DOC660 Innovation and Creativity in Business
Module 1 Discussion
Reasons and Purposes for Literature ReviewsContains unread posts
Why do you think research proposals and research reports typically require that a literature review be included?
What contribution does the literature review make to your research project overall?
Why is it important to make your literature review as comprehensive as you can?
DOC660 Innovation and Creativity in Business
Module 2 Discussion
Reviewing the Target Organization and Its IndustryContains unread posts
Why is it important to review the target organization, industry, and benchmark as part of the literature review?
Discuss any issues you are having with this section of Chapter 2, Literature Review.
DOC660 Innovation and Creativity in Business
Module 3 Discussion
Theories, Models, and Conceptual Framework
Why is it important to review the theories and models and the conceptual framework as part of the literature review?
Discuss any issues you are having with this section of Chapter 2, Literature Review.
DOC660 Innovation and Creativity in Business
Module 4 Discussion
Research Design and Data Methodology
Why is it important to review the research design and data methodology as part of the literature review?
Discuss any issues you are having with this section of Chapter 2, Literature Review.
DOC660 Innovation and Creativity in Business
Module 5 Discussion
Improving Your Chapter 2, Literature Review
You are now writing your first draft of your literature review based on the search for works of literature in the previous four modules.
You will continue to work on Chapter 2 in future courses.
What do you need to do to improve your Ch. 2, based on what you have done thus far?
What are the areas you can improve in your next revision of this chapter?
DOC660 Innovation and Creativity in Business
Module 6 Discussion
Reflect on the Utility of the Case and SLP Assignments Toward Completion of the Literature Review Draft
In this final module discussion, please reflect on both the Case Assignments and SLP assignments.
When reflecting on the Case Assignment, discuss what you have learned that has helped you with how to review works of literature. Also discuss the topics of the various works of literature and how they were related to the learning in terms of business theories and the process of reviewing literature.
When reflecting on the SLP assignments, discuss how the sequence that you have completed helped you in searching for the various works of literature. And discuss whether the organization of main topic sections was helpful--or not--in focusing on searching within that topic. Were you able to find good relevant works of literature that pertain to your DSP?
Please discuss the clarity of the assignments and any difficulties that you had completing them. Please also suggest any changes that you feel might make these assignments more useful for future classes.
NOTE: Feel free to be honest and direct here; you won't be judged in any way for any criticisms that you may offer!
After responding to the Reflective Discussion above, please complete an anonymous Course Evaluation Survey. Instructors are not able to view course evaluation reports until after the grade submission period is over. Thank you for your feedback.
DOC660 Innovation and Creativity in Business
Module 1 Case
INNOVATIVE ORGANIZATIONS
Assignment Overview
This Case Assignment introduces you to reviewing literature that is focused on an innovative organization and how innovation provides competitive advantage. You will find and review several papers or works of literature, including an organization’s website and related documents. And you will review literature that pertains to this organization’s industry. The final part of this assignment is to compare or benchmark the specific organization to the industry.
How to benchmark an organization to the industry
Decide what data are available and what is relevant. You may not be able to get all of the data you want. When benchmarking in the DSP Chapter 2, the most relevant data are about the research problem and research questions.
Search for data about the organization. Use the organization’s website and any documents or webpages that provide information about the products and services, its mission, how long it has been in business, its management or leadership personnel, the organizational structure (specifically how the key departments are structured), financial data, growth data, and strategy. What data are available that provides evidence of the specific research problem? You may also find information about the organization in news articles and other websites.
Determine in which industry the organization is situated. Search for data about the industry. IBISWorld is a good resource, and it is available in Trident’s library. Collect data that is provides information about the industry that you can compare to the organization, i.e., data about products and services, general organizational structures, financial data (revenues and profitability), and growth potential.
Benchmark the organization to the industry. After you have reviewed the key data and information about the organization and industry, compare. This can be done in a table. Be sure to explain and discuss the table. Point out significant ways in which the organization is better or worse than the industry. Do these differences contribute the research problem?
If you cannot find overall industry data for benchmarking, search for regional data, or data about a major competitor, or data that might be available from the industry’s trade organization, which usually has a website. You may have to be creative to find relevant data for benchmarking. If you are having issues with this, contact your course professor.
Case Assignment
Choose one of the following innovative organizations: Tesla, Netflix, or Teledoc Health. Go to the organization’s website and search for information about this company and what makes it innovative. You may need to search through the website to find specific webpages and documents that discuss the company, its organization, and innovative products and/or services and how innovation provides a competitive advantage.
Search for one more literature item that discusses the company and how it is innovative. Then review this literature and discuss what it says about the organization. This literature item should discuss the innovative aspects of the organization and its competitive advantage.
Find literature about this organization’s industry. One good source for this is IBISWorld, which is included in Trident’s library. Review the literature about the industry and discuss how innovation is important to this industry.
