Business Finance – Management Assignment 1 White Paper

Unit 1 Assignment: White Paper: Analyzing Innovation in Action

Purpose:

This assignment deepens your understanding of innovation and entrepreneurship concepts introduced in Chapters 1–3 of Managing Innovation by connecting theory to real-world examples.

A white paper is a persuasive, authoritative, and in-depth report on a specific topic. In the business world, white papers are widely used to present research, analyze problems, and propose solutions. Writing a white paper allows you to explore critical challenges, showcase your ability to synthesize information, and communicate complex ideas clearly and effectively.

Crafting a white paper mirrors the responsibilities of business professionals who are often required to create high-level reports for decision-makers. This assignment prepares you to apply innovation principles while honing your professional writing and strategic thinking skills—both of which are essential for leadership roles.

Task:

With a focus on current trends, this white paper explores innovation as a process and the challenges organizations face in sustaining it. Write a 2-3 page white paper that addresses the following:

Define innovation and entrepreneurship in modern business contexts, using insights from the readings.
Explain why managing innovation as a structured process is essential for business success.
Identify common challenges organizations face in fostering and sustaining innovation.
Highlight a specific example from the textbook (e.g., Virgin, Adidas, Siemens) and connect it to recent developments in the company
Analyze the problem faced by the company and provide a solution based on innovation principles.
Incorporate supplemental research from the company’s website (e.g., investor pages, annual reports, sustainability, or impact reports) and at least two external business sources.

Resources

Chapters 1–3 from Managing Innovation.
Company Websites: Explore “About Us,” investor pages, and sustainability reports.
Annual Reports: Use 10K filings for publicly traded companies.
Business News and Databases: Examples include Bloomberg, HBR, and McKinsey Insights.

Criteria for Success:

Your white paper should be original work consisting of 2-3 pages in Microsoft Word.
The document should adhere to the following formatting requirements: 12-point Times New Roman or 11-point Arial, 1-inch margins, and double-spacing.

Submission:

Submit your assignment by midnight Tuesday ET.
This assignment is worth 100 points and will be graded according to the White Paper Rubric

Student
Resource

Chapter 1: The innovation imperative

Chapter 1:
The
innovation
imperative

• In the following PowerPoint slides
you will find the key headings from
CHAPTER 1 together with the main
illustrations, tables, etc.

• There are also slides summarizing
the key messages in bullet-point
fashion, links to videos and a wide
range of activities which you can use
to help students explore around these
themes.

• Finally there are some reflection
questions which can be used as the
basis for discussion or assignments.

Learning
objectives

By the end of this chapter you will
develop an understanding of:

what ‘innovation’ and
‘entrepreneurship’ mean and how they
are essential for survival and growth

innovation as a process rather than a
single flash of inspiration

the difficulties in managing what is an
uncertain and risky process

the key themes in thinking about how
to manage this process effectively

Core themes
and material

from the
book

Innovation?

• The word ‘innovation’
comes from the Latin,
innovare, and is all about
change.

• Perhaps a more helpful
definition of innovation is:

‘the process of creating value
from ideas’

The innovation imperative

‘A slow sort of country’ said the
Red Queen. ‘Now here, you see, it
takes all the running you can do to
keep in the same place. If you
want to get somewhere else, you
must run at least twice as fast as
that!’

(Lewis Carroll, Alice through the
Looking Glass)

Global R&D spend

Innovation and
entrepreneurship

‘Innovation is the specific tool of entrepreneurs, the
means by which they exploit change as an opportunity
for a different business or service. It is capable of
being presented as a discipline, capable of being
learned,capable of being practised’

(Peter Drucker)

Innovation & Entrepreneurship

Stage in life
cycle

Start-up Growth Sustain/scale Renew

Creating wealth Individual
entrepreneur
exploiting new
technology or
market opportunity

Growing the business
through adding new
products/services or
moving into new
markets

Building a portfolio
of incremental and
radical innovation
to sustain the
business and/or
spread its influence
into new markets

Returning to the
radical frame-
breaking kind of
innovation which
began the business
and enables it to
move forward as
something very
different

Creating social
value

Social
entrepreneur,
passionately
concerned to
improve or change
something in their
immediate
environment

Developing the ideas
and engaging others in
a network for change –
perhaps in a region or
around a key issue

Spreading the idea
widely, diffusing it
to other
communities of
social
entrepreneurs,
engaging links with
mainstream players
like public sector
agencies

Changing the
system – and then
acting as agent for
next wave of
change

Hidden

innovation

Type I: Innovation that is identical or
similar to activities that are measured
by traditional indicators, but which is
excluded from measurement

Type II: Innovation without a major
scientific and technological basis, such
as innovation in organizational forms
or business models.

Type III: Innovation created from the
novel combination of existing
technologies and processes.

Type IV: Locally-developed, small-
scale innovations that take place
‘under the radar’, not only of
traditional indicators but often also of
many of the organizations and
individuals working in a sector.

Examples
of ‘hidden’
innovation

• Type I: the development of new
technologies in oil exploration.

• Type II: the development of new
contractual relationships between
suppliers and clients on major
construction projects.

• Type III: the way in which banks have
integrated their various back office IT
systems to deliver innovative customer
services such as Internet banking.

