Deck 4: Sources of Innovation

Question 1

Technology change is one of the most important triggers of technological innovation.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

More than 10 percent of all newly patented inventions lead to a commercial product or service.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

General purpose technologies are particularly important to innovation by new firms because these technologies permit strategic flexibility

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Regulation often opens up opportunities by altering people's preferences and by creating demand for products that had not existed before.

Question 5

Opportunities for innovation are often the result of a combination of technological, political, regulatory, social and demographic changes.

Question 6

Mathematics and computer science hold the greatest share of federal funding for research.

Question 7

The Bayh-Dole Act of 1980 gave individuals the rights to license inventions that resulted from federally funded programs.

Question 8

Applied research is conducted in an effort to understand the technical or scientific principles in a field.

Question 9

Development is the effort to use technical knowledge to produce something of commercial use.

Question 10

Microsoft spent more than any other company on R&D in 2003.

Question 11

Of the total amount spent on R&D, over 70% is spent by colleges and universities

Question 12

As a percentage of sales, the chemicals industry spends more on R&D than any other industry.

Question 13

Absorptive capacity allows companies to use information from customers, suppliers, and even competitors to develop new products and services, or new ways of making them.

Question 14

One of the benefits of R&D is that it locks companies into particular strategies.

Question 15

Requiring your research and development laboratories to use different facilities is an example of a procedure that could be used to encourage productive links between research and development.

Question 16

Amazon.com's effort to sell books on the Internet is an example of an innovation which occurred in response to the development of a new technology - the Internet - that took the form of a new method of production.

Question 17

The substitution of ceramic composites for metals in the production of motor vehicles is an example of an innovation that took the form of new materials.

Question 18

Technology innovation in nonassembled products is most likely to take the form of improved materials, product performance, processes, or production scale.

Question 19

Opportunities to create new products and processes typically emerge from changes in which of the following?

A) technology
B) politics and regulation
C) social and demographic factors
D) all of the above

Question 20

What percent of newly patented inventions ever lead to a commercial product or service?

A) less than 5 percent
B) between 5 and 10 percent
C) between 10 and 20 percent
D) more than 20 percent

Question 21

What types of technology are used along with the focal technology?

A) supplementary technologies
B) fixed technologies
C) complementary technologies
D) variable technologies

Question 22

Which of the following is not an attribute of technological change associated with subsequent innovation?

A) the magnitude of the change
B) the commercial viability of the change
C) the specificity of the change
D) all of the above are attributes

Question 23

If a technology makes possible the creation of a wide range of new products, it would most likely be considered?

A) general purpose technology
B) supplementary technology
C) complementary technology
D) fixed technology

Question 24

Which factor for change would most likely be impacted by deregulation of an industry?

A) technological
B) political and regulatory
C) social
D) demographic

Question 25

The increasing number of women in the workforce would most likely be classified as a change in which factor?

A) technological
B) political and regulatory
C) social and demographic
D) all of the above

Question 26

The creation of a market for products that mask body odor is a result of a change in which trend?

A) technological
B) political
C) social
D) demographic

Question 27

The creation of Welcabs - specially designed cars with wheelchair ramps and special seats that make it easier for the elderly to get in and out - were a result of a change in which trend?

A) political
B) regulatory
C) social
D) demographic

Question 28

Most opportunities for innovation are often a result of a change in which factor?

A) technological
B) political and regulatory
C) social and demographic
D) a combination of factors

Question 29

The startup of iFly - an air taxi service allowing corporate travelers to fly in small planes between local airports - was a result of a change in which factor?

A) technological
B) political and regulatory
C) social and demographic
D) a combination of the above factors

Question 30

Of the different entities that undertake technological innovation, which source accounts for most of the innovation?

A) companies
B) individuals
C) universities
D) government agencies

Question 31

Which field has the largest share of federal funding?

A) engineering
B) physical sciences
C) life sciences
D) mathematics and computer sciences

Question 32

Which of the following fields has the largest share of federal funding?

A) social sciences
B) engineering
C) environmental sciences
D) physical sciences

Question 33

In what year was there the greatest utilization of Cooperative Research and Development Agreements?

A) 1985
B) 1990
C) 1995
D) 2000

Question 34

According to a recent study, what percent of all new products would not have been developed in a timely manner if it were not for academic research?

A) 11 percent
B) 25 percent
C) 31 percent
D) 45 percent

Question 35

How did the Bayh-Dole Act of 1980 assist in increasing innovation?

A) allowed companies to directly patent their inventions
B) allowed individuals to work with universities to license their inventions
C) allowed universities the rights to federally funded inventions
D) it allowed all of the above

Question 36

The first step in the process model underlying investment in R&D is:

A) technological invention
B) technological innovation
C) investment in R&D
D) new or improved products or processes

Question 37

Which of the following has to come before technological invention in the process model underlying investment in R&D?

