Final Synthesis Paper on Entrepreneurship (500 words)

MADM 751: Entrepreneurship, Innovation & Creativity

Louisiana State University Shreveport – Dr. Michael D. Meeks

Socratic Skill Builder #5: Innovation: DNA, Mindset, and Management [100 points]

Due Date: Sunday August 18th by 11pm

Student Name : Tia McSwain

Question #1:

The invention is defined as the introduction of a new product or a service for the first time. Inventing something simply means the product has never existed before. Innovation, on the other hand, refers to the process of improving on something. Innovation is always done on an existing product or service. An investor that believes in becoming an entrepreneur should be encouraged to study consumer preferences before deciding on the kind of products to invent. Perhaps some of the resources I would point them towards include labor and finance. For instance, funds will help them explore any opportunity spotted on the market as well as yarn for other noble products. They should also understand the difference between an inventor and an entrepreneur. In as much as an inventor is creative which is a requirement for an entrepreneur, they should also understand the basis of an entrepreneur of understanding their market.

Question #2A:

According to Christenson’s idea of Innovator’s Dilemma, the emergence of advanced technologies and other factors result in disruption power. Perhaps the changes influence market leaders. The idea explains two kinds of technologies which include sustaining and disruptive technologies. The company resources and processes should match the market to enable suitable management. The situation of market dilemma can be solved when market leaders acquire subsidiaries. The Innovators’ Solution is a piece of reading for innovation leaders or managers. The idea describes how disruptive innovations can be handled for example acquiring a sustaining innovation to improve on the existing product and not an incumbent product. I agree with these concepts, especially with today’s market trends. The changes in technology results in innovations that are either disruptive or positive to the market. Acquiring the best measures helps mitigate these market disruptions as explained through the idea of Innovator’s Solution.

Question #2B:

Understanding these concepts is important for any entrepreneur. They help acquire the necessary knowledge of the best practices to suit the market trends. Many entrepreneurs would always embrace the use of technologies in their production sector to improve on performance. Understanding these concepts will enable them to determine the kind of product to launch on the market based on customer preference. The concepts describe the theory that is necessary to enable entrepreneurs to determine the kind of activity that is required a particular time on the market. The product architecture also facilitates a better understanding of the product cycle on market enabling efficient timing by entrepreneurs.

Question #2C:

Innovation and creativity are used interchangeably in the business environment despite having distinguishing features. Innovation is the process of transforming the creative or imagined ideas into reality such as the production of a new product. On the other hand, creativity refers to the ability to imagine new and unique ideas especially for solving a particular issue. The two concepts depend on each other to facilitate business success. Whereas creativity results in a new idea to be actualized, innovation involves the procedures that lead to the realism of unique ideas. An individual should be creative to become innovative because of the success of innovation creativity cannot be ignored.

Question #2D:

The concepts of creativity and innovation are essential to entrepreneurship and creation of new venture business. Creativity results in business success through the creation of new ideas that are necessary for competitive advantage. Entrepreneurs often face market competition with other businesses. Creativity helps them develop new and unique ideas that will enable them to outperform their market competitors. The new ideas are actualized by coming up with new products or services that will help them maintain their competitive position on the market. For the new venture, however, creativity and innovation help them determine the product or services that are needed on the market. They help the new venture become unique in their production as compared to other ventures to be successful.

Question #3A:

The main idea behind Innovator DNA is that an individual is born being creative and innovative which is inside his genetic composition DNA. This concept further states that only a few numbers of individuals are born more creative and innovative than others. According to various authors, however, they argue that everyone can be creative and use his creativity to be an innovator in business. Despite being written in an individual DNA, not all entrepreneurs are born with innovative DNA. In most cases, some of them require support to become innovative in their businesses. This idea can be applied in the new venture in many ways. Approaching more innovative individuals for support in unique ideas for production on new products. The idea is suitable for coming with new services and products that are not offered by competitors on the market to attract more customers. The idea can also be applied to develop new skills on how to run a new venture to ensure success.

Question #3B:

Absolutely Yes. Hiring innovative people is inevitable in any business organizations. For instance, organizations are diverse entities that constitute different people. These individuals have different capabilities and values. Perhaps organizations rely on the already available employees in the organization for innovation activities. Therefore, hiring or finding innovative individuals is possible. Despite being few, the can be found in any setting. Innovative individuals in organizations are essential as they help create or come up with new ideas on how to improve business performance. Sometimes organizations are keen on identifying innovative employees based on various criteria among them assessing their previous records. They play an essential role in the general performance of the organization.

Question #3C:

Hiring innovative people in any industry is a wise decision. Innovative people impact the general operation of the business organization. For instance, many business organizations rely on employee innovation to remain competitive in the market. Innovation enables an organization comes up with new ideas on how the business can be improved as compared to their counterparts. Hiring innovative people in an organization influences the performance of other employees. Whenever they share knowledge and ideas through teamwork, they positively impact each other for the interest of the organization. Innovative people in the organization helps in the realization of new potentials and so to opportunities available on the market. Utilizing such opportunities enhances business operations of an organization.