• Type IV: the everyday innovation that
occurs in classrooms and
multidisciplinary construction teams

Investments in innovation

Challenges
on the

innovation
horizon

• Accelerating knowledge production

• Globalisation of knowledge
production

• Market expansion – now <7billion people

• Market globalization and
fragmentation

• Market virtualization

• Rise of active users/demand for
customization

• Growing concern with sustainability
challenges

• Shifting technological and social
infrastructures

Innovation
isn’t easy

Barriers to innovation include:

• Seeing innovation as ideas, not
managing the whole journey;

• Not recognizing the need for
change;

• Mindset and complacency – core
competence becomes core
rigidity;

• Closed information network,
insulated from new ideas.

Successful innovators…

explore and understand different dimensions of innovation (ways in which we can
change things)

Explore and
understand

manage innovation as a process Manage

create conditions to enable them to repeat the innovation trick (building capability) Create

focus this capability to move their organizations forward (innovation strategy) Focus

build dynamic capability (the ability to rest and adapt their approaches in the face
of a changing environment)Build

A process model for
innovation

Scope for innovation

Dimension Type of change

‘Product’

Changes in the things
(products/services) which an
organization offers

‘Process’

Changes in the ways in which these
offerings are created and delivered

‘Position’
Changes in the context into which the
products/services are introduced

‘Paradigm’

Changes in the underlying mental
models which frame what the
organization does

Dimensions of innovation – what can
we change?

Examples of the 4Ps
model: Product

‘Product’

– what we offer
the world

Windows 7 and 8 replacing Vista and XP –
essentially improving on existing software
idea
New versions of established car models – e.g.
the VW Golf essentially improving on
established car design
Improved performance – incandescent light
bulbs
CDs replacing vinyl records – essentially
improving on the storage technology

New to the world software – for example the
first speech recognition program
Toyota Prius – bringing a new concept – hybrid
engines. Tesla – high performance electric car.
LED-based lighting, using completely different
and more energy efficient principles
Spotify and other music streaming services –
changing the pattern from owning your own
collection to renting a vast library of music

Examples of the 4Ps
model: Process

‘Process’

– how we create
and deliver that
offering

Improved fixed line telephone services
Extended range of stock broking services
Improved auction house operations
Improved factory operations efficiency
through upgraded equipment
Improved range of banking services delivered
at branch banks
Improved retailing logistics

Skype and other VOIP systems
On-line share trading
eBay
Toyota Production System and other ‘lean’
approaches
Online banking and now mobile banking in
Kenya, Philippines – using phones as an
alternative to banking systems
On line shopping

Examples of the 4Ps
model: Position

‘Position’

– where we target
that offering and
the story we tell
about it

HaagenDazs changing the target market for ice
cream from children to consenting adults
Airlines segmenting service offering for different
passenger groups – Virgin Upper Class, BA Premium
Economy, etc.
Dell and others segmenting and customizing
computer configuration for individual users
On line support for traditional higher education
courses
Banking services targeted at key segments –
students, retired people, etc.

Addressing underserved markets – for example the
Tata Nano aimed at emerging but relatively poor Indian
market with car priced around $2000.
Low cost airlines opening up air travel to those
previously unable to afford it – create new market and
also disrupt existing one
Variations on the ‘One laptop per child’ project – e.g.
Indian government $20 computer for schools
University of Phoenix and others, building large
education businesses via online approaches to reach
different markets
‘Bottom of the pyramid’ approaches using a similar
principle but tapping into huge and very different high
volume/low margin markets – Aravind eye care, Cemex
construction products

Examples of the 4Ps
model: Paradigm

‘Paradigm’

– how we frame
what we do

Bausch and Lomb – moved from ‘eye wear’ to ‘eye
care’ as their business model, effectively letting go of
the old business of spectacles, sunglasses (Raybans)
and contact lenses all of which were becoming
commodity businesses. Instead they moved into
newer high tech fields like laser surgery equipment,
specialist optical devices and research in artificial
eyesight
Dyson redefining the home appliance market in
terms of high performance engineered products
Rolls Royce – from high quality aero engines to
becoming a service company offering ‘power by the
hour’
IBM from being a machine maker to a service and
solution company – selling off its computer making
and building up its consultancy and service side.

Grameen Bank and other microfinance models –
rethinking the assumptions about credit and the poor
iTunes platform – a complete system of personalized
entertainment
Cirque de Soleil – redefining the circus experience
Amazon, Google, Skype – redefining industries like
retailing, advertising and telecoms through online
models
Linux, Mozilla, Apache – moving from passive users to
active communities of users co-creating new products
and services

Dimensions
of

innovation

Incremental -→
Radical

Component and
system

Architectures,
platforms and systems

Types of Innovation

Knowledge architectures and
innovation

The innovation life cycle

Stages in the life cycle

Discontinuous
innovation

Triggers for discontinuity include:

• New market emerges

• New technology emerges

• New political rules emerge

• Running out of road

• Sea change in values and public
opinion

• Changes in regulatory context

• Fractures along ‘fault lines’

• Architectural innovation/ business
model innovation

• Unthinkable events

• Etc.

Summary

• Innovation is about growth
– about recognising
opportunities for doing
something new and
implementing those ideas
to create some kind of
value. It could be business
growth, it could be social
change. But at its heart it is
the creative human spirit,
the urge to make change in
our environment.

