TECHNOLOGY ENTREPRENEURSHIP

(ENT600)

UNIT 2:
CREATIVITY, INNOVATION AND
TECHNOLOGY ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Entrepreneurship Dept, FBM (2009) ENT600/UNIT 2: CREATIVITY 1

 Introduction

• Discovery of opportunity at the right

time and place is the corner-stone
corner 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 (2009) ENT600/UNIT 2: CREATIVITY 2

 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 (2009) ENT600/UNIT 2: CREATIVITY 3

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

Examples ►Creating
Creating the “NEW”
o Knowledge
o Products
o Processes
o Services
o Markets
o Business models
o Raw materials
Entrepreneurship Dept, FBM (2009) ENT600/UNIT 2: CREATIVITY 4
 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 (2009) ENT600/UNIT 2: CREATIVITY 5

 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 (2009) ENT600/UNIT 2: CREATIVITY 6

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

5. Opportunity-oriented
oriented personality and
openness to change.

6. Contextual understanding that supports

creativity and mitigates risks.

Entrepreneurship Dept, FBM (2009) ENT600/UNIT 2: CREATIVITY 7

 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.
them

Entrepreneurship Dept, FBM (2009) ENT600/UNIT 2: CREATIVITY 8

 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 from different
perspective rather than pursuing in a conventional,
logical, step by step single approach. i.e. by
changing concepts and perceptions, and
generating new ones.
Entrepreneurship Dept, FBM (2009) ENT600/UNIT 2: CREATIVITY 9
 Three Components of Creativity

Creativity has three basic components:

• Knowledge

• Motivation

• Creative thinking skills

Entrepreneurship Dept, FBM (2009) ENT600/UNIT 2: CREATIVITY 10

 Three Components of Creativity:
Knowledge
• Knowledge refers to a confident
understanding of a subject with the ability
to use it if applicable.
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, FBM

ENT600/UNIT 2: CREATIVITY 11
(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
on 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 (2009) ENT600/UNIT 2: CREATIVITY 12

 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 person’s internal desire to do
something. Satisfaction is derived
from overcoming the challenge.

Entrepreneurship Dept, FBM (2009) ENT600/UNIT 2: CREATIVITY 13

 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 (2009) ENT600/UNIT 2: CREATIVITY 14
 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
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 (2009) ENT600/UNIT 2: CREATIVITY 15
 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 (2009) ENT600/UNIT 2: CREATIVITY 16

 Phases of the Creative Process

 Phase 4: Evaluation and Implementation

• This phase is the most difficult and requires
courage, discipline & perseverance.
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.
implemented

Entrepreneurship Dept, FBM (2009) ENT600/UNIT 2: CREATIVITY 17

 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 “I’m not creative”
Entrepreneurship Dept, FBM (2009) ENT600/UNIT 2: CREATIVITY 18
 The Most Common Idea Stoppers

• “That doesn’t sound too practical”

• “We’ve never done anything like that before.”
• “Let’s get back to reality”
• “That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.”
• “We have already tried that – years ago.”
• “I don’t see anything wrong with the way
we’re doing it now.”
• “Are you kidding?”
• “Where do you get these weird ideas?”

Entrepreneurship Dept, FBM (2009) ENT600/UNIT 2: CREATIVITY 19

 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
Drucker, 1985).

• Innovation is the ability to apply creative solutions

to problems and opportunities to enhance or to
enrich people’s lives

• Entrepreneurs innovate by converting opportunities

into marketable ideas (Kuratko
Kuratko, 2004).

Entrepreneurship Dept, FBM (2009) ENT600/UNIT 2: CREATIVITY 20

 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 (2009) ENT600/UNIT 2: CREATIVITY 21

 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 (2009) ENT600/UNIT 2: CREATIVITY 22

 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.
functions

• These innovations on mobile phones are

considered as incremental innovations.

Entrepreneurship Dept, FBM (2009) ENT600/UNIT 2: CREATIVITY 23

 Examples of Radical Innovations

• Air Products – oxygen separation technology

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

Entrepreneurship Dept, FBM (2009) ENT600/UNIT 2: CREATIVITY 24

 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 (2009) ENT600/UNIT 2: CREATIVITY 25

 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 (2009) ENT600/UNIT 2: CREATIVITY 26
 Important Technological Innovations

1793 – 1829 1830-1900

1900 1901-1939

•Cotton gin •Telegraph

Telegraph •Air Conditioner

•Practical •Vulcanized
Vulcanized Rubber •First Flight
Steamboat
•Safety
Safety Elevator •Model T (Ford)
•Steam powered
locomotive for •Internal
Internal •Liquid –fueled
passengers and Combustion Engine Rockets
freight
•Telephone
Telephone •FM Radio

•Phonograph
Phonograph •Jet Engine

•Radio •Xerography

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

1940-1949 1950-1969
1969 1970 ->

•Color TV •Sputnik
Sputnik 1 (USSR) •Microprocessor

•General Purpose, •NASA •Recombinant DNA

Electronic, Digital
Computer •Integrated
Integrated Circuit •Laser Printer

•Supersonic Flight •Operable

Operable Laser •MRI Scanner

•Transistor •First
First Man In Space •Space Shuttle

•Instant Camera •Telstar

Telstar Satellite •Scanning Tunneling
Microscope
•Jet Airliner •Fiber
Fiber Optics

•Apollo lX

Entrepreneurship Dept, FBM (2009) ENT600/UNIT 2: CREATIVITY 28

 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.
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 (2009) ENT600/UNIT 2: CREATIVITY 29

 Sources of Innovation
• Within the social environment
– Demographic changes – for example
changes in population, consumer preference
and geographical locations.
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.
new

Entrepreneurship Dept, FBM (2009) ENT600/UNIT 2: CREATIVITY 30

 Linking Creativity, Innovation & Entrepreneurship

ENTREPRENEURIAL ENVIRONMENT

INVENTION

Ability to be Ability to spot

CREATIVE OPPORTUNITIES

INNOVATION

SUCCESS Source: Burns (2008)

Entrepreneurship Dept, FBM (2009) ENT600/UNIT 2: CREATIVITY 31

 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.
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 (2009) ENT600/UNIT 2: CREATIVITY 32