innovation process.

- You need to refer to Figure 3.4 and Table 3.2. Both of these offer an overview of the
factors that influence the innovation process. Each one of the factors in Table 3.2 needs to be
explained and then showed how it influences the innovation process. This can be illustrated by
referring to the framework triangle at the end of Chapter 1.
6. Explain the key individual roles within the innovation process and the activities they perform.
- You need to refer to Table 3.4 which lists many of the key organisational roles identified
within the literature. Once again each of these needs to be explained and then show how this
Role influences the innovation process. What this area illustrates is that the innovation process
is dependent on individuals performing roles and it reinforces the idea that innovation is a
process that can be and is managed.
Assignment No. 5
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 policymakers 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: anidea, 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, organizational structure that, when implemented, produces a significant change in teaching and
learning, which leads to beer 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 me, money, and resources that are necessary to
obtain certain results. In education, the science of learning is determined mainly by the invested me and
cost. Learning is more efficient if we achieve the same results in less means with less expense.
Productivity is determined by esang the outcomes obtained vs the invested sort 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 eciency
2. Apply Braun’s principles to your university or college.

- Braun’s principle of innovation can be applied effectively in our university, because it widely supports
education's ever changing need to evolve. To cater the future generations’ learning needs to excel.
3. Which elements of the TQM philosophy could you apply to your university or college? What might be the
benefits?
- TQM, with its continuous improvement, employee involvement and process ownership, has shown itself to
be an effective policy in managing organisations, not least because of the enthusiastic implementation.
4. Do you think the EFQM model of excellence could apply to your university? What might be the benefits?
- Promotes better understanding of customer demands; this will benefit the university by knowing the
demands and catering to the needs.
5. Consider the innovation activities of the design spectrum. How much of the range would involve patents?
- Innovation Spectrum builds on and combines existing frameworks which use design as a cognitive activity
to solve pre-defined problems. Patents would only be involved if the activity involves an original idea from
an innovator or inventor, not the combination of a framework that had been established early on.
6. Can you think of any circumstances in which the philosophy of ‘keeping things simple’ would not apply?
- Doing complicated things not meant for keeping things simple.
7. ‘Technology changes. The laws of economics do not.’ Discuss the implications and validity of this statement.
- Technology changes, yes it changes as we people continue to develop/ adapt to new technologies
coming. As the laws of economics do not, its basic portion, which is the law of supply and demand would
never change.
Assignment No. 6
1. Explain why many research organizations are against the patenting of life forms.
- Because there are many who believe that patenting of life forms is too heavily biased towards the needs
of inventors and does not take into account the poor and developing countries of the world.
2. Explain why theft of intellectual property should be a crime.

- It should be a crime, because if you have your own intellectual property that you use on your business or
other data, and someone uses it without your permission or is stolen, simply by using it can be a crime.
3. Explain why discoveries are not patentable.

- Discoveries are not patentable, since they do not meet the requirements of a manner of manufacture.
4. Discuss some of the limitations of the patent system.

- Patent system as discussed on the previous topic, can only be applied on properties or products that are
inverted or built. Patent can be limited to things that are discovered and life forms.
5. Is the pharmaceutical industry the unacceptable face of globalization (consider the anti-capitalist
demonstrations of recent years)?
- The Pharmaceutical Industry uses the patent system to ensure that it unrelentingly reaps rewards from
the drug that it develops. There is alarm at the high cost of these drugs to the undeveloped civilizations,
in third world countries. One classic example is the widespread malaria and AIDS in Southern Africa.
Though the industry had responded to it on several occasions, it enjoys a privileged position, partly due
to the patent system.
6. Discuss why Lego wanted to trademark its block.

- Best-Lock argued that the shape of Lego’s tiny men and women is determined by “the possibility of joining
them to other interlocking building blocks for play purposes”.
7. Explain, with the use of examples, when it would be appropriate to use trademarks and copyright to protect a
firm’s intellectual property.
- As a business owner, you should care about intellectual property because it's one of the most important
business assets that you'll ever own. Intellectual property, often referred to as IP, is a legal term covering
various forms of valuable business assets. The three primary areas of IP are trademarks, copyrights and
patents. Many people confuse trademarks, copyrights and patents, frequently referring to copyright
when it's really a trademark that they're talking about or calling all IP a patent. Although there are some
similarities among these forms of IP, they are very different and serve unique legal and business
purposes.
Assignment No. 7
1. Explain the role played by core competencies in a firm’s strategic planning.

- Core competencies play a vital role in a company's strategic planning such as strategic management
facilitation, innovation encouragement, and recruitment and selection enhancement. Core competencies
highlight the area of expertise thus make strategic planning viable. A pivotal factor that may be able to
access potential variety of markets, diversity firms, contribute significantly to the perceived customer
benefits.
2. What is meant by the technology escalator in the concept of technology trajectories?

- Technology trajectory pertains to a single branch in the evolution of a technological design of a product
or service. Technology escalator refers to the escalation of technology while in the process of
advancement. Due to institutionalization of ideas, markets and professions, a technology development
can get “stuck” within one trajectory, and firms and engineers unable to adapt to ideas and innovation
from outside.
3. Explain why a business’s heritage needs to be considered in planning future strategy.