Summary

• Innovation is also a survival imperative.
If an organization doesn’t change what it
offers the world and the ways in which it
creates and delivers those offerings it
could well be in trouble.

• And innovation contributes to
competitive success in many different
ways – it’s a strategic resource – helping
to get the organization where it is trying
to go, whether it is delivering
shareholder value for private sector
firms, or providing better public services,
or enabling the start-up and growth of
new enterprises.

Summary

• Innovation doesn’t just happen –
it is driven by entrepreneurship.
This powerful mixture of energy,
vision, passion, commitment,
judgement and risk-taking –
provides the engine behind the
innovation process.

• It’s the same whether we are
talking about a solo start-up
venture or a key group within an
established organization trying to
renew its products or services.

Summary

• Innovation doesn’t happen
simply because we hope it
will – it’s a complex process
which carries risks and needs
careful and systematic
management. Innovation
isn’t a single event, like the
light bulb going off above a
cartoon character’s head. It’s
an extended process of
picking up on ideas for
change and turning them
through into effective reality.

Summary

We need to:

• Understand what we are trying to manage –
the better our mental models, the more
likely what we do

• with them in the way of building and running
organizations and processes will work;

• • Understand the how – creating the
conditions (and adapting/configuring them)
to make it happen;

• • Understand the what, why and when of
innovation activity – strategy shaping the
innovation work

• that we do;

• • Understand that it is a moving target –
managing innovation is about building a
dynamic capability.

Summary

Innovation can take many forms, but they
can be reduced to four directions of
change:

• • ‘product innovation’ – changes in the
things (products/services) that an
organization offers;

• • ‘process innovation’ – changes in the
ways in which they are created and
delivered;

• • ‘position innovation’ – changes in the
context in which the products/services
are introduced;

• • ‘paradigm innovation’ – changes in the
underlying mental models that frame
what the organization

• does.

Summary

Research repeatedly suggests that if we
want to succeed in managing innovation we
need to:

• explore and understand different
dimensions of innovation (ways in which
we can change things)

• manage innovation as a process 

• create enabling conditions to enable
them to repeat the innovation trick
(building capability)

• focus this capability to move their
organizations forward (innovation
strategy)

• build dynamic capability (the ability to
reset and adapt their approaches in the
face of a changing environment).

Summary

Any organization can get lucky once, but the
real skill in innovation management is being
able to repeat the trick. So if we want to
manage innovation, we ought to ask
ourselves the following check questions:

• • Do we have effective enabling
mechanisms for the core process?

• • Do we have strategic direction and
commitment for innovation?

• • Do we have an innovative
organization?

• • Do we build rich proactive links?

• • Do we learn and develop our
innovation capability?

Videos

• There are several short videos which can help
explore and present the key themes of the
chapter:

• What is innovation?

• Why does innovation matter?

• The innovation imperative

• Innovation model innovation ’

• The language of innovation

• Innovation management

Videos

• You can also watch longer films covering key
themes:

• John Bessant explaining the challenge of Strategic
innovation management

• John Bessant explain the 4Ps model – Exploring
innovation space

• Joe Tidd discussing the question ‘Why
innovate?’

Innovation
managers

in their
own words

• On the website there are
several interviews with
practising innovation
managers which give an idea
of the wide range of
challenges in the field and the
different areas (commercial
and not-for-profit) in which
innovation is playing a key
role:

• https://johnbessant.org/case-
studies/innovation-managers-
in-their-own-words/

https://johnbessant.org/case-studies/innovation-managers-in-their-own-words/

Innovation
and growth

• Tim Jones has been studying growth
champions for some time. His most
recent work has built on this, looking to
try and establish a link between those
organizations which invest consistently
in innovation and their subsequent
performance. His findings show that
over a sustained period of time there is a
strongly positive link between the two;
innovative organizations are more
profitable and more successful.

• Watch a video of Tim explaining these
ideas:

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9
1BxG14G1c

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O91BxG14G1c

Creating value
from ideas

• Follow the link to watch a video
by The School of Life on ‘How to be
an Entrepreneur’

• https://www.youtube.com/watc
h?v=lJjILQu2xM8

Creating and capturing
value

• Follow the link to watch Michael G.
Jacobides’ TED Talk, ‘Creating and
Capturing Value in Your Business
Ecosystems’

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxQ
HSyk5oyc

Blogs and
podcasts

• There are several podcasts
picking up key themes around
managing innovation as a
process and some of the key
variables:

• Blog pieces here include
innovation histories charting
the ways in which innovation
evolves and contributes – for
example, ‘The birth of the
bike’, ‘Sweeping the floor
with innovation’ and the rise
of the internet.

https://www.buzzsprout.com/721626

https://johnbessant.org/category/blog/

Tools

The chapter introduces a variety of
tools for helping answer the
question of where and when to
innovate, including:
• The 4Ps approach to mapping

innovation space
• Blue Ocean strategy
• Value curves
• Competitiveness profiling

