A case analysis assignment

On

Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management

Submitted By:

Shishir Dhakal

Roll no:27

MBA- 3rd Semester

Submitted To:

Prof. Dr. Madhav Raj Koirala

School of Management

Tribhuvan University
 Bowzo

Case overview

This case deals about how ‘Bowzo’ came into life. The device fixes to the neck
of the violin and offers precise control to students developing their bowing technique. It
was jointly invented by Jim Oswald,a career inventor and design engineer and Larry
Treanor who had been a professional musician and violin teacher. Larry understood
exactly the problems many students have in bowing straight. Thus, backed by their
specific knowledge, background and collaboration, a prototype of Bowzo was developed.
Further, market research was supported by Coventry University design institute which
included services such as marketing advice, product design and innovation processes,
financial management and technology transfer. This enabled them to deal with the
engineering issues in a wider team context with expert input as required. Hence, the
commendable teamwork of the inventors ,musicians, design engineers and marketers
resulted in pre-production prototypes which performed well in testing .As a result seed
capital had been secured and he formal product launch was scheduled in early 2006.

Case analysis

 How the idea of product was generated

Both the inventors Jim and Larry were attached to Coventry University’s
vision works to seek help in developing some new business ideas. When they met,
Larry was planning to launch a multimedia business and also had been a
professional musician and violin teacher. While discussing product ideas, Larry
put forward his thoughts about a device or helping new violin players to learn
faster and accurately by bowing straight right from the start. The device fixes to
the neck of the violin that controls the bowing technique by helping students keep
the bow straight at all times. Therefore, the product idea was generated as a result
of Larry realizing a common longstanding problem in violin playing with his
 experience and background. Thus, this product idea justified the common saying
that where there is a problem, there is always a scope for innovation and product
ideas.

 The role of innovator in creating a product

The role of innovator is always vital and prominent in product creation
and this case was not any different. In this case, the role of both innovators can be
considered remarkable. With a background as a career inventor and design
engineer, Jim played an important role in the prototype development of Bowzo
along with the whole team. However, it could not have been equally possible
without Larry’s involvement and specific knowledge. Having been a violin
teacher himself Larry was well aware of the problems students face while playing
violin. Thus, he capitalized on this knowledge and came up with the product idea
of Bowzo to help students overcome this problem. Hence, both the innovator had
complimentary role in creating the product.

 Influence of market in developing product

Market needs are always the often the best source of business ideas.
Moreover, it can also be a basis for further expanding the commercial market of
innovative products. In this case too, market research indicated that there was a
potentially large market for the particular product ‘Bowzo’ as it was found that
half a million new violins were bought throughout the world each year. So, the
traditional wholesaler/distributor to retailer route was identified as the most viable
market route. Also, design engineering and manufacturing priorities were set
according to the market needs i.e. low cost and easy use device. Thus in this way,
the needs of the market had an influence in developing the product.