- Heritage is something that belongs to one by birth; therefore, when planning for future strategy,
business heritage needs to be considered because those are the roots where the business came to
life.Like Apple,their heritage comes from a basement, and behind a man that wanted to make the most
innovative product out there.If Apple was to plan for the future and where the business is going or even
where the new owners want to take it,they have to look into the business heritage, to know what the
initial idea for the business was and what was it about its heritage that got them to where they are at
now. Any company that is planning for the future has to take a look back to its roots and to where it all
started
4. Try to plot two firms in each of the quadrants on the profit–competency matrix (Figure 7.4).
- These firms can be placed in the upper most right hand quadrant of the matrix in figure 7.4. These firms
have been able to generate long term profits based on their core competencies and firms have been
able to imitate their activities. If competence is non core and imitability is high then one may not be able
to make profits from it. If however, the competence is core but easily imitated the firm can make profits,
but these are likely to be temporary as competitors will imitate.
5. Explain the difference between individual knowledge and organizational knowledge and show how an
organization’s knowledge can be greater than the sum of individual knowledge bases.
- Individual KnowledgeWhat is information believed by an individual as justified truth and stored in
memory.Organisational knowledge represents internal systems, routines, shared understanding and
practices. In the past, it was loosely described as part of an organisation's culture, along with anything
else that could not be explained fully. Organisational knowledge, however, represents a distinctive part of
the much broader concept of organisational culture.There are several tangible representations of this
knowledge,such as minutes of meetings, research notebooks, databanks of customers, operating
procedures,manufacturing quality control measures, as well as less tangible representations, such as
tried and tested ways of operating.
6. How would you compare the knowledge bases of two organizations?

- The whole can be more than the sum of the parts. It is important to recognize that the knowledge base of
an organization is not simply the sum of individuals’ knowledge bases. If this were the case, and
knowledge was only held at the individual level, then an organisation’s expertise and acquired abilities
would change simply by employee turnover. The wealth of experience built up by an organization through
its operations clearly is not lost when employees leave. The employment of new workers and the
retirement of old workers does not equate to changing the skills of a firm.
7. How can late entrants win the innovation race?

● Adopt distinctive positioning and marketing strategies.
● Take advantage of the complacency of the pioneers
● Attempt to leverage the inability of pioneers to cater to growing or shifting demands of the marketplace
● Explore innovative ways to market their product or service
● Have a thorough understanding of entry and defensive strategies
● Have a good sense of timing
● Understand the weaknesses of competitors better than the latter
● Other strategic measures adopted by late entrants
● Use market penetration pricing if the cost of production is lower
● Focus on a niche market
● Use incremental innovation to improve existing products
● Target new geographies to market existing products
● Develop new channels of distribution to access new markets
The fact is that late entrants can be agile when it comes to adapting to the innovations pioneered by the first
movers. If late entrants have a good R&D capability then they can design new features. Late entrants have to be
agile in manufacturing, design and development and marketing to respond quickly to first movers. Having a
dedicated R&D center helps because then it becomes easy to assimilate new knowledge and absorb it as soon as
possible.
Assignment No. 8
1. Explain why the car industry seems to have so many strategic alliances.
- A strategic alliance is a business arrangement in which two or more firms cooperate for their mutual
benefit. It can also be said to be an agreement between two or more partners to share knowledge or
resources, which could be beneficial to all parties involved. Automobile industries today engage in so
many strategic alliances which affect all levels of business processes within their supply chain as a
response to economic pressures, fast technological changes, powerful customer demand and other
issues which influence drastically on corporate strategy of the industry. For example, the strategic
alliance among the three consortium – Renault, Nissan and Daimler, resulted in a combined benefit of
about $5.3bn. Thus, the increasing market competition, reduced product life cycle, high capital investment
cost, the increasing demand for innovation and high technologies, among other external factors.
2. What is meant by ‘levelling out of knowledge’? How can firms prevent this happening when engaging in
strategic alliances?
- In the globalized business, companies require strategic thinking and only by evolving good corporate
strategies can they become strategically competitive. A sustained or sustainable competitive advantage
occurs when a firm implements a value – creating strategy of which other companies are unable to
duplicate the benefits or find it too costly to initiate. This is known as levelling out of knowledge and
experience. Firms can prevent others from taking this undue advantage of their innovation under a
strategic alliance by clearly stating out the area of collaboration and cooperation. For example, Daimler,
the German carmaker had an unhappy history with America's Chrysler which caused them great financial
loss over a nine year period due to an unclear area of cooperation.
3. Considering the case study, discuss some of the wider strategic reasons why firms may wish to enter a
strategic alliance.
- Firms enter into strategic alliances in order to:
● Expand their market share by strategic partnerships with the film industry ○ Get
buy in for partners to push their product to the market such as partnership with
electronic companies like Zenith and RCA by JVC
● Better relationships with strategic partners
● Standardisation for example Sony licensed their Blu Ray product to other manufacturers to help
secure industry standard for Toshiba’s HD DVD
● Use of distribution channels
4. Apple seems to have many strategic alliances and supplier relations. Discuss the extent to which these
contribute to its success.
- Strategic alliances by Apple contribute to its success as they have helped Apple to develop new
technologies and stay ahead of their competitors such as Samsung and others. Strategic alliances have
also led to Apple’s product differentiation helping it stay ahead of the competition and retain a higher
market share. Supplier relations led to cheaper production and high quality and to strategically share
development costs. Apple’s strategic alliances have helped it to maintain technological competence up to
date. Apple was able to identify top-tier alliance partners with the strength, stability, and experience to
help their product grow and success globally. Apple’s strategic alliances is based on mutual trust to avoid
their product recipe including research and development from being leaked to competitors
5. Explain some of the risks involved with all strategic alliances.

