Technology and Innovation Management

1. Explain scope of technological change and drivers for innovation in organisations and markets
3. Explain the concept of product and service life cycle
4. Show how to deploy a customer focus throughout the innovation process
5. Explain the importance of teamwork – in particular multidisciplinary teamwork
6. Find, use and acknowledge information through research and referencing.

The case study:

Applied Research Technologies, Inc: Global Innovation’s Challenges, published by Harvard
Business Publishing, Case 4168, February 19, 2010, 11 pages.

The questions:

(1) The Applied Research Technologies (ART) team working on the mini-oxidation project
included people from the USA and India. Teams that are geographically dispersed are
sometimes referred to as ‘virtual teams’, as the members cannot meet in person regularly.
Consult at least one of the following four ‘starter’ journal articles plus a minimum of two other
journal articles or books to learn about virtual and geographically dispersed teams. The
suggested number of references is the minimum; you will receive higher marks if you consult
and effectively integrate information from more than the required minimum three sources. Do
not use websites as references for this question. The three starter articles are:

? Govindarajan, V. and A.K. Gupta, (2001), Building an effective global business team.
MIT Sloan Management Review. 42(4): p. 63-71.
? Wilson, Keeley, and Yves L. Doz. “10 Rules for managing global innovation.”Harvard
business review 90.10 (2012): 84-90.
? McDonough III, E.F., K.B. Kahn, and G. Barczak, (2001), An investigation of the use of
global, virtual, and colocated new product development teams. Journal of Product
Innovation Management. 18(2): p. 110-120.
? Daim, Tugrul U., et al. “Exploring the communication breakdown in global virtual
teams.” International Journal of Project Management 30.2 (2012): 199-212.
49016 Assignment 1 – 2015a v1.0 page 2 of 3

a. Based on the case, summarise some of the challenges that may be a result of the
geographical and cultural diversity of the team. Identify and discuss any special
approaches used to address these challenges (150 words maximum).
b. Based on the findings from your research, outline the main strategies that are
suggested in the published literature to help manage virtual or geographically
dispersed teams. (200 words maximum)
c. Based on the strategies identified in Part B, make a specific recommendation for the
Filtration Unit on approaches it should take to ensure that its geographically
dispersed team is able to achieve optimal functioning (150 words maximum).