• They can all be found here:
• https://johnbessant.org/tools-

for-innovation-and-
entrepreneurship/

https://johnbessant.org/tools-for-innovation-and-entrepreneurship/

Innovation isn’t easy

The Museum of Failure gives a wide range of
examples of innovations which have failed,
including many coming from some of the world’s
biggest business names. Invite students to
explore the site and distil a list of the many ways
in which good ideas can fail:

https://museumoffailure.com/

Slide 1: Student Resource
Slide 2
Slide 3: Learning objectives
Slide 4: Core themes and material from the book
Slide 5: Innovation?
Slide 6: The innovation imperative
Slide 7: Global R&D spend
Slide 8: Innovation and entrepreneurship
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12: Investments in innovation
Slide 13: Challenges on the innovation horizon
Slide 14: Innovation isn’t easy
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17: Scope for innovation
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23: Dimensions of innovation
Slide 24
Slide 25: Knowledge architectures and innovation
Slide 26: The innovation life cycle
Slide 27: Stages in the life cycle
Slide 28: Discontinuous innovation
Slide 29: Summary
Slide 30: Summary
Slide 31: Summary
Slide 32: Summary
Slide 33: Summary
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37: Videos
Slide 38: Videos
Slide 39: Innovation managers in their own words
Slide 40: Innovation and growth
Slide 41: Creating value from ideas
Slide 42
Slide 43: Blogs and podcasts
Slide 44: Tools
Slide 45: Innovation isn’t easy

Student
Resource

Chapter 2: Digital is different?

Chapter 2:
Digital is
different?

• In the following PowerPoint slides you will find the
key headings from CHAPTER 2 together with the
main illustrations, tables, etc.

• There are also slides summarizing the key
messages in bullet-point fashion, and a wide range of
activities which you can use to help students explore
around these themes.

• Finally there are some reflection questions which
can be used as the basis for discussion or
assignments.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this chapter
you will have an
understanding of:

The nature and origins of
digital innovation

The case for seeing it as a
transformative technology
with pervasive impacts across
all sectors

The role it can play in
innovation management by
providing powerful new tools
to support the process

The wider management
implications, especially in
learning to operate at a
system level

Core themes
and material

from the
book

Digital
innovation…

• ….the suite of technologies
around the creation or
capture, storage/retrieval,
processing and
communication of
information and their
combination into high level
systems with emergent
properties.

Simplified model of digital
innovation

Is it new?

Is it revolutionary?

Key features
of digital

technologies

• Low cost leading to widespread application
potential

• Common language – digital code – enabling
communication and interoperability of software

• Fast easy communication – connectivity was the
barrier back in the 1980s, even with advanced
protocols like ISDN (Integrated Services Digital
Network) and similar.

• Increasing wireless connection potential

• Low cost enables intelligent functionality to be
built into the simples of devices and then
connected into systems – the ‘internet of things’

• Learning via machine (artificial intelligence)

• Potential to collect and work with Big Data –
massive increases in the volume, variety and
velocity of collection allows for pattern
recognition and exploiting of network-level
effects

What does it mean for innovation
management?

The new digital toolkit

Stage in
innovation
process

Digital tools

Search Broadcast search / crowdsourcing
Cross-sector pattern matching
Patent mining
Innovation contests
Innovation markets
User communities
Netnography
Internal collaboration platforms

The new digital toolkit

Implement Simulation and prototyping tools – e.g. 3D
printing
Collaboration platforms
Co-creation communities
Virtual teams
AI/machine learning

The new digital toolkit

Select Idea markets
Voting via collaboration platforms
Crowdfunding
Decision support tools
Machine learning/artificial intelligence (AI) applied as
decision tool
Simulation and prototyping to extend the exploration
phase at low cost

The new digital toolkit

Capture
value

Networking and viral marketing to
accelerate diffusion
Platform models to concentrate and
deploy knowledge
Ecosystem construction
AI/machine learning

Front-end innovation tools

• Innovation contests and crowdsourcing
solutions

• Innovation markets

• Innovation communities

• Innovation toolkits

• Innovation laboratories, makerspaces,
collective co-creation

Collaborative
innovation
platforms

• Finding ideas – crowdsourcing,
broadcast search

• Selecting ideas – idea markets,
comments and collaboration

• Implementing ideas – on and
offline support for development
and collaboration

• Targeting innovation – via
campaigns and missions

• Knowledge management –
capture, sharing, recombination

Digital tools across the innovation
process

Driving new
approaches

to innovation
management

• Systems level thinking

• Platform thinking

• Changing role of knowledge

• Skills and capabilities

• Responsible innovation

Summary

In this chapter we have explored the potential
of digital innovation, defined as the suite of
technologies around the creation or capture,
storage/retrieval, processing and
communication of information and their
combination into high level systems with
emergent properties.

We have seen that although not new the
momentum behind this technological wave has
been building and has reached a maturity in
development of key components and
infrastructure that now enables system level
solutions to be widely available across all
spheres of social and economic activity

Such a trend and the accompanying emergent
properties of such systems qualify digital
innovation for being considered as
transformative, having many characteristics
associated with long waves of economic and
social change

Summary

Digital innovation has two key implications for
innovation management. First in the outputs of
the innovation system; there is enormous scope
for applying the technology and the challenge is
to explore innovation space as effectively as
possible to find and exploit these opportunities.
At the same time the take-up of the technologies
is limited by the availability of skills, structures
and business models to enable them and so
building these into digital innovation strategies
will be important.

