Sana 123
Sana 123
Innovation Activity
Riga, Fall 2025
Group- 2130Z
Problem-Solving Techniques
- Explain the SCAMPER technique and how it can be applied to improve an existing
product or service.
SCAMPER is a creative thinking and problem-solving tool designed to help individuals or
teams enhance or reinvent existing products, services, or processes. The technique prompts
innovative ideas through seven strategies:
Modify
M Alter the size, shape, or other attributes.
(Magnify/Minimize)
P Put to Another Use Find a new function for the existing product or idea.
- Discuss why is it critical for leading companies to elaborate and implement innovative
solutions?
It is critical for leading companies to elaborate and implement innovative solutions for the
following reasons:
1. It allows adaptability: The recent COVID-19 pandemic disrupted business on a
monumental scale. Routine operations were rendered obsolete over the course of a few
months. Many businesses still sustain negative results from this world shift because
they’ve stuck to the status quo. Innovation is often necessary for companies to adapt
and overcome the challenges of change.
2. It fosters growth: Stagnation can be extremely detrimental to your business. Achieving
organizational and economic growth through innovation is key to staying afloat in
today’s highly competitive world.
3. It separates businesses from their competition: Most industries are populated with
multiple competitors offering similar products or services. Innovation can distinguish
your business from others. (Boyles, 2022)
4. Respond to Market Changes:Customer needs and technologies evolve quickly.
Companies that innovate are better positioned to meet these changes and avoid
becoming obsolete.
5. Enhance Efficiency and Profitability:Process innovations reduce costs, improve
quality, and streamline operations—ultimately improving margins and productivity.
6. Foster Customer Loyalty and Market Expansion:Offering improved, customer-
focused solutions fosters loyalty and opens doors to new markets and customer
segments.
7. Attract and Retain Talent:Innovative environments appeal to top talent, encouraging
creativity and engagement within the workforce. (Tidd, 2018)
Innovation in Practice
Identify and explain three challenges businesses face when implementing innovative
solutions.
For others, the problem often comes from the fact that under-promising may not help your team
obtain the traction you need among investors to secure a suitable investment to push your
innovation project through.While it’s a delicate, tricky choice between over- and under-
promising, being honest about the project’s possible risks — and preparing to meet them in
case — is a great countermeasure.
Lack of innovation strategies:Creating a coherent innovation plan is critical, just like any
other organizational endeavor. An innovation strategy directs the course of innovation, as well
as its practical execution. Without one, efforts to innovate risk becoming misaligned.A
considerable percentage of some corporate innovation projects appear to have been established
haphazardly without a defined innovation strategy in existence. Because of this, such projects
will only pique the attention of top management at first.However, because such efforts are not
tightly tied to company strategy, vital financing will soon run dry. It would then become
difficult to sustain the resources devoted to these projects unless its commercial benefit (ROI)
is demonstrated. (https://www.acceptmission.com, 2022)
Collaborative R&D involves partnering with external entities such as universities, research
institutions, and other companies. The main goal is to share knowledge, expertise, and
resources. The point is that many startups face resource constraints that don’t allow them to
access cutting-edge technologies. Meanwhile, effective collaboration allows businesses to
solve these challenges. Collaborative R&D prioritizes innovation and involves collective work
on the most promising ideas. After all, it offers a venture excellent opportunities to integrate
external inputs into the startup’s innovation processes.
Open Innovation is a practice that is based on collaborative R&D. In this case, a particular
innovation is not limited to a single company working on it. Instead of leaving ingenious ideas
behind closed doors, R&D specialists share them with external stakeholders. The main goal
here is creating a comprehensive community working on a particular innovation. Ideally, the
number of stakeholders contributing to the development of this innovation should grow over
time. For sure, such an approach brings startups many viable benefits:
A broader talent scope. One of the main advantages of implementing open innovation through
collaborative R&D is the ability to tap into a broader pool of knowledge and expertise. Most
startups operate with limited resources, which also limits their opportunities to tackle complex
R&D challenges. By partnering with external entities, startups can leverage specialized
knowledge and technological capabilities. In many cases, it goes about collaboration with
universities and research institutions. These entities can provide many talented specialists
willing to provide fresh input into the project. Collaborating with these institutions allows
startups to stay abreast of the latest developments in their field. In addition, open innovation
allows startups to access advanced research facilities. Finally, there is a priceless opportunity
to get insights from leading researchers and academics.
