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Title: Innovation and Technoprenuership
Description: These notes give an in-depth of innovation and technoprenuership
Description: These notes give an in-depth of innovation and technoprenuership
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INNOVATION AND TECHNOPRENEURSHIP
1
...
1 Definitions of the term Innovation
...
Druker 1986 challenges common knowledge by showing through real-world examples
that innovation does not have to be a “thing” altogether
...
He cites transforming bauxite
formally considered a nuisance because it did nothing but make land infertile to
aluminum which is now considered important to the world economy because of its many
applications
...
is generally understood as the
successful introduction of a new thing or method
...
”
Business function perspective, Davila (2006)
A further characterization of innovation is as an organisational or management process
...
”
From this point of view the emphasis is moved from the introduction of specific novel
and useful ideas to the general organisational processes and procedures for generating,
considering and acting on such insights leading to significant organisational
improvements in terms of improved or new business products, services, or internal
processes
...
In other words doing things differently
...
This is creative destruction, Burns (2001)
...
He defined
economic innovation in the Theory of Economic development
...
That is one with which customers are not yet
familiar or of a new quality of a good
...
The opening of a new market that is a market into which the particular branch of
manufacture of the country in question has not previously entered, whether or not
this market existed before
...
The carrying out of a new organisation of any industry, like the creation of a
monopoly for example through trustification or the breaking up of a monopoly
...
2 Distinguishing Innovation from other related concepts
Invention
It is useful when conceptualizing innovation to consider whether other words suffice
...
An important distinction is
normally made between invention and innovation
...
Invention may as well be taken to mean the creation of new forms, compositions
of matter or processes
...
It can be difficult to differentiate change from innovation
...
Innovation = Invention + exploitation
...
While innovations and inventions are related, they are not identical
...
Innovation occurs when someone uses an invention or an idea to change how the world
works, how people organise themselves or how they conduct their lives
...
Innovation is distinct from improvement in that it permeates society and
cause reorganization
...
Thus,
in this view, innovation occurs whether it has positive or negative results
...
Creativity
It should be noted that the term innovation is used rather interchangeably by many people
and even some authors with creativity when discussing creativity and organisational
creative activity
...
They should not be, because
creativity implies coming up with ideas and innovation is bringing ideas to life
...
Innovation typically involves creativity,
but is not identical to it: innovation involves acting on the creative ideas to make some
specific and tangible difference in the domain in which the innovation occurs
...
From these viewpoints
creativity is typically seen as the basis for innovation and innovation as the successful
implementation of creative ideas within an organisation, Amabile et al (1996)
...
For innovation to occur, something more than the generation of a creative idea or insight is
required: the insight must be put into action to make a genuine difference, resulting for example
in new or altered business processes within the organization, or changes in the products and
services provided
...
Individual creativity is a function of:
Intellectual abilities (e
...
, ability to articulate ideas)
Knowledge (e
...
, understand field, but not wed to paradigms)
Style of thinking (e
...
, choose to think in novel ways)
Personality (e
...
, confidence in own capabilities)
Motivation (e
...
, rely on intrinsic motivation)
Environment (e
...
, support and rewards for creative ideas)
Risk taker (e
...
, willingness to take reasonable risks)
Persistence (e
...
, tolerate ambiguity and willingness to overcome obstacles)
Organisational creativity
It is a function of:
Creativity of individuals within the organization
Social processes and contextual factors that shape how those individuals interact
and behave
3|Page
Methods of encouraging/tapping organizational creativity:
Idea collection systems (e
...
, suggestion box)
...
Several Things about Creativity
It can be triggered by a problem to solve
The answer can come in a moment of insight
The is delight and excitement in finding an answer
Creativity needs the right environment
Innovation is the implementation of creative ideas into some new device or process
...
Inventors
One ten-year study found that inventors typically:
Have mastered the basic tools and operations of the field in which they invent, but
they will have not specialized solely on that field
...
Question the assumptions made in previous work in the field
...
They will seek global solutions
rather than local solutions, and will be generalists by nature
Such individuals may develop many new devices or processes but commercialize
few
...
3 Conceptualising Innovation
Innovation has been studied in a variety of contexts, including in relation to technology,
commerce, social systems, economic development and policy construction
...
Fortunately however a consistent theme is identified: innovation is typically understood as the
application of something new and useful for example introducing new methods, techniques or
practices or new or altered products and services
...
0 Forms of Innovation
By definition, all innovations have an element of novelty in them
...
Yet all innovations are not the same
...
4|Page
Why should we study forms of innovation? By distinguishing among the many typologies of
innovations, we can better manage their development and better predict their sources and their
impact and this is important for the effective management of innovation
...
1 Product Innovation
A product innovation involves the commercial introduction of a product that is new to
customers
...
Product innovations are improvements of existing products and development and
commercialisation of new products
...
Another example of product innovations is the Dyson bagless vacuum cleaner is an
example of a product innovation
...
As a
vacuum cleaner it is a consumer product and what makes it an innovation, i
...
what is
‘innovative’ about it, is that it functions in a quite different way from a conventional
vacuum cleaner
...
It is the most commonly understood form of innovation
...
The Bic ballpoint pen is an example of a product innovation, which has also benefited
5|Page
from a range of incremental innovations since its original invention
...
Product innovations don’t necessarily have to be consumer products, they can just as
easily be industrial products such as machinery and equipment
...
It is no surprise that ‘new product development’
is one of the four business strategies put forward by Ansoff for the future development of
a business
...
2
...
An example of a process innovation is Henry
Ford’s use of the assembly line in the manufacture of automobiles
...
Process innovations have primarily internal focus
Process innovation means the implementation of a new or significantly improved
production or delivery method
...
It is concerned with how the product is made or delivered to the customer
...
In cases like the
Toyota production system, process innovations can be wide ranging and offer a firm an
enviable competitive advantage
...
Process innovations can be intended to:
decrease unit costs of production
delivery
increase quality
produce or deliver new or significantly improved products
...
3 Service Innovation
A service innovation involves the commercial introduction of a service that is new to
customers
...
Service Innovation can be defined as “a new or considerably changed service concept,
client interaction channel, service delivery system or technological concept that
individually, but most likely in combination, leads to one or more (re)new(ed) service
functions that are new to the firm
...
6|Page
Examples of service innovations that take the form of a new way of providing a service
include Ebay, the internet auction, and Lastminute
...
So
too would Federal Express the brainchild of Frederick W
...
Operating in an
established industry: parcel delivery, Smith pioneered the idea of overnight delivery
using a hub and spoke system (Nayak and Ketteringham, 1993)
...
They even take the form of an entirely new service
...
For years the insurance business had been transacted via high street outlets,
door-to-door, by post or through intermediaries known as insurance brokers
...
Developments in computing and telecommunications in recent years have given rise to a
whole raft of service innovations very similar to Direct line where new technologies are
used both to provide customers with a better service and to enable service providers to
improve their productivity by providing it more cheaply
...
Assess the impact to the economy, society and industry of any four product innovations
from Zimbabwean companies
...
Identify any four process innovations that have been introduced by either local or foreign
companies and elaborate on their impact to the Zimbabwean economy, society and
industry
...
Discuss the impact of any four service innovations that have been witnessed in
Zimbabwe and the world over that have been a result of recent developments in
computing and telecommunications
...
4Technological Innovation
A technological innovation is a product, service, or process that involves scientific
principles that are substantially different from those of existing products, services, or
processes
...
Technological innovations are also referred to as technological breakthroughs
...
5Organisational/Management innovation
An organizational innovation is the implementation of a new organizational method
in the firm’s business practices, workplace organization or external relations
...
Such innovations include: human relationships, human resources
management, learning organization, TQM etc
It is a broad category that covers different types of innovation
...
”
Managerial innovations – introduction of improved relationships between managers
and subordinates; new styles of management which encourage and activate all
employees in order to make work organization a collective resource of innovation
...
Examples of management innovations include
The establishment of a research laboratory
The development of methods of calculating a return on investment
The creation of the divisional structure enabled multinational firms to control
their international operations more effectively and gain competitive advantage
...
Organizational innovations have a tendency to increase firm performance by
reducing administrative and transaction costs,
improving workplace satisfaction
labor productivity
reducing costs of supplies
2
...
It is broad
...
Marketing innovations target at addressing customer needs better,
8|Page
opening up new markets
newly positioning a firm’s product(Position innovation) on the market with the
intention of increasing firm’s sales
...
It is a broad category and involves innovations in pricing such as 'buy-one-get-one free'
and packaging as well as novel ways of promoting products
...
It involves new financing arrangements, new sales approach for example direct
marketing
...
Position innovation involves re-positioning the perception of an established
product or process in a specific context
...
Typologies of Innovation by level or degree of the innovation
Innovations can range from incremental to radical
...
An innovation can be new within a particular context or new in terms of the
overall marketplace of ideas
...
This distinction does
not, however, clearly differentiate between newness and impact
...
The attributes of newness and impact with respect to innovations can be further explored by
distinguishing innovations as sustaining and discontinuous
...
(Christensen, 1997)
...
8 Sustaining innovations improve the performance of established products or services
...
9 Discontinuous innovations bring to market very different products or services that typically
undermine established products and services in the particular market sector
...
While the product was not
significantly changed, a change in the production process led to a drastic change in prices, firms,
and markets
...
The reason for this is that the
momentum of on-going sustaining innovations can push product and service
functionality beyond what many customers may actually require
...
Companies in all industries should be continually attuned to a potentially discontinuous
innovation that can cause their demise if they do not quickly adapt and adjust to the
fundamentally changing situation
...
2
...
The
majority of innovations in business are such incremental changes, often of a minor
nature
...
This incremental approach to innovation is pursued by many Japanese companies and is
the reason why camera producers, such as Minolta and Canon, bring out new models at
regular intervals
...
Incremental process innovation can radically affect the nature of the organisation or
industry in which the organisation competes
...
Incremental innovations
Have more modest returns
Demand lower risk level
Demand lower level of efforts and resources
Are generally more successful
...
10 | P a g e
Question Outline what you consider to be the rationale behind one recent incremental
Innovation of an organisation of your own choice in Zimbabwe
...