In terms of its implications for the process of
innovation itself digital innovation offers a wide
range of new and improved tools with which to
work right across the process. Once again this
has skills and capability building implications

Summary

There are also new challenges for
innovation management
emerging from the need to learn
to operate at system level, co-
ordinating and orchestrating the
efforts of multiple actors and
stakeholders in wider innovation
ecosystems

The transformative potential of
digital innovation raises questions
about the purposes and
consequences of such a trajectory
and this underlines the need for a
‘responsible innovation’ approach

Videos

There are several videos which can help explore and
present the key themes of the chapter:
• David Simoes Brown of 100% Open talking

about the challenges of working in open
innovation with especial emphasis on digital
channels

• Catharina van Delden talking about her
company Innosabi which has grown to be a
successful business in the field of online
community development to support agile
innovation

• Michael Bartl talking about using digital tools for
market research

• Pedro Oliveira talking about Patient Innovation,
a healthcare innovation platform

• Francisco Pinheiro, Strategic Innovation
Manager with Atos talking about the challenges
of getting innovative ideas from employees via
internal online platforms in the company

Blogs and
podcasts

• There are several podcasts
and blogs picking up key
themes around managing
innovation as a process and
some of the key variables:

• Birth of the internet

• An innovation birthday party

• Alan Brown also has an
excellent blog on digital
innovation here

https://www.buzzsprout.com/721626

https://johnbessant.org/category/blog/

https://alanwbrown.com/dispatches/dispatch-005/

Tools

• There is a rich variety of
tools to help with
innovation and many of
these have been
significantly upgraded
through the use of digital
approaches. You can find a
full list here.

https://johnbessant.org/tools-for-innovation-and-entrepreneurship/

Slide 1: Student Resource
Slide 2: Chapter 2: Digital is different?
Slide 3: Learning Objectives
Slide 4: Core themes and material from the book
Slide 5: Digital innovation…
Slide 6: Simplified model of digital innovation
Slide 7: Is it new?
Slide 8: Is it revolutionary?
Slide 9: Key features of digital technologies
Slide 10: What does it mean for innovation management?
Slide 11: The new digital toolkit
Slide 12: The new digital toolkit
Slide 13: The new digital toolkit
Slide 14: The new digital toolkit
Slide 15: Front-end innovation tools
Slide 16: Collaborative innovation platforms
Slide 17: Digital tools across the innovation process
Slide 18: Driving new approaches to innovation management
Slide 19: Summary
Slide 20: Summary
Slide 21: Summary
Slide 22: Videos
Slide 23: Blogs and podcasts
Slide 24: Tools

Student
Resource

Chapter 3: Managing innovation as a core business
process

Chapter 3:
Managing
innovation as a
core business
process

• In the following PowerPoint slides you will
find the key headings from CHAPTER 3
together with the main illustrations, tables,
etc.

• There are also slides summarizing the key
messages in bullet-point fashion, and a wide
range of activities which you can use to help
students explore around these themes.

• Finally there are some reflection questions
which can be used as the basis for discussion
or assignments.

Learning
Objectives

By the end of this
chapter you will
understand:

• Innovation as a process
rather than a single flash of
inspiration;

• The difficulties in managing
what is an uncertain and
risky process;

• The key themes in thinking
about how to manage this
process effectively.

Managing innovation as
a core business process

Stages in the
journey

Innovation is a
journey, not an
event

Contingency
model – it all
depends

Innovation life
cycle

Key influences

Learning to
manage
innovation

Capture value

Sector

For profit/not for
profit

Geography

Regulatory
environment

Social innovation

Innovative
organization

Pro-active
linkages

Select

Implement

Size

Innovation
strategy

Learn and build
capability

Changing
innovation
models

Concept of routines Dynamic capability

Problem of partial
models

Core themes
and material

from the
book

Innovation as a journey

Key
stages in
the
process

• Searching for trigger ideas.

• Selecting from the possibilities the one we are
going to follow through.

• Developing the idea from initial ‘gleam in the
eye’ to a fully-developed reality.

• Managing its diffusion and take up in our
chosen market.

• Capturing value from the process.

Influences
on the
process

Innovation needs:

• Strategy;

• Innovative organization;

• Proactive linkages;

• Learning and improvement loop.

Key
questions
about how
we
manage
innovation

• Do we search as well as we could?

• How well do we manage the selection and
resource acquisition process?

• How well do we implement?

• Do we capture value? Improve our technical and
market knowledge for next time? Generate and
protect the gains so they are sustainable?

• Do we learn from experience? How do we capture
this learning and feed it back into the next time?

Different
versions
of the
core
process
model

• For a start-up entrepreneur the ‘search’ stage is
often called ‘opportunity recognition’ – but once they
have spotted something they think they can exploit
the challenge is of making it happen. They have to
acquire resources making various pitches to get
backing and buy-in.

• Then they have to develop the venture and finally
launch it into their chosen marketplace and capture
the rewards and also the learning to allow them to do
it again.

Different
versions of
the process
model
(continued)

• For a new product development team in a
company it is about searching for ideas (maybe in the
R&D lab, maybe via customer survey, maybe some
combination of both). Then they have to secure
internal resources – pitching for backing against other
competing projects form different teams. Then they
manage the development process, bringing the
product through various stages of prototyping and
simultaneously developing the market and launch
plans. Finally launch and, hopefully, widespread
adoption – and capturing the gains in commercial
terms but also in terms of what has been learned for
next time.

