Creativity is thinking up new things. Innovation is doing new things.
—Theodore Levitt, “Creativity Is Not Enough”

There are many viewpoints concerning innovation and many concepts of what innovation involves. These viewpoints and concepts vary by industry. In the Dictionary of Management, Nandhakumar (2010) defined innovation as “the development of new products or new ways of selling” (p. 203). Consider the following scenarios to gain an understanding of only a few simple forms of innovation:

A technology company creates a virtual reality television, allowing people to interact with their favorite characters and programs in their living rooms and revolutionizing home entertainment.

The manager of a small restaurant develops a process that enables him to deliver hot food to busy lunchtime crowds in half the usual time, resulting in higher customer satisfaction and higher profits.

Both of these scenarios depict different forms of innovation. The pressure to innovate can affect nearly every aspect of business, and the decision of whether and how to innovate generates multifaceted debates.

This week, you will explore and share your perspectives on the topics of innovation and entrepreneurship and their relationship to each other. You will also evaluate scholarly literature related to innovation and specific to your degree specialization.

Learning Objectives

Independent scholars will:

• Analyze the relationship between global innovation and entrepreneurship within organizations
• Construct an annotated bibliography of resources related to innovation in doctoral specialization

Discussion: The Innovation-Entrepreneurship Relationship

The work of the entrepreneur is to innovate and to successfully manage innovation.
—Joseph Maciariello, “Foreward to the Routledge Classics Edition,”
Peter Drucker’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Both innovation and entrepreneurship are widely touted as essential components of business and economic growth, as reflected in the epigraph. Discussion of the topics is almost unavoidable in business and government circles. Because growth in entrepreneurship and increased innovation are goals pursued simultaneously, a better understanding of the relationship between innovation and entrepreneurship has widespread practical implications for business. However, professionals and researchers from every facet of business continue to disagree on the precise definitions of both concepts, much less the relationship between them. Researchers also debate the overall impact of entrepreneurship and innovation and the factors that promote them.

Nonetheless, as more professionals engage in this debate, the academic and professional business communities gain valuable insights into this important relationship. These insights have implications not only for business and society as a whole but also for individual global change agent professionals who make decisions on an everyday basis.

To prepare for this Discussion, review this week’s Learning Resources and consider your personal and professional experiences with innovation and entrepreneurship.

By Day 3

Post an analysis of the relationship between global entrepreneurship and innovation within organizations. Your analysis should include the following:

• The implications of this relationship for individuals and global change agents within organizations
• Specifics about how this relationship affects your own approach as a global change agent to risk taking and the way your personal strengths may or may not reflect the relationship between global innovation and entrepreneurship

Be sure to support your work with a minimum of two specific citations from this week’s Learning Resources and one or more additional scholarly sources.

Refer to the Week 6 Discussion Rubric for specific grading elements and criteria. Your Instructor will use this rubric to assess your work.