A) technology innovation
B) new or improved products or processes
C) investment in R&D
D) all of the above precede technological invention

Question 38

In the model underlying investment in R&D, which step follows technological invention?

A) investment in R&D
B) technological innovation
C) value created and captured
D) new or improved products or processes

Question 39

Which type of research is conducted in an effort to understand the technical or scientific principles in a field?

A) applied research
B) basic research
C) quantitative research
D) qualitative research

Question 40

When scientists were conducting research that let to the discovery of the transistor, what type of research were they engaged in?

A) basic
B) applied
C) developmental
D) descriptive

Question 41

What type of research is conducted in an effort to understand technical or scientific principles with a specific commercial goal in mind?

A) basic
B) applied
C) developmental
D) descriptive

Question 42

When engineers were conducting research on the transistor to develop a new type of radio receiver that could be used with it, what type of research were they engaged in?

A) developmental
B) descriptive
C) basic
D) applied

Question 43

What type of research uses technical knowledge to produce something of commercial use?

A) basic
B) applied
C) developmental
D) descriptive

Question 44

What type of research would engineers be conducting if they used technical knowledge to produce something of commercial use?

A) basic
B) applied
C) descriptive
D) developmental

Question 45

Approximately how much is spent annually on R&D?

A) $30 million
B) $300 million
C) $30 billion
D) $300 billion

Question 46

What percent of the total amount spent on R&D is accounted for by industry?

A) 5%
B) 8%
C) 16%
D) 71%

Question 47

What percent of the total amount spent on R&D is accounted for by the federal government?

A) 5%
B) 8%
C) 16%
D) 71%

Question 48

What percent of the total amount spent on R&D is accounted for by colleges and universities?

A) 5%
B) 8%
C) 16%
D) 71%

Question 49

What percent of the total amount spent on R&D is accounted for by nonprofit organizations?

A) 5%
B) 8%
C) 16%
D) 71%

Question 50

Which company spent the most on R&D as a percentage of sales in 2003?

A) Ford Motor
B) Daimler Chrysler
C) Microsoft
D) Intel

Question 51

Which company spent the least on R&D as a percentage of sales in 2003?

A) General Motors
B) IBM
C) Johnson & Johnson
D) Motorola

Question 52

What is the average R&D intensity of all industries?

A) 0.3 percent
B) 3.2 percent
C) 6.3 percent
D) 10.2 percent

Question 53

Which industry has the highest level of R&D intensity?

A) Finance, insurance, and real estate
B) Petroleum and coal products
C) Professional, scientific, and technical services
D) Electrical equipment, appliances, and components

Question 54

Which industry has the lowest level of R&D intensity?

A) Utilities
B) Petroleum and coal products
C) Professional, scientific, and technical services
D) Electrical equipment, appliances, and components

Question 55

Which of the following is not a benefit associated with R&D?

A) creates products and services that meet customer needs
B) locks companies into particular strategies
C) creates a strong intellectual property position
D) differentiates products form those of competitors

Question 56

Which of the following is not a cost associated with R&D?

A) is difficult to appropriate the returns
B) locks companies into particular strategies
C) creates a strong intellectual property position
D) is highly uncertain and does not yield high average financial returns

Question 57

Which of the following polices could be used to encourage productive links between research and development?

A) having different laboratories for researchers and product development
B) giving researchers incentives to develop new products
C) exposing basic researchers to development
D) giving development personnel incentives to develop new products

Question 58

Which form of innovation would be most closely associated with using the Internet to develop online pet food sales?

A) new product or service
B) new way of organizing
C) new market
D) new method of production

Question 59

Which form of innovation would be most closely associated with using genetic engineering to develop synthetic insulin?

A) new product or service
B) new way of organizing
C) new market
D) new method of production

Question 60

Which form of innovation would be most closely associated with using computers to automate a factory?

A) new product or service
B) new way of organizing
C) new market
D) new method of production

Question 61

Technological innovation in nonassembled products is most likely to take the form of:

A) improved materials
B) product performance
C) production scale
D) all of the above

Question 62

Identify and discuss the three major sources of opportunities for innovation.

Question 63

What are the various entities that undertake technological innovation? Describe the various types of innovation explored by each group.

Question 64

Outline the differences between basic research, applied research, and development.

Question 65

Explain why companies invest in R&D. Also explain the costs associated with R&D.

Question 66

Describe different polices that could be instituted to encourage productive links between research and development

Question 67

Discuss why the different forms that innovation can track matter for a company's technology strategy.