- From Cooperation to Competition
● No agreement that can limit that alliance will not lead to competition. Since both sides will have
access to the same resources and knowledge, it is very possible that the relationship shifts to
competition. Please keep in mind that each side will always seek ways to survive in the market,
stay the same or even bigger.
- Partners Lack of Performance ○ Before deciding with whom a company will create strategic
alliances, it is important to thoroughly analyze and learn the quality of future partners.
Risk such as low quality performance, financial difficulties, failure in delivering product or
services can be a major threat in the business later on. Another risk similar is the
incompatibility of working cultures and objectives. Therefore, it is important to carefully
go through each characteristic of future partners.
6. Explain why the repeated game of the prisoner’s dilemma is considered to be more useful in predicting
behavior.
- According to research implementing game theory, the prisoner’s dilemma can catch the issue of trust in
strategic alliance. In the prisoner’s dilemma,no matter what other party does, both are better off if they
confess. If trying to relate this with strategic alliance, a knowledge that each party has when repeating
the game will result in different outcomes. Options will be more likely to be different therefore the
outcomes will be different significantly.
Assignment No. 9
1. Discuss whether R&D should be viewed just like any other expenditure and, hence, should deliver a positive
return for the investor.
- No R&D should NOT be viewed just like any other corporate expenditure that should deliver a positive
ROI. This is primarily so because of inherent risks and uncertainties that surround the results of R&D
activities. Companies that succeed in Today's competitive markets invest in innovation. Those that make
significant investments in R&D tend to generate bigger profits than those that do not. But the world of
R&D itself is full of uncertainties, risks and questionable expenditures whose results cannot be easily
measured and factored into profitability. Rather than focusing on ROI, it is our position that corporations
should rather focus on the assessment of the productivity of R&D expenditures. This assessment can be
done using the return on research capital (RORC)) metric. The RORC the metric effectively measures the
proportion of profits that are generated from R&D spending in a previous period, such as the past year
and can be calculated using the formula below: Current Year Gross Profit Previous Year R&D
Expenditures The above RORC ratio shows how much gross profit is generated for every dollar of R&D
spent in the previous year by a given company, which provides a more accurate view of the productivity
of R&D expenditures than using ROI metrics.
2. Explain why R&D functions often are thought as freewheeling places of disorder, yet, in reality, R&D is routine
and follows many procedures.
- R&D functions are generally thought of as freewheeling places of disorder because of the nature of
uncertainties, risks and questionable expenses involved in undertaking R&D activities. These uncertainties
and questionable expenses are what is generally referred to as disorders or chaos when reference is
made to R&D as a freewheeling place of disorder. In reality, however, an R&D activity with a strategy that
is closely coupled with corporate strategy is more focused, well structured, and effectively managed, and
involves many complex organizational procedures and corporate cultures which cannot be touted as
freewheeling places of disorder.
3. Explain how two firms, A and B, in the same industry, investing the same in R&D as a percentage of sales, can
perform so differently. Firm A delivers three new patents and two new successful products; whereas firm B fails to
deliver anything.
- The success of investments in R&D largely comes down to having a good R&D strategy. Two firms can
make the same investment in R&D but with varying strategies that aligns with the overall corporate
strategy or otherwise, one of the two firms will succeed in churning out new products while the other will
fail due to poor R&D strategy and corporate strategy non-alignment. Secondly, success from the R&D
investment depends largely on how effective the R&D management process is and the extent to which the
products on which the investment is being made aligns with the overall organizational strategy as already
mentioned above.
4. Consider a firm of your choice. Examine what its level of expenditure on R&D could be. What should it be? And
what is its actual expenditure?
- We choose Apple Inc. for this assessment due to its huge global presence, easily accessible 10K Reports,
and the industry in which it operates, the Hi-Tech industry. On face value we would expect Apple to spend
anywhere between 15%-25% of its sales revenue on R&D much like similar Hi-Tech companies such as
Google, Facebook and Qualcomm does. In reality however, Apple spends only 3.5% of its sales revenue on
R&D while similar industry players such as Google, Facebook, Qualcomm, spend upwards of 15%, 21% and
22% respectively. An interesting statement made by Steve Jobs in 1998 is that “innovation has nothing to
do with how many R&D dollars you have.”. As strange as this statement may sound, and contrary to
popular maxims that the extent of R&D investments made by an organization determines its long-term
profitability, Apple actually does spend less on R&D than its competitors, yet, they made more money than
everyone else in the competition as can be seen in the figure below.
5. Use CIM (Figure 1.9) to illustrate the innovation process in the Viagra study.
- Stephen Viagra was a result of unintended technological research from at first it was intended to cure
Angina. From here, the R&D executive looked at opportunities to develop a medicine for ED judging from
its side effects. Pfizer executives tried to do this by developing technological capabilities related with
Viagra. The scientific exploration starts when Pfizer focuses more on as a solution for ED and then
continues by creating awareness.
6. Firms investing in R&D in the many countries in the world receive tax credits. How can countries encourage
further R&D investment?
- While giving tax breaks to firms investing in R&D can significantly boost and improve their R&D efforts,
governments should not limit its support to granting tax breaks. Governments should equally focus on
developing sound economic policies that will promote R&D investments leading to greater innovation and
economic growth in the long-run. A stable macroeconomic environment; sound public finances; and well-
functioning financial, labor, and product markets all support innovation, entrepreneurship, and growth, as
do effective tax, trade, and regulatory policies, therefore governments should actively promote these
enabling environments to drive up R&D investment efforts. Governments should also develop and
promote innovation policies directed at objectives such as the protection of IPR in order to encourage
R&D investments.
Assignment No. 10
1. Explain how Dyson Appliances Ltd could exploit externally sourced R&D.
- Dyson Appliances Ltd used the existing principles of centrifugal forces which was explained by Newton.
Using this scientific principle, Dyson innovated a new product named vacuum cleaner. That means Dyson
got all the ideas from Newton’s Principle and it was not their own. So this is how a firm can exploit external
source R&D as no one has any say and it is open to all clients/users.
2. Examine the degree of control required by a firm over its technology portfolio. Are there certain components
or technologies that should remain in-house?
- Yes there are certain components that should remain in house such as if R&D shows promising results
that can help in new development of technology with new product opportunities then it should be kept
inside the organization. If research has some technical problems which require expertise and do not have
inside the form then it is best for the firm to get a research contract and joint ventures with external
sources (Universities). It has to manage with contracts, partnerships otherwise it will provide a greater
risk of leakage of information.
3. Discuss the benefits and limitations of open source R&D.