Different
versions of
the process
model
(continued)

• For a public service team in a hospital the search
may be for more efficient ways of delivering the
service under resource constraints. Once again an
individual or team has to convince others and secure
resources and the permission to explore, they have to
develop it and then diffuse it as a new method to an
internal market of people in the service who will
adopt the new way. And once again they capture
value, in terms of efficiency improvement but also in
learning.

Different
versions of
the core
model
(continued)

• For the social entrepreneur it is about finding a
trigger need, then developing and sharing a vision
around how to meet that need better. Securing
support and buy in is followed by development,
implementation and hopefully widespread adoption
– and the value is captured in social improvements as
well as learning.

Variations on a theme

Variations on a theme
(continued)

We can use a process model as a framework reminding ourselves the
reality will vary, for example, by the sector, the size of our enterprise, or
the stage in the industry life-cycle.

Different sectors, different approaches

Innovation in the humanitarian world

https://higuide.elrha.org/toolkits/get-
started/innovation-process/

Innovation process

Size as an influence

Different models for ‘steady state’ and

discontinuous innovation

Changing models of innovation over
time

The problem of partial
models

The problem of partial
models (continued)

Core abilities in innovation

Developing innovation
capability

Innovation as a journey

Key questions in the selection phase

Key questions in the implementation
phase

Dynamic
capability

• Dynamic capability – need to update and change our routines in a
changing world.

• Of the ways we do things round here – our routines – for innovation:

• Which should we do more of?

• Which should we do less of, or even stop?

• Which new things do we need to learn to do to add to our
repertoire?

Summary

• Innovation doesn’t happen
simply because we hope it will –
it’s a complex process which
carries risks and needs careful
and systematic management

• It’s an extended process of
picking up on ideas for change
and turning them through into
effective reality. At its heart it
involves stages of searching,
selecting, implementing and
capturing value.

Summary

This core process doesn’t take place in a
vacuum – we know it is strongly influenced by
many factors. In particular innovation needs:

• Clear strategic leadership and
direction, plus the commitment of
resources to make this happen.

• An innovative organisation in which
the structure and climate enables
people to deploy their creativity and
share their knowledge to bring about
change.

• Pro-active links across boundaries
inside the organisation and to the
many external agencies who can play a
part in the innovation process –
suppliers, customers, sources of
finance, skilled resources and of
knowledge, etc.

Summary

• Do we have effective enabling
mechanisms for the core process?

• Do we have strategic direction
and commitment for innovation?

• Do we have an innovative
organisation?

• Do we build rich pro-active links?

• Do we learn and develop our
innovation capability?

Summary

• Learning to do this – building
innovation management capability –
involves finding behaviour patterns
which work and then reinforcing and
practicing them until they become
‘routines’ – ‘the way we do things
around here’

• They become the structures and
procedures through which we make
innovation happen

• In a constantly changing environment
it’s also important to check and
adapt our ‘routines’, updating,
adding and even letting some of
them go. This process of regular
review and reconfiguration is at the
heart of innovation management as a
‘dynamic capability’.

Videos

• There are several videos
which can help explore
and present the key
themes of the chapter:

• Six short films exploring
key aspects of the
innovation journey

• A longer film looking at
the question of managing
innovation as a process

https://johnbessant.org/the-lab/flipped-resources/module-3-the-innovation-journey/module-3-videos/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxmookUeLJc

Videos

• These interviews present people talking
about the challenges of managing
innovation in different contexts:

• Michael Bartl of Hyve, a German
consultancy which specialises in
innovation management. It explores the
use of new approaches to ‘crowdsource’
ideas and identify user needs.

• Catherina van Delden, founder and CEO
of Innosabi, discussing user involvement
in innovation.

• David Simoes-Brown of 100% Open
discussing some of the innovation
management challenges involved in
working with the new ‘open innovation’
environment.

https://johnbessant.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Video-Michael-Bartl-Hyve

https://johnbessant.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Video-David-Simoes-Brown

Videos

• Helle-Vibeke Carstensen discussing
some of the challenges of enabling
innovation in the public sector.

• Divya and Gaurav Garg talking
about platform innovation for
community development

• Suzana Moreira of Mowoza.com
taking about innovation in a
development aid context

• Simon Tucker discussing social
innovation

• Lynne Maher talking about
innovation in a health care context

https://johnbessant.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Video-Helle-Vibeke-Carstensen

https://johnbessant.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Video-Suzana-Moreira

http://www.mowoza.com/

Videos

• Kyle Stewart of Torbay Hospital in
the UK talks about how
innovation is supported and
stimulated

• Two doctors describe an
innovation project they
conducted as junior doctors
looking to improve the service
offered at Torbay Hospital.

• Kate , another junior doctor at
Torbay Hospital, describes an
innovation project she carried
out to improve the process for
dealing with anaphylatic shock.