Question #3D:

Becoming more innovative or teaching employees to be more innovative is possible. There are many ways in which I can become more innovative or teach employees to become more innovative. Learning from more innovative individuals through being surrounded by inspirations. The more an individual engages with more innovative individuals the more ideas he gets and thus improves on the level of innovations. In organizations, employees can be encouraged to embrace teamwork. In this case, they share different ideas based on their creative capabilities and thus impacting each other positively. Another way of enhancing innovation among employees can be through fueling up creativity in the organization. Feeding the mind of employees with creativity will motivate them to think towards that direction and so improve on their level of creativity.

Question #4:

Corporate DNA concept refers to where business ventures welcome new ideas from through entrance of new individuals with new ideas. In a business perspective, DNA is used to describe the ability of an organization to innovate through its capabilities. Various ways can be employed by entrepreneurs to mold or identify their new venture DNA. Corporate DNA constitutes both tangible and intangible elements that support the operation of an organization. This involves the provision of ways of conducting business. Thus, entrepreneurs need to pay close attention to the kind of business to venture and the market they are entering. The structure of the company, commercial idea, and selection of the staff may determine the DNA of the organization. Assessing corporate DNA can be achieved through employee motivation, decision making processes and customer’s view on the organization. Provision of incentives can also help motivate or mold the available innovations.

Question #5:

The nature of work has experienced significant changes over the past years. Technology has become the pillar of work in the current generation. In ancient times, there was no technology to be used in the production sector. Companies relied on manual labor rather than technology. Organizations used to employee numerous employees to work in their firms. The generation has however changed with almost every production sector embracing the technological changes. Concerning these changes, work has become better with the production processes being improved. Changes have been so intense to extent technologies such as Artificial Intelligence has been adopted in the production sector. This is where robots are programmed to be used in production. Technology has since replaced human labor with most of the tasks taken up by technology.

Question #6A:

The future workplace is predicted to experience changes. The complexity of the organization has grown drastically with technology becoming more pervasive. Disconnection will become organizations basic need. Intensive research shows how employees can improve their wellbeing through refraining from technologies. Embroiled with technology promotes their fractured thinking. The workplace of the future tends to support human thinking with the adoption of Artificial Intelligence. AI technology will help employees work smarter and even improve the level of organizational recruitment. Perhaps the presence of diverse communities in a workplace promotes the creation of hybrid spaces. In the future workplace, employees will need to work together especially in meetings and conferences without any distractions. Experts predict the flexible nature of the future workplace with collaboration being the main tool to achieve business objectives.

Question #6B:

Technology is expected to change the nature of work with intensive positive influence. The change is already evident with the already available advanced technology. Technology has been adopted in various sectors including healthcare, education, and business among others. All these sectors have experienced a positive impact on the adoption of technology. In the coming decades, technology is expected to replace human labor. Technology has already shown some evident changes in workplaces. The tedious manual work is likely to be made easy by technology-controlled machines. The storage of data and information is also expected to be completely under technology control. For example, the Electronic Storage Information system is already embraced in healthcare systems. This is just perhaps for the few organizations that have adopted. The future seems to be luminous for almost all sectors. The nature of work will be simpler than the current generation. Organizations will be able to program machines to perform most of the tasks that are currently being performed by human beings.

Question #6C:

Preparation for future changes is important for an individual who wants to progress in his career. Various measures can be taken to get ready for any changes especially technology-oriented changes. One aspect that I will do to prepare for these changes includes taking intensive research on the potential changes that tend to arise based on my career. For instance, certain changes may impact the career either positively or negatively and therefore prior preparation is critical. Various training programs can help prepare for these changes. Technology training programs ranging from network systems to database management are also important for career development. Engaging in seminars that address these changes can also help prepare for the changes adequately. Embracing these changes can optimize the level of wealth as well as career development. These changes can be exploited to establish newly available opportunities for any job or career. For example, technology can be used for carrying out research and further studies to determine the future job prospect for my career.

Question #6D:

The level of hiring employees by entrepreneurs will depend on the nature of changes that will take place in organizations. Intensive studies suggest that changes especially associated with technology will influence human labor as much of the work performed by human beings is likely to be taken up by technology-based machines. In this case, employees are likely to hire a few experts who can be able to support such changes through innovation. Entrepreneurs will hire employees based on their level of knowledge and skills as compared to the current generation where skills are thought to be acquired through experience in the field. More skilled employees will also be retained by organizations or entrepreneurs to support the entire team for the interest of the organization. Despite the positive impact, these changes are likely to cause business operations, competent and dedicated employees are essential to ensure the success of these changes in organizations. This will improve the overall performance of the organization or business venture to optimize on the level of profit.

Question #7:

I believe this course gave me a better perspective of what being an entrepreneur is. Instead of, like you would explain to us in the guidelines, it’s not all about data dumping but thinking of ways to absorb the information you are finding and explaining it in your own way. Writing about it does help with it a lot because if focuses you to explain it how you understood it. I also like the fact, you gave us visuals by putting up videos for us to watch and for students like me, that help me greatly. I fell like this class should be in high schools as well because the only meaning you get about entrepreneurship is, you own your own business. I feel like this class breaks it down so that you get the full perspective of what it takes to be a business owner and how to be successful at it. So, I really wouldn’t change anything about the class other than to offer it sooner.

© 2019 Dr. Michael D. Meeks