UOFT HCL Technologies Essay

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HCL TECHNOLOGIES: DRIVING INNOVATION THROUGH
ECOSYSTEM INNOVATION PLATFORM
Sabyasachi Sinha and Naveen Kumar Malik wrote this case solely to provide material for class discussion. The authors do not intend
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Version: 2021-08-24
In 2020, HCL Technologies Limited (HCL), an information technology (IT) services and consulting
company based in India, had more than 150,000 emplo ees across 50 countries delivering holistic services
across industry verticals to leading enterprises, including 250 Fortune 500 companies and 650 of Forbes’s
Global 2000 companies.1 Changing client ex ectations and the emergence of disruptive technologies had
led HCL’s Infrastructure Services Division to form an enterprise technology office (ETO). The ETO was
chartered to reinvigorate innovation and build pipelines of growth opportunities in emerging technology
domains for the organization.
While the ETO had successfully established an innovation ecosystem2 driven by collaboration among various
stakeholders, current efforts and activities were mostly manual and were not yet running at scale. The ETO was
aspiring to scale up its activities by transitioning from its role as broker to a new role in orchestration. This
required it to standardize and institutionalize processes and systems using technology and automation and to
playNotalargerroleinbuilding a holistic culture of innovation across the organization. The ETO was exploring
how to achieve his role transition and scale-up aspiration; and reflecting on how to use HCL’s automation
capabilities leverage the advantage of platforms. The ETO team was also deliberating how to drive their inn vati
n strategy by focusing on the ecosystem approach of managing innovation.
ROLE OF THE ETO
The ETO was chartered to drive innovation and thought leadership through its engagements with the
innovation ecosystem. Consisting of a team over 25 people, and growing, the ETO’s operations spanned
across three geographic regions—the Americas, Europe, and the Asia Pacific region—with market access
to more than 500 start-ups. The ETO worked closely with more than 10 venture capitalists3 and multiple c
untry -specific trade missions4 across the globe. Trade missions were initiatives undertaken by various
1
“Where Values Drive Velocity,” HCL Technologies Limited, accessed August 25, 2020, https://www.hcltech.com/about-us.
2 Mike Millard, “What Is an Innovation Ecosystem and How Are They Essential for Startups?,” MC Masschallenge, November
1, 2018, https://masschallenge.org/article/startup-innovation-ecosystem-explained.
3
“Venture Capital Networks,” Inc., accessed August 25, 2020, https://www.inc.com/encyclopedia/venture-capital-networks.html.
4
US International Trade Administration, “Trade Missions,” International Trade Administration, accessed August 25, 2020,
https://www.trade.gov/trade-missions.
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countries to promote and grow their own countries’ start-ups within other countries. Usually, the e trade
missions operated with country-specific diplomatic missions to help these start-ups partner with enterpri es
and other businesses in the destination countries. The ETO worked directly under HCL’s chief echnology
officer (CTO) with members holding director-level and lower positions. The ETO was p siti ned to drive
other organizational teams to make decisions ranging from evaluation to ad pti n at scale f new technology
within the organization. The ETO worked closely with other organizati nal business units including
financial services, health care services, and engineering services (see Exhibit 1). It initiated key activities
in product and technology research, accelerator and technology incubation, scouting, mergers and
acquisitions, and ecosystem innovation for customers, as outlined below.
Product and Technology Research: The ETO scouted annual technology and industry trends through
activities that included running campaigns and events, both within and outside the organization, to source
new and innovative technology and solutions.
Accelerator and Technology Incubation: It worked with external partners like venture capital networks and trade missions to explore and
evaluate the start-ups in their p rtf lios r to incubate and support the development of new technology solutions within the organization.
Ecosystem Innovation for CustomersCopy:Thiswasacriticalpart of ETO activity. The ETO initiated
making innovative solutions from various start-ups available for consumption by HCL’s existing clients
based on their business requirements.
Direct Scouting: The ETO also directly scouted and worked with start-ups worldwide to bring new and
innovative technologies into HCL Technologies.
Mergers and Acquisitions: The ETO was also involved in roviding corporate development support for
mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activities. It hel ed by evaluating technology and business synergy and
scanning the market for potential targets through rivate equity5 and venture capital firms.
Working under close guidance from the senior leadership, the ETO was responsible for bringing new
technologies and breakthrough solutions into the organization and thus building a pipeline for future
growth. This required working with innovative technology partners who could enable access to new,
cutting-edge technologies. At he same time, it required many partners to ensure that the company had access
to a broad range of new echnologies and solutions.
The ETO firmly believed in adhering to an ecosystem-aligned strategy, where growth was driven and
supported by an ec system f large innovative partners. The ETO understood the importance of using
platform technology to orchestrate and run these many relationships, and it aimed to play an instrumental
role in driving innovation by acting as an ecosystem orchestrator between internal teams, external start-up
ecosystems, and customers.
INNOVATION THROUGH ECOSYSTEMS
Ec system-driven innovation had been evolving rapidly.6
Innovation ecosystems had been cited as the
drivers f innovation, and organizations were using this model of collaboration to drive entrepreneurship
Troy
Segal,
“Understanding
Private
Equity
(PE),”
Investopedia,
October
7,
2020,
https://www.investopedia.com/articles/financial-careers/09/private-equity.asp.
6 Ove Granstrand and Marcus Holgersson, “Innovation Ecosystems: A Conceptual Review and a New Definition,”
Technovation 90 (February–March 2020).
5
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and innovation.7
By decentralizing the innovation process, organizations were looking at ourcing new
ideas by choosing ecosystem innovation strategies that allowed them to stay ahead of their competition.8
Innovation ecosystems had various stakeholders, including start-ups, venture capitali , government ,
universities, and other corporations; however, a key, focal player in any ecosystem was the ec system
orchestrator9—the intermediary who built and maintained connections among vari us stakeh lders and
encouraged them to work together. The ecosystem orchestrator drove a decentralized appr ach to innovation
and aimed to enhance the innovation quotient within the organization.10
BUILDING AN ECOSYSTEM INNOVATION MODEL FOR GROWTH
The ETO had experienced mixed success in its corporate ent ep eneu ship activities. Some of its
engagements with start-ups had resulted in HCL successfully winning business deals, and some had not.
The reasons for failed business engagements included delays in deal closu e, solutions that did not fit the
problems, and a lack of continued focus and interest from stakeh lders. A typical deal closure cycle could
take weeks or months;11 this business cycle involved working with clients to showcase and propose the
required solution. The time it took customers to evaluate pr p sed s luti ns and respond varied based on their
need and urgency. It was essential to ensure that internal teams and start-up partners continued to be
engaged with the customer during this period. Besides this, customers had their own priorities, aligned to
their organizational objectives and budgets.
At times, internal business teams remained engaged with their prior business commitments, and new start-up
engagements did not receive the necessary attention. External stakeholders, like start-ups, were also involved in
multiple business engagements—with other artners besides HCL—and they prioritized these engagements based
on their understanding of the opportunities and deal closure cycles. All stakeholders realized the uncertainty
involved in deal cl sure due to multiple dependencies; however, they expected an agile decision-making process
and remained inf rmed on the innovation cycle progress and closure.
