The Key Innovators of Uber - Assignment Example

Question 1

The 3 most interesting innovations explored by my classmates and that I would like to analyze further are Skype, Instagram, and Uber. These are great innovations of our times and have completely transformed communication and transport.

Question 1a

The Instagram app was developed over a period of 8 weeks. However, before the start of the 8 weeks of developing the app, there was over a year of background research that aimed at understanding the client and the server. During the period, the innovators were busy striving to analyze the Burbn codes which provided the foundation for the development of Instagram. The codes were redeveloped, distinguished, and turned into internal libraries that are reused in today’s Instagram.

Uber, on the other hand, was developed over a period of 3 years starting from 2009. The “tap a button, get a ride” idea was born in 2009, and later enhanced during the summer of 2010 when a beta was launched. The beta revolutionized transport and online booking and the innovators used it to advance their idea further and make it practicable. It was publicly launched in 2011 in San Francisco.

The development of Skype seems to have taken a longer time than that of Instagram, and Uber. It started with the development of peer-to-peer sharing of files in early 2000. It was further redefined and the beta version of Skype was released to the public in 2003, august 29.

Question 1b

The key innovators of Uber are Travis Kalanick and Garrett Camp. The two had vast experience in research and technology, a factor that significantly helped them in building and sustaining the Uber kingdom. They wanted to resolve the problems that travellers undergo when trying to seek a taxi and succeeded due to the huge funding they received from 53 investors.

Instagram was developed by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger. They were trying to resolve the issue of cluttering that their Burbn app was experiencing. Experience, determination, and resilience greatly contributed to their success. These are the same factors that contributed to the success of Skype developers Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom.

Question 1c

Apparently, from the above explications, it can be deduced that innovations occur when the society is faced with a challenge. People become innovative as they try to overcome the challenges that are threatening the peaceful, serene, and joyful synchronicity in the society (Nandram, 2006). Innovation can be encouraged through provision of necessary resources such as tools, teaching people to be critical thinkers, and offer financial resources that will support the development of a given idea (Philips, 2016).

Question 2a

The next step in fleshing out the plan for the new venture is to conduct an analysis of the Qatar market and the entire Middle East. This analysis involves assessing the purchasing behavior of potential consumers, their economic prowess, population of households connected to electricity, and establishing a team of proficient persons that will be sent to the region to create a long-lasting relationship between First Solar and Middle East residents while at the same time popularizing First Solar’s products and services. It will also be obliging to conduct a cost benefit analysis of investing in Qatar and determine whether the cash flows anticipated will be sufficient to sustain operations in a market that is highly undeveloped and faces the imminent risk of terrorism.

While market analysis will be the main source information, records from the country’s Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics will provide records with imperative information such as number of houses in need of energy, population in the country, and social stratification. Information on social stratification will be important in determining the kind of product that should be developed for the market (Nandram, 2006). This involves altering the design, price, durability, and quality of First Solar’s products and services. With this kind of information, it will be stress-free to address the risk of product failure that often contributes to the fall of many ventures.

Question 2b

This additional work is not only worthwhile but also very important. It is the only way of candidly and comprehensively understanding the target market and circumvent product failure that would otherwise torpedo the reputation of First Solar company (Philips, 2016). Globally, many investments fail due to a mismatch between consumer preferences/demand and the products or services that entrepreneurs provide. Additional research will help First Solar to determine the best products and services for the Qatar market. This will help the company come up with Solar panels that are affordable to the Qataris (Nandram, 2006). While affordability is a predominant issue, it will also be meaningful to design products that best fits the environmental conditions such as light intensity (Nandram, 2006).

Question 3a

The three interesting stories learned about in the semester are the F.B.I needs for Hackers to keep up with tech companies by Cecilia and Eric Lichtblau, the identity 2016: Facebook allowing blind people to ‘see’ its photos by David Baker and finally the story by Sheena McKenzie, the smell of success? $115 bottles of British air sold to Chinese buyers. The story of F.B.I needs for hackers to keep up with tech companies is catchy because it is not a usual phenomenon for the F.B.I to use a third party in its engagements. The story attracts attention because one would wish to know the reason behind the move and the opportunities that it may avail for the third parties. The smell of success is interesting in the way the air is harvested in nets. To many it is very obvious that air cannot be captured but the all idea of harvesting air in nets, then sealing and distributing it is just fascinating. The identity 2016: Facebook enabling the blind to see is all thrilling because it makes one to wonder how such operates. The story attracts readers since everybody is enthusiastic about the authenticity of the all idea. The information can be useful to me in various ways. For one, it would help as an entrepreneur to have a look the solution to problem from different point of view. For instance, in the case of the harvesting fresh air and selling it elsewhere in the world is an exceptional but noble way to solve problem for others. The information is also important in that it widen my thinking scope and enhances my insight on finding solution to human problems.

Question 3b

The part of the world that I most enjoyed learning while covering the news is the British. It is fascinating to learn that in the country there exists air harvesting company that distributes fresh air across the world. The information can be helpful in future when considering venturing into business; the idea can be re-imagined and pursed elsewhere in which air pollution is intolerable.

Question 3c

I think the requirement to write weekly tweets were worthwhile because it exposed us to several innovative ideas that otherwise could be learned in class. Considering using Facebook could have been good idea, but it could only served the same purpose as tweeter.

Question 3d

The global newsroom activity can be enhanced by creating a session for participation in a weekly basis. In such a session the participation should share their thoughts on the tweeted stories. The participation can enhance a broader understanding of the all activities.

