Assess The Entrepreneurial Innovation

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

Introduction

Although entrepreneurship is a relative new topic in the academic word compared with other subject, the importance this topic could not be ignored. Actually, entrepreneurship is becoming more and more popular topic. Many high schools began to tech entrepreneurship as a course from many years ago, like Birmingham City University.

As the topic, the theory used in this essay is entrepreneurial innovation. Actually, it is innovation. In this academic area, learners always put entrepreneurship and innovation together when they talk and separate them when they study (Elspeth McFadzean, Andrew O'Loughlin, Elizabeth Shaw, 2005). So, it is difficult to find the connection between entrepreneurship and innovation in this essay. Also, entrepreneurship would not be mentioned as frequently as innovation.

Sergey Brin and Larry Page are the co-founders of Google. Compare with the other large company like Microsoft and Apple, the company is a really young company. What should be mentioned is those the founders of Microsoft was retired, the founders of Apple has dead, the co-founders of Google are still young. So it is interesting what kind of entrepreneurial innovation those co-founders have ever made.

This essay will use a series of innovation process models to assess the entrepreneurial innovation behaviours of Sergey Brin and Larry Page (the co-founder of Google). The main body of this essay will include three parts, literature review, practice description and synthesize analysis.

Main Body

Literature Review

Although the main job of this essay is applying innovation process models to Sergey Brin and Larry Page’s example, it is necessary to prove that those two co-founders are entrepreneurs and the process they build Google should be an innovation process first. So it would be necessary to give the definition of entrepreneurship and innovation as following.

Definition of entrepreneurship

According to Leibenstein (1968), entrepreneurship can be defined as: The activities necessary to create or carry on an enterprise where not all the markets are well established or clearly defined and/or in which the relevant parts of the production function are not completely known.

Definition of innovation

Invention is the narrowest definition of innovation. For many years, research and Development has been closely associated with technological innovation. According to Drucker (1985), there were seven basic sources of opportunities to innovate but only one of them was to do with inventing something new. Therefore, innovation is more than invention and does not have to be technical. There are numerous examples of social and economic inventions. Innovation is a proposed theory or design concept that synthesizes extant knowledge and techniques to provide a theoretical basis for a new concept.

Key innovation process models

In the model of Utterback (1971), the innovation process was separated into 3 phrases: idea generation, problem-solving, and implementation and diffusion. The key variables in this model are Current economic and social environments and Current technological knowledge. This model takes changing technology and needs over time into consideration, but fails to recognise the use of personnel, collaboration and networking

In the model of Roberts and Fusfeld (1981) , the innovation was describe as a multi-stages process which contain pre-project, project possibilities, project initiation, project execution, project outcome evaluation, and project transfer. This model has considerate the required roles in the innovation process, but did not take any commercialisation or marketing features into account.

In the model of Roberts (1988), Robert also described innovation as a multi-stages process. He separated the progress as: recognition of opportunity, idea formulation, problem solving, prototype solution, commercial development and technology utilization and/or diffusion. In this model, market and technology are the key variables. Comparing with his last model in 1981, this model has take market into consideration. The weakness of this model is failing to recognise the use of personnel, collaboration and networking

Couger (1995) defined the innovation as a four stages process. They are discovery, invention, innovation, and output. As strength, it presents the relationships between creativity and innovation. The weakness is that it largely focuses on the stages of innovation rather than the variety of variables that make up these stages.

The Model of Cooper (1998) shows three dimensions of innovation: product/process, incremental/radical, and administrative/technological. In this model, the three dimensions defined itself became the main variables. Compare with former models, it suggests that innovations can possess the characteristics of different dimensions. Thus, they can be looked at from a broader perspective. But it still has weakness that it focuses on innovation dimensions rather than processes, functions.

The model of Dooley and O’Sullivan (2001) consist three integrated elements; goals-constraints, actions and results. It built a structured approach to systems innovation to facilitate continuous innovation but largely focuses on internal processes rather than future opportunities or potential commercialisation processes.

Proposition

The purposes those model builders above are to help people get better understanding about entrepreneurship. So, the provisions of this essay are that the case of Sergey Brin and Larry could fully comply with all those models mentioned in the literature review. But first they should be proved as entrepreneurs and their process of founding Google should be recognised as innovation.

Practical Section

The resource finally adopted in this essay is a biography of Sergey Brin and Larry Page. There are two versions of this book, paper-back and electronic. The version I used was electronic version, as it is easy to carry it. Different from most other material which focuses on particular point, all rounds information about those two entrepreneurs could be found in this solely book.

The increased number of web site

In the 1990s, the Internet was fairly new to the public. A world of possibilities had been opened, but finding information on the Internet was difficult. A person had to know the exact uniform resource locator of a Web page. Otherwise, there was no guarantee he or she would find the location with a search. In August 1995, more than 18,000 web sites existed, and that number was growing daily. By 2006, that number would hit a milestone: 100 million. With an average of more than 9 million new web sites created yearly, sifting through web content to find useful information was a time-consuming challenge.