The ETO recognized the need to gradually enhance the scale and scope of its entrepreneurial initiatives. To
enhance the scale and scope of its operations and enhance stakeholders’ continued engagement in its
initiatives, the ETO gradually adopted the ecosystem innovation model to manage its corporate
entrepreneurshipNotobjectives. The ETO sensed that the ecosystem innovation approach had immense
potential to contribu e he company’s innovation-led growth objectives.
Gradually, ETO star ed working closely with internal teams and customers to collate requirements and scouted
start-ups to fulfil these requirements. Then it introduced these start-ups and solutions with clients with ecosystem
inv lvement. ETO also continued actively exploring for the latest technologies outside the firm and kept a cl se
watch n potential future technology trends. Technology had been changing fast, and it was important to stay
abreast of the latest changes and take these technology changes to customers. These new technology trends
helped in bringing new ideas and thought leadership to existing and new clients to innovate and grow their
businesses (see Exhibit 2). The ETO’s engagements within the technology and start-up ecosystem played a
crucial part in fulfilling the requirements of internal teams and customers. For
7
Ravi Narayan, “Orchestrating an Innovation Ecosystem,” Entrepreneur, April 13, 2019, accessed October 5, 2020,
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/332134.
8 Alexander Osterwalder, Tendayi Viki, and Yves Pigneur, “Why Your Organization Needs an Innovation Ecosystem,” Harvard
Business Review, November 15, 2019, https://hbr.org/2019/11/why-your-organization-needs-an-innovation-ecosystem.
9
Nathan Furr and Andrew Shipilov, “Building the Right Ecosystem for Innovation,” MIT Sloan Management Review, May 15,
2018, https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/building-the-right-ecosystem-for-innovation/.
10
Minna Pikkarainen, Mari Ervasti, Pia Hurmelinna-Laukkanen, and Satu Nätti, “Orchestration Roles to Facilitate Networked Innovation In a
Healthcare Ecosystem,” Technology Innovation Management Review, September 2017, https://timreview.ca/article/1104.
11
“Infrastructure Management Services: A Leader in Gartner Magic Quadrant,” HCL Technologies Limited, accessed August
25, 2020, https://www.hcltech.com/it-infrastructure-management-services.
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accelerated benefits and powerful impact, it was essential to have constructive collaboration among all
stakeholders; this was the fulcrum around which the entire ecosystem revolved.
The ETO started organizing its activities to enhance collaboration among stakeh lders. To r ll ut the
ecosystem innovation strategy, it initiated three programs: the Joint Exploration Pr gram, the ETO Data
Science Hackathon: #AnyoneCanCode, and the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Champs Pr gram.
Joint Exploration Program
This program was an ETO initiative, where customers got to start their innovation journey . Customers who
subscribed to this program had access to over 500 global start-ups, ventu e capitalists, a tried and tested
innovation framework, an innovation orchestration team, and a platfo m. Business stakeholders tasked with
radical innovation were the usual clients of this program.
ETO Data Science Hackathon: #AnyoneCanCode
This program was an open innovation12 initiative, where students from more than 24 leading academic
institutions took part in a three-week exercise to think on concepts and build rapid prototypes on problem
statements leading to IT and business convergence for various industry verticals. The hackathon received
close to 300 registrations.
AI Champs Program
AI Champs was an enterprise-level eff rt to seed, nurture, and harvest ideas by collaborating to create AI
solutions to proactively solve futuristic pr blems. This program included eminent council members from
academia and the venture capital c mmunity who provided research, advice, and mentorship for AI startups. The initiative witnessed over 70 internal teams nominating their solutions from more than 20 global
delivery centres. The top three entries were selected and made part of the direct interface access to the
innovation ecosystem.
ECOSYSTEM INNOVATION PLATFORM
The ETO had been exploring he use of technology to complement its efforts and discussed internally how
an innovation platf rm c uld help propel its ecosystem innovation efforts. After continuous internal
brainstorming and discussi ns, the ETO decided to build its ecosystem innovation platform, a unique
technology-based s luti n that helped to enable and accelerate ecosystem innovation and collaboration
efforts within and across the organization. This solution allowed all innovation stakeholders to collaborate
and—with help from internal client-facing teams—formalized the process of start-up technology adoption
by HCL’ s clients. The ecosystem innovation platform had a unique framework that spanned activities
involving ideation, conceptualization, prototyping, and scale deployment of ideas and innovations. This
journey helped customers explore what they needed and evaluate and adopt solutions. The ecosystem
innovation platform brought all stakeholders to a common platform and provided visibility across
engagements and opportunities. Various stakeholders collaborated through design-thinking-led sprints,13
to pr ceed through a homegrown innovation framework consisting of five stages: inspire, ideate,
12
Henry Chesbrough, “Everything You Need to Know about Open Innovation,” Forbes, March 21, 2011,
https://www.forbes.com/sites/henrychesbrough/2011/03/21/everything-you-need-to-know-about-open-innovation/#4df821e575f4.
13
esign-thinking-led sprints are one- or two-day engagements with stakeholders where activities involving ideation and
conceptualization are brainstormed and developed using design-thinking principles.
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conceptualize, prototype, and scale. A typical ecosystem innovation process underwent the e five
discussed below (see Exhibit 3).
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teps, as
The inspire stage helped users—customers or internal teams—to select areas for inn vati n r ch ose the
latest trends in their areas of interest and suggested potential use cases and related
luti ns fr m various
start-ups in the ETO portfolio. This functionality also helped users find and select particular start-ups in the
area for partnership or future exploration.
The ideate stage was a joint exercise undertaken by the ETO and customers to explore various areas of
interest and to identify potential areas with specific innovation tasks to be undertaken for further
understanding and development.
The conceptualize stage enabled a unique joint effort among all stakeholde s, where ideas in the ideate
phase underwent conceptualization. This effort led to the development of a concept document that was
discussed and reviewed with customers.
The prototype stage was a decision-making stage that involved devel ping a prototype and getting feedback from potential users. Go-forward decisions—that is, decisions about whether to close the project or scale up for implementation—were taken based on the protot pe feedback.
Besides the orchestra or— he ETOCopy—theotherkeyparticipants of the innovation ecosystem included startups, customers such as client organizations, and internal teams from HCL’s business verticals. All of these
The scale stage was the final step in the ecosystem innovation process. ETO worked with all stakeholders
to develop and deploy the solutions—approved prototypes—for the customers.
The ecosystem innovation platform helped customers run their innovation journeys to fast-track their
innovation processes. The ETO planned to use the ecosystem innovation platform to bring various
stakeholders closer and to enhance c llab rati n between them to achieve the ETO’s objectives. One of the
most critical goals of the ecosystem inn vati
n latform was to enable transparency and accountability
among stakeholders with its dashboard and
ther t ls. The dashboard provided information on various
engagement- and opportunity -related aspects and their progress.
