LEADING INNOVATION AND CHANGE (ON CAMPUS)

LEADING INNOVATION AND CHANGE (ON CAMPUS)

ASSESSMENT

Assessment is one piece of individual coursework. This is a 3500 word assignment (plus  or  minus  5 per cent including appendices (see below for advice on these) but excluding Bibliography, cover content and tables. The assignment should be fully supported by appropriate references using the Harvard system. Feedback (individual and generic) will be posted on MyBeckett on the dates notified on-line.

You have two assignment options for the Semester Two 2014-15 on-campus delivery of ‘Innovation and Change’.  Choose one. They are:

1.    ‘The trouble is that most organisations are unwittingly designed to encourage the acquisition of behaviours and practices they wish they had less of’.  Discuss  with  reference to innovation and suggest ways in which these unhelpful behaviours and practices  can be overcome.

2.    Critically evaluate the claim that National Innovation Systems (NISs) are THE most important influence shaping and promoting innovation. Discuss with particular reference to a NIS of your choice.

Your assignment should be fully supported with references drawn from the core text (see below) and other sources. Avoid too descriptive an approach – the emphasis should be on analysis and argument. An assignment based solely on lecture notes/slides  is unlikely to be successful.  Your assignment will be submitted on-line and scanned through for plagiarism.

Please note the following points:

•    You can attach appendices but these will be included in word count.  Be careful about these. Are they necessary? Can you summarise the information in the body of your assignment?

•    Only material up to the word limit will be assessed. Past that your assignment will not be read or marked.

•    Your assignment must apply insights from the module and your reading. Evidence of independent research and reflection will be rewarded.

•    An on-line submission box will be opened in advance of the submission date.

•    You can submit as many times as you like up to the deadline date – the last submission overrides all previous ones

READING

When reading remember to use the indexes to identify issues and topics you want to explore – trying to read a full text is not the most cost-effective way to approach your work.

KEY TEXTS

Tidd J,  Bessant J and Pavitt K (2009) Managing Innovation: Integrating Technological, Market and Organisational Change, (5th Edition) Chichester, Wiley.

Bessant J and Tidd J (2011) Innovation and Entrepreneurship (2nd Edition) Chichester Wiley

The relevant chapters from these two texts have been gathered together in a customised text book available as a hard copy and as an e-book. These are sold together as ‘bundle’ and are  available only from Blackwell’s Bookshop (Leeds). The details are:

‘Innovation and  Change’ (2011)  (Edited by P. Tether)  Chichester, Wiley Custom Services.

DEFINITIONS AND ISSUES

Seminar Activities: There are four questions per unit. These  four  questions  can be individual or group-based. The readings for this unit will help you address them but you should look elsewhere for relevant material that will help you develop a rounded understanding. Your presentation should last approximately 10-15 minutes. Try to summarise bullet points on slides and brief notes for your class colleagues will be very useful.  All seminar activities in all classes with all tutors will be based on these questions. This will ensure consistency of learning experience across all tutorial groups.

•    The 4Ps are a way of categorising innovation. Provide two examples of each. Which category of P was the most difficult to complete and why?
•    Explain what you understand by ‘architectural innovation’ and identify two examples of this kind of innovation.
•    Using examples and illustrations, explain what you understand by the phrase ‘creative destruction’.
•    Explain what is meant by the term ‘post-Fordism’ and explain its significance for innovation

Seminar Activities: There are four questions per unit. These  four  questions  can be individual or group-based. The readings for this unit will help you address them but you should look elsewhere for relevant material that will help you develop a rounded understanding. Your presentation should last approximately 10-15 minutes. Try to summarise bullet points on slides and brief notes for your class colleagues will be very useful.  All seminar activities in all classes with all tutors will be based on these questions. This will ensure consistency of learning experience across all tutorial groups.

•    Draw a simple diagram showing Leeds Beckett University as an ‘open system’.
•    What is meant by the terms ‘technology push’ and ‘market pull’? Explain using examples. How useful do you find this distinction?
•    What do you understand by the term ‘organic organisational structure’? What kinds of organisations might have this kind of structure and are they essential for innovation?
•    Critically evaluate the claim that the more money you put into R & D the more innovation you get.

THE INNOVATIVE ORGANISATION

You might also like to look at:

‘The Why, What and How of Management Innovation’ Harvard Business Review (2006), 84, 2, 72-84. Access this on-line through EBSCO – go to
http://libraryonline.leedsmet.ac.uk/pages/resources/journals_and_newspapers

Seminar Activities: There are four questions per unit. These  four  questions  can be individual or group-based. The readings for this unit will help you address them but you should look elsewhere for relevant material that will help you develop a rounded understanding. Your presentation should last approximately 10-15 minutes. Try to summarise bullet points on slides and brief notes for your class colleagues will be very useful.  All seminar activities in all classes with all tutors will be based on these questions. This will ensure consistency of learning experience across all tutorial groups.

•    Identify five things which you think are the hallmarks of an ‘innovative organisation’. Put them in ascending order of importance.
•    ‘Conventional organisations are often their own worst enemies where innovation is concerned. They do all the things that are calculated to undermine creativity and innovation’ Discuss.
•    What is a ‘core competence’ and why is it important where innovation is concerned? Discuss using examples and illustrations.
•    All that’s needed to be an innovative organisation is ‘leadership’. To what extent do you agree with this statement?

INNOVATION AND STRATEGY

Seminar Activities: There are four questions per unit. These  four  questions  can be individual or group-based. The readings for this unit will help you address them but you should look elsewhere for relevant material that will help you develop a rounded understanding. Your presentation should last approximately 10-15 minutes. Try to summarise bullet points on slides and brief notes for your class colleagues will be very useful.  All seminar activities in all classes with all tutors will be based on these questions. This will ensure consistency of learning experience across all tutorial groups.

•    Compare and contrast rational and incremental strategy. Which is the most appropriate where innovation is concerned?
•    Compare and contrast Anglo-Saxon capitalism and Rhineland-Nippon capitalism. Which is best where innovation is concerned?
•    What is an ‘innovation strategy’ and how do you develop one?
•    What is a NIS?  Identify five national government policies which are central to the UK’s NIS.

INTO THE FUTURE – COLLABORATION

Seminar Activities: There are four questions per unit. These  four  questions  can be individual or group-based. The readings for this unit will help you address them but you should look elsewhere for relevant material that will help you develop a rounded understanding. Your presentation should last approximately 10-15 minutes. Try to summarise bullet points on slides and brief notes for your class colleagues will be very useful.  All seminar activities in all classes with all tutors will be based on these questions. This will ensure consistency of learning experience across all tutorial groups.

•    What is a ‘network’ and why is it regarded as central to innovation in the Twenty-First Century? Use examples to illustrate your answer.
•    Go on-line. Research and briefly describe the structure of the Department of Business Innovation and Skills.
•    Why do governments seek to promote all forms of collaboration between enterprises and how do they go about doing this?
•    The metaphor of a ‘target’ with a bull’s eye and concentric rings is useful for understanding a NIS. Explain why this is so using the UK’s NIS as an example.

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