Deck 2: Sources of Innovation

Question 1

Innovation often originates with those who create solutions for their own needs.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Which of the following is an example of user innovation?

A) Samuel has invented a detachable bicycle in order to make profits by selling it to a reputed bicycle manufacturing firm.
B) Sandra, an engineer, has developed a device that helps track the location of her teenage daughter's car.
C) Jessica, an ace designer for a clothing brand, has been asked to work on a dyeing technique that changes fabric color according to the room temperature.
D) Ivan, a scientist at a reputed pharmaceutical company, has developed an anti-inflammatory drug for the company to commercialize.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

The decline in the government share of spending on R&D is largely due to the rapid increase in industry R&D funding rather than a real decline in the absolute amount spent by the government.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Firms often form alliances with competitors to jointly work on an innovation project or to exchange information in pursuit of innovation.

Question 5

The degree to which innovative activities are geographically clustered is independent of the national differences in the way technology development is funded or protected.

Question 6

Which of the following is a characteristic of most successful inventors?

A) They specialize solely in a single field rather than several fields simultaneously.
B) They are curious and more interested in solutions than in problems.
C) They blindly accept the assumptions made in previous works in their field.
D) They seek global solutions rather than local solutions.

Question 7

Typically,the intellectual property policies of a university embrace both patentable and unpatentable innovations.

Question 8

Erison Group,an advertising company,wants to hire someone as its creative head.Who among the following would be best suited for this position?

A) An individual who completely adheres to the existing logic and paradigms and has extensive knowledge of the field
B) An individual who has low tolerance for ambiguity and avoids taking risks
C) An individual who has a moderate degree of knowledge of the field but is intrinsically motivated
D) An individual who prefers to look at problems in conventional ways

Question 9

If an individual knows a field too well,it can stifle his ability to come up with solutions that require an alternative perspective.

Question 10

The science-push approach to research and development argued that innovation was driven by the perceived demand of potential users.

Question 11

Incubators are regional districts,typically set up by government,to foster R&D collaboration between government,universities,and private firms.

Question 12

An organization's overall creativity level is a simple aggregate of the creativity of the individuals it employs.

Question 13

Which of the following is the correct sequence of steps for the science-push approach to research and development?

A) Customers express an unmet need, R&D develops the product to meet that need, the product is manufactured, and finally the marketing team promotes the product.
B) Scientific discovery leads to an invention, the engineering team designs the product, it is manufactured, and finally the marketing team promotes it.
C) Marketing discovers a need, R&D comes up with the product concept that is refined by engineering, the manufacturing team produces it, and finally the product is sold.
D) Manufacturing sees a way to improve a product, the engineering team redesigns it, and finally the marketing team creates awareness about the improved product.

Question 14

Proximity and interaction can directly influence firms' ability and willingness to exchange knowledge.

Question 15

Breaking Ventures Inc.realized that most parents are worried about their teenage children going out on their own.Based on this information,the company developed a device that could be fixed into teenagers' cell phones,and it helped parents keep track of their children's location.This approach to research and development is referred to as _____.

A) demand-pull
B) supply-push
C) science-push
D) research-pull

Question 16

Knowledge that is explicit requires more frequent and close interaction to be meaningfully exchanged than knowledge that is tacit.

Question 17

Collaborative research is prohibited in high-technology sectors.

Question 18

Sometimes,monetary rewards undermine creativity by encouraging employees to focus on extrinsic rather than intrinsic motivation.

Question 19

Knowledge that cannot be readily codified is called explicit knowledge.

Question 20

The terms research and development represent different kinds of investment in innovation-related activities.

Question 21

_____ is a positive externality from R&D resulting from the spread of knowledge across organizational or regional boundaries.

A) Technological discombobulation
B) Technological determinism
C) Technological spillover
D) Technological dissonance

Question 22

What are the most important intellectual abilities for creative thinking? What is the impact of knowledge on creativity?

