Innovation and Commercialisation

ICON COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
Pearson BTEC HND in Business
Unit 8: Innovation and Commercialisation (RQF)
Assignment Brief
Session September 2020

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ICON College of Technology and Management
Pearson BTEC HND in Business (RQF)
Unit 8: Innovation and Commercialisation
Session: September 2020
Coursework
Recommended Word limit: 3,500–4,500
This Unit will be assessed by assignment.
You are strongly advised to read “Preparation guidelines of the Coursework
Document” before answering your assignment.
ASSIGNMENT
Assignment Context and Scenario:
A UK-based organisation of your choice wants to introduce new products into its existing
market due to increasing demand. The Innovation Manager has studied the market for
growth and potential profitability and is convinced that the organisation should certainly
develop new products. Your chosen organisation’s competitors are currently engaged in
developing new products, so developing new products is a must in this industry. In fact, the
UK market is increasingly becoming competitive.
You have been hired as an innovation consultant to evaluate the situation and present
recommendations on how the company should move forward with developing new
products. Your answer should be in form of a business report format to be presented to the
Innovation Manager. The business report will address the following:
1. Explanation of the difference between invention and innovation.
2. The value and importance of innovation to organisations and how this can be embedded
within the organisational leadership and culture.
3. The different forms of innovation and the four directions of change an organisation can
take. Explain the 4Ps of innovation and how this supports capability and management of
innovation. Advise the Innovation Manager which form of innovation he should engage in.
4. Discuss the approaches that the Innovation Manager can take to process innovative
ideas, including the innovation funnel and frugal innovation.
5. Explain the steps the Innovation Manager should go through to derive a new and
innovative product.
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What you must do
The following issues are required to be carried out:
LO1 Explain the context for innovation and determine the difference between invention and
innovation.
For your chosen organisation to see the benefits of new products, explain innovation and
determine its importance to organisations in comparison with invention
Using your chosen organisation, explain how organisational vision, leadership, culture and
teamwork can shape innovation and commercialisation.
For the benefit of your chosen organisation, analyse different sources of innovation, and how the
organisation can foster and develop an environment and culture of innovation. You should also
critically analyse how innovation is developed, embedded and measured in your chosen
organisation.
LO2 Explain the different types of innovation.
You are required to explain the 4Ps of innovation and explain the use of the innovation funnel to
examine and shape innovative ideas. You should also analyse the innovation funnel and apply this
concept in your chosen organisation.
To demonstrate your understanding of innovation, explain developments in frugal innovation and
provide examples of how it is used in an organisational context. You should also evaluate the role
of frugal innovation in your chosen organisation.
To further demonstrate your understanding of innovation, you should critically analyse how
innovation is developed, embedded and measured in your chosen organisation.
LO3 Discuss the process required to commercialise innovation.
To demonstrate your understanding of the innovation, explain the importance of the
commercial funnel and the application of new product development (NPD) processing for
commercialisation of innovation.
The Innovation Manager needs to be convinced that developing a new product is the way forward
for the organisation. You are required to build an innovation business case for the organisation,
including ways to access funding. The innovation case should also be detailed and should include
how to measure its overall effectiveness using appropriate techniques available to test, iterate and
improve (e.g., market survey, projected fund flow statement, etc.
LO4 Evaluate the range of methods for protecting ideas and understand their advantages
and disadvantages.
Using your organisation, evaluate the different tools that it can use to develop, retain and protect
knowledge and intellectual property. You should also present supported evidence-based
evaluation of these different tools in the context of the wider business environment
To further demonstrate your understanding of innovation, you are required to critically evaluate the
nature of innovation and the context in which it is developed, providing evidence-based judgements
on how your organisation can overcome challenges to develop successful innovations.
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Relevant Information
To gain a Pass in a BTEC HND Unit, you must meet ALL the Pass criteria; to gain a Merit, you must
meet ALL the Merit and Pass criteria; and to gain a Distinction, you must meet ALL the Distinction,
Merit and Pass criteria.