11 Radical innovation
It is not frequent in organisations
It requires a major breakthrough or discovery
It is sometimes referred to as breakthrough, discontinuous or disruptive innovations
...
Radical innovations often end up replacing existing methods / technologies
...
This form of
innovation can be disruptive and there is a likelihood that firms will go out of business if
they are unable to adapt
...
Radical innovation is viewed as the commercialization of products and technologies that
have strong impact on two dimensions:
The market- in terms of offering wholly new customer benefits relative to the
previous product generation in the category, and
The company- in terms of its ability to create new businesses
...
Question What is meant by radical innovation? Elaborate on any two examples of radical
innovation and analyse the impact they have had on economies, society and industry
...
12 Disruptive innovation
It is defined as developments that upset, supersede or transform established business
models, user expectations and government frameworks and create hitherto unimagined
possibilities
...
11 | P a g e
This is the kind of innovation that the established order really fears – and often tries hard
to squash
...
A disruptive innovation introduces a different set of features, performance, and price
attributes relative to existing products, making it an unattractive combination for
mainstream customers at the time of product introduction because of inferior
performance on the attributes these customers value or a high price—although a different
customer segment may value the new attributes
...
Subsequent developments over time, however, raise the new product’s attributes to a
level sufficient to satisfy mainstream customers, thus attracting more of the mainstream
market
...
(Govindarajan and Kopalle, 2006)
...
The tabletop copiers were rapidly accepted by small businesses and individuals who
appreciated the convenience and price despite poor resolution
...
However, over time, further
developments in small copiers that is, incremental innovation allowed Canon to improve
quality, speed, and features and offer them at a price point that is sufficient to satisfy the
needs of mainstream market
...
13 Sustainable Innovation
Eco-innovation is a term used to describe products and processes that contribute
to sustainable development
...
14 Architectural Innovation
An architectural innovation is also referred to as design innovation
...
It involves the reconfiguration of the linkages and layout of components, but relies on the
same core technology as existing products, services, or processes
...
25 inches in 1980, to 3
...
5 inches in 1989, though each was based on magnetic recording
...
12 | P a g e
2
...
A component innovation is a new product, service, or process that uses new parts,
modules, or materials, but relies on the same core technology as existing products,
services, or processes (Tellis and Sood 2008)
...
Modular innovation uses the architecture and configuration associated with the existing
system of an established product but employs new components with different design
concepts
...
However modular innovation does involve new or at least significantly different
components
...
New technology can
transform the way in which one or more components within the overall system operate
but the system and its configuration/architecture remains unchanged
...
Analyse where the
innovation has occurred and the impact this has had on the product, society and industry
...
16 User-led Innovation
Customers/consumers/users are the source of innovation
...
Why it is harmful to listen to the users
Can an organisation not create radical new products based on what the user wants? Why
do the most innovative brands not care about what users want? Several arguments are
given
...
Even
the users themselves have no idea if they will like an entirely product before they
13 | P a g e
start using it and maybe only after years of use
...
User-centered processes stifles creativity
The user-centered process is created as linear rational process for innovation and
that's why it's so popular among managers
...
It is argued that user-centred innovation is the result of extraordinary efforts and
visions of a few extremely talented people
...
Creative
people feel limited and bored, not inspired, if they have to start out a creative
process with a lot of user knowledge
...
Another point raised is that creating a formula will always be in vain and will not
result in something really new
...
Radical innovations typically gain traction in the margins of a market and the
majority of customers (at least in the beginning) will dislike change
...
This often means that companies miss out
on new growth markets that can end up eventually eliminating their business
...
A company will always go for very small
incremental changes in their branding efforts if they base their decision on user
input
...
In the long run, it means
the big brand will be run over by bolder, often smaller, and more innovative
brands that redefine an industry
...
Product and
service innovations based on user innovation will tend to be similar to their
competitors
...
Most industries are characterized by
very similar products and brand positions, partially because companies have
14 | P a g e
listened too much to their users
...
User centeredness leads to the opposite, similarity
...
17 Manufacturer-led Innovation
This is also referred to as Business-led or company-led innovation
...
2
...
2
...
Whereas innovation is more typically seen in the form of a new product or service
offering, a business model innovation results in an entirely different type of company that
competes not only on the value proposition of its offerings, but aligns its profit formula,
resources and processes to enhance that value proposition, capture new market segments
and alienate competitors
...
A broad definition such as the OECD definition above, encompasses a wide range of
innovation types, in narrower terms innovation can be related to one or more of its forms,
for instance product and process innovations
...
Innovation may
originate in the R&D sector within or outside of company research centres
...
It is not known beforehand what the result of these activities will be, e
...
whether
R&D will result in the successful development of a marketable product or how
much time and resources will be needed to implement a new production process,
marketing or organizational method, and how successful these will be
...
Innovation-related investment can include acquisition of fixed and intangible
assets as well as other investment expenditures (such as salaries, or purchase of
material or services that may yield potential returns in the future
...
The benefits of creative innovation are rarely fully appropriated by the inventing
firm
...
For some
innovation activities, imitation costs are substantially lower than development
costs, so that an effective appropriation mechanism to provide an incentive to
innovate may be required
...
New knowledge may either be generated by the innovating firm in the course of
its innovation activities (i
...
through intramural R&D) or acquired externally
through various channels e
...
purchase of new technology
...
Aims at improving the firm’s performance
Performance is improved
o by gaining a competitive advantage or
o simply maintaining competitiveness
o by shifting the demand curve for the firm’s products e
...
through
increasing product quality, offering new products or opening up new
markets or groups of customers
o By shifting the firm’s cost curve e
...
through reducing unit costs of
production, purchasing, distribution or transaction or by improving the
firm’s ability to innovate e
...
increasing the ability to develop new
products or processes, or to gain and create new knowledge
...
We identify three broad categories; incremental,
radical and paradigm shift
...
Table 1: Examples of radical and incremental innovation
Innovation
Radical
Incremental
type
Hybrid car running on A sandwich shop using
Product
both
petrol
and new combinations of
electricity
fillings for its sandwiches
Selling
computers Painting cars in company
Marketing
online instead of using colours and logo by an
retailers
estate agent
Introducing
profit
Outsourcing
payroll
centre approach to
Organization
function from the HR
increase efficiency of
department
global firms
Using robots instead PowerPoint
display
Process
of people for welding instead of blackboard to
in the car industry
support lectures
Changing the nature of
Use of raw Using plastic to make plastic in plastic bottles to
materials
bottles instead of glass be able to hold carbonated
drinks
Toyota's production
Management
Job rotation
system
3
...
1 Goals of Innovation
Why organisations innovate?
If innovation is important to any organisation, then what should the innovation goals of the
organisation be? If the organisation has no goals beyond innovating for innovation’s sake, or if
those goals are not clear, then your organisation has serious problems with its innovation
process
...
This is absolutely critical to bear in mind
...
There is no alternative for organisations if they are to remain and stay in business
...
17 | P a g e
Not to innovate is to remain behind
...
Organisations cannot afford just to do nothing and hope to survive when the
winds and vagaries of the business environment continuously hit them sometimes
with devastating results like Tsunami leaving a trail of disaster
...
Which organisations in Zimbabwe are in a crisis mode and must
enter into a recovery mode through innovation? This means being innovative that
is looking for better solutions, better products and better processes that address
current and emerging challenges can resuscitate the organisation
...
The nature of today’s customers/consumers
Because consumers internal and external are more demanding and more articulate
about what they need, so if you want to keep them the organisation has to listen
and respond
...
A steady stream of
high quality products effectively delivered to the customer is a pre-requisite for a
competitive enterprise
...
Markets for products and services undergo change
...
When a market becomes saturated the
organisation should be innovative
...
Growth
Innovations are essential for company growth
...
Failure to innovate means no risks are being taken, no new ideas
implemented
...
Extension of the product range
Growth takes the form of sales, revenue, profits, products and markets as well as
in terms of subsidiaries
...
The effect is that great saving on materials is achieved enabling the
organisation to be relatively competitive in its industry
...
A tax on carbon will lead
to improved stoves and power plants
...
Replacement of products or services
Products have a life cycle
...
Product, service, incremental and radical innovations are required in
organisations
...
Energy savers have
reduced electricity consumption in many homes
...
Conformance to regulations
The legal environment threatens operations and products of organisations
...
The ban of
inorganic packaging material has caused companies to find alternatives
...
Eco-innovation becomes the solution
...
Incremental innovation becomes a pre-requisite
...
2Drivers of Innovation
Financial pressures to reduce costs
Increase efficiency that is do more with less
The need to improve company efficiency motivates organisations to innovate
...
Efficiency translates to reduced materials
...
Stagnation in today’s turbulent environment leads to erosion of markets and
market share resulting in quick failure
...
Organizations need to
19 | P a g e
build competitive sustainable advantages
...
Banks – now offer
financial service money transfers, ecocash, onewallet e
...
c Organisations need to
build a competitive advantage
...
Fast
technology development, combined with the globalization and fast changes in
customer demand, implies that a competitive advantage of a company can be only
temporary
...
Shorter product life cycles
The organisation archetype of the future will be entrepreneurial that is, it should
be entrenched in innovation
...
Corporate innovation
is the ideal strategy to use in such an organizational context
...
Value migration is the shifting of value-creating forces
...
Marketing strategy is the art of creating value for the
customer
...
In a fast changing business environment, the factors that determine value are
constantly changing
...
This industry includes air and water
depuration, activities related to waste processing and disposal, cleanup operations
etc
...
Environmental protection can lead to rapid obsolescence of products in the middle
of their technical and economic life
...
Regulation on health and safety issues
Organisations then embark on eco-efficient technologies to avoid pollution,
damage and injury on the geophysical environment and people
...
Environment-friendly innovations are encouraged in these modern times
In process innovation new technological solutions which modify the
characteristics of production systems are aimed at plant operations (new
installations, new production methods, etc) which do no impact negatively on the
environment
...
reducing the consumption of natural resources (for example, water and raw
materials, reducing water, air, land and noise pollution
...
g
...
Industry and community needs for sustainable development
Sustainable development encompasses the issues of managing the overall
sustainability of society, organisations and individuals consistently pursuing the
goal of satisfying the present needs in given circumstances but without
jeopardizing the development or creating any risks for future generations to fulfill
their own needs as well
...
