Chapter 06: Self Test


Which of the following is NOT a trigger for discontinuous innovation?

  

Changes in political systems

  

Emergence of radical new technologies

  

Emergence of new fringe markets with different needs and expectations to the mainstream

  

Continuing developments along an established technological trajectory



Which of the following is NOT a helpful search strategy for picking up weak signals about discontinuities?

   Develop an external scanning capability – scouts and hunters
   Tune in to weak market signals – e.g. working with fringe users, early trend locations (such as chat rooms on the Internet)
  

Use well-tried 'voice of the customer' tools to get market insights from existing customers

   Explore at periphery of firm – subsidiaries, joint ventures, distributors as sources of innovation


Which of the following statements would you expect to hear people saying in an organization which is well-prepared to deal with discontinuous innovation? (Several choices may be correct.)

   We deploy ‘probe and learn’ approaches to explore new directions in technologies and markets
   We don't need to look outside the firm - we already know what our customers want
   We actively explore the future, making use of tools and techniques like scenarios and foresight
   We are market leaders so there is little threat from innovation for us
   Our organization allows some space and time for people to explore ‘wild’ ideas
   We make regular use of formal tools and techniques to help us think ‘out of the box’


Which of the following statements would you expect to hear people saying in an organization which is well-prepared to deal with discontinuous innovation? (Several choices may be correct.)

   We have mechanisms to identify and encourage ‘intrapreneurship’ – if people have a good idea they don’t have to leave the company to make it happen
   We always work with the same partners
   We work with ‘fringe’ users and very early adopters to develop our new products and services
   We have a large board of directors
   We have extensive links with a wide range of outside sources of knowledge – universities, research centres, specialized agencies and we actively set them up even if not for specific projects
   We have reward systems to encourage people to offer their ideas


The development of steam power in the Industrial Revolution was an example of discontinuous innovation.

   True
   False


Kondratiev waves are....

  

High surfing waves on the Kondratiev beaches in Georgia, much sought after by surfers

  

an observation about clusters of significant innovations and their radical impact originally made by a Russian economist

  

A sine wave in electrical engineering

  

A technique used in hairdressing



‘Strong ties’ – close and consistent relationships with regular partners in a network - are a key to successful discontinuous innovation.

   True
   False


'Stage gate' decision systems are essential to control risks in innovation projects. But sometimes they can be a problem in discontinuous innovation because they reject ideas which are highly speculative.

   True
   False


The growth in use of SMS - text messaging via mobile phones - is an example of a discontinuous innovation.

   True
   False


Which of the following could be argued NOT to be a discontinuous innovation?

  

The shift from fixed line to mobile telephony

  

The shift from face to face to online banking

  

The shift from 5.4 inch to 3.5 inch disc drives in computer storage

  

The shift from grinding and polishing to float glass manufacturing





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