How unit 2 is examined
This unit covers where new ideas come from (push, pull, analogies), how technology moves between organisations, creative methods, and the tools for managing the innovation process (agile, Six Thinking Hats, NUF test). No past questions are tagged, so all four topics are unasked; learn each definition, the key points and the comparison tables, because any of them can appear as a 7-mark question.
Sources of innovation (push, pull, analogies)
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Definition. <mark>Sources of innovation are the origins from which new ideas arise: technology push (a new capability looks for a market), market pull (a customer need looks for a solution) and analogies (a solution borrowed from another field).</mark>
Diagram.
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Key points.
- Technology push starts from research or a scientific discovery, and the firm then searches for applications and customers, as with the laser, nylon or the early microprocessor.
- Market pull starts from an unmet customer need or market gap, and R&D is then directed to meet it, so the commercial risk is lower but the ideas tend to be incremental.
- Push innovations can be radical and create new markets, but they carry high risk because demand is unproven.
- Analogy transfers a working solution from one domain to another, for example Velcro from burrs, the bullet train nose from the kingfisher beak, or aircraft design from bird flight.
- Analogies help because problems in one field have often already been solved in another, so they widen the search beyond the firm's own industry.
- Other sources include employees, customers, suppliers, competitors, universities and regulation changes, and the best innovations usually combine push and pull.
| Basis | Technology push | Market pull |
|---|---|---|
| Starting point | Scientific or technical capability | Customer need or market gap |
| Driver | R&D and inventors | Marketing and customers |
| Risk | High, demand unproven | Lower, demand known |
| Type | Often radical | Often incremental |
| Example | Laser, microprocessor | Larger phone screens, easy-clean products |
Answer frame. Open with the definition of sources of innovation; draw the three-arrow figure of push, pull and analogy; develop push, pull, the comparison table, then analogy with an example; close with the point that successful firms scan both technology and market.
Transfer of technology
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Definition. <mark>Technology transfer is the process of moving knowledge, skills, methods or technology from its creator (a university, laboratory or firm) to another party that develops it into products, processes and commercial use.</mark>
Key points.
- The purpose is to turn research results into marketable products so that the investment in the invention earns a return and benefits society.
- It can be vertical, from research to development and production inside the chain, or horizontal, from one firm, industry or country to another.
- Common channels are licensing, joint ventures, spin-off companies, consultancy, sale or exchange of patents and know-how, and training of people.
- Licensing gives the receiver the right to use a patented technology for a royalty, while a spin-off creates a new firm around the technology.
- Successful transfer needs absorptive capacity, meaning the receiver has skilled people, equipment and infrastructure to understand and use the technology.
- Barriers include high cost, weak intellectual property protection, cultural and language differences, poor communication and lack of trust between the parties.
- Governments support transfer through technology parks, incubators and technology transfer offices in universities, as with Indian institutes and NRDC.
Steps.
Step 1: Identify the technology and check that it is protected (patent, copyright).
Step 2: Find and evaluate a suitable receiver and value the technology.
Step 3: Negotiate the agreement (licence, joint venture or sale) and the royalty.
Step 4: Transfer the documents, equipment and training.
Step 5: Adapt, commercialise and monitor the results.
Answer frame. Open with the definition; list channels first, then vertical and horizontal types, then the steps; end with barriers and the role of absorptive capacity, and close by saying that transfer converts inventions into innovations.
Creative methods and approaches used in innovation management
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Definition. <mark>Creative methods are structured techniques that help individuals and teams generate and develop new ideas systematically instead of waiting for inspiration.</mark>
Key points.
- Brainstorming produces many ideas quickly in a group by deferring all criticism, welcoming wild ideas, and building on the ideas of others; quantity comes first and evaluation later.
- Mind mapping places the problem at the centre and links ideas around it as branches, so relations between ideas become visible.
- Lateral thinking (de Bono) deliberately breaks the normal logical path, for example by challenging assumptions or using random words, to reach fresh angles.
- SCAMPER prompts changes to an existing product through Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, Put to another use, Eliminate and Reverse.