After reviewing the literature about the organization and the industry, write a section with the topic Benchmarking and compare the organization to the industry.
Case Assignment Expectations
Length: The written component of this assignment should be 4-7 pages long (double-spaced) without counting the cover page and reference page.
Organization: Subheadings should be used to organize your paper according to the questions.
Grammar and Spelling: While no points are deducted for minor errors, assignments are expected to adhere to standard guidelines of grammar, spelling, punctuation, and sentence syntax. Points may be deducted if grammar and spelling impact clarity. We encourage you to use tools such as grammarly.com and proofread your paper before submission.
As you complete your assignment, make sure you do the following:
Answer the assignment questions directly.
Stay focused on the precise assignment questions. Do not go off on tangents or devote a lot of space to summarizing general background materials.
Use evidence from your readings to justify your conclusions.
Cite at least five credible resources.
Reference your sources of information with both a bibliography and in-text citations. See the Introduction to APA 7 (Lib Guide). Also refer to the Graduate Writing Handbook in Doctoral Resources: COB: DBA: Resources for Students. And another resource is the “Writing Style Guide,” which is found under “My Resources” in the TLC Portal.
Your assignment will be graded using the following criteria:
Assignment-Driven Criteria: Student demonstrates mastery covering all key elements of the assignment.
Critical Thinking/Application to Professional Practice: Student demonstrates mastery conceptualizing the problem and analyzing information. Conclusions are logically presented and applied to professional practice in an exceptional manner.
Business Writing and Quality of References: Student demonstrates mastery and proficiency in written communication and use of appropriate and relevant literature at the doctoral level.
Citing Sources: Student demonstrates mastery applying APA formatting standards to both in-text citations and the reference list.
Professionalism and Timeliness: Assignments are submitted on time.
DOC660 Innovation and Creativity in Business
Module 1 SLP
INNOVATIVE ORGANIZATIONS
The overall aim of the Session Long Project assignments in this course is to facilitate the further development of your DBA project by developing the core of the literature review for your draft project. This will entail developing a structure for the material to be reviewed, identifying and accessing different kinds of source material, and organizing the material to support the aims of the project. At the end of this course, you are expected to have a working draft of Chapter 2 of your DBA project that you can take into the next course, in which you develop a research methodology for the project.
It is important to stress that what you are developing here is only a draft. You are not bound by what you develop in this series of assignments; everything is subject to modification and improvement as you move toward the project itself. But it is important to take these assignments seriously since they build toward a usable chapter. The more work you are able to put into your project during this course, the less you will be playing catch-up later on in the program, and the easier it will be to complete your project and obtain your degree.
During Module 1, you are expected to take the introduction to your project that you developed in your previous course and review it for completeness per the DBA Handbook. You may have some missing elements. The next step is to use the Annotated Outline: Chapter 2, Literature Review document and enter the appropriate information into it.
Specifically, you are to:
Enter the basic information about your DSP in the first main section of the Annotated Literature Review outline:
DSP Basics (citations and references are not needed, just explanatory text)
Target Organization & the Industry
Description of the Research Problem
Research Questions
Theories/Models as a basis for your research
Methodology: Research Design and Data Analysis Methodology
Enter into the outline any literature that you have found thus far. This should be any literature from your Chapter 1 that you will include in your Lit Review and other literature that you may have found thus far.
Literature Review Outline
Target Organization, Industry, Benchmarking
[list references using APA format, and provide a short note about the how
each pertains]
Theories, Models, Conceptual Framework
[list references using APA format, and provide a short note about the how
each pertains]
Methodology (Research Design and Data Analysis Method)
[list references using APA format, and provide a short note about the how
each pertains]
Write a short paragraph that discusses your search strategy for finding relevant literature. How will you search for literature to review for each of the three key sections?
Search Strategy
[write a short paragraph]
When you have completed this document, submit it to the Dropbox for SLP 1.
SLP Assignment Expectations
Length: The length of the written component of this assignment is not important. What is important is the quality and completeness of providing the basic information about your DSP and identifying literature thus far plus developing a good search strategy.
Grammar and Spelling: While no points are deducted for minor errors, assignments are expected to adhere to standard guidelines of grammar, spelling, punctuation, and sentence syntax. Points may be deducted if grammar and spelling impact clarity. We encourage you to use tools such as grammarly.com and proofread your paper before submission.
As you complete your assignment, make sure you do the following:
Answer the assignment questions directly and succinctly in the DSP Basics section.
Be complete in identifying literature found thus far and use APA format for listing
references.
Be clear and precise about your search strategy and identify valid sources for
searching and finding literature.
Your assignment will be graded using the following criteria:
Assignment-Driven Criteria: Student demonstrates mastery covering all key elements of the assignment.
