25 Jan Design and present a

MBA6710 Entrepreneurial Organizations & Small Businesses

Week 1 Discussion

As the founder and owner of an upstart electronics firm, you see the need to develop a framework for managing innovation and entrepreneurship. Address any three of the following bullet points:

How you will encourage your employees to think like entrepreneurs.

How you will identify, select, and evaluate potential breakthrough ideas.

Your system for ongoing monitoring and assessment of the external environment.

How you will determine if an idea represents a breakthrough or incremental innovation.

Your checklist of criteria for rating innovative idea

MBA6710 Entrepreneurial Organizations & Small Businesses

Week 2 Discussion

As a partner in a small communications firm, you have noticed that your fellow partners and several employees have mentioned new product ideas they felt were worth pursuing, but that none of these ideas have been pursued. Propose a formal process to determine if ideas that are presented are worthy of market testing. Include the following in your proposal:

Likely sources of new product or business ideas

Data gathering and factual analysis

Ability to make creative leaps

Need for fit with organization strengths and goals

Confirmation of commercial viability

MBA6710 Entrepreneurial Organizations & Small Businesses

Week 3 Discussion

Trace a real or hypothetical new product through the steps in the new product development process, including idea generation, concept verification and testing, actual development, and test marketing. Discuss the establishment of “go/kill” points, meaning the criteria used to determine whether to proceed with the new product idea or abandon it at various stages in the process.

The idea generation stage should include potential sources of ideas such as trend monitoring, serendipity, or customer focus groups. The concept testing stage should include possible modifications based on feedback from potential customers, such as asking customers how this new product idea compares with present ways of the need the new product is intended to satisfy.

The final paragraph (three or four sentences) of your initial post should summarize the one or two key points that you are making in your initial response.

Your posting should be about 1 page (400 to 500 words) in length.

MBA6710 Entrepreneurial Organizations & Small Businesses

Week 4 Discussion

The following are common organizational barriers to innovation and entrepreneurial behavior:

Lack of management commitment

Vague or missing measures of performance

No incentives for success

Penalties for failure

Resistance to change (desire to keep a narrow market focus or cling to present products)

Conversely, the following are characteristics of organizations that encourage innovation and entrepreneurial behavior:

Supportive

Protective

Tolerant

Trusting

Sharing

Experimental

Discuss your current organization or one with which you are familiar, whether local, regional, national, or international in scope, in terms of these negative and positive organizational traits as they relate to innovation and entrepreneurial behavior.

The final paragraph (three or four sentences) of your initial post should summarize the one or two key points that you are making in your initial response.

Your posting should be about 1 page (400 to 500 words) in length.

MBA6710 Entrepreneurial Organizations & Small Businesses

Week 5 Discussion

Discuss opportunities for innovation and entrepreneurship in emerging global markets, particularly those with a growing middle class, or those where harsh economic conditions dictate the need for innovation if basic human needs are to be met.

What steps must be taken to encourage innovation in these markets?

Will the same incentives and techniques be effective in all emerging markets?

What can be done in instances where government does not encourage or is even hostile to entrepreneurship?

Design and present a list of talking points you might use when you meet with industry and government leaders in one of these markets as you attempt to build a creative mind-set among local civic leaders, businesses, and citizens.

The final paragraph (three or four sentences) of your initial post should summarize the one or two key points that you are making in your initial response.

Your posting should be about 1 page (400 to 500 words) in length.