- Benefits
● It is free to use and users can get ideas to innovate into a new product.
● It also gives the opportunity for open source to act as a suggestion box where people can
provide suggestions on web platforms and ideas are shared and solutions found.
● Reduces investment and risk - P&G was able to accelerate Pringles potato prints in 2004 from
inception to launch in less than a year as opposed 2 years with a fraction of the old cost.
● It involves thousands of people with the fastest delivery of information around the globe.
● Open source create ideas by different experts and e.g listing of P&G partners as yet2.com
(virtual technology market).
- Limitations
● Researchers and firms become lazy in terms of R&D as they will get the ideas easily.
● It requires the input of texperts that can provide solutions rather than reacting to ideas
● Low level of organization integration.
4. What is meant by scientific freedom and why is it important? How would you react to a Skunk worker in your
firm?
- Scientific freedom is the liberty given to scientists or researchers to work on projects of their interest
when it does not appear to have immediate benefit to the company or sponsoring institutions. The case
of CSI clearly shows how scientific freedom culminates to the development of important discoveries such
as Nano-structure, Semiconductor, Magnetic Resonance, lasers, etc. It allows science to expand without
any limitation. It is important as it helps scientists to work freely with his/her interest and can produce
best products and technologies. It helps the business firm, Universities to grow with capacity and
worthiness and earn their own benefits.
- Skunk works was the research undertaken by the researchers in a covert manner. If there is no scientific
freedom and institutions mount pressure on scientists to deliver and expect return on investment within a
short period, then Skunk (sic) works which involve the embrace of scientific research for personal gain will
be embraced as a way forward by researchers.
5. Discuss the relative shift from manufacturing-centered R&D towards more service orientated R&D.
- The relative shift from manufacturing centered R&D towards more service oriented R&D relies on
extreme
6. Explain why many product managers do not view an investment in R&D as a high risk activity. Indeed, for some
it seems they are certain of a positive result.
- Project managers usually project to the end of any business life cycle from conception to maturation and
eventual market launch of an exported product. As such they usually consider R&D as a component of
Innovation situated at the front end of the product innovation lifecycle. On the other hand, returns from
R&D can be considerably greater than any other investments, and could even ensure business’ future
survival.
Using the case of Innocent smoothie market as an example, unlike all other managers involved in the
entire innovation cycle, the product managers typically saw the new product development as the first
stage in generating and commercializing new products within the overall strategic process of product life
cycle management used to maintain or grow their market share. This perspective does not consider R&D
a high-risk but rather a significant added value.
7. Explain the product development process in the pharmaceutical industry.

● Basic Research,
● Scientific suggestions,
● Recognition of concepts,
● Investment
● Manufacture
● Product testing
● Product support
● Patents, licensing
● Marketing
● Sales
Assignment No. 11
1. How does technology transfer differ from simply purchasing technology?

- Technology transfer is a process which is very essential for the wide application, utilization and
upgrading of technology which has been developed. It is process that permit the flow of
technology from sources to a receiver. Whereas purchasing s means acquiring technology
thorough procurement. It is a developed product that you are buying.
2. Explain the limitations of many of the models of technology transfer.

- Accessing different technologies have become easy in today’s era limitation of models of
technology transfer is the depending or stop page over machinery. When there is breakage or
stoppage of machines people seem to be helpless. The amount of self-reliance for people
become less and try to find an alternative in technology for every problem faced. Another
disadvantage is the number of workers who become jobless automation of many jobs make the
Human labor is cheaper and more difficult to have a job.
3. Explain how a firm’s internal activities affect its ability to acquire external technology.
- The nature of some of the internal process of inward technology transfer and has provided an
insight on how they affect an organization ability to capture, assimilate and applied technology
and the need for this technology to be in such from that organizations own internal activities
affect its ability to transfer technology successfully.
4. What opportunities does ‘open innovation’ offer to the R&D function?

- Most firms are involved in two-way of knowledge wrapped up as technology in the form of the
product process. Those companies that spend the most R&D are also some of the biggest
licensors firms are likely to buy in more technology than their static counter parts External R&D
can create significant value, internal R&D is needed to claim some portion of that value.
5. To what extent is open innovation ‘old wine in new bottles’?

- Technology innovations have played the key role in the first industrial revolution and together
with new organization structure and financial institutions have been responsible for the second
industrial revolution.
6. Explain why any technology transferred to an organization needs to be embedded into its core routines.
- Technology is information that is put to use in order to accomplish some task. Transfer is the
movement of technology via some communication channel from one individual or organization
to another. Technology is the useful application of knowledge and expertise into an operation.
7. Explain how firms can improve their absorptive capacity.

- Absorptive capacity has been defined as a Firms ability to recognize the value of new
information, assimilate it, and apply it to commercial ends. It is studied on individual group, firm
and national levels. Antecedents are prior based knowledge, knowledge stocks and knowledge
flows and communication.
Assignment No. 12
1. For start-ups, the need to scale up can be costly; discuss how business model design can help overcome this.
- Every young company has an inherent desire to grow, but each kind of business has a different
set of advantages and disadvantages when it comes to achieving scale.
2. Selling a product is great, but generating recurring revenues is better. Discuss the value in developing a ‘cell
phone monthly subscription’ business model.
- Cellphone monthly subscription, this business was a classic case of shaping the market offering.
Value can be created through production bundling pricing.
3. Discuss the problems facing the newspaper industry and the options open to it to make money.
- Newspapers face challenges from other media such as direct mail, television and the internet
many advertisers are already spending more of their media budget on direct mail as they can
target their messages more precisely with this medium. Newspaper also face challenges more
advertising revenue from local advertisers such as retailers.
4. Is it possible to receive payment before incurring expenditure?