Critical Thinking/Application to Professional Practice: Student demonstrates mastery conceptualizing the problem and analyzing information. Conclusions are logically presented and applied to professional practice in an exceptional manner.
Business Writing and Quality of References: Student demonstrates mastery and proficiency in written communication and use of appropriate and relevant literature at the doctoral level.
Citing Sources: Student demonstrates mastery applying APA formatting standards to both in text citations and the reference list.
Professionalism and Timeliness: Assignments are submitted on time.
DOC660 Innovation and Creativity in Business
Module 2 Case
INNOVATION STRATEGY
Assignment Overview
In this assignment you will switch from analyzing information about an organization and industry to doing a literature review, which is a skill you need to cultivate for writing a good Chapter 2, Literature Review, for your DSP Proposal. The main topic of this first literature review is focused on the main topic of theories pertaining to innovation and creativity in business and how it can be incorporated into business strategy. You will review these three papers using a literature review approach.
How to do a review of a work of literature
A scholarly review of one or more literature items—a research paper, scholarly article, magazine article (e.g., Harvard Business Review), website article (check the validity of the source), book or book chapter, newspaper article, or other—provides a discussion and analysis of this work and may also explain how it fits into its disciplines. The objectives are to:
Analyze and understand the work
Apply your own knowledge to the work
Consider the work’s truth, validity, and slant (i.e., critique it)
Compare it to other works, in context.
A review is not a research paper nor a summary. It should evaluate the strengths, weaknesses, and value of a work while summarizing aspects of it, but also identifying specific parts that need emphasis. You need to use a critical and unbiased eye to be fair and accurate, but also present your own views with substantiating evidence and explanation.
The process is simple but not easy. Read the work first just to get overall understanding. Read it again and take notes section by section. Include the main topics and key points. And be sure to identify the overall conclusions and key takeaways. Also, note the kind of work this is, that is, research paper, scholarly article, magazine article (e.g., Harvard Business Review), website article (check the validity of the source), book or book chapter, newspaper article, or other. If this is a research paper, what was the research design and the data methodology?
Outline your paper using your notes so that you have all the key points laid out. As you review your notes to generate the outline, begin to add your own notes that analyze the work for its strengths, weaknesses, and value. Use unbiased critical thinking and ask whether the work a) is coherent, b) is truthful or makes dubious claims, c) has confusing information, and d) uses valid logic and analysis.
If your review paper includes several works, then outline each one. The overall paper should include an introduction that provides the purpose of the review and identifies the works under review. Turn your outline into sections and paragraphs. Be sure to discuss your analysis throughout the review of the work. Review each work, then include a section that compares and contrasts the works. How are they similar and different? Do they contradict, agree, or make different claims? Be sure to include citations per APA 7 guidelines.
Finish the review paper with a Conclusion. Provide an overall assessment of the works and the key points from each one. What is the significance of your assessment? Recommend who might be interested in reading these works and why.
Case Assignment
Choose at least one of the Required Readings. You may choose two or all three, but you must have three works of literature to review. So search for other literature so that you have three total works to review. These works of literature items can be a research paper, scholarly article, magazine article (e.g., Harvard Business Review), website article (check the validity of the source), book or book chapter, newspaper article, or other and must discuss this main topic.
Prepare a 5- to 7-page paper in accordance with the Assignment Expectations on the topic:
“Theories on innovation and creativity in business and business strategy”
Use the How to do a review of a work of literature provided in the Assignment
Overview above.
Assignment Expectations
Length: The written component of this assignment should be 5-7 pages long (double-spaced) without counting the cover page and reference page.
Organization: Subheadings should be used to organize your paper according to the questions.
Grammar and Spelling: While no points are deducted for minor errors, assignments are expected to adhere to standard guidelines of grammar, spelling, punctuation, and sentence syntax. Points may be deducted if grammar and spelling impact clarity. We encourage you to use tools such as grammarly.com and proofread your paper before submission.
As you complete your assignment, make sure you do the following:
Answer the assignment questions directly.
Stay focused on the precise assignment questions. Do not go off on tangents or devote a lot of space to summarizing general background materials.
Use evidence from your readings to justify your conclusions.
Cite at least five credible resources.
Reference your sources of information with both a bibliography and in-text citations.
See Trident's Introduction to APA. Also refer to the Graduate Writing Handbook (and the Writing Style Guide) in the Resources for Students tab of the Doctoral Resources: COB: DBA site.
Your assignment will be graded using the following criteria:
Assignment-Driven Criteria: Student demonstrates mastery covering all key elements of the assignment.
Critical Thinking/Application to Professional Practice: Student demonstrates mastery conceptualizing the problem, and analyzing information. Conclusions are logically presented and applied to professional practice in an exceptional manner.
Business Writing and Quality of References: Student demonstrates mastery and proficiency in written communication and use of appropriate and relevant literature at the doctoral level.