Green growth means furthering economic
growth and development that ensures nature will continue to provide resources
and services that people’s welfare depends upon
...
Increased demand for accountability
Demand for accountability is increasing in these modern times requiring
organisations to come up with new ways of accountability that are transparent and
better understood by a wide spectrum of stakeholders
...
Today’s business environment
is so dynamic that these changes force companies to be on their innovation
drawing boards
...
Getting into
the mind of customers, understanding their unmet needs and then interpret these
into new innovation solutions is tougher than ever, however this has become
indispensable for organisations
...
Customers are driving innovation more than ever and organizations are presently
struggling to catch up and master the new dynamics of the customer and the
economics of the markets
...
Same as knowing customers’ real needs
...
Changing economy
The global economy is creating profound changes for organizations and industries
throughout the world
...
As a result of global competition organisations have to
rethink how they produce and deliver products and services – thus the only
constant is positive change through innovation
...
The technologies bring in advantages of efficiency and productivity
...
3 The Concept of Pain and Corporate Innovation
Organisations experience pain
...
They
experience current pain when they cannot meet current goals and experience
anticipated pain when they do not expect to meet them
...
Orchestrating pain message throughout the organisation is the first step in
developing commitment to innovation in the organisation
...
This means that an organisation with problems
and missing current opportunities will be in trouble, hence experience a discomfort
...
Several pain causing factors trigger
innovation in an organisation
...
”
Pain: The discomfort it experiences
...
”
Pain: The discomfort it experiences
The loss of a potential advantage that the company can profit from
...
”
Pain: The discomfort it experiences
The impending loss of our market dominance
Ban of its products
Anticipated Opportunity
Situation: “In the future the company could be in a position to profit from what is going to
happen
...
The likely inability to exploit an emerging market
...
4 Barriers to Innovation in organisations
Innovation is of key importance to success in modern society
...
What stands in the way of
implementation and adoption of new ideas, techniques and processes in an organisation? There
are many barriers to innovation and that these are both internal (endogenous) and external
(exogenous) to an organisation
...
3
...
1Endogenous barriers
Inadequate funding
Risk avoidance
Siloing
Organisational structure
Lack of leadership support and commitment
Infrastructure limits
Corporate/organisational culture
Inadequate funding
Getting the start-up funds for an innovation often means taking money away from an
established program
...
Risk avoidance
Innovation is risky
...
New theories, ideas
and practices do not always work as expected and their use can have unintended
consequences that are difficult, if not impossible, to predict
...
But a clear-eyed view of risks balanced against benefits can
create an environment where innovation is nurtured rather than killed
...
A silo mentality develops so that departments guard information and ideas rather than
share them
...
That is why they create boundaries, assign
responsibilities and put rules in place
...
People work hard – but in isolated groups
...
It can reach the ridiculous stage
where the enemy is seen as another department inside rather than the competitors outside
...
It is usual to
see competing claims of ownership and disputes about authority
...
As a result, innovations
that might benefit the whole enterprise are killed by departments that do not benefit
themselves, do not see their benefits or do not get a “fair share” of benefits
...
Leadership has to tear down the internal fences, punish internal politics and reward cooperation
...
It refers in particular, to the delineation of job titles and
power relationships in an organisation
...
It indicates whether a firm’s activities are grouped together according to product or
function, i
...
whether each of a firm’s products is supported by its own functions of
production, marketing and finance
...
e
...
e
...
The management of innovation distinguishes between types of organisations;
mechanistic and organic
...
These values, norms, philosophies, practices and
beliefs are manifested in many ways, such as the rites and routines that take place within
an organisation, the language used, the stories, legends and myths that are told and retold
and finally the symbols that are found throughout the company
...
The nature of this influence is thought to depend to a large extent on the norms that are
widely held and shared by the organisation
...
If on the other hand the wrong culture prevails, no matter how
good the intention of people trying to promote entrepreneurial behaviour, success will
not be achieved
...
Another important element of organisational culture that can inhibit innovation relates to
the short-term orientation of some organisations (Hofstede 1993)
...
e
...
Their values tend to
emphasise personal steadiness and respect for traditional practices
...
3
...
3 Exogenous Barriers
The financial system
Regulation
The financial system
This refers to the network of institutions, which connects the owners of financial capital
to, that which ultimately gives them value
...
The financial system can inhibit innovation in many ways
...
Another difficulty of innovation, caused by the financial system, relates to the
phenomenon of short-termism
...
They are more focused upon how
much profit they will obtain from their investments
...
Short termism also takes place because managers are subject to control by the owners, or
shareholders
...
Such intervention by the government in the marketplace is usually justified on the basis
of market failures and the need to ensure societal welfare
...
Economic regulation is intended to improve the efficiency of markets in
delivering goods and services
...
Finally, administrative regulation governs the practical
functioning of the public and private sectors
...
Inappropriate regulation may also discourage research efforts by firms and distort the
choice of technologies that are exploited and adopted
...
5 Failure of Innovation in organisations
Research findings vary ranging from 50% to 90% of innovation projects judged to have made
little or no contribution to organisational goals
...
Failure is an inevitable part of the innovation process
...
Failure can lead to loss of morale among employees, an increase in
cynicism and even higher resistance to change
...
Early screening
avoids unsuitable ideas devouring scarce resources that could be used to progress more
beneficial ones
...
Some causes will be
external (exogenous) to the organisation and outside its influence of control
...
Internal causes can be divided into causes associated with the cultural infrastructure and causes
associated with the innovation process itself
...
28 | P a g e
Participation in teams refers to the behaviour of individuals in and of teams
...
Effective monitoring of results requires the monitoring of goals, actions and teams
involved in the innovation process
...
Too many firms “innovate” with very few real insight about the market, their
customers, or customers’ aspirations, needs or wants
...
Many innovators assume that they understand what customers and prospects want
and need, rather than doing the research to understand what customers want and
need
...
The
innovators and product managers think they understand customer needs based on
some market research and company history and don't engage customers to truly
understand unmet or unarticulated needs
...
That's because
the needs were formed based on misunderstanding or a lack of interaction to
discover what customers want
...
Lack of adequate support
The innovative new products require an ecosystem of support which did not exist
or were not built fast enough
...
Insights are not only needed in
the early phase of ideas gathering, it is equally critical at the pilot stage
...
In some
cases, the product cannot deliver the promised performance, capability or attract
sufficient interest
...
3
...
The key ingredient
is to provide an environment free of criticism for creative and unrestricted
exploration of options or solutions
...
Often inverse
brainstorming is used to begin the session in order to uncover product deficiencies
and shortcomings
...
Benefits of brainstorming
Brainstorming helps a team break free of old, ineffective ideas
...
Some of the specific
benefits of brainstorming are;
o Encourages creativity
...
You can identify a wide range of options
...
By encouraging people to offer
whatever ideas come to mind, it helps groups develop many ideas quickly
...
It provides a nonjudgmental
environment that encourages everyone to offer ideas
...
o Fosters a sense of ownership
...
When the people on a team
contribute personally to the direction of a decision, they are more likely to
support it
...
You may want to affinitize the brainstormed
ideas if appropriate, you can work with the team to reduce the number of
ideas by Multi-voting
...
Customer focus group
Focus groups are essentially discussion groups
30 | P a g e
Focus groups are used in traditional market research to gather target audience
opinions and attitudes about certain products, services or concepts
...
In this context, a focus
group can be used to test out ideas and gather opinion on whether the idea will be
liked or needed by the target audience
...
They can be used early in the product lifecycle to explore
options and formulate new ideas, or they can be used later in the process to
validate concepts and even choose between prototypes and different designs
before launch
...
It features individual thinking, autonomy, and stress-free
evaluation
...
It is used most frequently used to integrate the judgments of a group of experts
...
The method provides the greatest insights and depth of knowledge into users’
unmet and unarticulated needs, applications, and problems of all the ideation
approaches we studied, according to users
...
Additionally, the method
does not suit all product types and markets
...
31 | P a g e
Customer visit team
With this approach, visit teams (cross-functional, typically three people) visit your
customers or users; they use in-depth interviews based on a carefully-crafted
interview guide to uncover user problems, needs, and wants for new products
...
The main challenges are getting customers to cooperate -to agree to the session and to
provide honest answers, finding the time to do this valuable study -in-depth
interviews at multiple customer sites do take more effort than most of the methods,
training the interviewers, and designing a robust interview guide with the right
questions
...
Lead user analysis
The theory is that if one works with innovative customers, then innovative
product ideas are the result
...
The advantage of lead user analysis is that innovative customers, who are ahead
of the wave, are hence quite likely to have your next new product idea; and this
method is how you can uncover what it is
...
Partners and vendors
This method entails seeking ideas from outside partners and vendors
The advantages of this method are that vendors and partners bring to the table
technical capabilities that may be beyond your scope of expertise
...
The trouble is that
vendors or partners may be equally as uncreative at ideation as you are hence you
cannot expect a plethora of great ideas from this source
...
External Product designs
32 | P a g e
This open innovation method involves using the internet to invite your customers,
users, and others from the external world to submit finished product designs (not
just ideas)
...
The advantage of the method is that the world becomes your product design
house
...
This method has limited applicability
...
While the technique is useful for identifying areas of competitive activity and
hence potential areas of focus, it does not generate new product ideas per se
...
6 Idea Pipeline Evaluation
Ideas that have been generated for innovation should be evaluated before they are acted
upon
...
Honest answers to this feasibility
study will identify areas of strengths, weaknesses and concern and provide insights into the
market, competitors, startup costs, sales and financing to help the organisation make an
educated decision about moving forward with the innovation
...
People evaluating and selecting ideas
for innovation are determining the future competitive position of their companies
...
3
...
An innovation audit is a mechanism that helps the organisation to understand as well as
determine its innovation capability
...
It
brings an understanding that allows an organisation to establish additional measures and
techniques which the organisation can adopt to increase and maximize its innovation
capability
...
7
...
Indeed, the audit may illuminate
some practices which are actually hindering innovation, and these need to be reduced or
stopped
...
Companies will, therefore, all
be wishing to improve their processes to maximize their innovation capabilities and
maximize opportunities for growth
...
