opportunity ID process

WHY: The purpose of this individual assignment is to implement the six steps of the opportunity identification process.

WHAT: Chapter 3 walks the student through 6 steps of the Opportunity Identification Process (pages 39-49). In this assignment, students will walk through these six steps and at the end choose a product to tackle for the term project. You must address what you did for each of the steps. For step 5, create a Real-Win-Worth-it (RWW) Framework for your final selection. See example in Exhibit 3-10 on page 48.

Step 1 Establish a Charter

Did you create a charter that was as clear as the FroliCat example in the book? Please keep it as simple as the one sentence FroliCat example below:

“Create a physical product in the cat toy category that we can launch to the market within about a year through our existing retail sales channel?”

Common pitfalls – students often leave the charter field either blank or leave it so broad that you can’t tell what they are up to.

Step 2 Generate/Sense Many Opportunities

Did you provide at least 4 options that would fulfill the charter? The book talks about exploring dozens or even hundreds. Did you discuss at least four?

What were the many opportunities that you examined and thought through? List all the options and how you came up with them. Take a look at page 41, they have several techniques: perhaps you can follow a personal passion, compile bug lists, pull opportunities from capabilities, study customers, consider implications of trends, imitate, but better, mine your sources. Identify which one(s) of these you used.

Common pitfalls - many students just showcase one opportunity identified and don’t list any others.

Step 3 Screen Opportunities

Did you seek input from other people on the ideas that were generated in step 2? If so, please provide the table that captures your votes. If not, do it or come up with some other form of multi-voting.

Common pitfalls - if you are only exploring one opportunity for this assignment, you don’t have much to say in steps 2 and 3. So, go back and provide several solutions in step 2 so you can vote in step 3.

Step 4 Develop Promising Opportunities

After you narrowed down the ideas, did you do any research (internet or otherwise) to see what the competition was for each of the top 2-3 of the 4 options? Did you discuss any uncertainties? Please see the other recommendations on page 47.

Common pitfalls – students often do not provide any results of research or provide products that are in the mainstream already – making one wonder if they did any research to begin with.

Step 5 Select Exceptional Opportunities

Did you provide an RWW similar to the one on page 48? Don’t be afraid to provide some discussion beyond the straight yes/no answers.

Common pitfalls – students generally just list the questions and put yes next to them without providing any other thoughts.

Step 6 Reflect on the Results and the Process (4 points)

Did you answer the questions on page 49?

How many of the opportunities came from internal sources versus external sources?

Did you consider dozens of opportunities?

Was the innovation charter too narrow?

Were your filtering criteria biased?

Are the resulting opportunities exciting?

Common pitfalls – answering just a few or not addressing all of the questions.

WHO: This is an individual assignment.

WHEN: This assignment is due by (before) 1 pm on Monday 9/11.

Submitting the Assignment

Create a final Word or Excel document and place it in the appropriate folder within the Group Discussion Board.

Tip:

Review the best practices files associated with this assignment in Blackboard.