- A purchase made on credit, whether on a company credit card on through as established billing
arrangement, is an incurred expense until the debt is satisfied and becomes a paid expense.
Many companies acquire supplies and raw materials from wholesalers and manufacture without
upfront payment. These costs are recorded in the company ledger as an account payable until
payment is remitted.
5. Why are switching costs useful to consider in the design of a business model?
- Switching costs help lower customer acquisition costs and thrive on recurring revenues from
customers. They can also protect you from competition. Customer stay because they are locked
in their ecosystems through high switching cost.
6. Is it possible to limit the threat of competition within your business model?

- All business have competition, and in some cases, industry competition is so fierce that
companies have to fight for the business of potential customers, some players have a negative
vision of completion but it’s simple the reality of doing business.
Assignment No. 13

1. If there was a strategic alliance between competitors for the development of a new technology, then what are
the strategic issues for these firms once that technology becomes available?
- Each firm will have to:
● Establish a go to market strategy
● Decide which time to go to the market
● Have revenue sharing agreements among the firms
● Conduct continuous R&D for product improvement at the firm level
● Agree on inter firm support mechanisms for the technology
2. Apply the notion of product platform to service industries. How relevant is it to financial services or to hotels?
What are the issues that would need to be investigated if an idea emerged in a firm in those industries for a novel
platform that had no connection with what was done before in that industry?
- A product platform is a set of platform elements and architectural rules that enable a group
of planned product offerings. Key characteristics of a product platform include:
a. Architectural rules/standards governing how technologies and subsystems ("platform
elements") can be integrated;
b. Defines the basic value proposition, competitive differentiation, capabilities, cost structure, and
life cycle of a set of product offerings; and
c. Supports multiple product offerings from a single platform, permitting increased leverage
and reuse across the product line. Within the financial services industry, a bank can standardize
the architecture rules and/or underlying technology that supports how accounts are opened,
how loans are issued or contracted, how interest rates are applied to loans, how accounts are
audited and so on. By standardizing the underlying technology, the bank is able to support
multiple product offerings (such as easily rolling out and selling new insurance policies) all from
the single platform i.e. the underlying technology, thereby allowing the bank to leverage and
reuse the technology across multiple product lines and increasing its bottom line as a result. In
the case of a hotel, a single technology platform can be implemented to handle accommodation
bookings or reservations, conference room booking and reservations, payment processing for
both accommodation and conference bookings and so on. Issues that would need to be
investigated if an idea emerged in a firm in those industries for a novel platform that had no
connection with what was done before in that industry includes:
● How will this new idea differentiate us from the competition
● What new capabilities will accrue to us as an organization if we implemented this
idea
● What cost structure should we use to stay ahead of future competition,
● What is the life cycle of the products offerings to be developed from this new idea
3. Would you agree that product portfolio analysis is too simplistic to be of much value?
- No, we don’t agree that product portfolio analysis is too simplistic to be of much value. A product portfolio
is the collection of different items or products currently being sold by a company, or a collection of
products/items being evaluated by a company to determine which among them the firm should invest in.
Within the product portfolio, each product is expected to make different contributions to the firm’s net
income or bottom line. The evaluation process for a portfolio of products on which investments are to be
made typically involves a complex mix of analysis of consumer behavior to determine how the firm can
expand its market size with the new products and how to improve overall organizational profitability with
each new product in the portfolio which is being evaluated. Through this process which involves the use
of both numeric models (such as NPV, IRR) and nonnumeric models (such as Product Line Extension,
Comparative Benefit, Sacred Cow, Operating Necessity, Competitive Necessity) a firm is able
remove underperforming or money losing products from its portfolio. Undertaking this endeavor is not as
simple as it may seem, therefore we do not agree that product portfolio analysis is too simplistic to be of
much value.
4. Trace the connections between differentiation strategy, core capabilities and positioning strategy. How are
they relevant to new product planning?
- New product planning requires input from both R&D and also the market . This activity is done
before the substantial resources are applied to a project. Product strategy expresses how an
organization seeks to differentiate itself. There are at least 2 strategies that are being
discussed in chapter 13 : differentiation and positioning. Differentiation will be effective if the strategy is
rooted in organization capabilities, while positioning strategy needs to be built upon and consistent with
differentiation strategy it can also be inferred that: Differentiation strategy must be created at the same
time of planning activity. Core capabilities must be assessed to know organization strength and
weakness. Positioning strategy will help in putting the product on the market as in deciding business
models.
5. Are brand extensions as relevant in industrial markets as in consumer markets? Do they have a strategic role
or are they short-term tactical exercises?
- A brand extension can be defined as the usage of an existing brand name on a new product in the same
field. This strategy aims to take advantage of potential carryover effects from the original name. In
consumer markets, brand extensions can bring benefits to the producer and can be considered as
relevant . Consumer products are easily distinguished from one another. For example when P&G use
brand extension to market their new product such as perfume line. It will not dilute their
existing product line. However, in industrial markets, this strategy might create possibilities of
cannibalization on existing products. Industrial market is also known as a B2B market in which an industry's
products are sold to another industry. Using brand extensions might jeopardize a company’s image of a
certain product.
6. It seems Toyota has been successful at recalling some of its cars for modifications, without damaging the
Toyota brand. How has it achieved this?
- Toyota has succeeded in building its brand. When they are forced to recall its product, Toyota
quickly engaged in managing the crisis because it understand that the crisis can threaten
its reputation. This shows that strong branding has somehow brought benefit in the long run.
7. Apply CIM (Figure 1.9) to the case study at the end of this chapter to illustrate the innovation project.
- For the Cyclic Innovation Model (CIM) apply to the case
● Entrepreneurship: Munich Gases R&D department entrepreneurships are planned to developing
a new product for the teeth whitening
● Technological Research: Munich Gases R&D department, chemical technologically use of plasma,
a cleaning agent. Plasma is a fourth matter which can be either solid, liquid, a gas or a fourth
type.
● Product Creation: For the past year a research team at Munich Gases has been
exploring the viability of incorporating plasma for cleaning and whitening teeth.
Artificial plasma has can be created when energy is added to a gas, perhaps using
an electrical field or a laser.
● Market Transitions: When Munich Gases established an uncovered patent and its possibilities
that they quickly established a team of researchers to explore whether the idea could be a
viable business opportunity and further could be transit to market. Market study around 90%
completed.
● Scientific exploration: Munich Gases quickly established uncovering of a patent submitted by the
University of Southern California (USC) in 2009, which claimed scientists used plasma to sterilise
teeth and one of the sideeffects was a whitening of the teeth.
8. Examine whether it is only the launch of technology-intensive products that can benefit from the use of ‘blog
buzz’ or whether all product launches could benefit.
- It is better to launch technology intensive products like Apple iPod HiF. In all the products launching cases,
if there is any issue occurring with one product may affect other products market share like Toyota, all
three models fail.
Assignment No. 14
1. Explain why the process of new product development frequently is represented as a linear process and why
this does not reflect reality.
- The activities involved in the process of new product development (NPD) platforms focuses
on simultaneous and overlapping activities, and their ensuing external and network
interactions. NPD process is also viewed from the financial perspective in most
organizations whereby cash outflows precede inflows. In reality, each industry has its own
process. Figure 14.10 explains how the cash flow is actually more to cumulative instead of
linear . In early stage, there are barely cash inflows, while at the very end of stage NPD
process, the cash inflows is stacking as a cumulative result from previous stages.
2. Explain why screening should be viewed as a continual rather than a one-off activity.
- Screening in the NPD process is one of the ways to maintain the quality of the products. In each
step of NPD, screening is needed to rule out ideas that don’t fit with the overall concept of new product.
3. Discuss how the various groups of NPD models have contributed to our understanding of the subject of NPD.
- NPD Model Explanation Departemental Stage
➢ Early stage of NPD models.
● Each department is responsible for certain tasks.
● Each department will carry out their task before giving it to the next department
➢ Weakness
● Hinders the development of new product
● Need of re working and consultation between functions
● Possibilities of misunderstanding of product concepts
● Does not provide feedback loop
➢ Activity Stage
● models and concurrent engineering
● Similar with previous model
● Provides iteration of activities with feedback loops.
● Not suitable for technology intensive business where teamwork is crucial
➢ Team
● Having dedicated team that represents each department functions
● Emphasizes on project management and interdisciplinary teams
● Requires fundamental modification in an organization
➢ Decision Stage
● Represents NPD as a series of decision that need to be taken in order to progress the
project
➢ Stage Gate
● Divides the effort of NPD process into time sequenced process by management
decision gates
➢ Conversion Process
● Views NPD process as a numerous inputs into a black box where they are converted
into outputs
➢ Response
● Focus on individual or organization’s response to a new project proposal.
➢ Network
● Emphasizes the external linkages coupled with the internal activities that contribute
to successful product development.
-
4. To what extent has BMW repositioned the Mini?