Corporate executives need a means
of auditing their firm’s innovation capability so that they can get a sense for the overall
performance of their innovation process and where it may be deficient
...
It examines key
indicators, determines Strengths and weaknesses and identifies ways of improving
innovation throughout the organisation
...
It enables you to significantly improve the culture and process of innovation
within your business
...
The
organisation resulting in a more innovative, and entrepreneurial organisation that
welcomes and initiates change
...
34 | P a g e
According to Annamaria Wilis (2010) an innovation audit carried out by individuals or
organisations before they embark on their innovation programmes should be in terms of the
following;
Knowledge
Competencies
Attitudes
Behaviours
Knowledge
Knowledge of industry and markets
Deep knowledge of customers and competitors, who are the best and why
...
Understanding of business environment including technologies, policies,
legislation etc
...
Attitudes
Determine how people work
Positive approach- operating in hope of success rather than fear of failure
Seeking synergies- open to collaboration
...
Breakthrough thinking- continually seeking to dramatically improve the way
things are- never settling for the average or second best
...
Visible and active support-making it clear you actively support others engaged in
innovation
...
Being a visionary
...
An innovation audit might also consider the following;
Strategy
Resources
Organisational culture
Teams
Leadership and management
35 | P a g e
An alternative is to adopt the McKinsey’s 7S based on the following;
Strategy- This considers questions about strategic plans, innovation and change
...
Systems – This looks at the processes which govern the organisation’s actions
...
Staff –This considers personnel and team aspects
...
Shared values- This touches on culture, vision, rewards and attitude of employees
...
can align the organisation in common purpose and action
3
...
They
rely on spontaneous or ad hoc creativity and charismatic senior professionals
...
Innovation like many business functions is a management process that requires specific
tools, rules and disciplines
...
Why systematize
Because the need for innovation is becoming greater as the context is becoming greater
for the creative industries is changing
...
3
...
1Innovation disciplines
A systematized method
Coming up with new ideas that work requires a discipline
...
Purpose
The ideas have to have a purpose
...
Understand customer needs
36 | P a g e
What is important is developed from understanding what the customer needs- that
understanding comes from observation and engagement
...
Review, reflect and develop
The method requires frequent reviews, reflection and development
...
Build on what is known
The process is knowledge compounding that is it builds on what is known rather
than starting from scratch
...
8
...
These are;
Anticipate and exploit early information through front loaded innovation
process
...
Front loaded innovation processes mean that the
organisation should have a culture of innovation
...
The innovation must not be ad hoc
...
Research and development must be present for research
...
Integrate new and traditional technologies to unlock performance
...
We merge traditional technologies with new technologies
...
Experiments should be done quickly but carefully
...
Try every word that comes on board
...
Fail early and often but avoid mistakes
...
Manage projects as experiments
When organisations work on their innovation projects they should do so
scientifically
...
3
...
3 Other Principles of Innovation
Dos
Analyse available innovative opportunities (sources of innovation)
...
Maintain simplicity and remain focused
Start small
Aim at leadership
Don’ts
Do not try to be clever
Do not try to do many things at once
Do not try to innovate for the future
...
9 Critical Success Factors
Critical success factors can be regarded as key factors that an organization must pay particular
attention to in order to achieve the level of performance essential to achieve desired goals
...
Top management and leadership commitment
...
Ensure sufficient budget and that adequate resources are
allocated
Appropriate organisational culture
Appropriate organisational structure
...
4
...
4
...
Here we consider McKnesy’s 7S Model or Framework
...
These are staff, style, skills, systems,
strategy, structure and share values
...
Revisit these sections
...
38 | P a g e
4
...
These are factors that are exogenous to, that is outside the organisation
...
Changes and developments in the external environment may
cause the organisation to suffer pain which then necessitate innovation
...
3 How justified is the view that, “The ability of a company’s top management to interpret the
business environment has become a prerequisite in managing innovations in organisations in the
21st century
...
3 Managing Corporate Innovation
An Innovation is a new idea, which may be a recombination of old ideas, a scheme that
challenges the present order, a formula, or a unique approach which is perceived as new by the
individuals involved
...
It is the process of idea
management inside an organisation
...
Every
successful innovative organisation has clear innovation goals which are communicated to
employees, suppliers and stakeholders
...
If you are not clear about your organisation’s innovation goals, you need to start with
strategy
...
If the
organisation’s strategic focus is to have the lowest prices, innovation needs to focus on
efficiency improvements that reduce your operational costs
...
3
...
If the mental models of
people in organisation particularly management are limited, then the approach to managing
innovation is also likely to be limited
...
Very often, people are not consciously aware of their
mental models or the effects they have on our behaviour
...
Examples of such ‘partial thinking’ include;
Seeing innovation as a linear ‘technology push’ process (in which case all the attention
goes into funding R&D with little input from users) or one in which only the market is
relied upon to pull through innovation
Seeing innovation simply in terms of major ‘breakthroughs’–and ignoring the significant
potential of incremental innovation
...
Seeing innovation as product or process only, without recognizing the interrelationship
between the two
...
3
...
The province of specialists and the result can be Lack of involvement by others and a
lack of key knowledge and experience input from other perspectives in the R&D
...
The province only of large firms this can result in weak small firms with too high a
dependence on large customers
...
Only about breakthrough’ change this can result to neglect of the potential of incremental
innovation: with an inability to secure and reinforce the gains from radical change
because the incremental performance ratchet is not working well
...
40 | P a g e
Only associated with key individuals, the result can be failure to utilize the creativity of
the remainder of employees, and to secure their inputs and perspectives to improve
innovation
Only internally generated, this can lead to the ‘not invented here’ effect, where good
ideas from outside are resisted or rejected
...
Only concerning single firms this excludes the possibility of various forms of interorganizational networking to create new products streamline shared processes, etc
...
3
...
(Please read the section on failure of innovation)
...
Hence the need to manage innovation
...
Some of the factors that enable a firm to benefit commercially from its own
innovation lead can be strongly shaped by its management, for example the
provision of complementary assets to exploit the lead
...
We identify below nine factors that influence the organisation’s capacity to benefit commercially
from its innovation
...
Accumulated tacit knowledge
...
The learning curve
...
Product complexity
...
Pioneering radical new products
...
There are some factors over which management has some degree of discretion for action, and
where the range of choices is more limited
...
However, it is unlikely to provide absolute protection, because some process characteristics can
be identified from an analysis of the final product, and because process engineers are a
professional community
...
Moreover firms that share their knowledge outperform those that do not, and that those that
interact most with innovators in a global network of contacts have the highest innovative
performance
...
In some cases, this is because sharing knowledge with global innovators may influence
standards and dominant designs and can help attract and maintain research staff, alliance
partners, and other critical resources
...
Examples include product design skills
...
Taken together with a strong commitment to
product innovation they can establish brand loyalty and credibility, accelerate the feedback from
customer use to product improvement, generate learning curve cost advantages and therefore
increase the costs of entry for imitators
...
In certain
industries and technologies first-comer advantages are potentially large, given the major
possibilities for reducing unit costs with increasing cumulative production
...
Complementary assets
...
Product complexity
...
However product complexity
varies across industry and can be affected by technological changes
...
The company relied
on size and complexity of its mainframe computers as an effective barrier against imitation,
given the long lead times required to design and build copy products
...
Boeing and Airbus have faced no such threat to their positions in large civilian
aircraft, since the costs and lead times for imitation remain very high
...
Standards
The widespread acceptance of a company’s product standard widens its own market, and raises
barriers against competitors
...
Among other things, the market leader normally has the advantage in a standards war, but this
can be overturned through radical technological change, or a superior response to customers’
needs
...
g
...
Standards wars are made less bitter and
dramatic when the costs to the losers of adapting to the winning standard are relatively small
...
Patents are judged to be more effective than process innovations in protecting product
innovations in all sectors except petroleum refining, probably reflecting the importance of
improvements in chemical catalysts for increasing process efficiency
...
This is because it is generally more difficult to ‘invent around’ a
clearly specified chemical formula than around other forms of invention
...
Especially for consumer products, valued features emerge only gradually through a process of
dynamic competition that involves a considerable amount of trial, error and learning by both
producers and users
...
Success goes to so-called ‘early entrants’ with the vision,
43 | P a g e
patience and flexibility to establish a mass consumer market
...
NB Factors that impede an organisation from realizing benefits from its innovation are not
limited to the above factors
...
4
...
Gases and
vapors are the examples that fit the definition of the term
...
“Diffusion” is a concept that is linked with the idea of innovation
...
The term “imitation” was used by some scientists instead of “diffusion”
...
In some contexts diffusion may be analogous to the
spread of information, but our concern here is the spread of physical items or techniques and
practices
...
“Innovation Adoption” and “Innovation Diffusion” have been used interchangeably in the
literature on innovation
...
Diffusion process
may also take place within the organizations
...
It is also viewed a phase
of technical change
...
From the innovator, the innovation passes through other users until it
finally becomes a commonplace and accepted part of productive activity
...
4
...
These are diffusion of the innovations in the
industry or market and diffusion in the organisation
...
4
...
1 Factors influencing innovation diffusion and adoption in the market
What factors affect the adoption and diffusion of innovation in the market?
A number of characteristics of an innovation have been found to affect diffusion (Rogers, 2003)
These innovation attributes are related to adoption of the innovation
...
Relative advantage is typically measured in narrow economic terms, for example cost or
financial payback, but non-economic factors such as convenience, satisfaction and social prestige
may be equally important
...
It is useful to distinguish between the primary and secondary attributes of an innovation
...
Secondary attributes, such as relative advantage and compatibility, may vary from
adopter to adopter, being contingent upon the perceptions and context of adopters
...
Compatibility
It is the degree to which an innovation is perceived to be consistent with the existing values,
experience and needs of potential adopters
...
The extent to which the innovation fits the existing skills, equipment, procedures and
performance criteria of the potential adopter is important, and relatively easy to assess
...
For example, the cost of
adoption and use, as distinct from the cost of purchase, may be influenced by the availability of
information about the technology from other users, as well as the availability of trained skilled
users, technical assistance and maintenance, and complementary innovations, both technical and
organizational
...
Significant misalignments between an innovation and an adopting
organization will require changes in the innovation or organization, or both
...