Citing Sources: Student demonstrates mastery applying APA formatting standards to both in text citations and the reference list.
Professionalism and Timeliness: Assignments are submitted on time.
DOC660 Innovation and Creativity in Business
Module 2 SLP
INNOVATION STRATEGY
In Module 2 your assignment is to use the strategy you developed in SLP1 and search for literature that you will review that pertains to the first main section of the Lit Review Outline: Target Organization, Industry, and Benchmarking. You will focus on this section in SLP 2. This focused research provides you the opportunity to channel your time and effort into this first section rather than attempting to wander around searching for too many topics.
Your search should result in identifying specific literature such as the target organization’s website and other literature about the organization such as news articles or other research papers that may have been developed. Also, you will search for and identify literature that pertains to the industry in which the target organization is situated. One source is IBISWorld, which is in Trident’s Library. You may find other literature pertaining to the industry such as research papers, news articles, etc.
When searching for and identifying literature for this main topic, note that you will eventually do a benchmarking analysis or comparison of the target organization to the industry. Therefore, the literature that you find to review should provide data and information that you can use to make this comparison.
As you find and identify a work of literature for this section, add it to the Lit Review Outline using APA format along with a notation about how each item is relevant to your review.
Write a paragraph in the Progress Report section of the Lit Review Outline under SLP 2 – Organization/Industry that discusses your search efforts, problems, and successes, and indicate what you think you still need to do for this section. Also write a second paragraph that is an introduction to this main section of the Literature Review.
Progress Report
SLP 2 – Organization/Industry literature progress
[paragraph discussing progress]
[introductory paragraph to this main section]
When you have found sufficient amounts of literature and updated the Lit Review Outline document including the Progress section, upload it to the SLP 2 Dropbox.
SLP Assignment Expectations
Length: The length is not important to this assignment. The quality of the references and the notations as well as the quality of the included paragraphs are the relevant factors.
Organization: Subheadings should be used to organize your paper according to the outline and the assignment.
Grammar and Spelling: While no points are deducted for minor errors, assignments are expected to adhere to standard guidelines of grammar, spelling, punctuation, and sentence syntax. Points may be deducted if grammar and spelling impact clarity. We encourage you to use tools such as grammarly.com and proofread your paper before submission.
As you complete your assignment, make sure you do the following:
Search diligently for appropriate literature items and take notes on these.
Use the outline from SLP 1. Add subheadings as necessary for organization.
List literature references using APA 7 format. Include notes for each reference. This section should have at least four references that provide information about the Target Organization and the Industry.
Stay focused on the precise assignment questions.
Your assignment will be graded using the following criteria:
Assignment-Driven Criteria: Student demonstrates mastery covering all key elements of the assignment.
Critical Thinking/Application to Professional Practice: Student demonstrates mastery conceptualizing the problem, and analyzing information. Conclusions are logically presented and applied to professional practice in an exceptional manner.
Business Writing and Quality of References: Student demonstrates mastery and proficiency in written communication and use of appropriate and relevant literature at the doctoral level.
Citing Sources: Student demonstrates mastery applying APA formatting standards to both in-text citations and the reference list.
Professionalism and Timeliness: Assignments are submitted on time.
DOC660 Innovation and Creativity in Business
Module 3 Case
PROCESS INNOVATION
Assignment Overview
Process Redesign (BPR) is characterized by different models and methodologies. This concept is also available as a Research Design for DSP research projects. Some previous research projects have used this research design which is discussed in the DBA Handbook. Understanding BPR and reviewing works of literature about this concept provides you with knowledge about how it is has been applied to solve major process problems, but also knowledge about how this might be a research design for you to employ in your DSP. A key concern of any process design project is how it creates resistance and how change management can be utilized for a successful implementation.
Case Assignment
Choose at least one of the Required Readings. You may choose two or all three, but you must have three works of literature to review. If you choose only one or two of the Required Readings, then search for other literature so that you have three total works to review. These works of literature items can be a research paper, scholarly article, magazine article (e.g., Harvard Business Review), website article (check the validity of the source), book or book chapter, newspaper article, or other and must discuss this main topic.
Prepare a 5- to 7-page paper in accordance with the Assignment Expectations on the topic:
“Process Redesign and How Resistance Requires Change Management “
Use the How to do a review of a work of literature provided in the Case 2
Assignment Overview.
Assignment Expectations
Length: The written component of this assignment should be 5-7 pages long (double-spaced) without counting the cover page and reference page.
Organization: Subheadings should be used to organize your paper according to the questions.
Grammar and Spelling: While no points are deducted for minor errors, assignments are expected to adhere to standard guidelines of grammar, spelling, punctuation, and sentence syntax. Points may be deducted if grammar and spelling impact clarity. We encourage you to use tools such as grammarly.com and proofread your paper before submission.
As you complete your assignment, make sure you do the following:
Answer the assignment questions directly.
