Get premium membership and access revision papers, questions with answers as well as video lessons.
Technology And Innovation Management(Entr 542) Question Paper
Technology And Innovation Management(Entr 542)
Course:Business Administration
Institution: Kenya Methodist University question papers
Exam Year:2010
TIME : 3 HOURS
INSTRUCTIONS Answer Question ONE(Compulsory) and any other THREE Questions
Question 1
Case Study
Innovation Case Study: General Electric (GE): When GE turned to students for design ideas, they came up with some user-friendly health-care concepts for Africa
a) The Akuaba radio bracelet would allow instant communication among patient, midwife, and clinics.
b) A field microscope would analyze water for parasites, and shoot out a red flag that doubles as a larva trap.
c) A foetal ultrasound belt with built-in sensors would reduce the training required for technicians.
d) A flower-like dispenser would allow villagers to chose a dye for insect repellent in their mosquito netting
e) A non-invasive scanner would detect malaria by looking through the skin of a patient''s hand GE Healthcare sells $15 billion a year worth of big X-ray machines, CAT scans, and ultrasound testing equipment. The health-care division of General Electric (GE) usually differentiates its products by getting better and faster readings from its instruments—"feeds and speeds," as Lou Lenzi, the general manager of global design at GE Healthcare, puts it.
But to compete today, GE needs to focus on the human side of the equation, from ergonomics to emotions. And it needs to do that for cultures all around the world. For insight and inspiration, GE Healthcare recently turned to the undergraduate students of the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, Calif., one of the world''s top design schools. Consumer-product companies have long sponsored classes at Art Center, but this marked the first time GE Healthcare turned to students for ideas.
The Research
Art Center fielded three teams of eight students. GE Healthcare asked them to address the challenge of expanding health care into rural Africa in 2016. The teams were composed of students majoring in design, transportation, and the environment. All spent the fall semester on the project, and on Dec. 7, Art Center''s "Super Thursday," they joined other students sponsored by BMW, Honda (HMC ), and Nestlé (NSRGY ) to present their designs.
THE PROTOTYPES
An ultrasound device would wrap like a blanket around a woman''s belly. The design would reduce the training required for technicians. Current machines depend on a skilled technician to guide a probe over the abdomen. The multiple imaging sensors woven into the blanket mean it would simply have to be correctly placed, a big advantage in countries where technicians are in short supply.
A non-invasive malaria scanner would detect disease by looking through the skin of a patient''s hand. Malaria is currently diagnosed with a needle prick and a blood test. That scares some patients away and can delay treatment until results come back from labs. The scanner would be painted in earthy African colours.
Personalized mosquito netting would be dyed with coloured insect repellent. Rates of malaria can drop as much as 80% in villages that use bed nets. Allowing people to personalize them might increase their willingness to use the nets.
A radio bracelet would alert a midwife when a pregnant patient is in trouble. Modelled on West African jewellery and decorated with indentations that resemble ritual scarification, it would be called Akuaba, a word associated with fertility in West Africa. A dirigible would transport mothers-to-be with complications from remote regions to an acute-care hospital. The idea won praise for addressing a major problem in developing countries, the lack of infrastructure.
Companies typically pay $100,000 to sponsor a semester-long Art Center course. For its money, GE got a fresh perspective. Many of the projects stretched the imagination—floating clinics powered by river currents, probes that test for parasites in water and shoot out red warning flags. That was the point. The students encouraged GE Healthcare to reconsider the possibilities.
f) Explain the five main characteristics that are likely to make the products be adopted easily. (5 marks)
g) Discuss the risks associated with each of the products that were developed by the Students. (10marks)
h) What are some of the issues the students considered when they proposed the ideas for Africa.? (8 marks)
i) Being a student in Kenya what design ideas would you propose? (5 marks)
j) What challenges would the company face will transferring the technologies? (7marks)
Question 2
a) Davila et al (2006) noted; “Companies cannot grow through cost reduction and re-engineering alone.....innovation is the key element in providing aggressive top line growth and for increasing bottom line results” Discuss (10 marks)
b) What should be the role of public and private sector (both international and national) in technology development? (15marks)
Question 3
Kenya Methodist University would like to integrate market consideration into technology forecasting process as a major goal to determine what advances in technology will result in increased sales, enhanced profits and delighted customers.
a) Propose to the institution any two technology forecasting techniques to apply. (8marks)
b) Discuss the importance of technological forecasting (10 marks)
c) Explain any three types of innovations that KEMU can emphasize on to achieve the desired results. (7marks)
Question 4
Explain the following concepts as used in technology and innovation.
a) Radical verses Incremental Innovation.
b) Technology management
c) Technology Transfer and innovation.
d) Technology Commercialization and Globalization
e) Technology Cluster (25 marks)
Question 5
a) Critically discuss the impact of technology and innovation on economic impact of a developing country. (15 marks)
b) Show how e-technology can assist Kenya in achieving the vision 2030 (10 marks)
Question 6
a) By use of a industry firm familiar to you , identify how they have applied technology and innovation to develop the industry. (10 marks)
b) Explain how Common Market Protocol launched on July, 01 2010 that will provide for free movement of goods, persons, workers, services, and capital and rights of establishment and residence in membership states is a innovation. (10marks)
More Question Papers