45 | P a g e
Complexity
It is the degree to which an innovation is perceived to be difficult to understand or use
...
Trialability
It is the degree to which an innovation can be experimented with on a limited basis
...
Innovations that can be trialed will generally be adopted more quickly than those which cannot
...
In general, adopters wish to benefit from the functional effects of an innovation, but avoid any
dysfunctional effects
...
Observability
It is the degree to which the results of an innovation are visible to others
...
The simple
epidemic model of diffusion assumes that innovations spread as potential adopters come into
contact with existing users of an innovation
...
5
...
These are;
Closed innovation
Open innovation
4
...
1 Closed innovation
It was used almost exclusively from the end of World War II (1945) until the middle 1980s
...
” In other words, ideas that came
from outside the company were viewed skeptically
...
46 | P a g e
This model is based on a number of assumptions that have changed radically in today’s
marketplace
...
A company committed to this approach has several core beliefs
...
The company must discover, develop and ship its own R&D output to prosper
...
It is vitally important to control company intellectual property (IP) to avoid loss of
competitive advantage
...
Usually during the
innovation process, ideas are evaluated and only the best and most promising ones are selected
for their development and commercialization
...
According to Dr
...
As
a result, large amounts of knowledge exist outside the research laboratories of large
companies
...
Expansion of venture capital
The availability of venture capital has increased significantly recently, which makes it
possible for good and promising ideas and technologies to be further developed outside
47 | P a g e
the firm, for instance in the form entrepreneurial firms
...
External options for unused technologies
Increased availability of highly-capable outsourcing partners
Companies in the supply chain, for instance suppliers, play an increasingly important role
in the innovation process
...
For instance
through active search for new technologies and ideas outside of the firm, but also through
cooperation with suppliers and competitors, in order to create customer value
...
Consider, for example, ASML, which is a
Philips spin-off
...
5
...
Recognize that external R&D can contribute significant value
Recognise and accept that research does not have to originate entirely within the
company
...
Also, the company should profit from others who use its Intellectual Property
(IP) while also being ready to buy others’ IP if it furthers the company’s interests
...
48 | P a g e
Once open innovation is adopted, the organization's boundaries become permeable and that
allows combining the company resources with the external co-operators
...
However, when applying the open innovation system, the
company can use external resources such as technology and at the same time make available
their own innovations to other organizations
...
At the same time, the innovations generated
within the company can be sold as technology and/or industrial property to other organizations
since either they are not applicable within their business model or because the company has no
capacity or experience to develop the invention
...
Other products are the result of incorporating external knowledge at
different stages of their development
...
They can be summed up as follows:
Reduction in the time and cost of innovation projects
Incorporation of solutions and innovations in the form of ideas, patents, products and
technologies which would have never been generated by the company due to lack of time,
knowledge and technological resources
Commercialization of inventions which are due to lack of ability or to strategic reasons cannot be
placed in the market by the company owning them
...
Not all
good ideas are developed within the own company, and not all ideas should necessarily be
further developed within the own firm’s boundaries
...
If we create the most and the best ideas in the
industry, we will win
...
External R&D can create significant value: internal
R&D is needed to claim some portion of that value
...
it
...
Building a better business model is better than getting
to the market first
...
6 Innovation Ecosystem
According to Larry Huston, the future competitive advantage of organisations will depend on
“innovation networks” — individuals and organizations outside a company that can help it solve
problems and find new ideas for creating growth
...
50 | P a g e
7
...
7
...
0Defining the term technopreneurship and other related terms
7
...
1 Science, Engineering and Technology
...
Science can be defined as the systematic and formulated knowledge
...
These can in turn be used to make our life or work more efficient,
convenient and powerful
...
It is engineers not scientists that make technology happen
...
The creative application of scientific principles to
design or develop structures, machines, apparatus, or manufacturing processes, or
works utilizing them singly or in combination
construct or operate the same with full cognizance of their design
forecast their behavior under specific operating conditions
...
The discipline of engineering is extremely broad, and encompasses a range of more
specialized fields of engineering, each with a more specific emphasis on particular areas
of applied science, technology and types of application
...
Science might study for example the flow
of electrons in electrical conductors by using already existing tools and
knowledge to generate new knowledge
...
In this sense, scientists and engineers may both be considered
technologists
...
McConnel et al
(2005) define technology as the application of science and or is knowledge
applied to products or production processes
...
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines the term technology as the practical application
of knowledge especially in a particular area and the capability given by the practical
application of knowledge
...
In this usage,
technology refers to tools and machines that may be used to solve real-world
problems
...
Tools and machines need not necessarily be materials or tangible things
...
Technology may be described as ‘the ensemble (that is something created from a number
of individual parts put together) of theoretical and practical knowledge, knowhow, skills
and artifacts that are used by the firm to develop, produce and deliver its products or
services
...
Technology is a systematic application of physical forces for production of goods and
services
...
Technology is made up of the hardware, software and brain ware
...
The software is the knowledge of using the hardware to carry out the required tasks and
the brain ware is the reason for using technology in a particular way
...
Technology is the result of man’s learned and acquired knowledge or his/her technical
skills regarding how to do things well, Khalil (2000)
...
It is its lifeblood, but it could only occur through human
intervention
...
High-tech (high technology) is technology that is at the cutting age
...
High tech is a descriptive term that refers to an industry that is heavily dependent
on recent laboratory discoveries
...
There is no specific class of technology that is high tech
...
Technology is not necessarily high-tech and indeed does not always have to be
technical
...
Technology includes the use of materials, tools, techniques and sources of power
to make life easier or more pleasant or more productive
...
1
...
A niche of entrepreneurship is technological entrepreneurship, which includes innovations in
technology and their entire evolution from idea to "prototype"
...
In their study they spoke about technical, not technological entrepreneurship, as we call
this type of entrepreneurship nowadays
...
Over the years many scholars have defined it in various but similar ways
...
Hence, when we
talk about technological entrepreneurship we are referring to technopreneurship and vice
versa
...
It is a process of merging technology prowess and entrepreneurial talent and skills, that is
Technology + Entrepreneurship= Technopreneurship
...
Technopreneurship is a combination of technology and entrepreneurship
...
Technology entrepreneurship/Technopreneurship is an investment in a project that
assembles and deploys specialized individuals and heterogeneous assets that are
intricately related to advances in scientific and technological knowledge for the purpose
of creating and capturing value for a firm Bailetti (2012)
...
Technically, engineers are well-qualified in many respects for this activity but
often lack the necessary business skills and entrepreneurial mentality
...
Technopreneurship is defined as a leadership style of business including identifying
extremely technological economic opportunities with high capacity for growth, collection
of resources like expert manpower and capital, rapid growth and remarkable risk
management by means of decision making skills, Dorf & Byers (2005)
...
Shane and Venkaraman (2003) defined Technopreneurship (technological
entrepreneurship) as the processes by which entrepreneurs assemble organisational
resources and technical systems and the strategies used by entrepreneurial firms to pursue
opportunities
...
Technopreneurship encompasses all the activities related to the identification of potential
entrepreneurial opportunities arising from the technological developments and the
exploitation of these opportunities through the successful commercialisation of
innovation products (goods/services)
The term technopreneurship is used to describe entrepreneurs who combine
entrepreneurial skills with technology
...
Technopreneurship applies equally well to newly formed or established firms as
well as firms of any size, Bailetti (2012)
...
It is entrepreneurship that embraces technology
...
It is based on the application of scientific knowledge and technology
...
It involves organisation and management of resources and risk taking
...
It establishes technology-based enterprises/businesses
...
Other Important Points to note about Technopreneurship
Technopreneurship is a latent concept that is placed in the core of many important
subjects and it includes some topics about setup and growth in enterprises, development
of regional economy, election of appropriate shareholders to acquire ideas for market and
training of managers, engineers, and scientists
...
55 | P a g e
Technopreneurship is to invest in a project that gathers and mobilizes expert members
with heterogeneous assets, which are related to advancement in scientific and
technological knowledge, in order to create and acquire value for an enterprise
...
The concept of “technopreneurship” as a strategy for maintenance and excellence of
sustainable parameters of competitive advantages in organizations and businesses has
drawn researchers’ attention, Tajeddini (2010)
...
1
...
It is basically entrepreneurship which involves technology
...
It is underpinned by recognition, discovery and even creation of entrepreneurial
opportunities for technological improvements
...
56 | P a g e
Technopreneurship is focused upon new technology and technological innovation as
major opportunity identified in organisations of different types where strategic
management and entrepreneurial teams determine and lead projects of research and
development, procurement and implementation of new technology
...
Question: Define the following terms and citing practical examples drawn from companies
in Zimbabwe, elucidate how they relate to technopreneurship in organisations;
(i)
Science
(ii)
Engineering
(iii) Technology
(iv)
High-tech
...
1
...
It is also referred to as corporate venturing
...
Corporate entrepreneurship refers to the process of organizational renewal through
innovation and corporate venturing, as well as activities that enhance a corporation’s
ability to compete and take risks, which may or may not involve the addition of new
businesses to a corporation
...
Not all corporate entrepreneurship depends on technology
...
Typologies of Corporate Entrepreneurship
Four broad typologies or categories of corporate entrepreneurship have been identified in the
literature, namely:
corporate venturing;
57 | P a g e
intrapreneuring
organizational transformation; and
industry rule-breaking
...
A bank, for example, which has a core competency in transaction-processing,
turns this into a separate business and offers transaction-processing to other
companies who need mass processing of information
...
Question
...
To what extent have these organisations
embraced technopreneurship? Consider the following organisations;
(i)
ZESA Holdings- Establishing ZENT ie ZESA Enterprises, Powertel
(ii)
Econet-Ecocash
(iii) NetOne- Onewallet, internet facilities
...
(vi)
Tauya Bus Services-Establishing Tauya Coach Services
(vii) Delta Corporation -Having a franchise with Coca Cola Company
(viii) ZimPost- Providing courier services and passanger transport services
Intrapreneurship
The term ‘Intrapreneuring’ was first espoused by Pinchot (1985)
...
Start-up entrepreneurs are often credited with being able to recognize and capture
opportunities that others have either not seen or not thought worth pursuing
...
