ESSAY 10: METHODS FOR

GENERATING NEW PRODUCT

OR SERVICE IDEAS
SOURCE: VAN AARDT AND BEZUIDENHOUT, OXFORD
UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2018, WITH COMMENTARY FROM SHALEN
HEERALAL IN BOLD
 INTRODUCTION:

• GOOD IDEAS OFTEN DO NOT KEEP OFFICE HOURS, MEANING SOMETIMES THE BEST IDEAS DO NOT
COME WHEN YOU WANT IT TO.
• SO DOES IT MEAN THAT IT IS FUTILE TO EVEN TRY TO DEVELOP NEW IDEAS IN A PURPOSEFUL WAY?
• IF IDEAS DO NOT KEEP OFFICE HOURS, WHY THEN DO WE NEED TO HAVE TECHNIQUES FOR COMING
UP WITH GOOD IDEAS.
• YES IT IS TRUE THE MAXIM ABOVE, NOTWITHSTANDING THIS, THERE ARE PROCESSES THAT CAN
STIMULATE THE INITIAL IDEA GENERATION PROCESS TO GET PEOPLE THINKING AS TO WHAT
POSSIBLE NEW IDEAS COULD BE. THE IDEAS WILL BECOME MORE POLISHED AND THE EVENTUAL
IDEA MAY COME AT ANY TIME BUT THE GROWING OF THE SEED CAN START BY EMPLOYING MANY
OF THESE TECHNIQUES.
 METHODS FOR GENERATING NEW PRODUCT
OR SERVICE IDEAS:
• 3.6.1 ACCUMULATION OF KNOWLEDGE:
• READ EXTENSIVELY , INVESTIGATE POSSIBLE BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES IN DIFFERENT AREAS, TRAVEL TO NEW PLACES TO EXPERIENCE DIFFERENT ENVIRONMENTS
• THIS PROCESS INVOLVES THE GATHERING OF INFORMATION BY READING BOOKS, JOURNALS, NEWSPAPERS ETC. ATTENDING CONFERENCES, WORKSHOPS ETC.
• THE PERSON NEEDS TO TRAVEL TO DIFFERENT GEOGRAPHICAL AREAS TO SEE WHAT IS HAPPENING IN DIFFERENT PLACES.
• I KNOW PEOPLE WHO TRAVELED THE WORLD AND CAME BACK TO SOUTH AFRICA AND SIMPLY COPIED AND PASTED THESE IDEAS HERE WITH HUGE SUCCESS.
THEREFORE IT IS IMPORTANT TO BE WORLDY IN THE SENSE THAT YOU TRAVEL AND BROADEN YOUR HORIZONS SO THAT YOUR IDEAS CAN BE APPLIED WELL
FROM A WORLD CONTEXT.

• 3.6.2 OBSERVATION
• OBSERVE THE ENVIRONMENT AND ITS EVENTS, PRODUCTS AND SERVICES TO GENERATE VIABLE BUSINESS IDEAS
• VISIT SUCCESSFUL BUSINESSES IN NEIGHBOURING SUBURBS, CITIES OR TOWNS TODETERMINE WHETHER YOU COULD REPLICATE ANY COMPONENT OF THE ENTERPRISE
• CONSIDER PRODUCTS OR SERVICES THAT HAVE BEEN SUCCESSFUL IN THE PAST AND WHICH MAY HAVE BECOME OBSOLETE
• OBSERVING MEANS THAT WE OPEN OUR VIEWS AND WORLD UP TO NEW THINKING PROCESSES BY WATCHING HOW THINGS WORK AND THE EFFECT OF THINGS,
THE NEW ENVIRONMENTS AND SOCIETIES THAT WE EXPERIENCE ETC.
 ….CONTINUED…