- BMW acquired the Rover group with Mini in 1994. And 1999 Mini was kept original design,
but BMW designed and manufactured since 2000 a new Mini and Mini cooper as its
brand name. And successfully implemented 25,000 units in 2001 to 200,000 units in 2006.
Extent was the brand name of car combination with redesign configuration.
5. Examine the concept of a multi-dimensional product; how is it possible to create a new product by modifying
the price dimension?
- Based on the concept, a product is multidimensional including level of service, technology,
brand name, quality specifications, features, packaging and price. If we accept these dimensions, then it
must follow that it is theoretically possible to label a product ‘new’ by merely altering one of these
dimensions, for example price. Based on the concept picture above, if you modify the price dimension, it
can be possible to modify the level of service or features.
6. The software industry seems to have a very flexible NPD process enabling changes to be made to the product
at any time. Consider whether this approach could be applicable for a car production line or mobile phone handset
products.
- The software (SW) industry to show that having an agile NPD process enables the firm to
adapt to changing markets, and SW projects applies agile methodologies, such as Scrum,
eXtreme Programing (XP) and Feature Driven Development (FDD). This approach could be
applicable for mobile phone handset production, because of these days smartphones market
is skyrocketing and many new brand, version are R&D and releasing to the market that
comparing with car production. Car production line is consists of Ford firstly introduced
assembly line with standard parts, so it is actually process is standardized and fixed for
each parts for the assembly, so it cannot be applicable flexibel NPD to car production line.
7. Explain why time to market may be less important than a flexible NPD process.
- The process of NPD commences with idea generation, idea screening, concept testing through to
monitoring and evaluation. In a linear NPD model, these activities are more important than time to market
the new product.
8. Discuss the strengths of network models of NPD.

- Using network models, NPD is often viewed as a knowledge accumulation process requiring inputs from a
variety of multiple sources. The strength of these models lies in their ability to combine internal activities
with external linkages that ultimately leads to successful product development. Existing literature
suggests that through external linkages, an organization is able to tap into additional knowledge flows
which can significantly enhance the product development process. This is a key strength or advantage of
using network models.
Assignment No. 15
1. Discuss the differences between product innovation and service innovation.

- A tangible product has one or more functions and it can be seen and touched. Thus, product
innovation commonly improves functionality or physical appearance. While service innovation is
a process of creating new better ways to design and produce Technology engineering or
expertise based services.
2. What are the factors that have led to the increase in services?
- Main reasons behind the growth of services include rapid urbanization, the expansion of the
public sector and increased demand for intermediate and final consumer services. Access to
efficient services has become crucial for the productivity and competitiveness for the
productivity and competitiveness of the entire economy.
3. How has new technology contributed to the growth in services?

