BUMGT5977 Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Scenarios for Assessment Task 3

Scenario 1: A corporate venture at New Tech Ltd

Background
New Tech Ltd is relatively new to the Australian scene, having started in Perth in 2012. The
company now has 75 people evenly spread into offices in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth,
where the CEO is situated. The company provides new technology solutions to business, and its
claim to fame is being able to understand and interpret a business’ technology needs and find the
solutions that are just right for them. They then go on to assist in the procuring of the technology,
including development of the tenders, handling negotiations and project managing installation. On
occasion they will contract aspects of their work out and involve specialists, such as legal talent and
targeted technology gurus to assist them.
The technology solutions they are charged to find may be communications or IT based, but often
go beyond this into manufacturing industry machinery and robotics etc. They also look at leading
edge IP and software that is associated with the technology. Business has been good for the
company over the past eight years with the company growing from the team of five partners and
seven initial staff to now having seven partners and about 70 full time staff, as well as relationships
with over 100 potential contractors.

Structure
CEO - Managing Partner
Director - Business Development (2 partners, 3 State Leaders, 12 staff)
Director - Business Analysis (2 partners, 3 State Leaders, 15 staff)
Director - Sourcing (1 partner and 3 Specialists)
Director - Delivery and Implementation (1 partner, 3 State Leaders, 30-40 staff)

Your opportunity
You have been a Business Development Manager at New Tech for the past three years and enjoy
working with a company that has good processes and an openness to new ideas. In recent months
you have been toying around with an exciting and highly novel entrepreneurial idea for a possible
corporate venture that New Tech could start up and operationalise. Your gut tells you that this idea
could prove to be a valuable pivot and possible game-changer for New Tech, especially as it seeks
to grow while at the same time diversity to better meet the changing demands of its clientele.
You have tentatively flagged with the CEO that you have an idea to share with him about a new
strategic venture at New Tech and he has asked you to put forward a more detailed proposal in
written form, as well as a short verbal presentation. It is to be presented to the company’s partners
and Senior Management Team.
While the CEO said that he expects the senior team will be open to innovative ideas and may agree
to back a new internal venture, they will want to know why you are making the suggestions you
make and will need to see strong evidence that what you’re suggesting will work. The CEO is a
Harvard University MBA and is impressed with well thought out recommendations based on solid
research; but he will also be looking for something unique that targets exactly where New Tech is at
now, and where it wants to be in the future.

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Scenario 2: Making the leap from employee to entrepreneur

Background
You are a Senior Sales and Accounts Manager with 10 years experience in the consumer goods
sector. For the past four years, you have been working for a large multinational corporation that
makes and sells a range of brand-name consumer goods. In recent years, you have started to
notice a definite trend in which your clients have been increasingly asking for a more
environmentally-friendly version of ‘XYZ product’ (insert a product category here that you are
interested in, e.g. clothing/accessories, food, household goods, etc.). In particular, you are aware
that these kinds of demands have been coming from customers based in the more affluent areas of
Melbourne and Sydney.
After a number of years working for large organisations, you are feeling increasingly frustrated in
your role. This is particularly due to the rigid corporate culture of the company you currently work
for and the lack of appetite for experimentation. For example, no one seems willing to think outside
the square in terms of product development.
Outside of work, you have a wide social network and a number of hobbies you pursue actively in
your spare time and on weekends. While working on a particular hobby project one weekend, you
have an idea for a new product that could use natural and more environmentally-friendly materials
to replace synthetic materials in a key aspect of the ‘XYZ product’. This would significantly
decrease the product’s environmental impact and would set it apart from the current offerings on
the market. After discussing this idea with an old friend from university who works in industrial
design, you’ve become excited about the potential for this product to have a major impact on the
market.

Your opportunity
You and your close friend (the industrial designer) decided to manufacture a prototype which you
have shown to potential end users to gain some preliminary feedback. Getting this kind of feedback
proved to be a very useful process as it helped you to refine the idea further but also affirmed your
intuition that it will be well-received by its target market.
You have now developed a somewhat more robust idea to take to potential investors to find out if
they would be willing to financially back the development phase of this venture. These early stage
investors have asked you to prepare a detailed written proposal, as well as provide a short verbal
presentation.