Cost savings. Collaborative R&D can significantly reduce the financial burden associated with
innovation. In many cases, R&D is an expensive endeavor. It requires hiring skilled
professionals, expensive equipment, and advanced technologies. Many startups cannot
overcome this barrier. As a result, they implement their ideas only partially or even leave them
unimplemented. By engaging in collaborative R&D, startups can share these costs with their
partners. In addition, they can use the equipment and talent of partner companies or institutions.
This factor makes such an approach more feasible for the most ambitious projects.
Furthermore, external partners may bring their own funding to the table, such as grants from
government agencies or investments from venture capital firms.
Risk mitigation. Risk mitigation is a major benefit of open innovation. Collaboration allows
startups to manage uncertainties in research and development (R&D) projects. By working
with external partners, organizations can share the financial and technological risks. This
teamwork allows them to pool resources and expertise, improving project quality and reducing
the chance of failure. Partners bring different strengths that can fill gaps in the organization’s
knowledge or capabilities. There is also a significant benefit of shared responsibility. It means
that setbacks are less damaging because no single entity takes complete responsibility. In
addition, multiple perspectives can be useful for identifying and addressing risks early. Overall,
open innovation’s collaborative approach creates great opportunities for excellent risk
management.
Strategic partnerships. Open innovation fosters the development of strategic partnerships that
can lead to long-term collaborations and mutual benefits. Such a partnership is not limited to a
single project. On the contrary, it can expand over time, building the basis for many new ideas.
A successful collaboration allows both companies or institutions involved to increase their
visibility in the market. In some cases, such collaborations even lead to the emergence of great
corporations. Such cases are very frequent in the domain of video games. Larger companies
often partner with small and ambitious studios to help them grow and release new games
throughout the decades.
Enhanced flexibility. Flexibility is another crucial benefit of collaborative R&D efforts. The
point is that open innovation allows organizations to adapt swiftly to changing market
conditions and technological advancements. Businesses can quickly incorporate new ideas,
technologies, and processes without the need for extensive internal development. Fresh inputs
from partners allow companies to pivot and respond to emerging opportunities more efficiently.
For example, if a new technology emerges that can enhance a product or process, a company
practicing open innovation can partner with the technology’s developers. As a result, such
businesses can even become pioneers in integrating new technologies. This adaptability helps
maintain a competitive edge and ensures that the organization remains relevant in a rapidly
evolving market.
Example: A good example of the value of partnering is Novartis’s recently approved CAR-T
therapy that was developed in collaboration with the University of Pennsylvania. With these
and other successes, alliances are a necessity in the current market because the high cost of
innovation means firms want to spread the risk through partnering. Besides risk, innovation
requires an entrepreneurial culture that is far easier to grow and foster at an agile, smaller firm
than it is at a large, global firm that may be risk adverse and focused on cost-cutting.Partnering
also is crucial for clinical trial operations involving outsourcing to universities, research
hospitals, and CROs. While operating costs may be lowered, risks can potentially be increased,
leading to costly regulatory and legal fines if partners are not carefully chosen and managed.
While collaboration for innovation or cost-saving can be effective, there are a number of
challenges that need to be overcome to ensure a partnership or alliance will be effective. In
fact, these challenges are so strong that 60% of overall business strategic alliances fail,
according to a recent CMO Council report. Failing partnerships cause employee stress and
burnout. Great managers recognize the double-edged sword of alliances that are both critical
to success and a danger with the potential for serious harm. The result of not assessing soft
factors and choosing a poor partner negatively impacts firms in three critical areas: delayed or
lost revenue, financial losses due to fines or lawsuits, and reputational damage
Criteria Explanation
Accessible to new Targets users (e.g., renters, students) traditionally excluded from
markets smart home tech.
High initial R&D and Start with pilot programs in select markets; use phased
production costs rollouts to manage costs.
Privacy and data security Implement strong data encryption and transparent privacy
concerns policies; comply with GDPR.
Integration with diverse Develop open APIs and partnerships for cross-platform
smart ecosystems compatibility.