Strategic Management of Technology & Innovation Semester Project

Title MBA697: Strategic Management of Technology & Innovation Semester Project
Assignment type Research Paper
Discipline Business
Description MBA697: Strategic Management of Technology & Innovation Semester Project Summer C/D, 2016 You are assigned with the role of Chief Innovation Officer for your company. Your role for this project is to identify a new or existing sales product or service for your industry/company of choice. The focus of your effort is: A) to identify how this effort would help solve a critical business related problem, B) to identify whether execution is best handled internally within the company or best done externally through a merger or acquisition, and C) basically, rethink how a specific sales product/process is traditionally done. This project is delivered in two parts: 1. Assignment #6: The written report 2. Assignment #7: The Class Presentation Assignment #6: The written report The following section headings MUST be covered in your paper (others are optional): A. Cover page B. Table of Contents – complete list of headings and page numbers. C. Executive Summary – one page concise and clear summary of paper (done last). D. Introduction & Background – Introduce your paper topic here by identifying areas such as your chosen industry, a fictional or real company of your choice, and the types of products or services it sells. E. Statement of the (business) Problem – clearly identify the “business problem” you are trying to address. (Try to write this in one sentence if possible. Then you can elaborate on it further in this section). This is where you take a Product or Process approach, and you then ???1 focus on clearly identifying what you feel is in need of either creation or improvement to help in addressing a the business problem you identify. This effort should be clear and concise, otherwise, your paper will not develop well. TIP: This is a good time to pull up 2 or three articles on the topic area you are interested in. This should give you a good starting point to really think about your topic. F. The Proposed Solution – Based on the business problem you identified above, discuss possible methods which a particular type of innovation solution may be suitable (develop new, or improve existing). But do NOT go into any detail here about any technology, product, or process in particular. G. Analysis of Various Alternatives – Based on the proposed solution(s) you’ve outlined above, take one internal-focused innovation approach (ie, make new or innovate internally) and specifically discuss how you feel it may be the right approach to addressing your problem statement. Then, discuss how or if an external approach (ie, merger or acquisition of another company) you feel may also do the job you need. Include information as may be relevant: such as is the target company of equal, bigger, or smaller size, the pros and cons of technology integration challenges, type of target service or product, potential financial costs (ie, estimate of the acquisition cost), and potential corporate cultural integration challenges. Do NOT include any recommendations here yet. Only your analysis. H. Detailed Recommendations – Here, you present your educated recommendations to upper management. Your recommendations should clearly address how the business problem, you defined earlier, would highly benefit. No analysis here. Just your detailed recommendations. I. Project Timeline (Estimated) – Like any worthwhile project to be undertaken, identify a schedule/chronology/timeline of tasks required to complete the job, and identify an estimated completion time. Your schedule should further be represented in graphical form. You may make use of any applicable software to convey your thoughts, such as MS-Project, or even a simple powerpoint slide that you can paste into your paper. ????2 J. Conclusions – This is a clear, concise, and to the point summary of your findings, the lessons learned, and your conclusions to upper management. K. References – List the references you used and listed in this paper. Only references noted in the body of the paper are listed here. You should include around 6-8 references, and as a rule of thumb, use at least 2 in-text citations per page. Paper requirements: ? This is an individual assignment. Optionally, you may team up with someone for both paper and presentation. ? Paper should use APA style throughout. It should be 12-15 pages of content, NOT counting the cover page, table of contents, and reference page. It should use 12 point Times New Roman font, be left justified, and have 1 inch margins all around. Overall, the paper should exhibit a complete look, be well written, and present a professional image. ? The articles you choose for references should be written within the past 3-4 years. Please make use of the AU online library to select articles from reputable sources, such as newspapers, magazines, and conferences to support your message. ?3