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Scenario 3: An innovative initiative at Waterside City Council

Background
Waterside City Council manages one of the largest city areas in the Greater Metropolis region and
encompasses a diverse demographic mix of communities. The council members are reflective of
this with a mix of culturally diverse members, including a couple of high-profile members and three
local business people. The council is run by a CEO whose team of nine senior managers has a
staff of approximately 450 people. Waterside City is considered to be a progressive planner and
developer and there is a strong mix of up-market and low-cost residential properties, significant
small shop areas, one major shopping centre, and a number of recreational venues. There is also a
beach area of significant attraction and a light industrial area.

Structure

Council Members – nine elected members

Council CEO
Director – People & Community
Director – Environment & Waste
Director – Parks, Trees & Waterways
Director – Planning & Building
Director – Transport & Parking
Director – Animals
Director – Finance & Rates
Director – Community Services (e.g. Libraries)
Director – Administration & Human Resources

Your opportunity
You work directly under one of the Directors within Waterside City Council, and you are passionate
about the work you and your department does to meet the needs of your local community. A new
federally funded ‘Innovative Initiative Fund’ (IIF) has recently been set up to finance innovative
schemes that can promote the economic and social enhancement of local communities. Only one
application for funding can be submitted by each local Council.
You have recently been sketching out a new idea for an infrastructure and community
enhancement project for the Council to implement. You strongly believe this new idea would make
a positive and lasting impact on the lives of all residents in the local area. It is highly innovative due
to its reimagining of how a crucial area of Council operations should run. However, it needs some
funding to cover the initial financial outlay, which goes far beyond what Waterside City Council
would be able to cover on its own. This is where the IIF seems like the perfect opportunity to make
this idea become a reality.
You’re aware that a number of other department areas within the Council also have ideas for what
to apply for in response to the call for applications for the IIF. You have one chance to make your
idea the chosen idea that is put forward as a full proposal to the federal government. You have
been asked to prepare a written proposal which will be considered by the board of Directors
alongside all other written proposals from other department areas. You have also been asked to
give a short verbal presentation to explain this idea to the board.

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Scenario 4: Make change in your community as a social
entrepreneur

Background
You have lived in your inner-city neighbourhood for just a couple of years now, and there are lots of
aspects of life here that you enjoy – the bustling restaurant strip, the many unique shops and
boutiques, and the diversity of people you encounter as you stroll down the street. However, there
are some people that you see every day that make you feel not so positive about life here, and that
is the number of homeless people living on the streets.
It has become obvious that there is a growing homelessness problem in this area of the city.
Unfortunately it doesn’t seem like the problem is getting addressed in a way that is making a real
difference. When you started asking around about this issue, you found out that a local church-run
charity group provides a free lunch three days a week to people who can’t afford to buy their own
food. A few of the people involved in this initiative told you that they are struggling to meet demand
as the problem is worsening. They also mentioned they are often running so low on funds that they
are not sure the operation will be able to continue into the future. To yourself you also wonder that
despite the obvious good the charity does for its beneficiaries, perhaps the standard ‘soup kitchen’
approach won’t really change anything in any kind of fundamental way.

Your opportunity
You have been thinking more and more about the homeless people you encounter in your
neighbourhood and you have a strong desire to make a positive change to their lives. An interesting
and exciting new idea has come to you which would mean you could tackle the homelessness
issue in a more impactful way, rather than just taking a ‘band-aid’ approach. The idea is
entrepreneurial, so it has the potential to make money which would help fund its operations into the
future; however, the key focus of this idea is its inherent social mission.
A large philanthropic foundation has announced that they will be focusing on the issue of
homelessness for their main grant round this year, and you decide to apply. To be eligible for this
funding opportunity, you will need to be set up as an independent legal entity and be able to
articulate how you will become financially sustainable over the medium to long term. As part of the
application process, you need to provide a written proposal along with a short video ‘pitch’ that
persuasively communicates your idea.

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