Creativity and Innovation by Robert Sutton from Stanford University

View three short podcasts on Creativity and Innovation by Robert Sutton from Stanford University. He makes several interesting points regarding the management of innovation and creativity processes in an organization. Given what you learned from the readings this week, do you agree or disagree with his positions? Support your viewpoint.

What is Creativity? (6 min)
http://ecorner.stanford.edu/authorMaterialInfo.html?mid=1187

Talking about Creativity Isn’t Enough (3 min)
http://ecorner.stanford.edu/authorMaterialInfo.html?mid=1191

Bringing Creativity into an Organization (3 min)
http://ecorner.stanford.edu/authorMaterialInfo.html?mid=1193

MT 1: Innovation and the New Product Development Process
Discuss the consumer adoption process presented in your reading this week. Some companies believe that new products should always target early adopters; other businesses prefer focusing on a broader audience.

Which is the correct strategy, in your opinion and why?

Does the answer depend on the type of business? If yes, which businesses should target early adopters, and which should go for a broader audience? Support your position using the readings, plus industry and academic research.

MT 2: Sources of Innovation
In two classic articles, “The Discipline of Innovation” by Peter Drucker and “The Rules of Innovation” by Clayton Christensen, the authors discuss factors ensuring the success of an innovation process and the utilization of all possible sources of innovation for an organization. Pick any consumer electronics company.

How did disruptive innovations in the industry affect this company?

Did it adjust; and if so, how?

Discuss possible sources of innovation for your chosen company. Use common knowledge and industry and library resources in answering this question.

MT 3: Closed & Open Innovation: Implications for Marketing
Discuss the concept of open and closed innovation. Chesbrough (2003) “Era of Open Innovation” is a good starting point for this discussion.
What are the implications of open innovation for the marketing function in an organization? Use UMUC’s library databases to locate articles to help you in this discussion.
MT 4: Dimensions of Innovation in Business Organizations
When considering “innovation in business,” people often incorrectly think of only innovative products/services. Sawhney, Wolcott and Arroniz (2006) discuss various dimensions for company innovation. Pick a company known for its innovativeness (from any industry) and discuss the dimensions of innovation it is exploring.

Suggest some that it may have overlooked so far.

MT 5: Measuring Innovation
Measurement is an important process in managing innovation in business. Based on the metrics discussed in “Measuring Innovation 2007 Report,” propose and discuss a set of appropriate innovation metrics for a large food-processing corporation. If you wish you could specify which particular company you are developing the metrics for.

If you have some information on how food-processing companies measure innovation, please share it with the class; but such information is not necessary to successfully complete this Main Topic.
MT 6: Your Organization’s Key Innovations
You can focus this discussion on your organization or any organization with which you are involved. What have been your firm’s key innovations launched to the market most recently? How successful have they been and what are some of the underlying causes.
Are your organization’s innovations new-to-the world offerings or incremental product/service updates?
MT 7: Your Organization’s Innovation Culture
You can focus this discussion on your organization or any organization with which you are involved. Does your organization have a culture of innovation? Why or why not?
What are the key drivers of innovation within your organization and how are they selected, prioritized, etc.?
What are the key barriers or supporting elements for your organization’s innovation efforts?
Personal Application
Strategic Innovation and its role in marketing:
Innovation occurs in all economic sectors (profit, non-profit, governmental). Address the following questions about innovation and as it applies to your organization and industry:
1. Explain how your organization defines, measures, and recognizes innovation. For example, the Australian government has a self-diagnostic tool at
http://innovation.govspace.gov.au/tools/diagnostic-tool/2/
that equates innovation with an organizational culture that promotes, accepts, and implements “new ideas.” Is this how your organization defines, encourages and recognizes innovation?
2. Give examples of innovations that have occurred in your organization. For example, we all know the story of Steve Jobs/ Apple Computer. But we hear fewer innovation stories about governments or non-profits/not-for-profits (healthcare, education, charities, religious organizations, etc.) What are your organization’s innovation stories? How does it manage innovation? If you need some ideas to get your thinking started – check out the Innovation Journal , Deloitte’s GovLab, or the ThirdSector Excellence Awards.
3. If your organization doesn’t have any innovation stories – why not? How does your organization achieve success?
4 Research and write about whether the people who work in an organization make a difference in how innovative an organization is. What role do managers and executives have in making an organization more or less innovative? There seem to be two models that are used in goods and services development: (a) The “champion model, in which one individual gains support for a new product idea; and (b) the “team” approach, in which a group is assigned to support new product development, (usually within certain guidelines linked to local or global market potential;e.g., only if there is potential for attaining some minimum level in sales).
5. Answer whether all organizations – including governments and non-profits – need to be innovative to succeed. What happens to organizations in your industry if they don’t innovate? If there are no negative consequences to not innovating – why should organizations innovate anyway?

This is the link to the library.
http://www.umuc.edu/library/libresources/index.cfm
ID : OGEDENGBE
7-digit EMPLID: 0785130

Each question should have 4 references and the reference should be listed at the end of the it. That mean each question will stand differently.