Assignment No.2: Sources of Innovation (Push, Pull, Analogies)
Assignment No.2: Sources of Innovation (Push, Pull, Analogies)
2
Q.1 Explain Sources of Innovation.
Ans- The process of disseminating knowledge, skills and other know-how that
manifests in the form of technology from its owner (individual or an organization) to
another person or organization is known as technology transfer. It is also popularly
known as Transfer of Technology. Various stakeholders amongst whom technology
transfer takes place includes universities, business organizations, research and
innovation societies and others. Such transfer takes place with the motive to share
skills, knowledge, technologies, methods of manufacturing and other related profit
motives. The transfer is further done with an intention to provide improved accessibility
to a wide range of users who can then further develop and exploit the technology to
develop new products, processes, applications, materials or services.
Types of Technology Transfer
Technology transfer can be broadly classified into vertical and horizontal technology
transfer.
1. Vertical Technology Transfer– This chain of transfer includes basic research to
applied research, applied research to development and from development to
production. It is also known as internal technology transfer. This type of transfer is
mostly carried out between research associations, universities, and governments,
among others.
2. Horizontal Technology Transfer– When technology which has already been put in
place or use within one organization is further transferred and used in another place, the
transfer is known as horizontal technology transfer. It is also known as external
technology transfer. This type of transfer takes place between private companies, small
and large business organizations, among others.
Methods of Technology Transfer
Technology transfer can take place using the following instruments.
1. Licensing– An agreement between the owner of the technology (Licensor) and the
receiver (Licensee) which gives the right to use the technology developed or owned by
the transferring individual or company for a specified time period is known as licensing.
The two broad categories of licensing include the one which grants exclusive rights to
use the technology and another which grants non-exclusive rights wherein the owner
reserves the right to further transfer the technology to other company apart from the
receiver. It may also include the right to sub-license, permitting the licensee to grant
someone else the right to use the technology.
2. Joint Venture Agreement– The company executes a joint venture agreement with
respect to technology transfer for a particular business with a vision to incorporate long-
term cooperation between the parties, motivation of all participants in the successful
transfer and to incur lower costs as compared to working independently.
3. Franchising– It is one of the most preferred methods of transferring technology. The
companies generally transfer technical know-how or skill involved under this type of
agreement.
4. Original Equipment Manufacturer– It is a kind of sub-contracting agreement
wherein a foreign company transfers a relevant portion of its technologies and a local
company manufactures according to the specifications in the agreement. Such
agreement enables local companies and firms to absorb technologies and restructure
their production mechanism.
5. Buy-Back Contracts– It is a form of agreement between stakeholders from
developing countries and large foreign companies, wherein a foreign company supplies
industrial equipment in exchange for profits derived from the sale of raw materials or
goods produced. This kind of technology transfer is often used in the construction of
new plants and other related business.
Common processes for innovation management
Needless to say, not all organizations benefit from all types of processes and choosing
the right ones depends on a number of things, for example the way your organization
currently operates and the business you're in.
It should be mentioned that the processes introduced in this article are usually a solid
starting point when it comes to incremental innovations but may not always be
applicable if you're looking for innovations of a more disruptive nature.
Without further ado, let’s get to the core of the most common innovation management
processes.
The most common processes for innovation management:
In this article we will show you why agile innovation management is worthwhile, what
prerequisites have to be met in the company and what basic rules have to be observed.
The basic rules for agile innovation management
Many companies find it difficult to implement and live agility. It often contradicts the
existing corporate culture or lacks experience in dealing with agile processes or the
support of management. Six basic rules must therefore be observed in order to
successfully exploit the potential of agile methods for innovation processes:
1. Develop the right understanding of agility
Agility does not mean anarchy, but rather offers a tried and tested approach to solving
complex problems.
2. Select the appropriate application areas
Not all divisions are suitable for agile methods. For example, they offer no particular
added value for routine tasks. In product development, marketing and strategic
planning, on the other hand, they can be used wisely to develop a solution step by step
in coordination with customers and partners.
3. Start pilot projects and use word of mouth propaganda
Employees in agile pilot projects are usually very satisfied with their greater
independence and the gain in decision-making freedom. They act as ambassadors of
the agile innovation culture and help to win others for this working method by word of
mouth. This makes them valuable intermediaries for the introduction of agile methods in
other business areas.
4. Enable agile methods to be adapted by experienced users
Modifications and individual adaptations of agile innovation methods such
as Scrum only make sense when an employee or a team has full command of them.
However, experienced employees should be allowed to adapt agile methods over time
and further develop them according to their ideas. It therefore also needs managers
who ask questions instead of giving orders, in the sense of "What would you suggest" or
"How could we test this?
5. Use agile methods in top management
In order to anchor agility in the corporate culture, it is by no means sufficient to simply
introduce employees to the agile approach. The company's top management should
also apply agile methods to their own activities. Strategic development, resource
allocation or coordination within the company are suitable areas of application. In this
way, management exemplifies agility and speaks the language of its teams.
6. Removing obstacles
Surveys show that over 70 percent of the use of agile methods leads to tensions
between agile teams and the rest of the workforce. To overcome this resistance,
managers need to communicate clear priorities, roles and responsibilities.
NUF Test
When to use it
Use the NUF test when you want to quickly check that an idea that has been selected is
likely to be effective and work in practice.
Use it when you want to identify what to work on: being more creative, developing the
idea or getting something that you will be able to implement.
How to use it
A solution to a problem can be assessed and scored with the simple three-part 'Nuf
test'. Just score it from 0 to 10 on each of 'New', 'Useful' and 'Feasible'.
New: not been tried before
A solution is not creative unless it is new. When we say 'new' here we are not looking to
get into philosophical arguments about original thought, but we do mean something
substantially different from those things which have been tried before.
Useful: solves the problem
It is good to have a creative new solution--and it is even better if it solves the problem!
The question here is 'How completely does it solve the problem?' A totally useful
solution solves the problem completely--and does not create any new ones.
Feasible: can be implemented in practice
If you have a really novel solution that fully solves the problem, the final question is 'Can
it be put into practice?' If it is really expensive to implement and difficult to use, then it
will not be a very feasible solution. Another good question here is 'Who will I have to
persuade?'
Example
An idea for keeping a door open is to use a sucker attached to the wall that sticks to the
door.
How it works
The NUF marking is a very simple quick check that you can use. It works because it is
easy and intuitive, the criteria are already selected and there are only three of them .