In an attempt to improve shareholder value, an organisation can try to create a
cadre of internal entrepreneurs to spur innovation and new business
development
...
58 | P a g e
This type of entrepreneurship only fits the original Schumpeterian definition if the
transformation involves innovation, a new arrangement or combination of
resources, and results in the creation of sustainable economic value
...
As a result, the company’s service delivery was given both a speed and
cost advantage over their competitors
...
Industry rule-breaking
It is a subset of transformation, but involves not only transformation of the enterprise but
also the competitive environment of the industry into something significantly different
than it was
...
Toyota for example, in the automobile industry, changed the rules of the game by
producing low cost automobiles with exceptionally high quality
...
Thus, Toyota not only transformed itself, but also helped to start a wholesale
transformation of the industry
...
These common elements are;
The creation of something new that did not exist before
...
These “new things” require additional resources and or changes in the pattern of resource
deployment within the organization
...
The new business, product or service is intended to result in long-term economic value
and the creation of wealth, be it for the shareholders, owners, or society
...
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There is increased risk for the organization because the “new thing” is unproven
...
7
...
5 Corporate Technopreneurship
Corporate technopreneurship (Corporate technological entrepreneurship) is defined as a
process within an existing organisation in which a technopreneur (technological
entrepreneur) or a group of technopreneurs (technological entrepreneurs) establish and
manage an enterprise based on research, development, innovation and technology
...
Technopreneurs (Technological entrepreneurs) generally have broad technical
knowledge, but they often lack the necessary business savvy to make the new
technological company a success
...
Because a large field of expertise and a relatively high financial input are needed
when the company is established and when it starts growing, a number of other
experts from the technological entrepreneur’s business networks and outside
institutions should also be present during these processes
...
Generally, technological entrepreneurs (technopreneurs) possess high
technological knowledge but they are deprived from necessary skills of business,
management for survival, and achievement in technological enterprises since it is
requires a lot of financial experiences and data when an enterprise is established
...
Corporate technopreneurship may include production techniques and new
procedures
...
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Antonic and Prodan (2007) consider corporate technopreneurship as a process inside an
organization in which technological entrepreneurs or some groups of them tend to
establish and manage R&D, innovation and technology-based enterprises that are
followed by risk
...
Analysis of the definition
...
It embraces technological innovation
It involves risk taking, uncertainty and ambiguity
...
It requires a cadre of technopreneurs inside an organisation
...
1
...
It is also referred to as green entrepreneurship or environmental entrepreneurship
...
This trend has created a full range of opportunities for entrepreneurs from
creating green-technology, using technology to promote environmental
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sustainability (e
...
energy management) to simply make the existing business
more environmentally friendly to take advantage of the benefits
...
A person who is determined not only by the possibility of making profits, but is
also determined by environmental issues
...
The terms environmental entrepreneurship, ecological entrepreneurship and
ecopreneurship are used synonymously to mean innovative behavior of
individuals and organizations operating in the private business sector, which see
environmental issues as a central objective and competitive advantage
...
Ecopreneurship is not only limited to singular actors, as founders of
organizations focused on environmental medium or intrapreneurs, operating in an
existing organization it also includes ecopreneurial organizations, organizations
which act ecopreneurially and encourages the environmental intrapreneurs and
ecopreneurs within themselves
...
7
...
7 Ecotechnopreneurship
It is technological ecopreneurship
...
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The term ecotechnopreneurship (technological ecopreneurship) embodies ecological or
Green Entrepreneurship and Technological Entrepreneurship
...
In all fields of business, the latest technology is required, even for the purpose of
protecting, preserving and improving the environment, (Ecopreneurship)
...
The universe requires environmentally friendly entrepreneurial activities
...
The formula of harmony has not yet been discovered, but instead we know some of its
basic elements: the resources of all kinds, latest technology, nature of entrepreneur and
more
...
Innovations from the technological domain can be used for promoting environmentally
friendly entrepreneurship
...
The Ecotechnopreneurial Conceptual Process Model
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Elements of ecotechnopreneurship
The ecotechnopreneurship conceptual model depicts the elements of ecotechnopreneurship
...
Consider the following organisations
...
Question 2 Examine the ecotechnopreneurship opportunities existing in most of Zimbabwe’s
towns and cities and elaborate how ecotechnopreneurs and ecotechnopreneurial organisations
can exploit them to create long-term value to the Zimbabwean economy through technology and
innovation
...
(ii)Mhangura and Mutorashanga mine dumps
(iii) ZPC coal ash dumps at Harare, Bulawayo and Munyati Thermal Power Stations
...
DH leftovers can be used as animal feeds by
animal production students instead of throwing them away
...
Question 4 With reference to practical examples evaluate the relevance of ecotechnopreneurship
to organisations in both the public and private sectors of the Zimbabwean economy
...
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7
...
2
...
(Schumpeter,1934)
Someone who perceives an opportunity and creates an organization to pursue it
...
Technopreneurs distinguish themselves through their ability to accumulate and manage
knowledge as well as their ability to mobilize resources to achieve a specified business or
social goal
...
(Baumol,2002)
The technopreneur distinguishes logic from tradition, tradition from prejudice, prejudice
from common sense and common sense from non sense while integrating a variety of
ideas from diverse groups and disciplines
...
They experience challenges, creative visions and then
act to be part of the solution
...
Technopreneur is an entrepreneur who is technology savvy, creative, innovative,
dynamic, dares to be different and take the unexplored path, and very passionate about
their work
...
They don't fear to fail
...
Technopreneurship is not a product but a process of synthesis in engineering the future of
a person, an organization, a nation and the world
...
2
...
Seeks and accepts coaching
•Willing to be different, but knows it (not oblivious)
•Pragmatic: willing to compromise
•Rejoices in other’s victories
•Driven to solve a valuable problem for customers
•Strong entrepreneurial intensity
•Willingness to incur the costs of growth
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•Willingness to use wide range of financing sources
•Emphasis on a team-based organizing structure
•Focus on innovation
•Committed to commercialization of technology discovery
•Excellent communication skills
•Understand the value of business principles
–Formation and execution of a sound business plan
–Raising of money
–Building an organizational team
•Technopreneurship is a process through which individuals and teams bring together the
necessary resources to exploit opportunities and in doing so create wealth, social benefits and
prosperity
...
7
...
These are;
Institutional factors
Organisational factors
External network, Petti and Zhang (2011)
Organisational Factors
They include the following;
Organisational resources
Organisational infrastructure
Organisational strategy
Organisational management
Knowledge management
Organisational processes
Organisational history and culture
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Organisational resources
The presence of organizational technology plays an essential role in development of
corporate entrepreneurship in active enterprises
...
Organisational Infrastructure
Soft infrastructures including technology, space, and hard infrastructures comprise of
places, R&D, and areas which seem necessary for development of corporate
entrepreneurship
...
Market strategy and business strategy along with presentation on technopreneurship
Business Model effect on active enterprises
...
Knowledge Management
The presence of management for creation and distribution of knowledge inside an
organization and its utilization and storage is highly important in corporate
technopreneurship
...
Organisational internal networks
The specialized social networks and social virtual networks may be effective in
accelerating corporate entrepreneurship and corporate technopreneurship
...
External Factors These include the following;
Government
Market
Capital
Organisations and enterprises
Intellectual ownership registration organisations
Standard and license issuing organisations Networks
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Government
If some needed conditions and facilities are provided and the supportive role is played
including customs and taxation rules for entrepreneurs and domestic products so as to
reduce creation of risk for the new enterprise then corporate technopreneurship will be
increased particularly in manufacturing of new products and establishing new enterprises
by entrepreneurs, researchers and technological practitioners
...
Capital
The presence of venture investors and the existing investment supportive fund as well as
the rate of foreign investors’ desire in plans and facilitation in burrow loan to
technological manufacturers may play essential role in technopreneurship and creation of
new enterprises
...
In Zimbabwe consider the Ministry of ICT and those organisations
that provide technological services
...
Standard and license Issuing organisations
National organization for issuance of permission whether public or private are some of
effective and very important factors on growing corporate technopreneurship
...
Technological Factors
These include the following;
Technological readiness level
Type of technology
Technological Readiness Level
High- Technology absorption factor is one of the effective factors on corporate
technopreneurship
...
Type of technology
It is important that technology has low, medium or high tech
...
Individual factors
These include the following;
Demographic features
Researcher’s experience and knowledge
Psychological features
Entrepreneur’s motives
Technologist personal network
Individual skills
Demographic features
Financial solvency and age of researcher play important role in creation of innovation and
development of technopreneurship in enterprise
...
Researcher’s experience and Knowledge
Knowledge and lack of knowledge in technology regarding processes and trends may
highly affect corporate technopreneurship activities
...
Psychological Features
A person who has never been disappointed in the case of failure and he/ she has an
attribute to seek for success and never assign his/ her affairs to be determined by fate
while possessing self-reliance at high level so such a person may succeed in this sense
...
Desire to seeking and acquiring wealth in technologist and creation of interior capacity
for bearing and taking risk may contribute technologist in commercialization of product
and corporate technopreneurship
...
Individual skills
Characteristics and ability of perceiving new concepts and creation of team work spirit in
technologist and possessing leadership features are some of effective features on
corporate technopreneurship
...
Guilds institutes
Existence of educational and research institutes, science- technology headquarters and
setup science- technology centers in science and technology parks may effect on
nanotechnology corporate technological entrepreneurship process
...
Financial sponsors institutes for technological development
The subject of capital and financial support is one of the important in design and
development of new product in corporate technopreneurship especially in which certain
laboratory instruments are used where supportive fund for researchers and supporting
fund for investment are some of these factors
...
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7
...
This is known as a business ecosystem - a network of interlinked companies,
such as suppliers and distributors, who interact with each other, primarily complementing
or supplying key components of the value propositions (benefits for customers) within
their products or services
...
Manufacturers,
retailers, and customers are all part of the automotive industry’s ecosystem
The Technoprenuership Ecosystem is made up of the following;
Human resource
Environment
Laws and policies
Financial Resource (HELF)
...
For a technopreneurial venture to start, grow and succeed, it must have the required
resources, environment and support
...
