Question :

This week, you will dig deeper into your selected dissertation topic by outlining specific details of your Proposal. This assignment will serve as a draft for Section 1 of the Proposal and give you an opportunity to get valuable feedback from your Instructor.
Using Section 1 of the Proposal Proforma, refine your topic and outline the following details about your intended research:

  • Background
  • Aim
  • Draft research questions/hypotheses
  • Draft research objectives
  • Feasibility of the study

This should be submitted to your Instructor for approval no later than midnight on Day 7 to the Assignment link below.
Once your topic is approved, you will begin to construct the rest of your Dissertation Proposal.

My Answer :

Background:

When you are translating the idea to a good thing or good service that the customer will be ready to pay for it means that you brought an innovation “Innovation involves planned application of information, imagination and initiative in deriving greater or different values from resources, and includes all processes by which new ideas are generated and converted into useful products” ( Business Dictionary , n.d. )

Shehabuddeen (2007) described innovation by getting many descriptions in order to identify the innovative characteristics, which will give us a common understanding.

Innovation could take many shapes, starting from creating new products to decrease the price and work on the development of those products to many other ideas related to the products and the customers with their feedback, Shehabuddeen (2007) described when talked about the NPD which is the new product development process: marketing, distribution costs, replace development costs“

Anyhow and as we see there are many reason to be innovative, and there are no ready receipts to do so, therefore many things could distinguish the innovative organizations than the others, but we need to know as well that it is not easy for any organization to maintain its innovative position , and if we took as an example the most innovative company no one will has doubt that Facebook, Apple, and Amazon could be on the top of the list but some other people they might see Microsoft or Google on the top as well , therefore and as explained earlier “ the definition of innovation is so murky, that even business editors cannot agree on which company are truly inspired and which are not “ Hamel (2010 ), on the other side it is very hard and difficult to stay innovative , so we can imagine that even its harder to duplicate , or replicate any success as each organization has its special formula, circumstances, and vision , and in order to understand how hard staying innovative we need to think that two- third of the business on FAST COMPANY’S 2009 list of the most 50 innovative companies could not make it into 2010 edition !! Hamel (2010 )

Aim:

As I am working with Spanish perfumes’ company for the last 8 years, taking care of one of the important area – Middle East , North Africa, & Iran – in terms of turnover , culture, purchase power , market taste , and customers’ requirements , and along with my previous experience in retail , my research will be in very important issue which is the innovation in the organizations and companies , taking my recent company ( Perfumes Y Desino ) = ( Perfumes & Design ) – pyd as a study case with many past and future projects, aiming to highlight the importance of the innovation for the survival of the organizations and companies and how it can help the business to remain competitive in changing markets. As the Innovation can take many forms, and it can be applied to product renewal or the design of new processing technologies, it is important to understand the difference between invention and innovation. Invention involves creating something new, but it only becomes an innovation if it is a practical and marketable application.

Objective:

In order to have better understanding for the innovation and as was stated by Shehabuddeen (2007) , I shall go my research through the below :

  • Customers’ insights
  • Opportunities for business model innovation
  • Tracking competitive innovation opportunities (& threats)
  • Open our innovation pipeline & integrate external ideas
  • Develop effective relationships with our collaborators
  • NPD which is the new product development process: marketing, distribution costs, replace development costs

Feasibility of the study:

As mentioned having my company as a case study will allow me to go the go through the:

  • The strengths and weaknesses in the organization’s innovation management structure.
  • The organization current sources, new ideas, technologies and the effectiveness of the current approach and how this can be improved.
  • The concepts of lead user innovation, open innovation and disruptive innovation
  • The organization’s innovation strategy
  • How an improved innovation strategy may be developed?
  • How this new strategy may be implemented? And how the process of implementation will be managed from the processual and change management points of view.
  • The potential challenges in implementing the proposed innovation strategy and how these could be overcome.
  • How we would monitor the success of the new innovation strategy.
  • Synthesizing related theories and models from the module readings and literature.

“Companies that have never distinguished nor acquired cost advantage are in the distasteful position of stuck in the middle “ McGahan ( 1994) . So in order to find an opportunity and solution to develop sales, position, and presence of the organizations and companies in the market, confirming on Patel & Patel (2008, pp 233) statement:” organizational learning leads to innovation. Hence, organizational learning is an important organizational development “This research will help on the same through real examples and data which will be collected qualitatively and quantitatively form the perfumes’ customers’ in different countries in the Middle East

References:

Business dictionary [Online]Available from: [Accessed: 27 August 2015].

Gary Hamel ( 2010 ) Who’s really innovative ? Gary Hamel management 2.0 A look of new ways of managing [Online]. Available from: [Accessed: 27 August 2015].

McGahan, A. (1994) ‘Note on competitive positioning’, Harvard Business Review. Available online form: http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/pl/9807336/9807337/3c3ab3cce63dfc522e479934af628b05. [Accessed: 27 August 2015].

Shehabuddeen, N. (2007) Innovation in real life: a hands-on guide to genuine innovation. Liverpool: Open Innovation. University of Liverpool/Laureate Online Education (2013) Lecture notes from innovation and change Module [Online]. Available from: University of Liverpool/Laureate Online Education Blackboard. [Accessed: 27 August 2015].

Teacher Commnets :

Yaser, this proposal was not clear. I could not really identify a clear aim, or objectives or research questions. Overall this proposal lacked direction.

You need to revisit your idea and identify what you want to achieve from this dissertation. Only then can you begin to construct aims and objectives.

Have a look at some of the others’ proposal to see how they have provided a rationale; and from that rationale how they have developed aims and objectives.