Stay focused on the precise assignment questions. Do not go off on tangents or devote a lot of space to summarizing general background materials.
Use evidence from your readings to justify your conclusions.
Cite at least five credible resources.
Reference your sources of information with both a bibliography and in-text citations.
See the Introduction to APA 7 (Lib Guide). Also refer to the Graduate Writing Handbook in Doctoral Resources: COB: DBA: Resources for Students. And another resource is the “Writing Style Guide,” which is found under “My Resources” in the TLC Portal.
Your assignment will be graded using the following criteria:
Assignment-Driven Criteria: Student demonstrates mastery covering all key elements of the assignment.
Critical Thinking/Application to Professional Practice: Student demonstrates mastery conceptualizing the problem, and analyzing information. Conclusions are logically presented and applied to professional practice in an exceptional manner.
Business Writing and Quality of References: Student demonstrates mastery and proficiency in written communication and use of appropriate and relevant literature at the doctoral level.
Citing Sources: Student demonstrates mastery applying APA formatting standards to both in text citations and the reference list.
Professionalism and Timeliness: Assignments are submitted on time.
DOC660 Innovation and Creativity in Business
Module 3 SLP
PROCESS INNOVATION
In Module 3, you will focus on the main section Theories, Models, and Conceptual Framework. The first task is to review the Theories and Models you have chosen to use and also review your Research Questions as well as the overall Research Problem. Revise these elements of this main section as necessary. Make sure that your theories and models are a good fit to for finding answers to your research questions. Also consider the business knowledge domain in which the research problem is situated. Does the problem pertain to marketing, operations, logistics, IT, HR, management, leadership, decision making, or other domain of knowledge? Do your theories and models relate to this domain? Will the theories and models provide a basis for developing your research instruments (questionnaires, interviews, etc.) to collect data that will provide answers to the research questions with good analysis?
Review and update your conceptual framework, which is an expansion of the concepts that follow from the theories and models, the research problem, and the research questions. What do we mean by conceptual framework, and more importantly, what do we mean by “concept”? Generally, the term concept refers to an idea about a specific thing which can be either concrete (tangible) or intangible. This thing has a definition which provides the characteristics that make it the thing. Ball is a tangible concept. Balls exist physically. And we can define what a ball is, that is, a (usually) spherical object used for play and in sports and in some industrial applications. Note there are many kinds of balls and each of these kinds has a more specific definition, such as baseball, football, tennis ball, ball bearings, etc. Leadership is an intangible concept. It is not a thing that can be held or touched. We can observe behavior of people and conclude that the behavior demonstrates leadership or not. Note there are different kinds of leadership (e.g., transformative, translational, military, permissive, etc.).
In the context of DSP research, how are concepts determined and how are they used to create a conceptual framework? The concepts for the DSP, which are identified in Chapter 1, are expanded in Chapter 2. These concepts are connected to the theories and models, and the research questions. What are the ideas (concepts) that are relevant to the research problem and questions and the theories? One way is to start with the theories and determine the key or major ideas, concepts, variables, and terms that are part of the theory or model. Look at the research questions and consider some possible answers. Of course, you will find the actual answers from the data you collect and analyze. But by projecting some possible answers you can find additional concepts or ideas that are relevant to the research. There are several ways to create the framework, but the simplest and most practical is a list or taxonomy of the concepts. These concepts can become a section or sub-section headings in Chapter 2.
Once you have identified some key concepts, you can use these as search terms to find literature—that is, research papers, articles, websites, books, etc.—that provide discussion of previous research, findings, key results, definitions, and other information. As you review these works of literature, look for additional concepts that are related. Add these additional concepts to your taxonomy and continue to search.
Searching for literature can be a tedious process. With the availability of most of the literature via electronic means (using the internet) and most materials available for downloading, you will find a large number of possible items, and many of them may not be useful. You can narrow down the search by using more specific search terms. And you can scan the results by reviewing the abstract. When you find an article in the library, it is possible to flag that item to save it. And when you are done with a session, you can have those flagged items sent to you in an email with the reference information included.
However, you should take some time to review those items in more detail to determine if they are relevant and note how they are relevant to your own research. If the literature item is a research paper, note the kind of research, and what the hypotheses or research questions were. How was the data collected and analyzed and what were the key findings? Also, what were recommendations for future research and was there anything that was missing or incomplete?
When you find literature that is relevant and pertains to one of the concepts in the outline, add it to the Lit Review Annotated Outline using APA format along with a notation about how each item is relevant to your review.
In the Progress Report section of the Lit Review Outline under SLP 3 – Theories, Models, and Conceptual Framework, write a paragraph that discusses your search efforts, problems, and successes, and indicate what you think you still need to do for this section. Include a paragraph that provides an introductory review of one of the literature items from this main section.
