Innovation and emerging technology: Be disruptive

This week, you will explore two main questions: why do great companies fail; and what are some macro-environmental factors that cause change within the organisation?. You will investigate the innovator’s dilemma and try to find out if adoption of technologies is speeding up (or not). You will use tools to help you consider macro-economic factors and the impact that these would have on your organisation (PESTLE analysis). Additionally, you will apply tools that will help you determine if your next technology (or one from your competitor) is likely to be disruptive. Welcome to be disruptive!

In week 2 you will get ‘techie’ by exploring a number of technologies that are often seen as potentially ‘disruptive’. Additionally, you will discuss how these technologies are currently used by organisations globally. More importantly, you will explore ways to stay up-to-date with technological advances. You will also explore technologies such as Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT).

This week you will focus on viability and specifically look at business models. You will begin by looking at the four (4) main elements of a business model: value proposition, resources, processes, and the profit formula. You will look at the business model journey, and how organisations move from creating a business model, through sustaining innovation, up to efficiency. You will explore the importance of developing new business models with a framework (the 4I's framework) to help you come up with these new business models. Finally, you will look at business model patterns, as recombining, adapting, and refining business model patterns is an efficient way to do business model innovation.

This week you will learn about platforms, what they are, how they’re different from other business models, the different types of platforms, and how to create successful platforms. You will also learn how to decide if you should create your own platform.