• 3.6.3 BRAINSTORMING
• USE THIS GROUP TECHNIQUE TO INVOLVE TWO OR MORE PEOPLE IN THE GENERATION OF IDEAS
• THIS IS WHEN TWO OR MORE PEOPLE GET TOGETHER TO GENERATE AS MUCH IDEAS AS POSSIBLE
• THERE IS NO JUDGEMENT OR CRITICISMS OF IDEAS, THE PURPOSE IS TO GET AS MANY IDEAS AS POSSIBLE
• GROANS AND LAUGHING ARE JUDGING AND IS NOT ALLOWED
• YOU CANNOT EVEN SAY THAT IS A GOOD IDEA BECAUSE THAT TOO IS JUDGING
• THE CONCEPT ALLOWS FOR MANY IDEAS AS POSSIBLE
• THE CRAZIER THE BETTER, NO IDEA IS IMPOSSIBLE
• THERE MUST BE A FACILITATOR TO WRITE DOWN THESE IDEAS
• PLEASE ADD MORE THEORY FROM THE TEXTBOOK.
 …..CONTINUED…

• 3.6.4 NOMINAL GROUP TECHNIQUE

• USED DURING THE DECISION-MAKING PROCESS AS A METHOD TO GENERATE AND PRIORITISE IDEAS
• CAN BE USED TO PROVIDE SOLUTIONS FOR GROUPS OF VARIOUS SIZES ALLOWING ALL OPINIONS TO BE TAKE INTO ACCOUNT
• THIS IS WHERE THERE ARE A GROUP OF PEOPLE SITTING TOGETHER IN A ROOM WORK INDEPENDENTLY TO COME UP WITH IDEAS.
• EXAMPLE: YOU WANT TO START A NEW BUSINESS, SO YOU GET YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY TOGETHER IN A ROOM TO COME UP
WITH IDEAS
• YOU GIVE EACH PERSON A PEN AND A PIECE OF PAPER TO WRITE THEIR IDEAS DOWN
• EACH PERSON THEN PRESENTS HIS IDEAS TO THE GROUP WITHOUT EVALUATING THE IDEA
• AFTER THE SCRIBE WRITES IT DOWN ON CHART PAPER, THEN YOU EVALUATE AND DISCUSS EACH IDEA TO CHECK WHETHER IT
WILL BE SUCCESSFUL
• SIMILAR IDEAS ARE GROUPED TOGETHER AND THEN
• THE MEMBERS RANK EACH IDEA FROM 1 ST TO LAST AND THE IDEA WITH THE MOST VOTES WIN.
 CONTINUED…

• 3.6.5 DELPHI TECHNIQUE

• SIMILAR TO THE NOMINAL GROUP TECHNIQUE, BUT NOT ALL MEMBERS NEED TO BE PHYSICALLY PRESENT
• USES CAREFULLY DESIGNED QUESTIONNAIRES IN EACH STEP, THEN COLLECTS AND COLLATES THE INFORMATION GATHERED
• THIS TECHNIQUE IS WHERE THE SAME STEPS ARE FOLLOWED AS IN THE NOMINAL GROUP TECHNIQUE BUT PEOPLE ARE NOT REQUIRED TO BE PRESENT AND
THE USE OF QUESTIONNAIRES IS PROMINENT
• THIS IS USED FOR EXISTING FIRMS THAT NEED NEW IDEAS RATHER THAN NEW IDEAS TO START A BUSINESS
• WITH ONLINE BEING THE NORM DURING COVID IT COULD BE THE BEST METHOD TO GENERATE IDEAS.

• 3.6.6 THE INCUBATION OF IDEAS

• CREATING AN ENVIRONMENT WHERE SUBCONSCIOUS THOUGHTS ARE ALLOWED TO DEVELOP INTO CREATIVE IDEAS IS A FORM OF IDEA INCUBATION
• BY KEEPING YOURSELF OCCUPIED WITH ACTIVITIES TOTALLY UNRELATED TO THE SUBJECT, AN IDEA COULD POTENTIALLY DEVELOP
• THIS IS WHAT THE MAXIM “GREAT IDEAS DO NOT KEEP BUSINESS IDEAS” IS EPITOMISED BY.
• IT IS SOMETIMES BETTER TO DO HOBBIES AND UNRELATED TASKS SUCH AS ROWING, SWIMMING, JOGGING, PLAYING SOCCER, CRICKET AND GOLF RATHER
THAN THINK OF NEW IDEAS ON PURPOSE
• OFTEN NEW IDEAS COME TO YOU AT THESE TIMES RATHER THAN WHEN YOU WANT THEM TO.