TECHNOLOGY ENTREPRENEURSHIP

(ENT600)

UNIT 2:

CREATIVITY, INNOVATION
AND
TECHNOLOGY ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Entrepreneurship Dept, FBM ENT600/UNIT 2: CREATIVITY 1

(2009)
 Introduction

Discovery of opportunity at the right

time and place is the corner-stone of
any entrepreneurial success

Technopreneurs need to be creative in

discovering new opportunities (in terms
of products or services) either through
invention or innovation.

Entrepreneurship Dept, FBM ENT600/UNIT 2: CREATIVITY 2

(2009)
 What is creativity?
Creativity can be defined as the production of
new and useful ideas as well as the ability to
discover new ways of looking at problems and
opportunities.

It is the ability to use imagination to develop

new ideas, new things or new solutions. These
generation of ideas should lead to improved
efficiency or effectiveness of a system

(Adapted from Fredrick et al., 2006 and Dorf and Byers, 2005)

Entrepreneurship Dept, FBM ENT600/UNIT 2: CREATIVITY 3

(2009)
Creative ideas often arise when creative people
observe established solutions, practices, or
products and think of something new or different.

Examples Creating the NEW

o Knowledge
o Products
o Processes
o Services
o Markets
o Business models
o Raw materials
Entrepreneurship Dept, FBM ENT600/UNIT 2: CREATIVITY 4
(2009)
 Creativity & Role of Teams

Technology entrepreneurship is at its best when

the creativity of a pool of people are
consolidated as a team effort

Hence, creativity should be encouraged among

team members or within an enterprise.

Entrepreneurship Dept, FBM ENT600/UNIT 2: CREATIVITY 5

(2009)
 Six Resources of
Creative Team/Enterprise
1. Knowledge in the required domain and fields
i.e. in-depth knowledge of your industry.

2. Intellectual abilities to recognize connections,

redefine problems, and envision and analyze
possible practical ideas and solutions.

3. Inventive thinking about the problem in novel

ways

Entrepreneurship Dept, FBM ENT600/UNIT 2: CREATIVITY 6

(2009)
 Six Resources of
Creative Team/Enterprise (cont.)
4. Motivation towards action

5. Opportunity-oriented personality and

openness to change.

6. Contextual understanding that supports

creativity and mitigates risks.

Entrepreneurship Dept, FBM ENT600/UNIT 2: CREATIVITY 7

(2009)
 Creativity Techniques

PROBLEM REVERSAL look at the opposite

of things, see things inside out, backwards or
upside down.

FORCED ANALOGY - gain new insights by

forcing a relationship between almost anything.

ATTRIBUTE LISTING - break down the thing

into smaller parts or characteristics and develop
ideas to improve on them.

Entrepreneurship Dept, FBM ENT600/UNIT 2: CREATIVITY 8

(2009)
 Creativity Techniques
MIND MAPPING - starts in the centre of the page
with the main idea, and works outward in all
directions, producing a growing and organized
structure composed of key words and key images.

BRAINSTORMING generating ideas based on

the principle of suspending judgments.

LATERAL THINKING - exploring multiple

possibilities and approaches instead of pursuing a
single approach, i.e. by changing concepts and
perceptions,
Entrepreneurship Dept, FBM and generating new ones.
ENT600/UNIT 2: CREATIVITY 9
(2009)
 Three Components of Creativity

Creativity has three basic components:

Knowledge

Motivation

Creative thinking skills

Entrepreneurship Dept, FBM ENT600/UNIT 2: CREATIVITY 10

(2009)
 Three Components of Creativity:
Knowledge
Knowledge refers to a confident
understanding of a subject with the ability
to use it if applicable. It encompasses
expertise, skills, familiarity and practical &
theoretical understanding of a subject.

Knowledge is gained by an individual

through study or experience

Entrepreneurship Dept, ENT600/UNIT 2: CREATIVITY 11

FBM (2009)
 Three Components of Creativity:
Creative Thinking Skills
Creative thinking skills is the use of creative intelligence
to approach problems and find solutions

Four styles of creative intelligence:

Intuitive focuses on results and relies on past
experience to guide actions
Innovative concentrates on-problem solving, is
systematic, and relies on data
Imaginative is able to visualize opportunities, is
artistic, enjoys writing, and thinks out of the box
Inspirational focuses on social change and the
giving of self toward an end

Entrepreneurship Dept, FBM ENT600/UNIT 2: CREATIVITY 12

(2009)
 Three Components of Creativity:
Motivation
Motivation is in two forms:
Extrinsic motivation
comes from outside a person, whether
the motivation is a carrot or a stick

Intrinsic motivation
a persons internal desire to do
something. Satisfaction is derived from
overcoming the challenge.