Progress Report
SLP 3 – Theories, Models, and Conceptual Framework progress
[paragraph discussing progress]
[introduction paragraph of one article]
When you have found a sufficient amount of literature and updated the Lit Review Outline document including the Progress section, upload it to the SLP3 Dropbox.
SLP Assignment Expectations
Length: The length is not important to this assignment. The quality of the references and the notations as well as the quality of the included paragraphs are the relevant factors.
Organization: Subheadings should be used to organize your paper according to the outline and the assignment.
Grammar and Spelling: While no points are deducted for minor errors, assignments are expected to adhere to standard guidelines of grammar, spelling, punctuation, and sentence syntax. Points may be deducted if grammar and spelling impact clarity. We encourage you to use tools such as grammarly.com and proofread your paper before submission.
As you complete your assignment, make sure you do the following:
Search diligently for appropriate literature items and take notes on these.
Use the outline you completed for SLP 2 and add to it. Add subheadings as necessary for organization.
List literature references using APA 7 format. Include notes for each reference. This section should have at least four references that provide information about the Target Organization and the Industry.
Stay focused on the precise assignment questions.
Your assignment will be graded using the following criteria:
Assignment-Driven Criteria: Student demonstrates mastery covering all key elements of the assignment.
Critical Thinking/Application to Professional Practice: Student demonstrates mastery conceptualizing the problem, and analyzing information. Conclusions are logically presented and applied to professional practice in an exceptional manner.
Business Writing and Quality of References: Student demonstrates mastery and proficiency in written communication and use of appropriate and relevant literature at the doctoral level.
Citing Sources: Student demonstrates mastery applying APA formatting standards to both in-text citations and the reference list.
Professionalism and Timeliness: Assignments are submitted on time.
DOC660 Innovation and Creativity in Business
Module 4 Case
PRODUCT INNOVATION
Assignment Overview
Product innovation and design is not a spontaneous activity but one that requires planning and proper allocation of resources. Most companies are organized with some form of research and development (R&D) department that is focused on generating innovative designs efficiently and effectively. The R&D methodology follows different models depending on the types of products being made. Most methodologies involve four, five, or six stages and include “gates” or a set of specific criteria for each stage before moving on to the next stage. Activities like prototyping, initial market research, final design proof, and production design are part and parcel of these methodologies. The key is to find the most promising ideas and refine them into marketable products.
Spending time, effort, and resources on developing new products is a risky business. Will a new product be the hot new item that everyone wants and is willing to pay top dollar for, or will it be a boondoggle or maybe just another so-so product? Companies need to make a profit on new products, and usually this profit must cover the costs of R&D and all the research costs of products that never made to production.
Organizational culture is another factor that has a huge effect on the success of new product design and production. There are two main elements of a culture that generate support for innovation: people and infrastructure. The people element consists of shared (core) values, leadership, attitudes, behaviors, and communication style. Infrastructure comprises systems, processes, and policies.
Culture and risk are both highly researched topics in the realm of product innovation. This is driven by the fact that CEOs know from experience that these are essential components of success, and business researchers and consultants follow what these CEOs are interested in.
Case Assignment
Choose at least one of the Required Readings. You may choose two or all three, but you must have three works of literature to review. So search for other literature so that you have three total works to review. These works of literature items can be a research paper, scholarly article, magazine article (e.g., Harvard Business Review), website article (check the validity of the source), book or book chapter, newspaper article, or other and must discuss this main topic.
Prepare a 5- to 7-page paper in accordance with the Assignment Expectations on the topic:
“Innovative Product Design and the Elements of Risk and Culture”
Follow the guidelines in How to do a review of a work of literature in the Case 2 Assignment Overview.
Assignment Expectations
Length: The written component of this assignment should be 5-7 pages long (double-spaced) without counting the cover page and reference page.
Organization: Subheadings should be used to organize your paper according to the questions.
Grammar and Spelling: While no points are deducted for minor errors, assignments are expected to adhere to standard guidelines of grammar, spelling, punctuation, and sentence syntax. Points may be deducted if grammar and spelling impact clarity. We encourage you to use tools such as grammarly.com and proofread your paper before submission.
As you complete your assignment, make sure you do the following:
Answer the assignment questions directly.
Stay focused on the precise assignment questions. Do not go off on tangents or devote a lot of space to summarizing general background materials.
Use evidence from your readings to justify your conclusions.
Cite at least five credible resources.
Reference your sources of information with both a bibliography and in-text citations. See the Introduction to APA 7 (Lib Guide). Also refer to the Graduate Writing Handbook in Doctoral Resources: COB: DBA: Resources for Students. And another resource is the “Writing Style Guide,” which is found under “My Resources” in the TLC Portal.
Your assignment will be graded using the following criteria:
Assignment-Driven Criteria: Student demonstrates mastery covering all key elements of the assignment.
