- TASK:
Strategy. Innovation. Creativity. Leadership. Today's entrepreneurs require all
four skills and abilities.
With change as a constant, the key to success is learning how to keep pace on a global
scale, to innovate, to be creative and to nurture and develop value-creating strategies and
ideas across the organisation. An effective entrepreneur gives senior leaders the data,
tools, and techniques to drive change and leverage technology across the enterprise.
However, too often, strategies fail to be implemented effectively. Millions of dollars are
spent in analysis and strategy formulation which yield little more than fancy presentations
and reports. The behaviour of functional departments, staff groups, or unions, which must
adapt to new competitive realities, remains largely unchanged.
According to an innovation specialist based in New Zealand, Andy Symons, he says that
innovation is more than a corporate buzzword; it’s a matter of survival. About a third of New
Zealand companies are embracing innovation, with another third heading in the right
direction - but the other third are in danger of being left behind.
Your task in this assignment is to carry out secondary research on a New Zealand
organisation which includes:
i. Providing a basic outline of the organisation and include details about its size, the
industry, and what it produces (or whom it serves) and any challenges /issues facing
the organisation;
ii. Critically examining the role of entrepreneurial thinking in value creating
strategies for the organisation;
iii. Using the SWOT model to analyse the organisation’s strategic position,
capabilities, and resources driving the organisation’s growth and in providing the
competitive edge in New Zealand’s business environment;
(Future growth plans and developments; perceived strengths, weakness,
opportunities and threats. You don’t need to be too specific here. Companies closely
guard their commercial secrets and you should be careful not to make your sources
of information uneasy about what they are giving away. For example, a company
might be developing software to meet an anticipated demand. You do not need to
know exactly what the software does, or specific area of demand.)
iv. Providing how the organisation leverages creativity, innovation, and technology
changes as a competitive advantage in tapping potential opportunities in the market
place;
(How the organisation inspires the associated creativity needed to compete, how this
transfers to innovation, how that creativity/innovation/knowledge process is
managed/lead/rewarded and how this leads to organisational performance or
otherwise. This is the main task of the investigative component.)
v. Critically evaluating the role of management in creating a corporate culture that
recognizes and rewards creativity and innovation in achieving organizational
effectiveness and competitiveness; and
(Once you have gathered relevant information, compare what you found about the
organisation to extant literature about entrepreneurial thinking, creativity, innovation,
knowledge management, the role of leadership, and as a consequence,
organisational performance. You are required to reflect on the role of leadership
processes, roles and styles you recognise within your organisation and critically
evaluate the effectiveness of these styles in nurturing the culture of innovation and
associated performance. For example, power and influence tactics, politics, ethics,
the learning organisation etc. - whether what you see happening is consistent with
the characteristics of Transformational Leadership. This is because all of these
aspects impact on the management/culture of innovation and associated
organisational effectiveness. Discuss the extent to which your findings are consistent
with the theory covered in the course. Marks can be maximised by showing how you
arrived at your findings, rather than simply stating what they are.)
vi. From your findings, make recommendations for the future strategic development of
your chosen business or organization.
Your assignment should be based on an appropriate blend of theory/literature and
your own critical analyses that proves your mastery of the relevant content of this
course in a theoretical and practical sense. Make use of appendices in order to
provide any supporting information (these will not form part of the word count).