Entrepreneurship Dept, FBM ENT600/UNIT 2: CREATIVITY 13

(2009)
 Phases of the Creative Process

Phase 1: Background or Knowledge

Accumulation
Study the background of the subject matter
This may requires extensive reading,
discussion with experts, practitioners,
academicians, researchers in the field,
attending workshops and seminars, exploring
various unrelated areas etc.
These explorations expose entrepreneurs to a
variety of perspectives on the subject matter.
Entrepreneurship Dept, FBM ENT600/UNIT 2: CREATIVITY 14
(2009)
 Phases of the Creative Process
Phase 2: The Mind Incubation Process
An individual immerse himself or herself in the
data, allowing the subconscious mind to muse or
ponder on the information gathered.
Sleep on it getting away from the subject
matter and letting the subconscious mind working
on it allows creativity to spring forth.
Incubation can be induced by: engaging in
mindless activities such as painting the house or
cutting grass, meditate or play sports or board
games. The rationale is new ideas often emerge
when we are busy doing something unrelated to
the matter.
Entrepreneurship Dept, FBM ENT600/UNIT 2: CREATIVITY 15
(2009)
 Phases of the Creative Process
Phase 3: The Idea Experience
This is when the person discovers the solution or the
idea. The idea may appear out of the blue or it may
comes incrementally.
At this phase, the person begins to formulate the
solution.
Most of the time it is difficult to tell the movement from
phase 2 to phase 3.
To expedite movement to idea experience a person can
try to daydream and fantasies about the project and
always keep a notebook to record emergence of ideas
at odd hours.

Entrepreneurship Dept, FBM ENT600/UNIT 2: CREATIVITY 16

(2009)
 Phases of the Creative Process

Phase 4: Evaluation and Implementation

This phase is the most difficult and requires
courage, discipline & perseverance.
There are a lot of possibilities of failures.
Ideas are modified and tested before the best
workable idea is put into a final form and
successfully implemented.

Entrepreneurship Dept, FBM ENT600/UNIT 2: CREATIVITY 17

(2009)
 Blocks to Creativity

Searching for the only one right answer

Focusing on being logical
Blindly following the rules
Constantly being practical
Viewing play as frivolous
Becoming overly specialized
Avoiding ambiguity
Fearing looking foolish
Fearing mistakes and failure
Believing that Im not creative

Entrepreneurship Dept, FBM ENT600/UNIT 2: CREATIVITY 18

(2009)
 The Most Common Idea Stoppers

That doesnt sound too practical

Weve never done anything like that before.
Lets get back to reality
Thats the dumbest thing Ive ever heard.
We have already tried that years ago.
I dont see anything wrong with the way
were doing it now.
Are you kidding?
Where do you get these weird ideas?

Entrepreneurship Dept, FBM ENT600/UNIT 2: CREATIVITY 19

(2009)
 What is innovation?
Innovation is the specific instrument of
entrepreneurs, the means by which they exploit
change as an opportunity for a different business or
a different service (Drucker, 1985).

Innovation is the ability to apply creative solutions

to problems and opportunities to enhance or to
enrich peoples lives

Entrepreneurs innovate by converting opportunities

into marketable ideas (Kuratko, 2004).

Entrepreneurship Dept, FBM ENT600/UNIT 2: CREATIVITY 20

(2009)
 Creativity, Innovation & Invention

Creativity is thinking new things while

innovation is doing new things.
Invention on the other hand is often a product
of research.
Invention is the extreme and riskiest form of
innovation and often associated with
development of a new or better product or
process (Burns, 2008).
Not all inventions lead to a commercially viable
output.

Entrepreneurship Dept, FBM ENT600/UNIT 2: CREATIVITY 21

(2009)
 INTENSITY OF
INNOVATION

Incremental Innovation Radical Innovation

Steady improvements Fundamental rethink

Based on sustaining Based on disruptive
technologies technologies
Obedience to cultural routines Experimentation and
and norms play/make-believe
Can be rapidly implemented Need to be nurtured for long
periods
Immediate gains
Worse initial performance,
Develop customer loyalty
potential big gains
Create new markets

Entrepreneurship Dept, FBM ENT600/UNIT 2: CREATIVITY 22

(2009)
 Examples of Incremental Innovations

Mobile phone was regarded as a radical

innovation (compared to the traditional
stationed phone) when it was first introduced
to the market.

As technology progresses, several features are

progressively added to the phone to enhance
its features & functions.

These innovations on mobile phones are

considered as incremental innovations.