The weakness of early search engine

The early search engines such as WebCrawler, Lycos, Infoseek, and Excite produced a list of web sites based on how many times the search term appeared on the web page. However, none of the existing search engines provided a results list based on the quality of the Web site or the relevancy of the information. If a person conducted a search on dolphins, for example, he or she might get a list of several web pages containing the word dolphin, but the results were not arranged in a helpful order. Simply because the word dolphin appeared more times on a Web page did not mean that page offered better information than another.

Page’s thought

Brin and Page realized the inefficiency of those early search engines. They knew the Internet held a vast amount of data and the data was useless if people could not find it easily. Page became interested in links on web pages and how they might offer a new approach to searching.

Links connect web sites. A visitor to one site is sent to another by simply clicking a highlighted word or phrase. Page believed links were similar to citations in published scholarly papers. When researching and writing, scientists cite, or reference, other published papers that support their ideas. Citations serve as a way of giving credit to other researchers for their work. By citing another person’s work, a researcher is saying that the other work is useful or important.

Page wondered if he could apply the same logic to Internet links. He applied this theory by suggesting that Internet sites with the most links to them were more important than sites with fewer links, as judged by Internet users. He also believed a back link with more back links to it carried more clout than one with fewer.

Gathering Resources & Delivering Plan into Practice

Once the two men worked out the science behind the BackRub search engine, they had the groundwork for testing their theory that a search engine based on back links would prove more efficient for online searches. But they needed a lot of computers to store and process the vast amount of information on the Internet.

Page and Brin scavenged for any computers they could get their hands on. They occasionally visited the university’s loading docks in search of equipment that had not yet been picked up by its owners. As they gained processing power, the team was able to use a type of program called a spider to scour the Internet for Web sites. Next, they downloaded the web sites onto their computers, where the sites could be analyzed for links. Page and Brin were almost inseparable. They spent most of their time together, usually in their office.

Success at Stanford

Brin and Page help of faculty adviser Rajeev Motwani in preparing the search engine as a prototype for internal use at Stanford. Faculty and students were able to use Google, which was then online at ‘google.Standford.edu’. Users provided Brin and Page with feedback about how well they felt the search engine worked. Users were excited to finally have a search engine that produced results ranked by their value. The university helped Brin and Page seek a patent for their creation. The young men set out to redesign the home page. The search engine proved to be a much better tool than its counterparts at the time. Brin and Page were confident in their program.

Analysis

Complying with the Definition of Entrepreneurship

According to the definition mentioned in the literature review, Sergey Brin and Larry Page are entrepreneurs. They have created a new enterprise named Google. In the search market, all the exits search engines were not well developed.

Complying with the Definition of Innovation

As the classification of Drucker, the source of Brin and Page’s innovation is process need. The earlier search engine is not enough efficient enough, so they develop a new one. This innovation is not a new invention but is a technology innovation. The theory and concept used is the similarity between web links and citations in published scholarly papers.

Complying with key Innovation Process Model

Utterback (1971)

Idea Generation - Brin and Page realized the inefficiency of those early search engines. Page believed links were similar to citations in published scholarly papers. Page wondered if he could apply the same logic to Internet links.

Problem Solving - Page believed links were similar to citations in published scholarly papers. He applied this theory by suggesting that Internet sites with the most links to them were more important than sites with fewer links, as judged by Internet users.

Implementation and Diffusion - After scavenging for any computers they could get, the team used a type of program called a spider to scour the Internet for Web sites and downloaded the web sites onto their computers, where the sites could be analyzed for links. They helped build the search engine at Stanford. Users provided Brin and Page with feedback about how well they felt the search engine worked.

Roberts and Fusfeld (1981)

Pre-project - None of the existing search engines provided a results list based on the quality of the Web site or the relevancy of the information.

Project possibilities - Page wondered if he could apply the same logic to Internet links. He suggested that Internet sites with the most links to them were more important than sites with fewer links, as judged by Internet users. He also believed a back link with more back links to it carried more clout than one with fewer.

Project initiation - After scavenging for any computers they could get, they gained processing power. The team used a type of program called a spider to scour the Internet for Web sites and downloaded the web sites onto their computers, where the sites could be analyzed for links.

Project outcome evaluation - After they helped build the search engine at Stanford, users provided Brin and Page with feedback about how well they felt the search engine worked.

Project transfer - Cannot be found

Roberts (1988)

Recognition of opportunity - None of the existing search engines provided a results list based on the quality of the Web site or the relevancy of the information.

Idea formulation - Page wondered if he could apply the same logic to Internet links. He applied this theory by suggesting that Internet sites with the most links to them were more important than sites with fewer links, as judged by Internet users. He also believed a back link with more back links to it carried more clout than one with fewer.