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Relevant Information
Guide to student
1. Preparation guidelines of the Coursework Document
a. Document margins must not be more than 2.54 cm (1 inch) or less than 1.9cm (3/4 inch).
b. The assignment should be in a formal business style using single spacing and font size 12.
c. Standard and commonly used type face such as Arial should be used.
d. All figures, graphs and tables must be numbered.
e. Material taken from external sources must be properly referenced using the Harvard
referencing system.
f. You should provide references using the Harvard referencing system.
g. Do not use Wikipedia as a reference.
2. Plagiarism and Collusion
Any act of plagiarism or collusion will be seriously dealt with according to the College regulations. In
this context the definitions and scope of plagiarism and collusion are presented below:
Plagiarism is presenting somebody else’s work as your own. It includes copying information directly
from the Web or books without referencing the material; submitting joint coursework as an individual
effort.
Collusion is copying another student’s coursework; stealing coursework from another student and
submitting it as your own work.
Suspected plagiarism or collusion will be investigated and if found to have occurred will be dealt with
according to the College procedure (For details on Plagiarism & Collusion please see the Student
Handbook).
3. Submission
a. Initial submission of coursework to the tutors is compulsory in each unit of the course.
b. The student must check their assignments on ICON VLE with plagiarism software Turnitin to make
sure the similarity index for their assignment stays within the College approved level. A student can
check the similarity index of their assignment three times in the Draft Assignment submission point
located in the home page of the ICON VLE.
c. All Final coursework must be submitted to the Final submission point into the Unit (not to the
Tutor). The student would be allowed to submit only once and that is the final submission.
d. Any computer files generated such as program code (software), graphic files that form part of the
coursework must be submitted as an attachment to the assignment with all documentation.
e. Any portfolio for a Unit must be submitted as a hardcopy to examination office.
f. The student must attach the tutor’s feedback from the First submission in between the cover page and
the answer in the case of Resubmission.
4. Good practice
a. Make backup of your work in different media (hard disk, memory stick, etc.) to avoid distress for loss
or damage of your original copy.
5. Extension, Late Submission and Resubmission
a. If you need an extension for a valid reason, you must request one using an Exceptional Extenuating
Circumstances (EEC) form available from the College examination office and ICON VLE. Please note
that the tutors do not have the authority to extend the coursework deadlines and therefore do not ask
them to award a coursework extension. The completed form must be accompanied by evidence such
as a medical certificate in the event of you being sick, and should be submitted to the Examination
Office.
b. Late submission will be accepted and marked according to the College procedure. It should be noted
that late submission may not be graded for Merit and Distinction.
c. All late coursework must be submitted to the Late submission point into the unit (not to the Tutor)
in the ICON VLE. A student is allowed to submit only once and that is also treated as the final
submission.
d. Only one opportunity will be given for reassessment (resubmission) will be permitted and the
assessment will be capped at Pass for the unit. In addition, no resubmission will be allowed
in any component of the assessment for which a Pass grade or higher has been achieved.
e. Repeat Units – A student who has failed to achieve a Pass in both Final/Late submission
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and in the Resubmission must retake the unit the full attendance and payment of the unit
fee. The overall unit grade for a successfully completed repeat unit is capped at Pass for
that unit. Units can only be repeated once.

Glossary:
Analyse: Identify separate factors, say how they are related and how each one contributes to the
topic.
Assess: to determine the importance, size and value of something. Or give careful consideration to
all the factors or events that apply or identify which are the most important or relevant.
Build a case: Answers the question, “What happens if ?” For example, Does the investment in
new phone technology justify the cost? A business case is an argument, usually documented, that is
intended to convince a decision maker to approve some kind of action. The strength of the business
case is every bit as important as the value inherent in the project.
Critically evaluate: Point out differences which are particularly significant.
Evaluate: review the information then bring it together to form a conclusion. Give evidence of each
of your views or statement.
Explain: Set out in detail the meaning of something, with reasons. More difficult than describe or
list; it can help to give an example to show what you mean. Start by introducing the topic then give
the ‘how’ and ‘why’ OR provide details and give reasons and/or evidence to clearly support the
argument you are making.
Explore: Inquire into or research about any factors pertinent to a particular issue.
Examine: When you evaluate you look at the arguments for and against an issue.
Identify: Point out or choose the right one/ give a list of main features.
Illustrate: Include examples or a diagram to show what you mean.
Determine: Ascertain or establish exactly by research.