Activities & Exercises
In progressA growing collection of hands-on activities and case-based exercises for practicing the concepts covered across Innopedia — from quick individual sketches to team discussions built around real companies.
Featured interactive activities
Standalone guided activities you can work through directly.
Practice activities
Short, self-contained exercises for practicing a single concept — no case background needed.
Practice Transitions between technology S-curves
Sketch the transition from incandescent to CFL and LED lighting.
Click to reveal instructions →Practice Transitions between technology S-curves
Take a pen and paper, and sketch the transition from incandescent to CFL and LED technology in domestic lighting. What are the key factors you considered in drawing your sketch?
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Practice crossing the "chasm"
Discuss how a brain-computer-interface chip startup could cross the chasm.
Click to reveal instructions →Practice crossing the "chasm"
Discuss: How could a small start up in the technology space for brain-computer interface chips cross the chasm with an application that focuses on productivity (e.g. at work)? Let's assume the commercial use would be allowed, similar to qEEG devices (see, for example, emotiv.com for more info).
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Practice re-mixing solutions
Identify innovations built by remixing existing solutions, then discuss why.
Click to reveal instructions →Practice re-mixing solutions
Identify 3–5 technological innovations that are a result of combining/re-mixing existing solutions. Then discuss: What are the advantages of 'not-invented-here' and 're-mixed' solutions?
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Practice Reflecting on Timing of Entry Concepts
Sequence timing-of-entry concepts along a timeline using post-its.
Click to reveal instructions →Practice Reflecting on Timing of Entry Concepts
Take a pen, paper and approximately 10 small post-its.
- Draw a time arrow from left to right.
- Write the following concepts on the post-its:
- Late mover
- Pioneer
- First mover
- Window of opportunity
- Early mover
- Fast second mover
- Organize the concepts from (2) along the timeline.
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Practice organizing Sequential vs Partially Parallel Development Process
Compare communication needs in sequential vs. partially parallel development.
Click to reveal instructions →Practice organizing Sequential vs Partially Parallel Development Process
Discuss and compare how communication and collaboration should be organized in sequential vs partially parallel development processes to optimize key performance indicators for the development process.
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Crafting simple rules
Watch a short video on simple rules, then craft three of your own.
Click to reveal instructions →Crafting simple rules
In the following video, Stanford Professor Kathleen Eisenhardt introduces simple rules as straightforward guidelines or heuristics that help organizations navigate complex and fast-moving environments, such as digital business ecosystems. After watching the video, you can practice this skill by crafting three (3) simple rules that have helped you or could help you cope with complexities in your personal professional life.
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Digital strategy as a set of choices and making trade-offs
Use an LLM to explore digital-strategy trade-offs, guided by a worked example table.
Click to reveal instructions →Digital strategy as a set of choices and making trade-offs
Select a large language model (e.g. Claude, ChatGPT) to interact with and expand on examples of coherent, reinforcing strategic choices and trade-offs in the context of crafting a digital strategy, as shown in the table below. Start by identifying trade-offs that companies might need to consider and then use the LLM to find more examples for each trade-off.
Note how your prompts/queries evolved. Which examples returned by the LLM made the most sense? Which examples made no sense? Why? How does this evolution reflect your growing understanding of the importance of digital strategy as a set of choices?
| Trade-off | Example |
|---|---|
| Balancing personalised, tailored offerings with standardised products or services that are easier to scale. | Spotify offers personalised playlists based on preferences, but its core streaming platform is standardised across markets. |
| Balancing user privacy concerns with the monetisation of user data. | Google monetises user data via targeted ads while complying with privacy regulations. |
| Balancing a larger user base with lower fees vs. charging premiums for revenue. | Dropbox's freemium model attracts users, then invites upgrades once they outgrow free storage. |
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Reflection on inhibitors of disruptive growth with Christensen and Raynor's RPV framework
Reflect on RPV inhibitors of disruptive growth in your own organization.
Click to reveal instructions →Reflection on inhibitors of disruptive growth with Christensen and Raynor's RPV framework
Familiarize yourself with the core ideas behind Christensen and Raynor's RPV (resources, processes, value) framework (e.g. in their seminal book "The Innovator's Solution"). Reflect on your personal experience and identify one to three resources, processes and/or values that could inhibit disruptive growth in your organisation.
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Case-based activities
Exercises built around a real company or situation — start with the linked background reading, then go beyond it.
Practice evaluating Deployment Strategies with a case
Evaluate Tesla's open-patent deployment strategy.
Click to reveal instructions →Practice evaluating Deployment Strategies with a case
Background reading: Tesla's open-source patent decision.
Treat this as a starting point. You are encouraged to look beyond this background reading. Do you agree with this decision? Discuss the benefits and challenges associated with this decision.
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Practice evaluating and developing Ecosystems with a case
Evaluate PowerOn's ecosystem using an interdependence web figure.
Click to reveal instructions →Practice evaluating and developing Ecosystems with a case
Background reading: PowerOn, PitchBook profile, PowerOn team page.
Treat this as a starting point. You are encouraged to look beyond this background reading. Use the figure below (adapted from Leendertse et al., 2022) to evaluate PowerOn's ecosystem. How should PowerOn build on the strengths and mitigate the weaknesses of its ecosystem?
Fig. 2. Interdependence web of entrepreneurial ecosystem elements (Leendertse, Schrijvers & Stam, 2022).
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Practice Timing of Entry evaluation with a case
Debate Apple's decision not to launch the iPad in 2003.
Click to reveal instructions →Practice Timing of Entry evaluation with a case
Background reading: Apple's iPad prototype, 2002/2003.
Treat this as a starting point. You are encouraged to look beyond this background reading. Do you agree with the decision not to launch the iPad in 2003? Why or why not? Support your discussion with known timing of entry factors and with what is known about the dynamics of technology spaces.
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Practice applying the Digital Ethics Compass with a case
Apply the digital ethics compass to Clearview AI.
Click to reveal instructions →Practice applying the Digital Ethics Compass with a case
Background reading: Clearview AI.
Treat this as a starting point. You are encouraged to look beyond this background reading. What major (3–5) findings on Clearview AI's digital innovation would a workshop using the digital ethics compass generate? Support your recommendations by using the digital ethics compass framework. How could Clearview AI mitigate your concerns, if any?
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Practice a Hypothesis-Driven Approach with a case
Recommend hypotheses and tests for Gore & Associates' GHX initiative.
Click to reveal instructions →Practice a Hypothesis-Driven Approach with a case
Background reading: Gore & Associates' GHX initiative.
Treat this as a starting point. You are encouraged to look beyond this background reading. Recommend 3–5 hypotheses and tests for Gore & Associates' GHX initiative.
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Practice organizing Sourcing for Innovations with a case
Recommend how Glencore should organize sourcing for digital innovation.
Click to reveal instructions →Practice organizing Sourcing for Innovations with a case
Background reading: Glencore.
Treat this as a starting point. You are encouraged to look beyond this background reading. How should Glencore organize its sourcing of digital innovations? Support your recommendations with concepts discussed in the Innopedia entry on Systems of Sources of Innovations.
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Practice organizing the Development Process with a case
Recommend how CommBank should organize its development process.
Click to reveal instructions →Practice organizing the Development Process with a case
Background reading: CommBank.
Treat this as a starting point. You are encouraged to look beyond this background reading. How should CommBank organize its development process for digital innovations? Support your recommendations with what is known about development process models, like Stage-Gate and Agile.
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