Videos

• Joe Tidd explores the
challenges in developing an
innovation process

• John Bessant explores the
need for dynamic capability

• A number of practising
innovation managers talk
about their experiences
here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXKAEC9zsaM

https://johnbessant.org/case-studies/innovation-managers-in-their-own-words/

Blogs and
podcasts

• There are several podcasts
picking up key themes around
managing innovation as a
process and some of the key
variables:

• Innovation models

• The innovation journey

• Preparing for the journey

• Making the innovation
journey

• Success and failure in
innovation

https://www.buzzsprout.com/721626

https://www.buzzsprout.com/721626/5029130-the-importance-of-innovation-models

https://www.buzzsprout.com/721626/3068125-the-innovation-journey

https://www.buzzsprout.com/721626/3068131-preparing-for-the-journey

https://www.buzzsprout.com/721626/5028992-making-the-innovation-journey

https://www.buzzsprout.com/721626/5029046-success-and-failure-in-innovation

Blogs and
podcasts

• Experience innovation

• Crisis-driven innovation

• Lynne Maher talking about
innovation in the UK
healthcare system

https://www.buzzsprout.com/721626/3233218-experience-innovation

https://www.buzzsprout.com/721626/3105190-crisis-driven-innovation

http://www.innovation-portal.info/resources/lynne-maher-interview/

Slide 1: Student Resource
Slide 2: Chapter 3: Managing innovation as a core business process
Slide 3: Learning Objectives
Slide 4
Slide 5: Core themes and material from the book
Slide 6: Innovation as a journey
Slide 7: Key stages in the process
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16: Different sectors, different approaches
Slide 17: Innovation in the humanitarian world
Slide 18: Size as an influence
Slide 19: Different models for ‘steady state’ and discontinuous innovation
Slide 20
Slide 21: Changing models of innovation over time
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26: Innovation as a journey
Slide 27: Key questions in the selection phase
Slide 28: Key questions in the implementation phase
Slide 29: Dynamic capability
Slide 30: Summary
Slide 31: Summary
Slide 32: Summary
Slide 33: Summary
Slide 34: Videos
Slide 35: Videos
Slide 36: Videos
Slide 37: Videos
Slide 38: Videos
Slide 39: Blogs and podcasts
Slide 40: Blogs and podcasts

White Paper Assignment Rubric
Course: BMGT 620 9085 Innovation & Entrepreneurship (2252)

Criteria Excellent Proficient
Approaching
Proficiency

Needs
Improvement

No Evidence Criterion Score

Content:

Foundational

Concepts

/ 15

Content:

Analysis of

Company

/ 25

Content:

Problem

Identification

and Solution

Development

/ 20

15 points

Clearly

and

comprehensively

explains

foundational

concepts,

addressing all

key elements of

the

assignment

prompt.

13.5 points

Explains

foundational

concepts with

minor omissions

or gaps in

addressing key

elements of the

assignment

prompt.

12 points

Provides a basic

explanation of

foundational

concepts but

lacks depth or

focus in

addressing all

key elements.

10.5 points

Fails to clearly

explain

foundational

concepts or

address key

elements of the

assignment

prompt.

0 points

No evidence

25 points

Demonstrates a

thorough and

critical

analysis

business

examples,

integrating

insights from

readings and

research.

22.5 points

Provides a

strong analysis

of business

examples with

minor gaps in

depth or critical

thinking.

20 points

Offers a basic

analysis with

limited critical

thinking or

depth, relying

heavily on

surface-level

details.

17.5 points

Basic analysis of

business

examples, lacks

critical thinking,

or fails to

address the

topic

adequately.

0 points

No evidence

20 points

Clearly identifies

problems and

develops

actionable, well-

supported

solutions

grounded in

analysis and

innovation

principles.

8 points

Identifies

problems and

provides

actionable

solutions with

minor gaps in

support or

clarity.

16 points

Presents basic

problem

identification

and solutions

with limited

support or weak

connections to

analysis.

14 points

Problem

identification

and solutions

are vague,

unsupported, or

fail to address

the topic

meaningfully.

0 points

No evidence

3/15/25, 2:12 PM Preview Rubric: White Paper Assignment Rubric – BMGT 620 9085 Innovation & Entrepreneurship (2252) – UMGC Learning Manag…

https://learn.umgc.edu/d2l/lp/rubrics/preview.d2l?ou=1367088&rubricId=2640527&originTool=quicklinks 1/3

Criteria Excellent Proficient
Approaching
Proficiency

Needs
Improvement

No Evidence Criterion Score

Content:

Research and

Integration of

Insights

/ 20

Writing,

Formatting,

and

Presentation

/ 10

20 points

Effectively

integrates high-

quality research

and real-world

evidence from

reliable business

sources. Sources

are highly

relevant,

credible, varied,

and well-cited,

demonstrating

strong

connections to

key insights.

18 points

Integrates

research and

evidence from

reliable business

sources that are

relevant and

credible, though

there may be

minor gaps in

variety. Sources

generally

support the

analysis

effectively.

16 points

Includes

research and

evidence, but

sources are not

consistently

reliable or

business-

focused, and

citations may be

inconsistent.

Limited

connections to

key insights.

14 points

Research and

evidence are

unclear,

irrelevant,

unreliable, or

insufficient.

Sources are not

business-related

or fail to

support the

analysis.

0 points

No evidence

10 points

Demonstrates

polished,

professional

business writing

with excellent

organization,

free of grammar

or spelling

errors, and

adherence to

white

paper

conventions.