KEY STAKEHOLDERS OF THE INNOVATION ECOSYSTEM
stakeholdersNothadtheirown business objectives and expectations of various innovation engagements.
Besides innovati n engagement, these stakeholders also had existing business commitments to honour.
The partner start-ups w rked under strict timelines and operated within resource constraints. They were under
constant review and pressure from their investors to deliver the promised financial returns. The investor pressure
made the start-ups wary of any engagement that ate into their time or took long to complete or close.
Simultaneously, due to a scarcity of resources, start-ups were apprehensive about making any dedicated resource
commitments or spending too much time on engagements with their partners, unless they were confident f their
returns.14 While start-ups wanted partnerships with large companies to grow their businesses, they were very
cautious about engaging with large firms—especially large firms in similar techn l gical domains. Start-ups were
worried about their intellectual property being compromised or replicated by the larger partners, and they tried
to mitigate this risk through legal arrangements. However, they were still apprehensive about sharing
technological knowledge or solutions with these larger
14
eluxe, “The Top 10 Challenges Faced by Entrepreneurs Today,” Deluxe (blog), February 7, 2020,
https://www.deluxe.com/sbrc/financial/top-10-challenges-faced-entrepreneurs-today-solved.
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corporations as they preferred to avoid legal entanglements.15 Any deviations from these proce es could
lead to trouble for the start-up. Investor- or accelerator-type16 relationships with start-up could at times lead
to better leverage for the ETO than simple business-related partnerships.
Innovation decisions were driven mainly by the client organization’s priorities and budgets. While the client’s
organizational priorities were expected to be aligned to innovation and future growth, this was n the case for all.
Some client organizations, under competitive pressure, aimed for productivity and efficiency improvements,
cost-cutting, and reduced information-technology budgets. At times, client organizations reprioritized their
focuses and investments based on market conditions, and this affected their spending on innovation, leading to
the postponement of any further investment in innovation,17 which led to delays in closing deals despite the
organizations’ need and requirement for workinnovation. In such scenarios, any new engagement between
stakeholders was challenging, and ongoing engagement closu es were delayed.
Finally, internal teams were vital for the success of any engagement initiated on the ecosystem platform. They
were the primary drivers of capabilities that moved s luti ns fr m start-ups to client organizations. As internal
teams were already involved and working with their existing customers, they knew exact customer requirements
and were best suited to adopting start-up innovations and customizing these to their
customers’ needs. However, internal teams were occupied by existing commitments and had only a limited
time available to engage with start-ups;18 this affected all stakeholders.
Addressing the above stakeholder challenges was a daunting task. Due to the involvement of multiple
parties with different constraints and objectives, it became difficult to efficiently manage the
collaboration—even after rolling out the innovation management technology platform.
THE TASK AHEAD OF THE ETO
While the ETO was responsible for enhancing growth opportunities and generating value for all
stakeholders, including itself, it had multiple challenges at hand. It was important for the ETO to inculcate
a holistic culture of innovation for continuous growth, and the office was looking at ways to use internal
resources—including human capital—within the organization. While the ETO had already developed the
ecosystem innovation pla form as an initial step to using technology and institutionalizing innovation and
collaboration, it was s ill far from its desired objective of using the ecosystem innovation platform
holistically. The ETO was again exploring available options for enhancing collaboration, creating
synergies, and building a culture of innovation to expand this ecosystem innovation effort and create a
further level f impact. The ETO was contemplating various options, including enhancing the existing
technology-based platf rm, which had limited features. The primary decision here was about how to use
15
HG.org Legal Resources, “Startups Cautious of Patent Trolls,” HG.org Legal Resources, accessed August 25, 2020,
https://www.hg.org/legal-articles/startups-cautious-of-patent-trolls-47419; Rich McEachran, “Why Companies Must Go about Sharing IP with
Caution,” Raconteur, March 20, 2019, https://www.raconteur.net/risk-management/intellectual-property-2019/sharing-ip-caution.
16
Funders Club Inc., “What Is a Startup Accelerator or Incubator?,” Funders Club, accessed October 25, 2020,
https://fundersclub.com/learn/startup-accelerators-and-incubators/startup-accelerators-and-incubators-overview/what-is-astartup- accelerator-or-incubator/.
17
L uis Columbus, “Covid-19’s Impact on the Future of IT Budgets,” Forbes, August 9, 2020, https://www.f
rbes.com/sites/louiscolumbus/2020/08/09/covid-19s-impact-on-the-future-of-it-budgets/#50e4c170318b; Gina
O’C nn r, “Real Innovation Requires More than an R&D Budget,” Harvard Business Review, December 19, 2019, https://hbr.
rg/2019/12/real-innovation-requires-more-than-an-rd-budget.
18 Matt Hunckler, “12 Challenges Startup Culture Must Overcome in Order to Thrive in 2017,” Forbes, March 22, 2017,
https://www.forbes.com/sites/matthunckler/2017/03/22/12-challenges-startup-culture-must-overcome-in-order-to-thrive-in2017/#13e8cc577592; World Economic Forum, “Collaboration between Startups and Corporates: A Practical Guide for Mutual
Understanding” White paper, World Economic Forum, Geneva, January 2018,
http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_White_Paper_Collaboration_between_Start-ups_and_Corporates.pdf.
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the technology-based platform for maximum benefit while incorporating the appropriate degree of
automation and technology to maintain the right balance between involving technology (automation) and
people (manual operations). This balance was crucial in building a culture of innovation.
The ETO also realized its changing role and the importance of ensuring that collab rative arrangements
across the entire innovation cycle involved the right mix of technology and people. This mix helped in
enhancing both organizational network capacity and individual network capability. Another option included
getting into strategic engagements with innovation ecosystem partners, either through corporate venturing
capital19 or by running an accelerator for start-ups. The ETO could do this through single or joint
partner/customer investments. Finally, the ETO was also contemplatingorfurther exploiting the connections
senior managers had with partners and across industry and other fo ums. How could they promote awareness
of the ETO’s efforts, encourage internal participation, and measu e the progress of this effort? The ETO
was exploring ways to create new strategic business a angements and develop reward-based internal and
external programs. The opportunity knocking at the d was c nsiderable; the ETO’s dilemma related to
ensuring it incorporated the right ecosystem inn vati n strategy ingredients in the day-to-day functioning of
the ecosystem innovation platform to ensure the maximum gain. While ensuring that the ecosystem
innovation platform was accepted and adopted by ecosystem partners, it was important to ensure that the
platform also provided relevant and required information to each stakeholder.
19
Henry Chesbrough, “Making Sense of Corporate Venturing Capital,” Harvard Business Review, March 2002. Available
from Ivey Publishing, product no. R0203G.
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EXHIBIT 1: ENTERPRISE TECHNOLOGY OFFICE STRUCTURE
CEO
CTO
Other Business Units / LOB Heads
Enterprise Technology Office (ETO)
ETO Head – Director
ETO Level 1 Members – GM, DGM, etc.