Question 23

The demand-pull approach to research and development refers to research and development that:

A) focuses on developing products that are expected to increase demand in a particular market segment.
B) begins by examining the outcomes of the firm's basic research and the potential commercial applications that may be constructed from those outcomes.
C) focuses on developing products that are expected to decrease the demand for their substitute products.
D) originates as a response to the specific problems or suggestions of customers.

Question 24

In 2001,Shanghai's municipal government set aside 13 square kilometers of land near the Huangpu River for university laboratories and start-up firms in microelectronics,digital technology,and life sciences.The project aimed to foster research in microelectronics,the development of a technologically advanced labor pool,and the creation of new industries in Shanghai.This project would be best termed a _____.

A) complementor
B) strategic unit
C) science park
D) free trade area

Question 25

Organizations that manufacture products such as light bulbs for lamps or DVDs for DVD players are examples of _____.

A) moderators
B) lead users
C) complementors
D) incubators

Question 26

In the context of government-funded research,explain the term incubator.

Question 27

Explain the terms basic research and applied research.

Question 28

_____ is the ability of an organization to recognize,assimilate,and utilize new knowledge.

A) Cognitive dissonance
B) Absorptive capacity
C) Organizational obsolescence
D) Built-in obsolescence

Question 29

The president of Mountain Home University has been asked by the board of trustees to set up a separate unit to facilitate the commercialization of technology developed by the research students at the university.Such a unit is typically called a _____.

A) strategic business unit
B) commercialization office
C) technology transfer office
D) science park

Question 30

Regional districts,typically set up by government,to foster R&D collaboration between government,universities,and private firms are called _____.

A) technological trajectories
B) free trade areas
C) complementors
D) science parks

Question 31

_____ are regional groups of firms that have a connection to a common technology and may engage in buyer,supplier,and complementor relationships,as well as research collaboration.

A) Technology transfer offices
B) Technology incubators
C) Strategic business units
D) Technology clusters

Question 32

Which of the following is true of interfirm collaborative research and development networks?

A) Collaborative research networks are not important or viable in high-technology sectors.
B) Interfirm networks can enable firms to achieve much more than they could achieve individually.
C) The flow of information and other resources through a network is independent of the network's size.
D) Information diffusion is fairly slow and limited in collaborative research networks with dense structures and many paths for information to travel.

Question 33

The benefits firms reap by locating in close geographical proximity to each other are known collectively as _____.

A) agglomeration economies
B) incubator economies
C) virtual economies
D) shadow economies

Question 34

Which of the following statements is true of geographical clustering?

A) The proximity of many competitors serving a local market leads to competition that increases their pricing power in their relationships with both buyers and suppliers.
B) Close proximity of firms eliminates the likelihood of a firm's competitors gaining access to the firm's proprietary knowledge.
C) Clustering invariably leads to lower concentration of pollution and inordinately low housing costs.
D) Proximate firms have an advantage in sharing information that can lead to greater innovation productivity.

Question 35

Which of the following statements is true about the Bayh-Dole Act of 1980?

A) It made university technology transfer activities illegal and unethical.
B) It allowed universities to collect royalties on inventions funded with taxpayer dollars.
C) It restricted provision of patents for inventions developed at universities.
D) It made investment in research and technology mandatory for public companies.

Question 36

Institutions designed to nurture the development of new businesses that might otherwise lack access to adequate funding or advices are called _____.

A) complementors
B) research collaboration offices
C) incubators
D) technology clusters

Question 37

Explain the concept of technology spillovers.What are the factors affecting the likelihood of technological spillovers?

Question 38

_____ are individuals or organizations that transfer information from one domain to another in which it can be usefully applied.

A) Knowledge brokers
B) Incubation workers
C) Complementors
D) Category captains

Question 39

What are some of the downsides to geographical clustering?

Question 40

A variety of rice created by Biocrop Inc.through recombinant DNA technology was found to be rich in both carbohydrates and proteins.After the success of this rice variety,recombinant DNA technology was implemented by less-developed countries to increase the nutrient levels of fruits,pulses,and greens in order to feed their malnourished children.This is an example of _____.

A) technological dissonance
B) technological spillover
C) technological retardation
D) technological determinism