Critical to organizational success
Human capital is the knowledge and skills of the firm’s entire workforce
Human capital is the individual capabilities, knowledge, skill, and experience of the
company’s employees and managers, as they are relevant to the task at hand, as well as
the capacity to add to this reservoir of knowledge, skills, and experience through
individual learning
...
This consists of science parks that involve the initial presentation of a product and
viewing of the products
...
One good example of the environment component are the incubation hubs
...
It supports office space and
facilities, technical and management assistance, promotion and development assistance,
business support and financial aid package
...
Next are the laws and policies
...
The Financial Resource Component
The fourth and last component of a technopreneurship ecosystem is the financial resource
component
...
To start the ball rolling, first there should be an innovate idea
...
Next is a
triggering event which could be your career prospects and deliberate choices
...
For this you can find several
ways to do this such as: Tapping Family and Friends is tapping personal ties to raise cash for a
company that’s either too new or too small to get financing elsewhere is an age-old formula that
still makes sense
...
It’s also the riskiest
...
7
...
They are part of the technopreneurship ecosystem
...
Technopreneur
The technopreneur is an acknowledged key catalyst in the process of industrial formation
and growth
...
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Usually technopreneurs have different knowledge, skills and other characteristics than
non-technopreneurs
...
Because technopreneurs usually lack the necessary knowledge of entrepreneurship, all
technical universities should also include some entrepreneurial courses
...
Universities and other higher education institutions are an important source of new
scientific knowledge both technical and entrepreneurial
...
Research-oriented institutions of higher learning are the seedbeds for scientific
breakthroughs and technological innovation
...
The term ‘spin-off’ means a new company that arises from a parent
organization
...
Spin-offs are also known as ‘start-ups’ and ‘spinouts’ An important factor in the
success of a spin-off company is the degree of support that it receives from its
parent organization, in the case of universities usually within university
incubators
...
It provides entrepreneurs with the expertise, networks and tools they need to make
their ventures successful
...
These services are usually developed or orchestrated by incubator management
and offered both in the incubator and through its network of contacts
...
These incubator graduates have
the potential to create jobs, revitalize neighbourhoods, commercialize new
technologies and strengthen local and national economies
...
Technological parks
The main intention of technological parks is to ensure an interconnected environment,
which accelerates interaction between resources, ideas, people and equipment
...
Technological parks, together with the university, the government, local
authorities and the business environment, incubate small companies and offer
them consulting, educational and administrative support and infrastructure
...
In doing so, they manage to create a favourable environment for the development
of entrepreneurial ideas
...
In
this manner technological parks help companies on their road to independence or
even internationalization, which is the goal of the majority of promising
technological companies
...
It offers an all-round solution where technology centres operate side by side with
established middle-sized and small companies
...
Technological parks are established on the basis of clearly expressed interests
between economic firms, public research centres and other partners
...
The goals of technological parks are;
(a) to establish technologically innovative companies which are guaranteed solid
infrastructure and favourable working conditions due to the informational and
consulting services
...
(d) to provide consulting services and establish new technologies
...
However, the most frequent ones are as
follows
What services do technological parks offer?
The services offered by technological parks can vary
...
Co-financing of business premises
Because of funding provided by the government, other institutions and companies, the
amount of rent for the business premises and other resources is lower than the market
price for the companies included in the technological park, at least for the first few years
...
In this manner the
companies can gradually adapt to the market conditions
...
This is especially important when it
comes to conducting business deals, raising extra funding (creditworthiness with
financial institutions) and seeking help at university centres
...
General and administrative services
Companies within a park may use common administrative and secretarial services,
courier service and photocopying
...
Consulting services
Different kinds of training and consulting are organized by the management of the park,
external experts and sometimes even companies in the park
...
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The companies in a technological park have access to various information bases, libraries
and other documentation
...
Entrepreneurial training
Most entrepreneurs do not possess an in-depth knowledge of finance, accounting,
marketing, legislation and the rest, because they are focused primarily on the
technological aspect of business
...
Funds
Companies operating within a technological park must provide funds for the equipment
and the current expenses themselves
...
As a rule technological parks do not invest their own funds into the
companies
...
The ways of expressing this connection are the following;
Professors and researchers can expand their network of technological support
...
An additional advantage is the close link with the students, which is another important
reason why a technological park should be associated with the university
...
Their ideas and solutions can be marketed with the
formation of their own company or, as is more often the case, by establishing a
partnership with another company
...
Spatial proximity of the university and the companies means that the technological park
uses the university’s infrastructure
...
Cooperation with the companies in the technology centre accelerates
the development of academic curriculum and training adjusted to the entrepreneurial
needs
...
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Corporations/Companies
On one side corporations have a very important role in new business ventures and on the
other side intrapreneurship ‘is viewed as being beneficial for revitalization and
performance of corporations
...
It is an attempt
to take the mindset and behaviour that external entrepreneurs use to create and build
businesses, and bring these characteristics to bear inside an existing and usually large
corporate setting
...
Companies
wishing to spur innovation and find new market opportunities are most often interested in
trying to inculcate some of these entrepreneurial values into their culture by creating
‘intrapreneurs’
...
Spin-offs are new business formations based on the business ideas developed within the
parent firm being taken into an autonomous firm
...
Capital
The manner in which a business is financed depends on(a) The type of company established by the entrepreneur
(b) Its creditworthiness
(c) The entrepreneur’s inclination towards risk taking and
(d) The various possibilities of access to the equity or the debtor funds and the conditions
inherent therein
...
When a company is established, it is usually the entrepreneurs and their families who
invest in it
...
In the next stages a company may obtain equity in a number of ways and from different
sources, which depend on the one hand on the organizational structure of the company
and on the other hand on the entrepreneurial capabilities or incapabilities of the
company
...
The
advantage of this kind of financing is that the entrepreneur is not liable for the funds
obtained with the funds of the company since repaying the investor depends on the profit
of the company
...
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Technopreneurs can acquire some of the required capital for establishing a new
technology-based firm from friends, relatives or acquaintances, but that is not enough
especially if they want to grow to a significant degree, they will need outside capital
...
One of the most common ways of financing new technological companies is venture
capital
...
In return for the invested capital he receives ordinary shares, preference shares
and fungible bonds
...
The institutional investors, banks, pension funds, insurance companies and the
government can all form funds
...
Investors in a venture capital fund expect their investment to increase in the long term
...
In that time the
investors should get their stakes back along with the realized returns
...
However, this kind of financing is normally quite limited at first since the entrepreneurs
of small companies usually do not have enough high-quality guarantees for the bank to
grant them long-term loans, despite the fact that their projects are viewed positively
...
The advantage of debt financing is that the entrepreneur
does not have to pay the whole sum at once, but postpones some payments for a future
time
...
The down side is that the entrepreneur must assume the responsibility of paying the debt
off in the future – an obligation which does not hinge on the company’s profits
...
Although technopreneurs are
often focused on technological challenges and product development, they should also
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focus on market feedback, on how to be successful in commercialization and marketing
of high-tech products, the high growth strategies, the internationalization issues, the
environmental issues and many other market-related issues
...
(2001) and
Easingwood and Koustelos (2000)
...
The marketing efforts of high-tech firms are as important as, if not more
important than, the reliance on state-of-the-art technology
...
These
industry specific factors include the following;
(a) The short life of high-tech products
Owing to the high rate of change in technological development, the proliferation of
innovative products and the market demand for leading-edge capability, most products in
the high-tech industry have an extremely short product life
...
Short product life and the need to reach break-even within a compressed time frame has
resulted in the need to sell in multiple markets, including international markets, almost
simultaneously, and has resulted in the wide use of skimming strategies, rather than
penetration strategies
...
(c)Tech-support
There is probably no more important factor in high-tech product marketing than techsupport
...
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(e)Strategic alliances
The high number of separate specialized companies, the high level of intra-industry
interdependence and the high rate of industry expansion have resulted in the manic use of
strategic alliances by the high-tech industry
...
(f)Internationalization of new technology-based firms
Internationalization can be explained as the process of increasing involvement in
international operations
...
Traditional frameworks that explain firms’
internationalization were already formulated two or three decades ago
...
Government
The government must accelerate the formation of firms and stimulate the growth of small
and medium-sized firms
...
The development of small and medium-sized firms can be boosted by
(a) macroeconomic policy- specifically a stable economic environment
(b) legislation which lays down favourable conditions for small and medium-sized firms
(c) Offering support aimed at solving problems of the small and medium-sized firms
(e) promoting businesses and entrepreneurship and developing the entrepreneurial
culture
...
These are;
(a) Unity of strategy (policies)
(b) Institutions (organizations) and the
(c) Service programmes
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In order to reach a favourable ratio between the cost for the support and its effectiveness,
the government must
(a) clearly state the goals of its policies,
(b) identify appropriate programmes which will help it realize its goals in a certain time
frame and
(c) appoint effective mechanisms (support organizations) for conducting these
programmes
...
The government may also offer support for firms at the national, regional and local levels
by helping individual firms with
-favourable loans (subsidized interest rates, lesser guarantees, longer repayment periods)
-tax cuts
-favourable amortization costs
-nonrefundable employment benefits and low costs for firms wishing to buy or rent
business space and equipment
- and also by developing business infrastructure special financial institutions (funds),
chambers, technology centres, incubators, business zones and the rest
...
These gaps are
...
Advisors are therefore the people who offer entrepreneurs basic business
information at the lowest level of services
...
They do not know how to recognize
problems and solve them in a fast and efficient manner – advisors will help them in
learning how to do just that
...
Consulting can therefore bridge the gap in knowledge and training of
such individuals
...
Such firms have a limited supply of resources, which can soon lead to a financial crisis in
the case of early (unexpected) difficulties
...
Advice from people in a technopreneur social network are especially important in the
process of establishing a new technology based firm because of limited financial
resources of new entrepreneurs
...
7
...
Since not all corporate entrepreneurship depends on technology, CT represents a subset
of all corporate entrepreneurial activities (Dodgson,2009)
...
Although relatively small and young entrepreneurial firms
often pursue high-risk technological entrepreneurship
...
Due to the high cost, specialized expertise, and long lead times associated with CT, large
and well-established big organisations may be the key business entities that can
substantively undertake these types of entrepreneurial ventures
...
7
...