ETO Level 2 Members – Manager, Consultant, etc.
ETO Level 3 Members – Executive
Note: CEO = chief executive officer; CTO = chief technology officer; LOB = line of business; GM = general manager; DGM =
deputy general manager.
Source: Company files.
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EXHIBIT 2: GARTNER TECHNOLOGY TRENDS, 2016–2020
2016
Device Mesh
2017
Applied AI and
Advanced Machine
Learning
2018
2019
2020
AI Foundations
Autonomous
Things
Hyperaut mati n
Ambient User
Experience
Intelligent Apps
Intelligent Apps
and Analytics
Augmented
Analytics
Multiexperience
Internet of
Things
Platforms
Intelligent Things
Cloud to the Edge
Empowered
Edge
The Empowered
Edge
Information of
Everything
Virtual and
Augmented Reality
Conversational
Platform
P ivacy and
Ethics
Democratization
Digital Twins
Digital Twins
Digital Twins
Transparency and
Traceability
Blockchain and
Distributed Ledger
Blockchain
Blockchain
Practical
Blockchain
Conversational
Systems
Immersive
Ex erience
Immersive
Experience
Distributed Cloud
Advanced
System
Architecture
Mesh App and
Service
Architecture
Event-Driven
Thinking
Smart Spaces
Autonomous
Things
Mesh App and
Service
Architecture
Digital Technology
Platforms
Continuous
Adaptive Risk and
Trust
Quantum
Computing
Human
Augmentation
3-D Printing
Materials
Adaptive Security
Architecture
Intelligent Things
AI-Driven
Development
AI Security
Advanced
Machine
Learning
Autonomous
Agents and
Things
Adaptive
Security
Architecture
Note: AI artificial intelligence; apps = applications.
Source: Created by the case au hor using Gartner Inc., “Gartner Identifies the Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2016,”
press release, Gartner Newsr m, October 6, 2015, www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2015-10-06-gartneridentifies-the-top-10-strategic-techn logy-trends-for-2016; Kasey Panetta, “Gartner’s Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for
2017,” Smarter with Gartner, Oct ber 18, 2016, https://www.gartner.com/smarterwithgartner/gartners-top-10-technologytrends-2017/; Kasey Panetta, “Gartner Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2018,” Smarter with Gartner, October 3, 2017,
https://www.gartner.com/smarterwithgartner/gartner-top-10-strategic-technology-trends-for-2018/; Kasey Panetta, “Gartner
Top
10
Strategic
Technology
Trends
for
2019,”
Smarter
with
Gartner,
October
15,
2018,
https://www.gartner.com/smarterwithgartner/gartner-top-10-strategic-technology-trends-for-2019/; Kasey Panetta, “Gartner
Top
10
Strategic
Technology
Trends
for
2020,”
Smarter
with
Gartner,
October
21,
2019,
https://www.gartner.com/smarterwithgartner/gartner-top-10-strategic-technology-trends-for-2020/.
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EXHIBIT 3: ECOSYSTEM INNOVATION PLATFORM, FUNCTIONAL APPROACH
CUSTOMER CENTRICITY
INSPIRATION
IDEA
i
I
Identifying
problems
to
innovate
Brainstorming
on domain
innovation
CONCEPTS PROTOTY E
C
P
SCALE
S
Moving
Generating and
Kicking off
from ideas
pilots and
showcasing
digital
to concepts
implementations
prototypes
STAKEHOLDERS
Internal
Internal
ETO, Internal
ETO, Internal
Business Teams
Business Teams
External
External
Customer
ustomer
Internal
Internal
Internal
ETO, Internal
ETO, Internal
ETO, Internal
Business Teams
Business Teams
Business Teams
External
External
Customer,
Start-ups
Customer,
Start-ups
External
Customer,
Start-ups
Note: ETO = Enterprise Techn l gy Office; Inspiration, Idea, Concept, Prototype, and Scale (iICPS) was an internally
developed and proprietary pr cess framew rk used by ETO to engage with clients and execute innovation assignments for
them. Source: Created by case auth r using internal company documents.
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Corporate Innovation
Creativity, risk, innovation, and the spirit of entrepreneurship are words strongly
associated with 3M (formerly Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing). Its products
are ubiquitous; while some are widely well known, such as Post-it Notes and
sandpaper products, others are found in medical equipment, dog food, and the
Apple iPhones. In fact, to date, there are over 55,000 3M products in the
market.7 The company’s secret to improving its existing products and bringing new
products to market is its culture of innovation and corporate entrepreneurship.
Corporate Innovation
2
Common Myths About Entrepreneurs
Common Myths About Entrepreneurs
Myth 1: Innovators & Entrepreneurs Are Born, Not Made
⚫
This myth is based on the mistaken belief that some people are
genetically predisposed to be entrepreneurs.
⚫ The consensus of many studies is that no one is “born” to be an
entrepreneur; everyone has the potential to become one.
⚫ Whether someone does or doesn’t become an entrepreneur is a
function of their environment, life experiences, and personal
choices.
4
Common Myths About Entrepreneurs
Although no one is “born” to be an entrepreneur, there are common traits and
characteristics of successful entrepreneurs
• A moderate risk taker
• Optimistic disposition
• Persuasive
• A networker
• Promoter
• Achievement motivated
• Resource assembler/leverager
• Alert to opportunities
• Creative
• Self-confident
• Self-starter
• Decisive
• Tenacious
• Energetic
• Tolerant of ambiguity
• A strong work ethic
• Visionary
• Lengthy attention span
Common Myths About Entrepreneurs
Entrepreneurs are Innovators
⚫ You must innovate if you want to succeed.
⚫ You solve problems on a better or much
more innovative way for your customers.
⚫ You create a company that means
something for you, your employees and
your customers from nothing.
Common Myths About Entrepreneurs
Common Myths About Entrepreneurs
Myth 2: Entrepreneurs Are Gamblers
⚫
Most entrepreneurs are moderate risk takers.
⚫ The idea that entrepreneurs are gamblers originates
from two sources:
⚫
⚫
Entrepreneurs typically have jobs that are less structured, and
so they face a more uncertain set of possibilities than people in
traditional jobs.
Many entrepreneurs have a strong need to achieve and set
challenging goals, a behavior that is often equated with risk
taking
8
Common Myths About Entrepreneurs
Myth 3: Entrepreneurs Are Motivated Primarily by
Money
⚫
⚫
While it is naïve to think that entrepreneurs don’t seek
financial rewards, money is rarely the reason entrepreneurs
start new firms.
In fact, some entrepreneurs warn that the pursuit of money can
be distracting.
9
Common Myths About Entrepreneurs
Myth 4: Entrepreneurs Should Be Young and
Energetic
⚫
Entrepreneurial activity is fairly easily spread out
over age ranges.
⚫ While it is important to be energetic, investors often
cite the strength of the entrepreneur as their most
important criteria in making investment decisions.
⚫
⚫
What makes an entrepreneur “strong” in the eyes of an
investor is experience, maturity, a solid reputation, and a track
record of success.