Critical Thinking/Application to Professional Practice: Student demonstrates mastery conceptualizing the problem, and analyzing information. Conclusions are logically presented and applied to professional practice in an exceptional manner.
Business Writing and Quality of References: Student demonstrates mastery and proficiency in written communication and use of appropriate and relevant literature at the doctoral level.
Citing Sources: Student demonstrates mastery applying APA formatting standards to both in text citations and the reference list.
Professionalism and Timeliness: Assignments are submitted on time.
DOC660 Innovation and Creativity in Business
Module 4 SLP
PRODUCT INNOVATION
In Module 4, you will develop the final main section of the Chapter 2 Literature Review Outline, Methodology. Chapter 1 introduces this topic. It specifies the research Design and the Data Analysis Methodology. Chapter 2 expands this discussion.
The DBA Handbook identifies various research designs that are acceptable for the DSP. These are Case Study, Action Research, and Process Improvement. Other designs may be used but should be approved by Trident doctoral administration. There are two data methodologies that are acceptable, qualitative and mixed. The mixed method uses both qualitative and quantitative. Review the DBA Handbook for the guidelines on how to decide which data method to use.
Your Chapter 1 should indicate which research design and data analysis method you are using with a brief explanation for these choices. The section on Methodology in Chapter 2 expands the discussion in depth and provides more details on the rationale for methodology choices and discusses the literature regarding these choices of research design and data methodology. This section then reviews literature, preferably research papers, that were done using the same design and data method that you have chosen. The review should include at least two research papers and should be related to your research problem. The review of these papers should highlight the design and data analysis as well as the key results of the research and should discuss how these are relevant to your proposed research. You should point out whether your research will use the same kind of case structure, data collection, and data analysis and why that is appropriate, or how your methodology will be different.
Use the same searching techniques discussed in SLP 3 by identifying key search terms, screening results, and identifying relevant research papers. When you find literature that is relevant and pertains to Methodology, add it to the Lit Review Outline using APA format along with a notation about how each item is relevant to your review.
Write a paragraph in the Progress Report section of the Literature Review Outline under SLP 4 – Methodology that discusses your search efforts, problems, and successes, and indicate what you think you still need to do for this section. Include a paragraph that provides an introductory review of one of the literature items from this main section.
Progress Report
SLP 4 – Methodology progress
[paragraph discussing progress]
[introduction paragraph of one article]
When you have found a sufficient amount of literature and updated the Lit Review Outline document including the Progress section, upload your paper to the SLP 4 Dropbox.
SLP Assignment Expectations
Length: The length is not important to this assignment. The quality of the references and the notations as well as the quality of the included paragraphs are the relevant factors.
Organization: Subheadings should be used to organize your paper according to the outline and the assignment.
Grammar and Spelling: While no points are deducted for minor errors, assignments are expected to adhere to standard guidelines of grammar, spelling, punctuation, and sentence syntax. Points may be deducted if grammar and spelling impact clarity. We encourage you to use tools such as grammarly.com and proofread your paper before submission.
As you complete your assignment, make sure you do the following:
Search diligently for appropriate literature items and take notes on these.
Use the outline you completed for SLP 3 and add to it. Add subheadings as necessary for organization.
List literature references using APA 7 format. Include notes for each reference. This section should have at least four references that provide information about the Target Organization and the Industry.
Stay focused on the precise assignment questions.
Your assignment will be graded using the following criteria:
Assignment-Driven Criteria: Student demonstrates mastery covering all key
elements of the assignment.
Critical Thinking/Application to Professional Practice: Student demonstrates mastery conceptualizing the problem, and analyzing information. Conclusions are logically presented and applied to professional practice in an exceptional manner.
Business Writing and Quality of References: Student demonstrates mastery and proficiency in written communication and use of appropriate and relevant literature at the doctoral level.
Citing Sources: Student demonstrates mastery applying APA formatting standards to both in-text citations and the reference list.
Professionalism and Timeliness: Assignments are submitted on time.
DOC660 Innovation and Creativity in Business
Module 5 Case
THE FUTURE OF INNOVATION IN BUSINESS
Assignment Overview
As we contemplate the future of innovation in business and imagine such things that science fiction has talked about, such as flying cars and holographic projection meeting and perhaps even telepathy, what is more urgent is the very near future. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is advancing, and this is creating more intelligent machines, processes, and products. However, note that what most pundits call AI is actually more advanced machine intelligence (MI). Roger Shank, noted AI theorist and cognitive psychologist, says, “Two babies are smarter than any machine will be.” He also says, “When a computer starts imitating you, then you can start worrying.”
Nevertheless, robots and robotics are part and parcel of this current MI paradigm that is taking us into the future. While it may be some time before we have actual humanoid robots who do our bidding, the field of robotics is advancing rapidly. This Case Assignment looks at the paradigm of smarter machines and robots and how humans need to work with innovative technology.