- The role of Technology is influencing the practice of services marketing. It has resulted in
tremendous potential for new service offerings. It is shaping the field of service enabling both
customers and employers to get and provide customized services.
4. Discuss how some new services have created new business models.
- Creating a Business model is essential, whether you are starting a new venture, expanding into a
new market, or changing you go to market strategy. You can use a business model to capture
fundamental assumptions model to capture fundamental assumptions and decisions about the
opportunity in one place setting the direction for success.
5. Explain why manufacturing firms are increasingly involved in offering services. Discuss some examples.
- Manufacturing and services have long been linked together in certain industry sectors. For
Example: automotive manufacturing firms are closely linked to financial services as partners for
the disposal and recycling required by the end of life vehicles directive.
6. Explain the key roles played by the consumer in new service development.
- Customer involvement has been recognized as an important factor for successful services
development. Despite its acknowledged importance a review of the literature suggests that
there is little empirical evidence about the effectiveness and outcomes of interacting with
customers while developing new services.
7. Explain how various groups of people in the organization might use a service blueprint.
- Service blueprints give an organization a comprehensive understanding of its service and the
underlying resources and processes seen and unseen to the user that make it possible. Focusing
on this larger understanding alongside more typical usability aspects and individual touch point
design provides strategic benefits for the business. Blue printing forces businesses to capture
what occurs internally throughout the totally of the customer journey giving them insight to
overlaps and dependencies that departments alone could not see.
Assignment No. 16
1. Explain why consumer market testing might not always be beneficial.

- Consumer market testing cannot be beneficial because sometimes it is costly and the methods used to
collect information about the reactions to new products are labor intensive. Test marketing enables firms
to minimize losses but not to maximize profits and this is the main reason for doing marketing tests.
2. We are told that many new products fail, but is this because many firms are impatient? Discuss whether firms
should allow more time for their product to be adopted and whether they would end up with a successful product.
- A lot of great new products fail — and companies often wonder why. Although the companies were
careful to listen to their customers, the products still failed. This is not a rare occurrence. A recent study
of almost 9,000 new products that achieved broad distribution at a national retailer revealed that just
40% of them were still sold three years later. Some of these products did not create value for customers
and deserved to fail. However, many would have created value if customers had adopted them. But
customers could not, or did not, recognize their value.
3. Explain why discontinuous new products present a different challenge.

- This paper focuses on the strategies of incumbents that seek to develop discontinuous innovations within
the boundaries of a mature innovation system. Mature innovation systems do not provide support for
these discontinuous innovations. This article focuses on exploring why incumbents in these settings
engage in discontinuous innovation and what strategies they deploy to become successful. We analyse 10
cases of incumbents developing discontinuous innovations in the mature Dutch greenhouse horticulture
sector. The results of our analysis show that the incumbents are primarily triggered by dissatisfaction
with the current way of doing business and that the existing institutions are the main barrier to
discontinuous innovation. In response, the incumbents try to circumvent the existing innovation system in
their innovation process, but when successful also engage in changing the existing innovation system. This
paper contributes to the understanding of the role of incumbents as a source of discontinuous innovation
in mature innovation systems.
4. Show why the more radical the innovation, the greater the pertinence of qualitative market research
techniques (e.g. customer visits and focus groups).
- Strong market orientation is essential for innovation success!' Although both academics and market
research practitioners would generally accept this statement, alignment with the needs of the customer
often results in conservative innovation strategies. Due to their focus on what is currently on offer in the
marketplace, customers primarily demand so-called incremental innovations. Companies, however, want
to develop entry points for radical innovations. The identification of radical innovations is a difficult task
whose implementation is often associated with significant risk. It is questionable if market research alone
can allow innovation management to develop attractive search fields for radical innovations and whether
it can also contribute to a reduction of the risk that such innovations inherently possess. Closer
observation shows that the market research methods used today for the discovery of radical innovations
in the form of new market/technology combinations possess only limited suitability. Empirical tests verify
that successfully innovative companies often do not use such methods; rather they involve specifically
qualified, innovative knowledge carriers early on in the process, such as lead users or external experts
with relevant knowledge from analogous markets, in the search for innovations. When searching for
applications for radical innovations, market researchers should initially concentrate on the question of
whom they address as the information source. How successful the process of involving experts is and
how well supported through the methodology it is, depends heavily on the specific factors and conditions
related to the project planning.
5. Examine whether there do exist innovations, typically radical, where market research of almost any kind is
premature, not cost-justified or of limited value.
- Innovation refers to the introduction of a new good or a new quality of a good, method of production,
market, source of supply, and/or organization in an industry. It also refers to improving on an existing
concept or idea using a stepwise process to create a commercially viable product. Innovation is
stereotypically viewed to be the wheelhouse of small and start-up companies since they tend to be very
dynamic, but as we shall see, it is also a vital and viable aspect in big companies. The most fulfilling thing
about an innovation is being able to actualize an idea into a successful concept. To do this, you need to
go through a long and complex process. For you to succeed you must understand the process well and
must have the support needed; this is what differentiates a successful innovation process from an
unsuccessful innovation process.
6. Discuss the advantages of the tripartite product concept in developing new products.
- The biggest benefit of integrating concept testing into your new product development process is that you
could potentially save tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of dollars in product development
and tooling by identifying the marginal products that have a low probability of success before you’ve
invested much money in development.
7. Discuss the dilemma faced by all firms of trying to listen to customers’ needs and wants and, yet, also trying to
develop new products for those customers that they do not yet serve.
- The media and marketing ecosystem is being reconfigured and transformed by digital developments.
Brands find themselves operating in a quickly evolving environment in which new combinations of
technology, experiences, and content are rapidly replacing traditional advertising. These developments
are creating a major dilemma for the leading marketers, which control more than US$500 billion in
advertising budgets. In a world of proliferating choice and supply, where do marketers focus time and
resources so they can engage target users most effectively and efficiently? Many marketers are actively
formulating answers to this question. They know they need different skills and ways of working to catch
up to changes in users’ media consumption. They also know they need new partnerships to design the
content and distribution methods required to engage them. Given these developments, marketers’ chief
interlocutors — media (publishers) and marketing service providers (agencies) — will have to evolve
substantially to remain relevant. Media companies need to create new advertising products, rethink their
content distribution strategies as social media and mobile grow in significance, and use data to slice and
dice their audiences in ways that deliver more targeting value for their customers. Finally, marketing
service players must shift to focus more on content and intellectual property development, evolve from a
services supplier to a strategic business advisor, and accelerate marketers’ ability to move from
experimentation to scale across as much of their customers’ marketing and media mix as is feasible.
8. Explain why some writers argue that organizations are the graveyard of product innovations rather than the
birthplace.
- The phase gate process the lean startup some argue that the very definition of innovation
means that it we typically use, each of which well then explains briefly.
Assignment No. 17
1. Explain why there is not one best organizational structure for new product development.
- Separate staff of departments carry out marketing product management and product
development functions. The marketing function focuses or market development and promotion
of the company. Product management deals with existing products.
2. Explain how sales representatives, especially with technology-intensive products, play a crucial role in the
success or not of a new product and illustrate how their image as ‘second-hand car dealers’ is pejorative and
incorrect.
- Sales people bridge the gap between customer needs and the product service that fulfils that
need. Often, salespeople are dealing with already warmed up prospects who have an existing
awareness of the company through marketing and advertising effects and it’s the job of the
salespeople to close the deal by introducing further information and helping the customer make
this connection.
3. Examine whether the virtual world (such as Second Life) may be able to help firms trial new products.
- The virtual world can be accessed freely via linden labs own client program or via alternative
third party viewers. Second life users, also called residents, create virtual representations of
themselves called avatars and are also to interact with places objective and other avatars.
4. Explain why the ‘Valley of Death’ presents a genuine challenge to product champions or project leaders.
- The purpose of this paper is to define and explain the front end of product innovation as a
discrete segment of development between research and product development. The valley of
death is used as a metaphor to describe the relative lack of resources and expertise in this area
of development. The metaphor suggests that there relative more resources on one side of the
valley in form of research expertise and on the other side by commercialization expertise and
resources, within this valley a set of interlocking roles are examined that move projects from
one side to the other.
5. ‘New products are a necessary evil.’ From whose viewpoint are they necessary and from whose viewpoint are
they evil?
- The arguments that business success and sustainability outcomes are mutually reinforcing and
now go hand in hand pushes this argument still further. Issues like climate water shortage may
We are in hand and push this argument still further. Issues like climate change and part the product
of industrialization out of prover but it is impossible critical issues without harnessing the role of
business as a force for financial returns for business, let alone live our lives, are in place.
6. Discuss the many reasons why so many new products fail. Are there additional reasons?
- Most new product required a reasonable degree of promotional support to build brand channels
and retailers. A limited launch budget or a poorly executed launch is another reason why new
product fails. Combine this with adverse media attention or negative consumer sentiment on
social media usually related deficiencies in the product design, price level or early use problems
experienced by consumers and you have a recipe for failure.