- Synectics uses analogies and metaphors, while morphological analysis lists the attributes of a product and combines their options systematically.
- TRIZ, the theory of inventive problem solving, resolves technical contradictions using a set of known inventive principles drawn from many patents.
- Other methods are the nominal group technique, Delphi method, storyboarding and design thinking with prototypes tested by users.
| Method | Main idea |
|---|---|
| Brainstorming | Many ideas, no criticism |
| Mind mapping | Visual branches from a central problem |
| SCAMPER | Seven prompts to modify an idea |
| Lateral thinking | Break assumptions, random stimuli |
| TRIZ | Inventive principles for contradictions |
Answer frame. Open with the definition; give brainstorming and its rules first, then mind mapping, lateral thinking, SCAMPER, synectics and TRIZ in that order with one example each (SCAMPER on a water bottle); close by saying the methods increase both the number and quality of ideas.
Approaches to management of the innovation process (agile management, Six Thinking Hats, NUF test)
<span style="display:inline-block;padding:.16em .6em;border:1.5px solid currentColor;border-radius:999px;font-size:.68em;font-weight:700;letter-spacing:.06em;text-transform:uppercase;opacity:.75">Not asked since 2022</span>
Definition. <mark>These approaches organise how ideas are developed and judged: agile management works in short iterative cycles, Six Thinking Hats separates modes of thinking, and the NUF test screens ideas for being New, Useful and Feasible.</mark>
Key points.
- Agile management delivers work in short sprints, usually two to four weeks, with frequent customer feedback, so plans adapt quickly to changing needs.
- Agile values working products over heavy documentation, individuals and collaboration over rigid process, and responding to change over following a fixed plan.
- Agile suits uncertain innovation projects, and Scrum with its product backlog, sprint, daily stand-up and review is its commonest form.
- Six Thinking Hats by Edward de Bono uses six coloured hats, and the group wears one hat at a time so that all think in the same direction.
- Wearing one hat at a time stops arguments between styles and separates emotion, facts and criticism, so discussion becomes parallel and faster.
- The NUF test rates every idea on three questions, New (is it original), Useful (does it solve a real need) and Feasible (can it be built with available resources), and only ideas passing all three go forward.
| Hat | Thinking |
|---|---|
| White | Facts and data |
| Red | Feelings and intuition |
| Black | Caution, risks and problems |
| Yellow | Benefits and optimism |
| Green | Creativity and new ideas |
| Blue | Process control and summary |
Answer frame. Open with the definition; explain agile with its sprint cycle, draw or tabulate the six hats with their meaning, then explain the NUF test with its three criteria; close by saying that together they make idea generation and selection disciplined.
Pitfall: Do not confuse Blue and Black hats; Blue manages the process, Black warns about risk.
Last-minute revision
- Technology push: capability seeks a market; market pull: need seeks a solution; analogy: borrow from another field.
- Push is riskier and often radical; pull is safer and often incremental.
- Velcro from burrs is the standard analogy example.
- Technology transfer channels: licensing, joint venture, spin-off, consultancy, patent sale.
- Transfer can be vertical or horizontal; the receiver needs absorptive capacity.
- Brainstorming defers criticism; SCAMPER has seven prompts.
- TRIZ solves technical contradictions with inventive principles.
- Agile: short sprints, frequent feedback, adapts to change.
- Six hats: White facts, Red emotion, Black caution, Yellow benefit, Green creativity, Blue control.
- NUF: New, Useful, Feasible.
Memory hooks
- Push from the lab, pull from the customer.
- Transfer channels: LJSCP, Licence, Joint venture, Spin-off, Consultancy, Patent sale.
- SCAMPER: S-C-A-M-P-E-R, seven ways to change an idea.
- Hats: White facts, Red heart, Black brake, Yellow sun, Green grass (growth), Blue sky (overview).
- NUF: "new, useful, feasible or forget it".
Coverage checklist
- Sources of innovation (push, pull, analogies): no past questions.
- transfer of technology: no past questions.
- Creative methods and approaches used in innovation management: no past questions.
- Approaches to management of the innovation process (agile management, Six Thinking Hats, NUF test): no past questions.