Case Assignment
Read and review both of the papers in the Required Readings.
Prepare a 5- to 7-page paper in accordance with the Assignment Expectations on the topic:
“How Humans Need to Work with Smart Machines”
Follow the guidelines in How to do a review of a work of literature provided in the Case 2 Assignment Overview.
Assignment Expectations
Length: The written component of this assignment should be 5-7 pages long (double-spaced) without counting the cover page and reference page.
Organization: Subheadings should be used to organize your paper according to the questions.
Grammar and Spelling: While no points are deducted for minor errors, assignments are expected to adhere to standard guidelines of grammar, spelling, punctuation, and sentence syntax. Points may be deducted if grammar and spelling impact clarity. We encourage you to use tools such as grammarly.com and proofread your paper before submission.
As you complete your assignment, make sure you do the following:
Answer the assignment questions directly.
Stay focused on the precise assignment questions. Do not go off on tangents or devote a lot of space to summarizing general background materials.
Use evidence from your readings to justify your conclusions.
Cite at least five credible resources.
Reference your sources of information with both a bibliography and in-text citations. See the Introduction to APA 7 (Lib Guide). Also refer to the Graduate Writing Handbook in Doctoral Resources: COB: DBA: Resources for Students. And another resource is the “Writing Style Guide,” which is found under “My Resources” in the TLC Portal.
Your assignment will be graded using the following criteria:
Assignment-Driven Criteria: Student demonstrates mastery covering all key elements of the assignment.
Critical Thinking/Application to Professional Practice: Student demonstrates mastery conceptualizing the problem, and analyzing information. Conclusions are logically presented and applied to professional practice in an exceptional manner.
Business Writing and Quality of References: Student demonstrates mastery and proficiency in written communication and use of appropriate and relevant literature at the doctoral level.
Citing Sources: Student demonstrates mastery applying APA formatting standards to both in text citations and the reference list.
Professionalism and Timeliness: Assignments are submitted on time.
DOC660 Innovation and Creativity in Business
Module 5 SLP
THE FUTURE OF INNOVATION IN BUSINESS
Module 5 marks the completion of the first draft of a literature review for your DSP. The assignment for this module is to complete the first draft, based on the annotated outline for it that you submitted in Module 4. By now, you should have all your sources lined up; have some practice reviewing works of literature in the cases, and also writing paragraphs for the previous SLP assignments; and have received feedback. If your annotated outline is well developed, turning it into your draft should not be too hard. It just requires putting together all the skills that you have been developing throughout the program to date.
SLP Assignment Expectations
Length: The draft that you submit should be 15-20 pages long (double-spaced) without
counting the cover page and reference page. (Note that later in the DBA program your
final DSP Proposal, Chapter 2, should be 30 to 40 pages long.)
Organization: Subheadings should be used to organize your paper according to the
outline and the assignment.
Grammar and Spelling: While no points are deducted for minor errors, assignments
are expected to adhere to standard guidelines of grammar, spelling, punctuation, and
sentence syntax. Points may be deducted if grammar and spelling impact clarity. We
encourage you to use tools such as grammarly.com and proofread your paper before
submission.
As you complete your assignment, make sure you do the following:
Search diligently for any additional appropriate literature items and take notes on
these.
Use the outline you completed for SLP 4. You can add more works of literature if you
found additions. Add subheadings as necessary for organization.
List literature references using APA 7 format. Include notes for each reference. This
section should have at least four references that provide information about the
Target Organization and the Industry.
Stay focused on the precise assignment questions.
Your assignment will be graded using the following criteria:
Assignment-Driven Criteria: Student demonstrates mastery covering all key
elements of the assignment.
Critical Thinking/Application to Professional Practice: Student demonstrates
mastery conceptualizing the problem, and analyzing information. Conclusions are
logically presented and applied to professional practice in an exceptional manner.
Business Writing and Quality of References: Student demonstrates mastery and
proficiency in written communication and use of appropriate and relevant literature at
the doctoral level.
Citing Sources: Student demonstrates mastery applying APA formatting standards
to both in-text citations and the reference list.
Professionalism and Timeliness: Assignments are submitted on time.
DOC660 Innovation and Creativity in Business
Module 6 Essay
Reflective Essay
INTEGRATION AND REFLECTION
Your Module 6 Task
Prepare a Reflective Essay in which you address each of the following items:
Describe how you improved your knowledge, skills, abilities, and yourself in this session through this course.
Evaluate the work you did during the session for the class and explain ways you could have performed better.
Identify topics you did not understand or successfully implement and suggest how to improve the course material on those topics.
Identify ways to measure the future effects of what you have learned in this course or your future progress/improvement.
State whether you achieved the course outcomes (listed on the Module 6 Home page and course Syllabus page).
This Reflective Essay is a required course component (but not part of your final grade).