These criteria favor older rather than younger entrepreneurs.
10
Common Myths About Entrepreneurs
Eisenberg’s Quiz
11
Common Myths About Entrepreneurs
TEA: Total early-stage Entrepreneurial Activity
Common Myths About Entrepreneurs
Myth 5: Entrepreneurs Love the Spotlight
⚫
While some entrepreneurs are flamboyant, the vast
majority of them do not attract public attention.
⚫ As evidence of this, consider the following question:
“How many entrepreneurs could you name?”
⚫
⚫
Most of us could come up with Oprah Winfrey, Walt Disney,
Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook), Steve Jobs (Apple)
Probably Larry Page and Sergey Brin of Google, Jeff Bezos of
Amazon.com
13
Common Myths About Entrepreneurs
Myth 5: Entrepreneurs Love the Spotlight
Exercise
Do you know these people?
Common Myths About Entrepreneurs
Do you know these people?
Reed Hastings & Marc Randolph?
Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, Jawed Karim
Jack Dorsey, Noah Glass, Biz Stone, Evan Williams
Adrian Dalsey, Larry Hillblom, Robert Lynn
Ronaldo Moushawar
Eric Yuan
Common Myths About Entrepreneurs
Jack Ma
Kevin Systrom
• These entrepreneurs, like most, have either avoided
attention or been passed over by the popular press.
• They defy the myth that entrepreneurs, more so than
other groups in our society, love the spotlight.
• Loai Naseem, Abdulmohsin Al-Rabiah, Abdulmhsen Alyahya?
• Yousef Al Rasheedi? (KSA), Abdulla Elyas?
Common Myths About Entrepreneurs
Entrepreneurship in the Kingdom
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Abdulaziz Aljouf | Founder and CEO
of PayTabs
Abdulla Elyas | Co-founder of Careem
Ahmad Alzaini | Co-founder and CEO
of Foodics
Ahmed AlBader | Co-founder and CEO
of Sihatech
Ammar Waganah | CEO of Dokkan Afkar
Hatem Kameli | Founder
of iCLICK, Resal, and Lucidya
Osama M. Ashri | Founder of Saudi
Entrepreneurial Ecosystem
Zain-Alabdin Tawfiq | Founder and CEO
of Sarahah
Common Myths About Entrepreneurs
Endeavor is an organization headquartered in New York City that supports entrepreneurs with potential for
economic and social impact in their regions.
Impact of Innovative Firms
I. Economic Impact
(1) SME Development
⚫ Entrepreneurs contribute most to the establishment of SME’s, which are the
backbone of the economy
(2) Innovation
⚫ Is the process of creating something new, which is central to the
entrepreneurial process.
⚫
⚫
Faster & easier recognition ➔ higher motivation
Small firms (< 10-49 employees)* are 16 times more productive and innovative
than larger firms in terms of patents per employee.
(3) Job Creation
⚫ Small businesses create a high number of new jobs USA
⚫
Firms with ~500 employees create 65% of new jobs on an annual basis
* The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), 2005
1-20
Impact of Innovative Firms
II. Social Impact
(2) Disruptive Business Models
Impact of Innovative Firms
Social Innovation
https://about.ikea.com/en/sustainability/fair-and-equal/social-entrepreneurship
Impact of Innovative Firms
II. Social Impact
⚫
The innovations of entrepreneurial firms have a dramatic
impact on society.
⚫
products and services make our lives easier (e.g. amazon go & RFID)
enhance our productivity at work
improve our health
entertain us in new ways.
⚫
⚫
⚫
III. Impact on Larger Firms
⚫
Many entrepreneurial firms have built their entire business
models around producing products and services that help
larger firms become more efficient and effective.
1-25
New Product/Service Innovation
Generating Innovative Ideas
and Recognizing Opportunities
1
Objectives
⚫
⚫
⚫
⚫
⚫
Explain the difference between opportunities & ideas.
Describe the three general approaches entrepreneurs
use to identify opportunities.
Discuss the personal characteristics of entrepreneurs
that contribute to their ability to recognize business
opportunities.
Identify and describe techniques entrepreneurs use to
generate ideas.
Discuss actions to take to encourage continuous
development of new ideas in entrepreneurial firms
What is an Opportunity?
An idea is NOT an opportunity!
What is an Opportunity?
An idea is NOT an opportunity!
⚫
⚫
⚫
o
An idea is a thought, an impression, or a notion, that may or
may not meet the criteria of an opportunity.
Many entrepreneurial ventures fail not because entrepreneurs
didn’t work hard, but because there was no real opportunity to
begin with!
Common Mistake (1): Getting excited or being passionate
about an idea,
when it is crucial before to understand whether the idea fills a need and
meets the criteria to qualify it for an opportunity
What is an Opportunity?
An opportunity is a favorable set of
circumstances that create a need for a new
product, service, or business.
⚫
⚫
o
Passion about an idea MUST be coupled with people’s need
and will to buy it!
Common mistake (2): Picking a currently available
product/service, and building a business around a slightly
better version of it
Recognizing opportunities is about identifying a new idea around product
or service that people need and are willing to buy, NOT one that an
entrepreneur wants to make and sell
What is an Opportunity?
⚫
An idea for a neighborhood
restaurant might be
interesting, but:
➢
if that idea has no real commercial
potential,
if it can’t make a profit,
If no one likes the type of food you
plan to serve
➢
➢
⚫
the business would be
doomed to fail, and the idea is
not an opportunity!
What is an Opportunity?
Four Essential Qualities of an Opportunity
(1)
(2)
(4)
(3)
What is an Opportunity?
“Window of Opportunity”: a metaphor describing
the time period in which a firm can realistically
enter a new market.
⚫ For an entrepreneur to capitalize on an
opportunity, its window of opportunity must be
open.
⚫ As the market grows, firms enter and try to
establish a profitable position.
⚫ As market matures, and the window of
opportunity closes
⚫
What is an Opportunity?
Opportunity window
open
Entrepreneur
enters market
Market
grows,
more firms
enter
As the market
grows, firms
enter and try to
establish a
profitable
position.
Market matures,
window of
opportunity closes
Approaches to Identifying
Innovation Opportunities
Three Approaches to
Identify an Opportunity
(1)
(2)
(3)
Three Approaches to
Identify an Opportunity
(1) Observing
Trends
•Trends create opportunities as they change.
•Changes are a business “blessing”
•Entrepreneurs watch the latest trends, and
purse business opportunities possibly to be
created out of them
Trend
Opportunity
A. Economic
Forces
Weak Economy
Low-cost
Businesses
A. Social Forces
Population Aging
Businesses for
Seniors
A. Technological
Advances
Drones
Online Meeting Platforms
Prime Air (Amazon)
ZOOM Application
A. Regulatory
Changes
HACCP Food
Safety Certification
Hazard analysis and critical control point
Health & Safety
Training/Consulting
A. Economic Forces
A. Economic Forces
Economic Forces affect consumers’ level of disposable
income: direct impact on consumer buying patterns.
