Assignment Task for BUS368 – GBA

Question 1
(a) Suggest a practical service or product innovation for the case scenario
described above. Describe your product or service innovation. Examine why it
can be considered an innovation.
Based on the case scenario presented, it is recommended by the group that a
Recycled Plastic bottle in a vending machine shall be practical product innovation. As
mentioned in the case, that the collected waste that are incinerated and dumped in
Pulau Semakau island is expected to be full by 2035. This means, thinking of this
product is an innovation could address the gaps in the issues on waste management in
Singapore.
Innovation is an alteration or improvement done to a current product/service or a
totally new one. There a number of innovations that are seen in the real life. For
instance, the bicycle was invented using wheels and pedals and are run manually using
the human legs. When it was innovated, single motorcycles were out in the market;
allowing riders to remove the peddling and its speed was improved. Innovation can be a
new product or a new method/way of doing things. Innovation applies improved creative
solutions to existing or new market needs. Innovation is generally defined as pioneering
the obtaining of novel know-how by way of cutting-edge research and applying it to
generate new products/services that meet market needs (Collins, 2020). Innovation are
ideas satisfying a need and can be replicated at reasonable cost. It encompasses the
application of data/information, thoughts and creativity to achieve added value.
Innovation also embraces the processes generating these new ideas and transforming
them into valuable products/services.
Upon observation and research, we saw that plastic bottles from sodas, juices,
and water are rampant in the society. As people become mobile, these products in
market and store shelves are easily grab and consumed. Therefore, it is one of the
contributors of waste in the country. Being said, we want to address this through
innovation. In doing so, we think of a machine vendo that dispenses recycled plastic
bottles in different types of beverages like juices. We will generate partnerships with
companies that generate recycled bottles and used for the beverage packaging for our
organic juice. Also, the vendo comes with an automatic garbage that initially processed
those plastic bottles to be recycled.
Question 2
(b) Show how your suggested idea in question 1a is a social innovation? Illustrate
how digital technologies can be deployed to support your innovation and related
business processes.
The term "social innovation" refers to a recent fusion of social practices in the
field of social services that has been deemed innovative. In comparison to present
solutions, social innovations aim to better meet social needs (Choi & Majumdar, 2015).
By co-creating new social interactions and behaviors, social innovations pose a threat to
the status quo. New solutions that include conceptual, process, product, or
organizational change, which ultimately seek to enhance the welfare and well-being for
people and communities are referred to as social innovation.
A juice vending machine that uses recyclable bottles, as we said. Customers
may make use of the vendo's built-in plastic bottle recycling system. As soon as they've
finished drinking from the bottle, they may simply dispose of the waste by placing it in
the bottom end of the vendo's recycling machine. Recyclable items from vending
machines will thereafter be transferred to recycling factories that specialize in this sort of
material. Our goal is to aid the government and non-profits involved in repurposing and
recycling waste so that we may all benefit.
The term "social innovation" refers to innovative techniques that attempt to meet
social needs in a new and better way rather than relying on existing methods (Osburg &
Schmidpeter, 2013). The invention does not have to be "new" to the rest of the world,
but it should be "new" to the intended receivers. To put it another way, it's impossible to
see this proposed innovation as a new product that has never been on the market.
Beverage vendos in Singapore were all too common. Automatic trash recyclers are
being developed to alleviate Singapore's waste management problem, which is a major
societal concern. As a result, digital technology like the automated beverage vending
machine and trash can assist and motivate society to properly dispose of their rubbish.
Moreover, if it becomes a social norm, this becomes a powerful tool that may be used
for generations to come.
 Reference
Collins, M. (2020, January 22). Declining federal research is hurting US innovation.
IndustryWeek.https://www.industryweek.com/the-economy/public-policy/
article/21121160/declining-federal-research-undercuts-the-us-strategy-of-
innovation
Osburg, T., & Schmidpeter, R. (2013). Social innovation. Solutions for a sustainable
future.
Choi, N., & Majumdar, S. (2015). Social innovation: Towards a conceptualisation.
In Technology and innovation for social change (pp. 7-34). Springer, New Delhi.