9 points

Demonstrates

professional

business writing

with good

organization,

minor grammar

or spelling

errors, and

general

adherence to

white paper

conventions.

8 points

Writing is

adequate but

contains

noticeable

grammar or

spelling errors

and

inconsistencies

in adhering to

white paper

conventions.

7 points

Writing lacks

clarity, is

disorganized,

and contains

frequent

grammar or

spelling errors.

Does not

adequately

follow white

paper

conventions.

0 points

No evidence

3/15/25, 2:12 PM Preview Rubric: White Paper Assignment Rubric – BMGT 620 9085 Innovation & Entrepreneurship (2252) – UMGC Learning Manag…

https://learn.umgc.edu/d2l/lp/rubrics/preview.d2l?ou=1367088&rubricId=2640527&originTool=quicklinks 2/3

Total / 100

Overall Score

Criteria Excellent Proficient
Approaching
Proficiency

Needs
Improvement

No Evidence Criterion Score

Evidence of

Skills

/ 1010 points

Demonstrates

strong use of

business

strategies,

strategic

planning,

business

analysis, and

strategic

thinking to

deliver

comprehensive

insights that

align strategic

initiatives with

competitive

advantage and

stakeholder

value.

9 points

Effectively

applies business

strategies,

strategic

planning,

business

analysis, and

strategic

thinking with

minor gaps.

Demonstrates

alignment with

competitive

advantage and

stakeholder

value.

8 points

Displays a basic

understanding

of business

strategies,

strategic

planning,

business

analysis, and

strategic

thinking.

Connections to

competitive

advantage or

stakeholder

value are

limited.

7 points

Minimal

application of

business

strategies,

strategic

planning,

business

analysis, or

strategic

thinking.

Insights are

weak or

inconsistent,

lacking

alignment with

competitive

advantage or

stakeholder

value.

0 points

No evidence

Excellent
91.5 points minimum

Proficient
81.5 points minimum

Approaching Proficiency
71.5 points minimum

Needs Improvement
1 point minimum

No Evidence
0 points minimum

3/15/25, 2:12 PM Preview Rubric: White Paper Assignment Rubric – BMGT 620 9085 Innovation & Entrepreneurship (2252) – UMGC Learning Manag…

https://learn.umgc.edu/d2l/lp/rubrics/preview.d2l?ou=1367088&rubricId=2640527&originTool=quicklinks 3/3

Unit 1 Assignment: White Paper: Analyzing
Innovation in Action

Purpose:

This assignment deepens your understanding of innovation and entrepreneurship concepts introduced in

Chapters 1–3 of Managing Innovation by connecting theory to real-world examples.

A white paper is a persuasive, authoritative, and in-depth report on a specific topic. In the business

world, white papers are widely used to present research, analyze problems, and propose solutions.

Writing a white paper allows you to explore critical challenges, showcase your ability to synthesize

information, and communicate complex ideas clearly and effectively.

Crafting a white paper mirrors the responsibilities of business professionals who are often required to

create high-level reports for decision-makers. This assignment prepares you to apply innovation

principles while honing your professional writing and strategic thinking skills—both of which are essential

for leadership roles.

Task:

With a focus on current trends, this white paper explores innovation as a process and the challenges

organizations face in sustaining it. Write a 2-3 page white paper that addresses the following:

Define innovation and entrepreneurship in modern business contexts, using insights from the

readings.

Explain why managing innovation as a structured process is essential for business success.

Identify common challenges organizations face in fostering and sustaining innovation.

Highlight a specific example from the textbook (e.g., Virgin, Adidas, Siemens) and connect it to

recent developments in the company

Analyze the problem faced by the company and provide a solution based on innovation principles.

Incorporate supplemental research from the company’s website (e.g., investor pages, annual reports,

sustainability, or impact reports) and at least two external business sources.

Resources

Chapters 1–3 from Managing Innovation.

3/15/25, 2:12 PM White Paper: Analyzing Innovation in Action

https://leocontent.umgc.edu/content/umuc/tgs/bmgt/bmgt620/2252/unit-1/white-paper–analyzing-innovation-in-action-.html 1/2

Company Websites: Explore “About Us,” investor pages, and sustainability reports.

Annual Reports: Use 10K filings for publicly traded companies.

Business News and Databases: Examples include Bloomberg, HBR, and McKinsey Insights.

Criteria for Success:

Your white paper should be original work consisting of 2-3 pages in Microsoft Word.

The document should adhere to the following formatting requirements: 12-point Times New Roman

or 11-point Arial, 1-inch margins, and double-spacing.

Submission:

Submit your assignment by midnight Tuesday ET.

This assignment is worth 100 points and will be graded according to the White Paper Rubric

All links to external sites were verified at the time of publication. UMGC is not responsible for the validity or integrity of information located

at external sites.

3/15/25, 2:12 PM White Paper: Analyzing Innovation in Action

https://leocontent.umgc.edu/content/umuc/tgs/bmgt/bmgt620/2252/unit-1/white-paper–analyzing-innovation-in-action-.html 2/2

Turn in your highest-quality paper
Get a qualified writer to help you with

“ Business Finance – Management Assignment 1 White Paper ”

Get high-quality paper

Guarantee! All work is written by expert writers!

Still stressed from student homework?

Get quality assistance from academic writers!

Order now