⚫ Strong Economy:
⚫
⚫
More money
Opportunity: Spending for discretion products that enhance lives.
❑
E.g. Luxury products: gifts, cars, travel, entertainment services
⚫
Weak Economy:
⚫
⚫
Less money to spend
Reluctance to spend fearing the worse (e.g. losing jobs)
Opportunity: Businesses that saves money would flourish
❑
E.g. 1$ & discount shops
⚫
⚫
A. Social Forces
B. Social Forces
⚫
Understanding how social forces affect emergence of
business ideas (products & services) is fundamental to
solving the puzzle of recognizing opportunities
⚫
Proliferation of fast-food restaurants: A direct consequence of
people’s busy life styles (both parents working), NOT due to love for
fast food!
E.g. American Diners
⚫
A. Social Forces
Social Trend
Aging of the population
Business Opportunity
Businesses for Seniors (Clubs,
Medical Care)
Increasing workforce diversity
Languages, Multi-cultural
training
Social network participation
Advertisement banners,
networking for business
Use of mobiles
Viral Advertisement, Mobile
Applications
Health & wellness awareness
Fitness Centers, Diet Center,
Gluten-free Food
Quick Breaks; Migration to cities
Fast Food and Diners
A. Social Forces
http://beautybecomesyou.
org/programs/
A. Social Forces
:
Desire for personalization:
Need for products and
services that people can tailor
to their own tastes and needs
• Solutions that send
personalized messages on
events like birthdays and
anniversaries
•
•
E.g. Timberland: Tailor-made
designs and colors for shoes
E.g. Car colors & Coca Cola Names
C. Technological Advances
C. Technological Advances
⚫
⚫
o
Rapid pace of technological change make it
vital for entrepreneurs to remain on top of how
new technologies affect current and future
opportunities.
Once a technology is created, products emerge
to advance it.
For example, the creation of the Apple iPhone, iPad, and
similar devices has in turn spawned entire industries that
produce compatible devices: accessories, retail software,
professional applications
Entire Industries
created as the Result
of Technological
Advances
• Computer
industry
• Internet
• Biotechnology
• Digital
photography
C. Technological Advances
virtual reality – computer-generated simulation of a three-dimensional image or environment that can be interacted with in a seemingly real or physical way by a person using special electronic
equipment, such as a helmet with a screen inside or gloves fitted with sensors
C. Technological Advances
D. Political Action & Regulatory Changes
D. Political Action and Regulatory
Changes
⚫
New Laws: E.g. New laws create opportunities for
entrepreneurs to start firms to help companies comply
with these laws
⚫
HACCP*, Saudisation, ISO**, import restrictions,
insurance, environmental protection laws
⚫
Political & security changes
⚫
e.g. global political instability & threat of terrorism: firms becoming more
security conscious.
⚫ new products and services to protect physical assets, intellectual
property, lives of customers and employees.
⚫ E.g. Political elections consulting, marketing and public speaking
*Hazard analysis and critical control points or HACCP (/ˈhæsʌp/) is a systematic preventive approach to food safety from biological, chemical, and physical hazards
**International Organization for Standardization, responsible for the ISO 9000, ISO 14000, ISO 27000,ISO 22000 and other international management standards.
First Approach:
Observing Trends
Environmental Trends Suggesting Business or Product
Opportunity Gaps
EPA-Environmental Protection Agency
OSHA-Occupational Safety and Health Administration
Second Approach:
Solving a Problem
⚫
“Every problem is a brilliantly disguised
opportunity.” (John Gardner, Ex US Secretary)
⚫
“Look for problems. People complain
about it being hard to sleep through the
night, get rid of clutter in their homes, find
an affordable vacation, trace their family
origins, get rid of garden weeds, and so
on.” (Philip Kotler, A Markting Expert)
Three Approaches to
Identify an Opportunity
(2) Solving
Problems
Problem
“Every problem is a brilliantly disguised
opportunity.”
• Entrepreneurs are curious people
• They examine see why problems happened, and to
whom
• They try to see whether solutions to them can be a
business opportunity
Solution
Traffic Jam
Scooter Taxis
Hot Coffee in a Paper
Cup
Insulating
Sleeves
Difficulty matching creative
ideas with financiers
Crowd-Funding
Global Platforms
Second Approach:
Solving a Problem
(2) Solving a Problem
⚫
Sometimes identifying opportunities simply involves
noticing a problem and finding a way to solve it.
⚫ Companies started by people who experienced a
problem in their own lives, then realized that the
solution to the problem represented a business
opportunity.
⚫ Problems pinpointed through intuition or serendipity
(good chances).
⚫
⚫
⚫
⚫
Centers which train on dealing with malignant diseases
Outsourced CFO Services
Jitterbug cellphone for elderly
Nurseries and flextime recruiting companies for working mothers
Second Approach:
Solving a Problem
❖ In 1991, Jay Sorensen dropped a cup of
coffee in his lap as paper cup was too hot.
▪
Started company to sell insulating sleeves.
❖ Study by CDC: total cost of health
care–associated infections is between
$28 billion and $34 billion per year.
▪
▪
HyGreen by Xhale: hand washing compliance
system.
Vestagen: Infection-reducing Fabric technology
❖ A problem facing U.S. and other
countries: alternatives to fossil fuels.
▪
A large number of entrepreneurial firms like
wind and solar farms, are being launched to
solve this problem.
*Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Second Approach:
Solving a Problem
Second Approach:
Solving a Problem
Third Approach:
Finding Gaps in the Marketplace
Three Approaches to
Identify an Opportunity
(3) Finding Gaps
in the Marketplace
“A marketplace gap is often created
when a product or service is needed
by a specific group of people not
well-served by existing products.”
Gaps
Fashion
Apparel for…
Hard to Fit
People
Providing
Jobs for…
Green Industry
Professionals
(& new technically
skilled)
Third Approach:
Finding Gaps in the Marketplace
(3) Gaps in the Marketplace
⚫ Product gaps in the marketplace represent potentially viable
business opportunities
⚫ A marketplace gap is often created when a product or service
is needed by a specific group of people not well-served by
existing products, but doesn’t represent a large enough market
to be of interest to mainstream retailers or manufacturers.
⚫ A common way to recognize gaps is frustration of not finding
a product or service needed, and recognizing that other people
feel the same way.
⚫
E.g. small clothing boutiques and specialty shops: sell designer clothes or
clothes for hard-to-fit people
Third Approach:
Finding Gaps in the Marketplace
Gaps in Restaurant Chains
34
Third Approach:
Finding Gaps in the Marketplace
Examples of Gaps
⚫ Gap in the recruiting industry: Quality Jobs & Green jobs
⚫
GreenJob Spider : a job site for employers and prospective
employees in “green” industries such as solar, wind, recycling, green
buildings, and LED lighting.