A technopreneur or technological firm
needs to interact with the customers for and distributors of its outputs, and with the suppliers of
inputs that the firm requires, such as funds, labour, material resources and knowledge
...
Accumulated resources make it possible for
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technopreneurs or technological firms to exploit the productive opportunities in their
environment, as well as to provide a buffer against environmental jolts
...
Levels of Analysis
Two dimensions can be used to distinguish the level of analysis of the exchange relationship
...
This ‘simultaneity of the entrepreneur’s network and the emerging firm’s initial network
stems from the entrepreneur’s role as resource coordinator and agent of the firm
...
As the firm develops, these idiosyncratic personal ties become formalized into stable
exchange relationships between organizations
...
7
...
1 Theories of exchange relationship
There are three theories about exchange relationship between the entrepreneur and other parties
in the environment
...
7
...
2 Personal networks of the entrepreneur
The personal networks of the entrepreneur influence the formation and early development of
entrepreneurial firms
...
It is argue that a start84 | P a g e
up is not a discrete, isolated event, but a socially embedded process influenced by the personal
relationships of the entrepreneur, including friends, family, community and organizational ties
...
A nascent entrepreneur’s personal network is a source
of information and other resources that enable the entrepreneur to recognize and exploit a new
business opportunity
...
The social capital theory explains why and how an entrepreneur’s personal social relationships
affect firm creation and performance
...
Actors are viewed as having the ability to
extract benefits from their social structures, networks and memberships
...
Social capital
is clearly multidimensional, and consist of a structural dimension (existence of ties), a relational
dimension (behavioural assets such as trust) and a cognitive dimension (shared understanding
and goals)
...
However, there could be costs, obligations or trade-offs involved for
entrepreneurs in maintaining a personal network
...
7
...
3 Use of alliances and external resources by entrepreneurial firms
The entrepreneurial firm’s exchange relationships, use of alliances and external resources
influence the firms’ performance
...
In the resource-based
view, a firm is conceptualized as a collection of unique resources and relationships
...
The essence of a firm’s competitive advantage lies in the ways that
existing resources are used and in the means to acquire or internally develop additional resources
that are valuable, rare, imperfectly imitable and without a strategically equivalent substitute
...
In the knowledge- based approach, knowledge and
competencies are viewed as the key resources of firms
...
The organizational advantage of firms over market mechanisms arises from the capabilities of
firms for creating and transferring knowledge
...
Organizational learning takes place as information is exchanged between the firm and its
environment; the firm learns as, through processing this new information, the range of its
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potential behaviours is changed
...
Interorganisational relationships, alliances and networks are important means to acquire this outside
knowledge
...
Entrepreneurial firms benefit from
customer and supplier relationships by acquiring information on new products, technologies and
customer needs, and that the firms are able to develop their internal capabilities through the
interaction with exchange partners
...
Some of these risks are likely to be
particularly relevant in technology-based settings: exchange of complex and often tacit
technological knowledge is time-consuming and difficult and losing proprietary technology may
jeopardize the core competitive advantage of the firm
...
What is the relevance of technopreneurship to a company in
industry and commerce?
Significance to the economy
Technopreneurship spurs the socio-economic growth and development in a country
through several dimensions, hence a panacea for underdevelopment which is the bane of
socio-economic woes
...
Technopreneurship fosters the production of better products and services, thus wealth
creation which leads to raised standards of living
...
Increased potential for value addition
Nearly all developing countries/economies including Zimbabwe are characterized as
producers and exporters of natural resource based goods, whereas economic thinking
dictates that these countries should change their strategy from being merely merchandise
producers to technology developers in order to experience higher levels of development
and producers of value added products
Increase economic competitiveness
Science, technology, innovation entrepreneurship has been proven, not only to be the
impetus for growth and economic prosperity, but also serves as the foundation for the
transformation of the new economy
...
Sustainable development in its essence means working together in order to
create a future that will in least possible manner exploit the resources, eliminate
degradation provoked by pollution and waste accumulation, avoid any actions that
provoke disturbance and disruption of the environment, build strategic, long-term
dimensions and growth and solutions
...
Ecotechnopreneurship is therefore important and should be encouraged
...
This could be achieved by cutting
on the number of employees or as productivity increase less labour hours are experienced
...
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Competitive advantage
Enterprise growth
Corporate technopreneurship fosters company growth by introducing new goods and services
which are not familiar to consumers, new quality, new method of production, opening of a new
market, and capture of a new source of supply of raw materials or other inputs
...
Corporate technopreneurship has enabled the company to grow by introducing
new technological services and markets
...
Technopreneurship adds new life to an organisation that is struggling
...
A new lease of life was possible through the introduction of prepaid meters
...
The challenge facing companies in Zimbabwe is how they can
access external technological knowledge from developed countries such as the US, UK,
Germany, France, China, India, Japan and South and North Korea
...
A challenge in Zimbabwean companies is technical
knowledge and entrepreneurial skills
...
Knowledge and lack of knowledge in technology regarding processes and trends may
highly affect on corporate technopreneurship activities in a company, a reason why there
is lack of value addition in the mining sector
...
The rest of the process is done outside the
country in South Africa, Germany etc
...
This makes high-tech products to have a short life time
...
Technopreneurship is a high risk kind of entrepreneurship
...
Investment in
corporate technopreneurship programmes was risk
...
Do we have such companies even in this seemingly stable
economy?
High costs
Research and development of high-tech products is very costly
...
High cost are involved which could be beyond affordability of companies
...
This is not the case in Zimbabwe
...
There are no university-based as well as company-based and even
government-based technology clusters in Zimbabwe to promote technology transfer
...
Lack of foreign direct investment
Technopreneurship development requires foreign direct investment (FDI)
...
Zimbabwe has experienced a fall in the inflow of
foreign direct investment in this recent past decade
...
Apart from fostering technological transfer and commercialisation of knowledge,
universities and high-technology clusters are important as they attract foreign-direct
investment
...
Inadequate human capital and research capability
Human capital and R&D capability play a key role in determining high value-added
R&D technopreneurial projects
...
Corporate technopreneurship requires as a precondition expert personnel with
heterogeneous assets that are related to achievements in scientific and technological
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knowledge
...
Corporate technopreneurship
is an intra- organizational process in which a person or a technological entrepreneur or
group create and manage an enterprise by research and development, innovation, and
technology
...
Insufficient/Lack of financial resources
Financial and investment sources in active enterprises that want to embrace
technopreneurship are some of the needed infrastructures for corporate
technopreneurship
...
Inadequate technological infrastructure
Economies that have a sophisticated technology infrastructure and that are populated by
start-ups are better positioned to attract knowledge-seeking investment from
multinational corporations, hence can promote technopreneurship in companies
...
How is the technological infrastructure in this country and even in our universities? Can
the infrastructure support technopreneurial companies?
Lack of/Inadequate support
If some needed conditions and facilities are provided and the supportive role is played by
government through customs and taxation rules for entrepreneurs and domestic products
so that risk for the new enterprise and intra-organisational technopreneurial projects is
reduced then corporate technopreneurship will be increased particularly manufacturing of
new products and establishing new enterprises by entrepreneurs, researchers and
technological practitioners
...
Non-existence of technology Networks
Laboratory networks, clusters and associations of technology are one of the crucial
factors in corporate technopreneurship
...
There are several TRL from idea to mass
production and marketing level that affect technopreneurship process in many
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organisations
...
Demographic and gender barriers
Financial solvency and age of researcher play important role in creation of innovation
and development of technopreneurship in enterprise
...
Think of owner managed companies? Even large organisations
dominated by an aging workforce
...
In high-technology
industries, such as biotechnology, innovation may be primarily dependant on organisational
learning through inter-organisational collaboration
...
Organisational support and commitment in alliances can be important for
corporate technopreneurship
...
Alliance could be formed by companies in the same industry or
companies from different industry
...
Entrepreneurship and Technopreneurship Development Models
The Transmission Model
The Business Incubation Model
The Technopark/Technopole Model
Question 1 (a) Examine the strengths and weaknesses of the following Entrepreneurship
Education and Training Models
...
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1
...
1Barriers to corporate entrepreneurship
Many traditional management techniques unintentionally discourage corporate entrepreneurship
...
These
include the way in which some organisations are run like:
Focus on return on investment and efficiency – An entrepreneurial organisation is one
that is going places fast
...
Plan for long term and then control against plan – In a turbulent changing environment
the future is not certain
...
Enforces standard procedures, rules and regulations – This tends to block innovation and
lead to misused opportunities
...
That means having a culture where rules are challenged and only
accepted when proved to be good for the organisation
...
An entrepreneurial
organisation is willing to take measured risk
...
Entrepreneurial organisation takes small steps testing its
assumptions as it goes learning from the changing reality
...
Entrepreneurial organisations often create multi-disciplinary teams to investigate and
develop entrepreneurial opportunities
...
An
entrepreneurial organisation must be able to accommodate, encourage those who do not
conform
...
Approaching the issue in a more systematic way Morris (1998) believes that barriers to corporate
entrepreneurship can be grouped into six groups which are:
1
...
If systems are too strong they can act as a barrier or
disincentive for entrepreneurship
...
Structures – Too many hierarchical levels top to bottom management, overly narrow span
of control, responsibility without authority, restricted communication, lack of
accountability
...
Strategic direction – No form strategy on entrepreneurship, no shared vision, no
entrepreneurial role model at the top, no innovation goals, lack of senior management
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commitment
...
Equally tangible but achievable goals for product, processes
and marketing innovation are essential
...
Policies and procedures – Long, complex approval procedures, excessive documentation
requirements, unrealistic performance criteria and over reliance on established rules of
the thumb
...
Entrepreneurial organisations need to build some slack and leeway into its procedures so
that innovation is encouraged
...
People - Fear of failure, resistance to change, parochial bias, complacency, protection of
own sphere of activity, short term orientation, inappropriate skills and talents
...
Changing people i
...
their attitudes and the way they do
things is the biggest management challenge
...
Culture - ill defined values, lack of consensus over priorities, lack of congruence, value
that conflict with those of an entrepreneurial culture
Title: Innovation and Technoprenuership
Description: These notes give an in-depth of innovation and technoprenuership
Description: These notes give an in-depth of innovation and technoprenuership