Problem solving - After scavenging for any computers they could get, Brin and Page gained processing power. They used a type of program called a spider to scour the Internet for Web sites and downloaded the web sites onto their computers, where the sites could be analyzed for links.

Prototype solution - They helped build the search engine at Stanford. Faculty and students were able to use Google, which was then online at ‘google.Standford.edu’.

Commercial development and technology utilization and/or diffusion - Cannot be found

Couger (1995)

Discovery- Page believed links were similar to citations in published scholarly papers. When researching and writing, scientists cite, or reference, other published papers that support their ideas. Citations serve as a way of giving credit to other researchers for their work. By citing another person’s work, a researcher is saying that the other work is useful or important.

Invention & Innovation - What could be sure is that Brin and Page produce a new kind of method which could provide user with better search result. As well know, the exactly material of this invention or innovation is Google’s commercial secret which could not be got from secondary information even interview.

Output - They helped build the search engine at Stanford. Faculty and students were able to use Google, which was then online at ‘google.Standford.edu’.

Cooper (1998)

Product/Process - The product of Brin and Page is search engine. They enlisted the help of faculty adviser Rajeev Motwani in preparing the search engine as a prototype for internal use at Stanford.

Incremental/Radical - The innovation of Brin and Page is incremental innovation. The search engine already existed before they make this innovation. Their purpose is to develop a more efficient search engine.

Administrative/Technological - The innovation of Brin and Page is technological innovation as the search industry is based on internet.

Dooley and O’Sullivan (2001)

Goals-constraints - Brin and Page realized the inefficiency of those early search engines. They knew the Internet held a vast amount of data and the data was useless if people could not find it easily. Both men realized the value of a better internet search engine—one that would offer the user a ranking system based on importance rather than randomness.

Actions - Once the two men worked out the science behind the BackRub search engine, they tested their theory that a search engine based on back links would prove more efficient for online searches. In order to store and process the vast amount of information on the Internet, Page and Brin scavenged for any computers they could get their hands on. As they gained processing power, the team used a type of program called a spider to scour the Internet for Web sites. Next, they downloaded the web sites onto their computers, where the sites could be analyzed for links.

Results - Brin and Page enlisted the help of faculty adviser Rajeev Motwani in preparing the search engine as a prototype for internal use at Stanford. Faculty and students were able to use Google, which was then online at ‘google.Standford.edu’. The search engine proved to be a much better tool than its counterparts at the time. Brin and Page were confident in their program.

Conclusion

Complying with the Definition of Entrepreneurship

Sergey Brin and Larry Page could be seen as entrepreneurs. They developed a better search engine which has better performance than any other earlier search engine. They made the foundation of Google Company.

Complying with the Definition of Innovation

Sergey Brin and Larry Page did make an innovation. This innovation is an technology innovation as it was made in the search industry. The source of their innovation is process need, not some fully new creating.

Complying with Key innovation Process

The entrepreneurial innovation of Sergey Brin and Larry Page’s innovation could fully comply with the innovation process model of Utterback (1971). The evidences of idea generation, problem-solving, and implementation and diffusion could be easily found from the material of practice description.

The entrepreneurial innovation of Sergey Brin and Larry Page’s innovation could almost comply with the innovation process model of Roberts and Fusfeld (1981). The evidences of pre-project, project possibilities, project initiation, project execution, project outcome evaluation could be easily found from the material of practice description. Due to the lack of practice information about commercialization of Google, the evidence of project transfer could not be found from the fact part.

The entrepreneurial innovation of Sergey Brin and Larry Page’s innovation could fully comply with the innovation process model of Roberts (1971). The evidences of recognition of opportunity, idea formulation, problem solving, prototype solution, commercial development and technology utilization and/or diffusion could be easily found from the material of practice description.

The entrepreneurial innovation of Sergey Brin and Larry Page’s innovation could fully comply with the innovation process model of Couger (1995). As mentioned in the literature review the invention is the narrowest definition of innovation, the evidence of invention and innovation has been combined. Evidences of idea generation, problem-solving, and implementation and diffusion could be easily found from the material of practice description.

The entrepreneurial innovation of Sergey Brin and Larry Page’s innovation could fully comply with the innovation process model of Cooper (1998). The evidences of product/process, incremental/radical, and administrative/technological could be easily found from the material of practice description.

The entrepreneurial innovation of Sergey Brin and Larry Page’s innovation could fully comply with the innovation process model of Dooley and O’Sullivan (2001). The evidences of goals-constraints, actions and results could be easily found from the material of practice description.

As the proposition, every innovation process models could be implied with the entrepreneurial innovation of Sergey Brin and Larry Page. Although every model has it weakness, these models are vital because organisations need to increase their speed of development and reduce the time it takes from idea conception to market distribution.