⚫
Gap in clothing industry: vintage-inspired & gothic
apparel
⚫
ModCloth sells vintage clothing for 18- to 32-year-old women
In 2015: raised $78.7 million in funding
⚫
Third Approach:
Finding Gaps in the Marketplace
Opportunity Recognition Process
Depicts the connection between an awareness of emerging trends
and the personal characteristics of the entrepreneur
Personal Characteristics
of Innovator Entrepreneurs
that help recognize opportunities
Personal Characteristics of Innovator Entrepreneurs
⚫
Reference is to characteristics that make some better at
recognizing opportunities
2 key terms are basic:
⚫ An opportunity: a favorable set of circumstances that
create the need for a new product, service, or business.
⚫ Opportunity Recognition: refers to the process of
perceiving the possibility of a profitable new business or
a new product or service.
⚫ i.e., an opportunity cannot be pursued until it’s
recognized.
⚫ What does it take to recognize opportunities?
Entrepreneur’s Characteristics
which Contribute to Opportunity Recognition
Characteristics that tend to make some people better at
recognizing opportunities than others
Cognitive Factors
Education
Prior Experience
Social Networks
Creativity
Cognitive Factors
(1) Cognitive Factors
⚫
⚫
⚫
⚫
⚫
⚫
Studies have shown that opportunity recognition may be an
innate skill or cognitive process.
Some people believe that entrepreneurs have a “6th sense”
that allows them to see opportunities that others miss.
This sense” is called Entrepreneurial Alertness: ability to
notice things without engaging in deliberate search.
BUT: Entrepreneurial Alertness is largely a learned skill!
Education and more knowledge of an area provides higher alertness to
opportunities in that area than others.
A computer engineer would be more alert to needs and opportunities within
the computer industry than a lawyer would be.
Prior Experience
(2) Prior Industry Experience
⚫
Several studies have shown that prior experience in
an industry helps an entrepreneur recognize business
opportunities.
⚫
By working in an industry, an individual may spot a market
niche that is underserved.
Experiences, exposure, professional network of contacts
acquired by working in an industry provide insights that lead
to recognizing new opportunities.
⚫
Social Networks
(3) Social Networks
⚫
The extent and depth of an individual’s social network affects
opportunity recognition.
⚫ 40% – 50% of people who start a business got their idea via a social
contact.
⚫ People who build a substantial network of social and professional
contacts will be exposed to more opportunities and ideas than people
with sparse networks.
Social Networks
Social Networks and Nature of Strong vs. Weak
Tie Relationships
⚫ People have relationships with others called “ties.”
⚫
⚫
⚫
Strong-tie relationships are characterized by frequent
interaction and form between coworkers, friends, and
spouses.
Weak-tie relationships are characterized by infrequent
interaction and form between casual acquaintances.
Result
⚫
It is more likely that an entrepreneur will get new
business ideas through weak-tie rather than strong-tie
relationships.
Social Networks
Why weak-tie relationships lead to more new business ideas
than strong-tie relationships
Strong-Tie Relationships
Weak-Tie Relationships
• These relationships typically • These relationships form
form between like-minded
between casual acquaintances
individuals
• They are not as apt to be
• They tend to reinforce
between like-minded
insights and ideas that
individuals
people already have.
• One person may say
something to another that
sparks a completely new idea.
Creativity
(4) Creativity
⚫
Creativity is the process of generating a novel or useful idea.
⚫ Opportunity recognition may be, at least in part, a creative process.
⚫ For an individual, the creative process can be broken down into five
stages, as shown on the next slide.
Generating Creative Ideas
Five Steps identified to Generating Creative Ideas
⚫ Preparation – preparing the background (soil) for the opportunity
❑
Experience, knowledge, education, movement: Dynamism brought to the
opportunity recognition process that makes one ready and “fertile”
⚫
Incubation: stage of considering an idea or thinking
about a problem; it is the “mulling things over” phase.
Insight: flash of recognition, when the solution to a
problem is seen or an idea is born.
Evaluation: subjecting idea to scrutiny and analyzing it
for its viability.
Elaboration: Idea is put into a final form: – details worked
⚫
⚫
⚫
out, structured, & idea transformed into something of value.
Generating Creative Ideas
Five Steps to Generating Creative Ideas
Ideation Process
Coming Up With Profitable Business Ideas
Using the Ideation Process
Opportunity Recognition Process
Depicts the connection between an awareness of emerging trends
and the personal characteristics of the entrepreneur
Corporate Techniques for
Idea
Generation
Social Innovation
Forbes 10 Companies With the Best CSR
Reputations
52
Social Innovation
⚫
A top Social Media Campaign – by Volkswagen
53
New Product/Service Innovation
Corporate Innovation Entrepreneurship
Take the quiz!
Techniques for Generating Ideas
Brainstorming
& Focus Groups
Library Research
Internet Research
Corporate Entrepreneurship
Encouraging and Rewarding
Creative Ideas
Customer Advisory Boards
Idea Bank & Focal Point
Brainstorming
(1) Brainstorming
⚫
Is a technique that typically involves a group of
people used to generate a large number of ideas
and solutions to problems quickly.
⚫ A brainstorming “session” typically involves a
group of people
⚫ Openly discusses and shares ideas, usually under a
facilitator
⚫ Should be targeted to a specific topic.
Brainstorming
Rules for a brainstorming session:
(1) No criticism: verbal or non-verbal – including no chuckles/giggles,
raised eyebrows, or facial expressions of skepticism
o Criticism stymies creativity and inhibits the free flow of ideas.
o People would offer ideas more than in a traditional setting
(2) No Evaluation
(3) No personalization
(4) Session should move quickly – E.g. Leap-frogging
(5) Freewheeling is encouraged: unconstrained Free discussion and
idea sharing
Focus Groups
(2) Focus Group
A gathering of five to ten people, selected based on
their common characteristics relative to the issues
being discussed, asked about their perceptions: opinions,
beliefs, attitudes towards a product, service, or concept
⚫
A form of qualitative research
⚫ Groups are led by a trained moderator:
⚫ Group environment helps gain insight into why people feel the way
they do about an issue.
⚫ Although focus groups are used for a variety of purposes, they can
be used to help generate new business ideas.
Library Research
(3) Library Research
⚫
Libraries are an often underutilized source of
information for generating new business ideas.
⚫ The best approach is to talk to a reference librarian,
who can point out useful resources, such as
industry-specific magazines
o trade journals
o industry reports
o
⚫
Simply browsing through several issues of a journal
or an industry report on a topic can spark new ideas.
Library Research
Large public and
university libraries
typically have access to
search engines and
industry reports that
would cost thousands of
dollars to access on your
own.
Examples of Useful Search
Engines and Industry Reports
• BizMiner
• ProQuest
• IBISWorld
• Mintel
• LexisNexis Academic
Internet Research
(4) Internet Research
Simply typing “new business ideas” into a search
engine will produce links to newspapers and magazine
articles about the “hottest” new business ideas.
