Unit 5 (Invention and Innovation)

Question 1

Define invention and innovation (2)

Answer 1

INVENTION
discover a principle –> technical advance in a field –> new product

INNOVATION
making an invention useful and economically successful

Question 2

List the drivers for invention (5)

Answer 2

desire to:

-express creativity
-improve pre-existing tech
-explore/ experiment
-make money
-help others

Question 3

Name the forms of intellectual property (4)

Answer 3

copyright, trademark, patent, trade dress/ design rights

Question 4

Give examples of the kinds of IP copyright can protect

Answer 4

written, musical, dramatic, artistic

Question 5

Give examples of the kinds of IP trademark can protect

Answer 5

words, logos, slogans

Question 6

Give examples of the kinds of IP patents can protect

Answer 6

design innovations, new technology, new processes

Question 7

Give examples of the kinds of IP trade dress/ design rights can protect

Answer 7

appearance of a product (shape, form, colour, style)

Question 8

List the reasons for the shelving of technology (3)

Answer 8

high costs, poor technology, social incongruence

Question 9

Distinguish between sustaining and disruptive innovation (2)

Answer 9

SUSTAINING
the continuous, iterative development of a product through its lifecycle (eg. iPhone, original to X)

DISRUPTIVE
a product that challenges existing companies to either ignore or embrace a technological change (eg. 3D printing)

Question 10

Distinguish between architectural and modular innovation (2)

Answer 10

ARCHITECTURAL
how individual parts of the design are arranged and interact with each other

MODULAR
changing a single part of the design, while other parts remain unchanged

Question 11

What is diffusion? Name the stages (5)

Answer 11

Diffusion is the rate at which a new product is accepted by a market.

innovators
early adopters
early majority
late majority
laggards

Question 12

List the strategies for innovation (6)

Answer 12

Act of insight (sudden idea)

Adaptation/ technology transfer

Analogy

Chance (unexpected discoveries)

Technology push (solution looking for a problem)

Market pull (demand for innovation)

Question 13

List a negative quality associated with being a lone inventor (1)

Answer 13

isolation, due to engrossment in ideas that imply change, and are resisted by others

Question 14

Detail the purpose of a product champion (1)

Answer 14

to develop enthusiasm for a particular idea or invention within an organisation

Question 15

Explain the role of the entrepreneur in product development (1)

Answer 15

to take an invention to market, often by financing the development, production and diffusion of the product into the marketplace

Question 16

List the stages of the product life cycle (4)

Answer 16

introduction, growth, maturity, decline

Question 17

Name the types of product obsolescence (4)

Answer 17

planned (to ensure a continuing market)

technological (something more advanced replaces it)

functional (no longer works due to wear and tear, repairs/ replacements no longer available)

style (changing trends can make an older product no longer desirable)

Question 18

List Roger’s characteristics of innovation (5)

Answer 18

relative advantage (a product that is more efficient, affordable, etc)

compatibility (with social norms/ beliefs of target market)

complexity (or simplicity, of UI)

observability (market visibility)

trialability (ability to test out before investing time/ money)