Assignment Task:
You are a consultant for a global firm that offers its services to organisations
across the world.
Your role is to provide companies with insights and
recommendations with regards to innovation, usually because this role is not
present within the company or they seek to gain additional information and advice
about how to react to new technologies and technological developments.
You arrive at the office and your inbox has a number of requests regarding
innovations in Virtual Reality, from the following clients:
• A private healthcare provider that offers a range of services to
patients either through their company scheme or through individual
payment plans. It runs its own healthcare facilities in a number of
locations as well as contracting with healthcare providers to extend
its facilities. The company offers two key areas of healthcare:
physical therapy (e.g. those recovering after an accident or suffering
mobility issues) and mental health therapy (e.g. people who are
suffering from phobias, depression and post-traumatic stress
disorder). It wants to know how it can utilise VR to benefit staff and
patients.
Choose ONE of the clients above. Produce a report (2800 words) that does the
following:
• helps the client to understand the evolution of Virtual Reality as an
innovation.
• analyses the ‘bigger picture’ in terms of the sector in which the client
operates by conducting appropriate analysis e.g. PESTLE, SWOT,
Porter’s Five Forces.
• critically analyse drivers for and barriers to the adoption of the innovation
in the particular industry context, this should be specific to the industry
sector you have chosen.
• helps the client to understand the benefits that result from incorporating
the innovation into their existing operations, products or services by
choosing ONE area where this could be used e.g. one new product or
service that could result from combining VR with something they already
create/offer or a process that could be enhanced through the use of VR.
Explain how this change can contribute to competitive advantage. This
should be specific to the sector you have chosen. Explain why you have
chosen this process, product or service, utilising what you have uncovered
about the sector (in terms of the bigger picture and the drivers for and
barriers to the adoption of the innovation).
• identify any risks that could result from using VR in the context of your
proposed new product, service or change in process.
• to explain what the organisation needs to do to make the adoption of this
new product, service or process easier in terms of its staff, analyse and
recommend possible strategies that could be employed in terms of change
management.
• outlines how the organisation can capture learning from the process of
adopting this new product or service.
You should utilise and evidence a range of tools and techniques outlined in the
module, in terms of innovation management, when constructing the report. This
should include (and is not limited to) tools such as PESTLE, failure mode effect
analysis and innovation family trees. You should also utilise appropriate and credible
case studies and research throughout the report that strengthen the analysis and
recommendations that you are providing and show your understanding not just of the
specific client’s context, but knowledge gathered from the wider context (in terms of
benchmarking).