⚫ If you have a specific topic in mind, set up Google
mail alerts at https://www.google.com/alerts
⚫
o
Provides you with links to a constant stream of newspaper
articles, blog posts, and news releases about the topic
Ideation Process
How to Come Up With Profitable Business
Ideas Using the Ideation Process
Corporate Entrepreneurship
Corporate Techniques to Generate Ideas
(1) Customer Advisory Boards
⚫ Some companies set up customer advisory boards that meet regularly
to discuss needs, wants, and problems that may lead to new ideas.
(2) Day-In-The-Life Research
⚫ A type of anthropological research, where the employees of a
company spend a day with a customer.
Corporate Entrepreneurship
Corporate Techniques to Generate Ideas
(3) Establishing a Focal Point for Ideas
(i) Some firms meet the challenge of encouraging, collecting,
and evaluating ideas by designating a specific person to screen
and track them—for if it’s everybody’s job, it may be no one’s
responsibility.
(ii) Another approach is to establish an idea bank (or vault),
which is a physical or digital repository for storing ideas (e.g.
password-protected location on a firm’s intranet)
Corporate Entrepreneurship
Encouraging New Ideas in Organizations
⚫
Encouraging new ideas at the firm level
should be embedded into the strategy and
culture
⚫
Creativity is the raw material that goes into
innovation and should be encouraged at the
organizational and individual supervisory level.
Proper environment
o Culture
o Operations
o Communication
o Incentives
o
Corporate Entrepreneurship
Innovative Cultures
Creating an Innovative Culture is a challenge
to instigate corporate entrepreneurship
⚫ An Innovative culture is the work
environment that nurtures unorthodox thinking
and its application
⚫ One where creative ideas are readily shared at
all levels, not only at the top management
Corporate Entrepreneurship:
Encouraging New Ideas in Organizations
Swedish researcher Goran Ekvall provides a list of
characteristics of Innovative organizational
cultures:
❑
❑
❑
❑
❑
❑
❑
❑
Challenge and involvement
Freedom
Trust and openness
Time for ideas
Conflict resolution
Encouraging debates – fun of conflicts!
Risk-taking
Playfulness and humor environment
Corporate Entrepreneurship:
Encouraging New Ideas in Organizations
1:48
70
Corporate Entrepreneurship:
Encouraging New Ideas in Organizations
WeWork, New York, valued at $10bn, has soared in popularity by offering
trendy office space that fosters innovation to millennial freelancers and startups. Some say its valuation is the latest sign of a tech bubble.
Creative Co-Working Spaces
FT Business
Business Incubators – Hatcheries
Protecting Ideas from Being Lost or Stolen
Intellectual property is any product of human intellect that is
intangible but has value in the marketplace.
⚫
IP’s can be protected through patents, trademarks, and copyrights.
⚫ Document ideas into tangible forms, secure them, and avoid
disclosing except by NDA’s (Non-Disclosure Documents) to
concerned parties
Marketing
for the New Realities
Marketing for the New Realities (1)
1
Objectives
1)
Why is marketing important?
2)
What is the scope of marketing?
3)
What are some core marketing concepts?
4)
What forces are defining the new marketing
realities?
5)
What tasks are necessary for successful
marketing management?
2
Why is marketing important?
Activity
Name a product that you bought recently or buy regularly
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
State the name of the product’s company
State 3 reasons why you bought it
How did you know about this product?
What will happen if you do not buy this product?
Where did you find this product?
Would you buy it again?
What will you do if the price of this product increased?
Why is marketing important?
⚫
Starbucks Coffee
⚫
⚫
⚫
⚫
⚫
⚫
⚫
⚫
⚫
⚫
⚫
⚫
⚫
⚫
⚫
Coconut milk
Price
Proximity
Drive thru
Consistency in quality
Variety
Show off at social media
Coffee quality
Service
Work
Free wifi
Efficiency
Speed
Experience
Whole supply chain
⚫
Daqiq Croissant
⚫
⚫
⚫
⚫
Fluffy dough
Freshness
Packaging
Jayla cream
⚫
⚫
⚫
Fast delivery
Packaging
Texture & ingredients
Why is marketing important?
⚫
Kleenex
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Texture / Soft on the skin
Quality
Non-allergic
Reputation
Scented
Tide/ Lipton /fairy / Cinnabon
Adidas Shoes
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Durability / quality
Comfortable
Reasonable price
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Yeezy by Adidas
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Riyaheen’s Vine leaves
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Balance flavour: sour & spicy
Reasonable price
Different flavours
Freshness
PMU
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Program quality
Variety of majors
Full time MBA after working hours
Paths for MBA
Quality instructors
Ranking
Why is marketing important?
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Marketing is relevant
to everyone across all
business functions.
⚫ Marketing your
“personal brand”
helps you land a job
or promotion.
Why is marketing important?
Activity:
⚫ Who are your targeted employers?
⚫ What would you want them to know about you?
⚫ How would you do so?
⚫ Where can you reach them?
The Value of Marketing
Marketing is about identifying and meeting
human and social needs
The Scope of Marketing
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Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and
delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in
terms of goods and services;
AMA’s definition: Marketing is the activity, set of institutions,
and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and
exchanging offerings that have value for customers, partners,
and society at large
Marketing management is the art and science of
choosing target markets and getting, keeping, and
growing customers through creating, delivering, and
communicating superior customer value.
9
Why is marketing important?
Marketing Misconceptions
Catchy and entertaining advertisements.
Pushy salespeople.
Spam to your e-mail or smartphone.
Famous brands and their celebrity spokespeople.
Product claims that turn out to be overstated or just plain
false.
Marketing departments “own” the marketing initiative.
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More Marketing Misconceptions
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Marketing is all about advertising.
Marketing is all about selling.
Marketing is all about the sizzle.
Marketing is inherently unethical and
harmful to society.
Only marketers market.
Marketing is just another cost center in
a firm.
1-12
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Behind the Misconceptions
Marketing is highly visible by nature.
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Advertising and sales promotion seen by all.
Marketing metrics: Gauging performance to drive results.
“If it can’t be measured, it can’t be managed.”
Marketing is more than buzzwords.
•
•
Often viewed as a “necessary evil.”
Too many quick-fix approaches.
Need to position marketing as a respectable field.
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The Value of Marketing
The Value of Marketing
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Financial success often depends on marketing ability
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Successful marketing
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Finance, operations, accounting, …. won’t matter without sufficient demand for products
to make a profit.
Contributes to the bottom line
Allows firms to engage in socially responsible activities.
Builds demand for products & services, which, in turn, creates jobs
Many organizations, (including philanthropic and notfor-profit), now have a CMO
⚫
to put marketing on equal footing with other C-levels: CEO, CFO, CIO
What is Marketed?
10 main types of entities could be
marketed:
(1) Goods
⚫
food products, cars, refrigerators, televisions, machines
(2) Services
⚫
⚫
represent approximately 2/3 of the U.S. economy
Airlines, hotels, maintenance and repair people, and
accountants, bankers, doctors, and management consultants
(3) Events
⚫
trade shows, artistic performances, company anniversaries,
sports (Olympics, World Cup, Expo 2020): Promoted
aggressively to companies and fans.

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