Reference no: EM132367278

CAPSTONE ASSESSMENT

Creating and selling original ideas (Individual project)

Scenario:

BIOcap is a think tank start-up. Management is mobilising its consultants (that is you) to generate initial capital for future projects. To do this the company will essentially act as a consultancy undertaking any jobs commissioned by the incoming clients. Each of the consultants has landed a contract to develop a blended product to essential market their clients research.

Your clients are not the most gifted at selling their research and so it is up to you to build a solid selling angle for their research that your client can use to petition others for investment. The revenue raised from this campaign will contribute to the corporate funds available for co-funding projects to meet the goals of BIOcap.

Context:

Think tanks in general are organisations that aim to design and implement innovative solutions to address significant contemporary problems. These solutions maybe prototyped or implemented through the organisation and/or the solutions realised through organisations that serve as clients.

For the most part think tanks have their own agenda which is defined bythe organisational values and goals which is essentially their vision for how they wish to influence society. As a consultant then you would be required to contribute to the think tank by providing innovative ideas for both the organisation and its clients.

In order for a think tank to realise its own innovations it must first generate a revenue stream to build its capacity. The think tank may generate enough capital to conduct its own projects but often they seek just enough for co-contribution funding which can be attained through granting bodies. Examples include government initiatives that will match capital raised by think tanks to tackle problems government require solutions for.

Importance of task:

An idea is only as good as your ability to convince others of its importance. To illustrate the concept that in any work place there will be times in which you need to convince others that your ideas matter. Egs:

a. As a teacher you may need to convince the principal to buy some new microscopes despite the budget only catering for dropping in new cricket pitches;

b. As a clinician you may have read a study that shows promise for the treatment of a particular ailment or potentially provides greater detection value for an issue and you need to convince the head clinician this would be worth trialling;

c. As a scientist you need to convince a funding body that your pie in the sky idea is worthwhile funding.

It is all about making a pitch that is convincing enough that they will be compelled to ‘invest’ in your idea whether that be money, time, acceptance, moral support, stimulating further investigation or even instigating change such as changing process or shifting policy stance.

This assignment is specifically designed to give you an opportunity to develop and heighten your transformative skills. Thus, many of the employability skill set is required to be successful at this task.

From this task you should be able to build a strong narrative that provides a future employer with a sense of your capacity to think innovatively as well as value-add to your CV with a range of skills in communication and innovation. It is important to recognise early on that this task is transformative and thus is an open-ended task. This means there is no right or wrong way to create the product but instead there is a stronger and weaker way of selling your idea and thus completing the brief provided by the client.

It is also important to realise that the skills from this assignment are highly transferable and although the topic you are assigned may not be your focus in life the skills you hone and develop through this process are crucial if you wish to effect change in society. Lastly, this exercise superficially may not seem like a scientific endeavour as it draws upon creative arts. The task however is the very essence of scientific endeavour.

Science despite the image portrayed by the media is an inherently creative discipline. Research programs are developed entirely from individuals using their conceptual strength to develop new lines of thought and this only comes about through being alert for new opportunities.

Attachment:- Project Management Skills.rar