Question 3e

The semester long-activity has affected my view of the world in the way a look at problems. Every problem presents a business opportunity that one can take advantage of and generate income and employment. In term of my career direction, the activity has oriented my thinking by looking problems as potential business opportunities.

Question 4a

Norman Joseph Woodland and Bill Gates are the two most interesting entrepreneurs I leant this semester. Norman (1921-2012) was born in New Jersey, Atlantic City. He developed the barcode in 1952 after overhearing an executive in a supermarket asking a dean at the engineering school at Drexel University whether he could be able to automatically capture the information regarding any product as it leaves the supermarket. The barcode idea was patented in 1953 and has revolutionized inventory management in the contemporary world of business. Born in 1955, October 28, at Seattle Washington, Bill Gates proves to be an interesting entrepreneur considering how he went about inventing Microsoft. He invented the company in 1975 as “Micro-Soft” and later, in 1976, dropped the dash to be “Microsoft” as we know it today. Many people have condemned his anti-competitive management style and anchored it on his dropping out of college, but this has not prevented him from transfiguring the operations and efficiency of computers.

Question 4b

Drawing from Brent Bower’s patterns of entrepreneurs, Norman Joseph can be said to be exemplifying the “Seeing Beyond the Beyond” pattern (Bowers, 2007). This pattern involves grabbing an opportunity and acting on it. He just overhead a supermarket executive explain the problem of tracking products as they move out of the supermarket and transformed this problem into an opportunity. Through his pliability and explorative behavior, he was able to develop an unconventional solution to the problem of tracking the movement of inventory and easing the cashing process. He accepted failure as part of his success story and devoted many of his school years at the Seattle Washington in researching about computers with particular interest on computer programming. He saw what many, including the Dean at the school of Engineering, could hardly visualize and this makes him exemplary.

Bill Gates, on the other hand, exemplifies the compulsion to be in charge, and free. He hated the idea of being under the college authority, and this is the major reason why he decided to drop from college and concentrate on developing the Microsoft Company. He desired to be dedicated and loyal to one and only one; himself. Additionally, he has a gift of leadership, a factor that has helped him adopt an anti-competitive management style while at the same time inspiring his employees to back every idea that the company comes up with. He, nevertheless, manages to control his self-esteem, life, and business, a factor that has earned him reputation and respect (Bowers, 2007).

Question 5

One personal adjustment that a person should be willing to make in a cross-cultural dealing is adapting to a new situation. A person can do so can by becoming flexible in learning and in behavioral growth as claimed by Torbiörn, (2002). This personal adjustment calls for paying a close attention to the people that are around you. It requires one to refine and increase interpersonal and intercultural communication skills through being flexible in responding to the new situation. Adapting a new situation requires a person to assume risks and make mistakes when making inquiries and even to modify behaviour and interpretations to match the needs of the situation (Torbiörn, 2002). It is a difficult stage because an individual personal reality can be altered by the culture in which the person finds himself.

Monitoring personal thoughts and feeling is also another important personal adjustment when in a different culture. It is imperative to maintain mental flexibility when in a foreign culture because it enables a person to easily adapt to the new environment as well as evading the impacts of worst cultural shock (Matsumoto, Yoo & Nakagawa, 2008). Watching ones thoughts and emotions will help to increase a person sensitivity to others and therefore instrumental in the creating a positive attitudes towards the people from the different cultural background. Thoughts and emotions when regulated can be useful because it would allow a person to reason with the surrounding people and to even understand they communication and feelings.

Additionally, personal adjustment in a new culture can be through giving a new meaning to experiences to create a new meaningful ways of coping with the stresses that come about due to cultural differences. A person can adjust behavior by giving experiences a new meaning that are appropriate to them ((Matsumoto, Yoo & Nakagawa, 2008). It is important to develop a positive adjustment in intercultural communication in such a new situation. An individual should pay attention to the values and behavior differences with the people we communicate with as well as recognizing the essence of listening with all the senses. An interaction of such kind will encourages trust and encourages important communication and friendship. Personal adjustment that should be made can be building a robust local support network especially if one is an introvert. A person needs to practice to talk to as many people as possible through opening conversation in every opportunity you get. One must develop the leisure of creating networks of important contacts.

Question 6

Considering my personality, the potential for entrepreneurship is high in me. I have good communication skills, I am self-confident, self-effacing, emotionally intelligent, self-motivated, flexible, adore financial freedom, desires to be an own boss, and have high records keeping skills. These traits are utter significance to any entrepreneur (Philips, 2016). The fact that I possess them makes me optimistic that one day I will put my entrepreneurial skills into use.

My plan is to venture into the energy sector and come up with a new way of harnessing solar energy since the use of the conventional solars has proven not to be very effective. This will probably be in 2017 after collecting all the resources and information required for the development of the idea and analysis of the global energy use and solar intensity changes in various parts of the world. Apparently, my motivation to venture into this need is driven by the global warming and climate change challenges that are threatening to engrave the contemporary society. It is only through venturing into the energy field that I will be able to attain my dream of being financially stable while contributing substantially to environmental conservation and improvement of well-being.

As both the intrinsic and extrinsic drivers combine to push me towards entering the energy sector, my invention will be targeted typically to the developing countries which suffer ominously from the adversarial effects of climate change. Such countries include India, Nigeria, and Malaysia. Considering the extent to which people in such countries are suffering, my innovation is a strategic inevitability (Philips, 2016).