Chapter 3—Recognizing and Shaping an Opportunity
TRUE/FALSE
1. Creativity enables entrepreneurs to differentiate their businesses from competitors so that customers
will notice them.
2. Stage seven of Norman Seeff’s creative process represents the emotional fulfillment of the original
dream.
3. Common types of roadblocks to creativity are personal, relational, and environmental.
4. The illumination step in Wallas’s creative process brings the idea to an outcome.
5. Discovery theory and creation theory help explain how entrepreneurial opportunities happen.
6. Entrepreneurs erect roadblocks that prevent them from being creative.
7. The environment in which a person works can either stimulate or discourage creativity.
8. The creative journey begins with maintaining a journal of one’s thoughts and ideas.
9. Entrepreneurs build businesses based on concepts that never existed before.
10. One of the most effective ways that entrepreneurs have of finding opportunity is to see a problem and
seek a solution.
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. Entrepreneurs differ from others who have ideas in that they know how to extract ____ from those
ideas to creative commercial potential.
a.
value
b.
creativity
c.
innovation
d.
opportunities
e.
problems
2. ____ sees opportunity arising from shifts in external factors in the market or industry, such as
regulation, technological changes, and changes in customer preferences.
a.
Problem solving
b.
Innovation
c.
Creation theory
d.
Discovery theory
e.
Value creation
3. In ____, entrepreneurs create opportunities via their actions, reactions, and experiments around new
products, services, and business models.
a.
invention
b.
innovation
c.
creation theory
d.
discovery theory
e.
value creation
4. Creativity is the basis for ____, which is discovering something that did not exist previously.
a.
invention
b.
innovation
c.
creation theory
d.
discovery theory
e.
value creation
5. ____ is finding a new way to do something or improving on an existing product or service.
a.
Invention
b.
Innovation
c.
Creation theory
d.
Discovery theory
e.
Value creation
6. Noller developed a formula that suggests that creativity is a function of three dynamics: knowledge,
imagination, and ____.
a.
invention
b.
association
c.
problem solving
d.
discovery
e.
evaluation
7. Which of the following is not one of the four stages of the creative process identified by Wallas?
a.
Preparation
b.
Association
c.
Incubation
d.
Illumination
e.
Verification
8. No time for creativity, lack of confidence, and absence of creative skills are all examples of ____
roadblocks.
a.
creativity
b.
invention
c.
innovation
d.
business opportunity
e.
functional
9. Creativity is the behavior that results in ____.
a.
manipulation
b.
innovation
c.
intuition
d.
illumination
e.
problem solving
10. ____ on a regular basis trains the mind to shift quickly into the creative mode.
a.
Brainstorming
b.
Minimizing distractions
c.
Contemplation
d.
Changing networks
e.
None of these choices
11. According to Rosabeth Moss Kanter, accountability, collaboration, and initiative are all elements of
____.
a.
innovation
b.
confidence
c.
creativity
d.
intuition
e.
invention
12. Reducing some of the risk of entrepreneurship and building confidence can be achieved by ____.
a.
devoting time each day to quiet contemplation
b.
identifying a problem and solving it
c.
conducting a feasibility analysis
d.
becoming more observant
e.
using a personal network
13. Closing the door, shutting off the phone, and turning off email to prepare to do some creative thinking
are all examples of how you can ____.
a.
effectively solve problems
b.
minimize distractions
c.
develop a creative culture
d.
design physical settings that inspire people to be creative
e.
All of these choices
14. ____ is one of the most successful new product idea companies in the world.
a.
IBM
b.
Apple
c.
Microsoft
d.
IDEO
e.
OSHA
15. Most business ideas stem from a/an ____ that an entrepreneur sees in his or her immediate
environment.
a.
problem
b.
solution
c.
journal
d.
innovation
e.
community
16. The second most commonly cited source of new venture ideas is ____.
a.
journaling
b.
business associates
c.
brainstorming
d.
existing ideas
e.
opportunities
17. Thinking like a/an ____ can stimulate the natural creativity in everyone.
a.
child
b.
creativity guru
c.
inventor
d.
entrepreneur
e.
None of these choices
18. Creative ____ is about linking imagination and intelligence, emotion, and logic to arrive at the optimal
opportunity.
a.
entrepreneurship
b.
thinking
c.
problem solving
d.
innovation
e.
networking
19. The best question to ask to define a problem is ____?
a.
how can I fix this problem
b.
who created the problem
c.
who has the solution to this problem
d.
what is the source of the problem
e.
who is affected by this problem
20. A/An ____ reflects all the possible choices to solve the problem and its related outcomes.
a.
decision network
b.
decision tree
c.
list of pros and cons
d.
opportunity assessment
e.
brainstorming session
21. Which of the following rules does not apply to idea generation?
a.
Go for quantity over quality initially
b.
Capture every idea no matter how outlandish it may seem
c.
Piggyback on ideas to create new modifications
d.
Generate individual ideas first
e.
Evaluate individual ideas before modifying them
22. The ____ produces about three times as many ideas per unit of time and these ideas are generally of
much higher quality.
a.
hybrid process
b.
group approach
c.
collaborative process
d.
team process
e.
brainwriting approach
23. ____ involves getting ideas down on paper and then organizing the ideas and creating themes.
a.
Hybrid process
b.
Group approach
c.
Collaborative process
d.
Group think
e.
Brainwriting
24. The principle of ____ means looking for the strengths or positive aspects of a problem definition first.
a.
Positive Reinforcement
b.
Affirmative Judgment
c.
Best Problem Definition
d.
Attribute Identification
e.
Evaluation Matrix
25. ____ is concerned with the process of commercializing or extracting value from ideas.
a.
Problem identification
b.
Creativity
c.
Invention
d.
Innovation
e.
Marketing
26. ____ is the process that moves an innovation from the laboratory to the market.
a.
Commercialization
b.
Invention
c.
Transformation
d.
Innovation
e.
Marketing
27. The vast majority of innovations today are ____.
a.
technology-based
b.
inventions
c.
radical
d.
disruptive
e.
incremental
28. ____ innovations can find no identifiable market in the earliest stages of development.
a.
Technology
b.
Emergent
c.
Most
d.
Disruptive
e.
Incremental
29. In 2006, ____ percent of successful products were developed in collaboration with others.
a.
29
b.
49
c.
69
d.
79
e.
89
30. Strictly speaking, Schumpeter did not see ____ as innovation even if they generated economic growth.
a.
commercialized improvements
b.
radical improvements
c.
incremental improvements
d.
patented improvements
e.
None of these choices
SHORT ANSWER
1. Discuss the activities that are involved in the creation process.
2. Is creativity innate or learned? What does creativity have to do with entrepreneurship?
3. Identify the challenges to creativity.
4. Identify the things you can do to stimulate more creative thinking.
5. What are several techniques for making an environment more conducive to creativity?
6. Identify a problem to which you developed an innovative solution. Does your solution signal a
business opportunity? Your example can be a simple as changing ingredients in a recipe.
ANS:
7. There are number of effective ways to overcome challenges to problem solving. Discuss the more
popular strategies.
8. Discuss the sources of new product or service ideas.
9. What effects do incremental and disruptive or radical innovations have on technology?
10. Describe the innovation and commercialization process.