Entrepreneurship Dept, FBM ENT600/UNIT 2: CREATIVITY 23

(2009)
 Examples of Radical Innovations

Air Products oxygen separation technology

Analog Devices Air Bag Accelerometer
Dupont Biodegradable polymer, display
technology
General Electric Digital X-ray
General Motors Hybrid vehicle
IBM Silicon Germanium Devices, electronic book
Nortel Networks Internet software rental
UTC/Otis Elevator Bi-directional elevator
Polaroid Memory storage device
Texas Instruments Digital light processor

Entrepreneurship Dept, FBM ENT600/UNIT 2: CREATIVITY 24

(2009)
 Impact of Innovation
Intensity on the Market
INCREMENTAL INNOVATION LOW
Low market uncertainty
Low technical uncertainty
Low organization uncertainty

UNCERTAINTY
Low resource uncertainty

RADICAL INNOVATION
High market uncertainty
High technical uncertainty
High organization uncertainty
High resource uncertainty
HIGH

Entrepreneurship Dept, FBM ENT600/UNIT 2: CREATIVITY 25

(2009)
 Basic Types of Innovation
INVENTION - Creating a totally new product, service or
process. Examples: aeroplanes (Wright brothers), light bulbs
(Thomas Edison), personal GPS (Peter Maire)

EXTENSION - Introducing different application or new use

of existing product, service or process
Examples: laptop, PDAs, walkman

DUPLICATION - Creative replication of an existing concept

Examples: Franchise businesses such as Chicken Rice Shop

SYNTHESIS - Combining existing concepts or factors into a

new formulation or use.
Example: combining functions of a telephone, video and
camera.

Entrepreneurship Dept, FBM ENT600/UNIT 2: CREATIVITY 26

(2009)
 Important Technological Innovations

1793 1829 1830-1900 1901-1939

Cotton gin Telegraph Air Conditioner

Practical Vulcanized Rubber First Flight

Steamboat
Safety Elevator Model T (Ford)
Steam powered
locomotive for Internal Liquid fueled
passengers and Combustion Engine Rockets
freight
Telephone FM Radio

Phonograph Jet Engine

Radio Xerography

Helicopter
Entrepreneurship Dept, FBM ENT600/UNIT 2: CREATIVITY 27
(2009)
 Important Technological Innovations

1940-1949 1950-1969 1970 ->

Color TV Sputnik 1 (USSR) Microprocessor

General Purpose, NASA Recombinant DNA

Electronic, Digital
Computer Integrated Circuit Laser Printer

Supersonic Flight Operable Laser MRI Scanner

Transistor First Man In Space Space Shuttle

Instant Camera Telstar Satellite Scanning Tunneling

Microscope
Jet Airliner Fiber Optics

Apollo lX

Entrepreneurship Dept, FBM ENT600/UNIT 2: CREATIVITY 28

(2009)
 Sources of Innovation
Within the company or industry
Unexpected occurrence - unexpected discovery
such as penicillin
Incongruities the gap between what is and what
should be; arise whenever a difference exists
between expectations & reality.
Process needs require entrepreneurs to innovate
and answer a particular needs such as time-saving
devices
Structural change caused by industry and market
changes due to new developments such as
advances in technology.

Entrepreneurship Dept, FBM ENT600/UNIT 2: CREATIVITY 29

(2009)
 Sources of Innovation
Within the social environment
Demographic changes for example
changes in population, consumer preference
and geographical locations.
Perceptual changes perceptions can
cause mood swings and major changes in
ideas, for example fitness craze is resulted by
perceived needs to be healthy & physically fit
New knowledge the basis of development
of something brand new.

Entrepreneurship Dept, FBM ENT600/UNIT 2: CREATIVITY 30

(2009)
 Linking Creativity, Innovation &
Entrepreneurship

ENTREPRENEURIAL ENVIRONMENT

INVENTION

Ability to be Ability to spot

CREATIVE OPPORTUNITIES

INNOVATION

SUCCESS Source: Burns (2008)

Entrepreneurship Dept, FBM ENT600/UNIT 2: CREATIVITY 31

(2009)
 Linking Creativity & Entrepreneurship
Creative idea flows to invention and invention
flows to innovation.
Creativity can also directly leads to innovation.
Creativity is turned into a practical reality such
as a product through innovation.
The entrepreneurial context as well as
perception of opportunity are necessary to turn
it into a business reality.
Hence, creativity must be linked to
entrepreneurship in order to turn it into
commercial opportunity to be exploited.

Entrepreneurship Dept, FBM ENT600/UNIT 2: CREATIVITY 32

(2009)