Business Commons^™

Cugar: A Model For Open Innovation In Science And Technology Parks, Arcot Desai Narasimhalu

Arcot Desai NARASIMHALU

This paper reviews key elements of a Science or Technology Park in the context of open innovation. Insights into and recommendations on key issues related to intellectual property, licensing and venture capital that would be of interest to any Science Park are presented later.

Innova Technology (B): Growing The Business For Anti-Loss Devices, Desai Narasimhalu, Sarita Mathur

Arcot Desai NARASIMHALU

This case is the second part of a two-part series on Innova Technology, a technology start-up company based in Singapore. The two cases focus on: Case (A) – Developing, producing and marketing a product innovation Case (B) – Growth strategies and its related challenges for a young technology company The case is set in November 2012, two months after the launch of PROTAG, a new anti-loss device developed by Rick Tan and his partner, Jonathan Lim. Tan is the chief executive officer of Innova Technology Private Limited, the company that manufactures and sells PROTAG. After a highly successful product launch, …

Nurturing Innovative Entrepreneurs, Arcot Desai Narasimhalu

Arcot Desai NARASIMHALU

The Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, or IIE, was set up at the Singapore Management University (SMU) in September 2009 to create and grow an entrepreneurial culture amongst students, staff and faculty through collaborations within and beyond the community. The Institute has various functions that help innovators commercialise their business ideas.

Innovation & Entrepreneurship has been identified as an Area of Excellence of SMU where multidisciplinary research, teaching & knowledge transfer, and outreach & collaboration are integrated to solve real-world challenges. The SMU Innovation and Entrepreneurship Area of Excellence focuses on building an array of programmes and expertise that …

Innova Technology (A): Seeking A Market For Anti-Loss Devices, Desai Narasimhalu, Sarita Mathur, Adina Wanjun Wong

Arcot Desai NARASIMHALU

This case is the first part of a two-part series on Innova Technology, a technology start-up company based in Singapore. The two cases focus on: Case (A) – Developing, producing and marketing a product innovation Case (B) – Growth strategies for a young technology company The case is set in May 2012, and begins with the protagonist, Rick Tan, chief executive officer of Innova Technology Private Limited, contemplating what his company’s go-to-market strategy should be. Tan and his business partner, Jonathan Lim, who is also the Chief Technology Officer for Innova Technology, developed PROTAG, a new anti-loss device, using Bluetooth …

Innovating Services In Science And Technology Parks, Arcot Desai Narasimhalu

Arcot Desai NARASIMHALU

Science and Technology Parks are in the business of providing services to their tenants, a mix of large companies, Small and Medium Enterprises and startups. The service needs of each of these types of companies will be different. The quality of services can be improved by understanding the needs of the tenants both, prior to building the Science and Technology Parks as well as on an ongoing basis. This paper introduces the CUGAR model for Science and Technology Parks as well as Service Innovation Design framework. It then proceeds to discuss how the Service Innovation framework could be applied to …

A Tool For Designing Business Model Innovations, Arcot Desai Narasimhalu

Arcot Desai NARASIMHALU

There is a steady stream of business model innovations created to deliver value to customers using new approaches. Famous examples of business model innovations have been Amazon, Dell computers and Starbucks. Several other examples of business model innovations have been created across industries and reported in popular and academic forums. Osterwalder and Pigneur had defined a business model canvas as a framework for analysing business models. They had defined nine key subcomponents of a business model. Companies and individual entrepreneurs who wish to create business model innovations are still deploying trial and error approaches to discovering new business models. There …

Designing Optimal Innovation Portfolio, Arcot Desai Narasimhalu

Arcot Desai NARASIMHALU

There have been many approaches towards investing in innovation projects. There has been very little discussion about the need to align such investments with the mission, vision, goals, leadership style, value discipline and risk appetite of an organization. This paper reviews existing approaches to innovation related investments and suggests the setting up of a proper innovation portfolio management process along with three dashboards that will help make innovation related investment decisions in an informed manner. The resulting innovation portfolio will be optimal in its alignment with an organizations mission and vision. We expect this method to be used by all …

Quantine: Virtualising The Interview Process, Arcot Desai Narasimhalu, Adina Wong

Arcot Desai NARASIMHALU

The case is set in January 2012, and begins with Kenneth Yap, the founder of Quantine Pte Ltd, strategising on an effective growth plan for his company. Quantine was a job candidate pre-screening service provider, which specialised in asynchronous video interviews. In the three years since its inception, market forces and internal factors had necessitated a change in its original corporate strategy. The business had started out in 2009, focusing on competency assessments for testing technical skills for the information technology industry. It also provided aptitude tests for companies to assess candidate qualities such as numerical skills and the ability …