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Assignment 1

Answer the following Review Questions:

1. Explain why it is necessary to view innovation as a management process.

3. How does an ‘open innovation’ approach help firms?

4. What is the difference between an unsuccessful innovation and an invention?

Answer the following Review Questions:

3. Explain Schumpeter’s view of entrepreneurial behavior and economic growth.

5. Discuss the evidence for the fifth Kondratieff wave of growth.

6. What is meant by a ‘weak business system’?

7. Explain the role played by entrepreneurship in innovation.

8. How do universities help to deliver entrepreneurship?

Answer the following Review Questions:

1. Explain how crowdsourcing is used to generate product ideas.

2. Discuss the merits and limitations of lead users as a source of innovations.

3. How does diffusion differ from adoption?

7. Explain how market vision can help the innovation process.

Answer the following Review Questions:

1. Can organizations operate across the entire spectrum of innovation activities?

5. Explain how organizational characteristics can facilitate the innovation process.

Answer the following Review Questions:

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

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

Answer the following Review Questions:

2. Explain why theft of intellectual property should be a crime.

3. Explain why discoveries are not patentable.

4. Discuss some of the limitations of the patent system.

6. Discuss why Lego wanted to trademark its block.

Answer the following Review Questions:

1. Explain the role played by core competencies in a firm’s strategic planning.

2. What is meant by the technology escalator in the concept of technology trajectories?

3. Explain why a business’s heritage needs to be considered in planning future strategy.

6. How would you compare the knowledge bases of two organizations?

7. How can late entrants win the innovation race?

Answer the following Review Questions:

5. Explain some of the risks involved with all strategic alliances.

Answer the following Review Questions:

Answer the following Review Questions:

3. Discuss the benefits and limitations of open source R&D.

7. Explain the product development process in the pharmaceutical industry.

Answer the following Review Questions:

1. How does technology transfer differ from simply purchasing technology?

2. Explain the limitations of many of the models of technology transfer.

4. What opportunities does ‘open innovation’ offer to the R&D function?

5. To what extent is open innovation ‘old wine in new bottles’?

7. Explain how firms can improve their absorptive capacity.

Answer the following Review Questions:

4. Is it possible to receive payment before incurring expenditure?

6. Is it possible to limit the threat of competition within your business model?

Answer the following Review Questions:

Answer the following Review Questions:

4. To what extent has BMW repositioned the Mini?

8. Discuss the strengths of network models of NPD.

1. Discuss the differences between product innovation and service innovation.

3. How has new technology contributed to the growth in services?

Answer the following Review Questions:

1. Explain why consumer market testing might not always be beneficial.

3. Explain why discontinuous new products present a different challenge.

Answer the following Review Questions:

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