Managing innovation

Task 3: Essay (Individual) | Weight: 40% You are required to write a critical essay on “Organising and Managing Innovation”. To do this, please use one of the following organizations as a case study: 1. OpenIDEO 2. Threadless 3. Quirky 4. NineSigma The purpose of this case-study based essay is to demonstrate your capacity to critically reflect on business and organizational innovation in your chosen organization, applying the concepts and theories that have been discussed in the subject. Present your findings in the form of an essay backed by relevant research and critical analysis that addresses: ♣ A brief strategic summary of your chosen organization – its current product/service, target market, value proposition, and the competitive environment it operates in. ♣ What makes this organization innovative in the marketplace? How does this form the basis of its competitive advantage? ♣ What type of innovation is dominant in this organization – service innovation, open innovation/crowdsourcing, user innovation, social innovation, business model innovation? Does the organization exemplify a combination of some of these innovation types? ♣ How does this organization organise and manage the implementation of innovation? How do these initiatives facilitate the achievement of strategic innovation outcomes? Your essay should contain well-researched and logically analysed content presented in coherent language and style, along with references, supporting tables and figures. You are expected to draw upon a wide range of robust and relevant sources (both academic literature and business reports), with a minimum of 10 references (minimum of 5 peer-reviewed sources e.g., academic journal articles). Images, photos, graphs, charts and other supporting materials can be used. Length: 2500 word essay (excluding references) Assessment criteria: ♣ Business knowledge and concepts: Strength of research, including quality of references, and understanding innovation management practice in a contemporary, real-world business context (10 marks) ♣ Critical thinking, creativity and analytical skills: Evidence of logical thinking and critical analysis of the type, organization and management of innovation in contemporary settings (10 marks) ♣ Critical thinking, creativity and analytical skills: Application of innovation concepts and frameworks to analyse the type, organization and management of innovation in contemporary settings (10 marks) ♣ Communication and Interpersonal skills (written): Clarity of writing, structure of content, and style of presentation (10 marks)