Case Exercise

This is a case exercise with information provided to you to utilize some of the concepts and tools from the course. In particular, the exercise asks you to produce 1) A new business idea, 2) A Business Viability Assessment, and 3) A SWOT Analysis. The case information is found below. Please read through the information and download the BVA and SWOT Analysis forms included following the case. Feel free to enhance the forms for presentation purposes, leaving the concepts intact.
Case Information:
You and a group of FIU students, including people from the business school, engineering school and marketing department meet regularly to discuss ideas including new business initiatives and ways to do something important after graduation or even while at FIU.
Your team is aware of the various entrepreneurial organizations at FIU and have contacts in them along. A few of your group have interned at startup companies and one group member worked with a large mobile telephone company. Another group member’s mother works for the Downtown Miami Business Association, a publicly funded effort to help make Miami a tech hub with links to Latin America.
Recently, one of the team came up with an idea that seems impossible. One of your group’s mobile phone battery ran out while on a trip to Ireland and since she did not have a charger with a plug that worked in Europe, she was out of touch with her family back in Miami, missed the final of an online course she was taking and failed to wish her brother Happy Birthday on his special day.
In one of the group discussions, someone said she should have planned ahead and brought an international compatible plug. Some else said she could have used a mobile charger from someone local, placing her phone on the plugged-in device. Some suggested a backup battery.
Then someone said it is too bad the wireless internet connection cannot be converted to an electrical charge capable of recharging the battery. That way, anywhere there is internet, a true wireless charging capability would be available.
The idea was considered wishful thinking due to the lack of actual power that goes into a device over the internet and the fact that no one had ever done this before made them think it must not be possible.
However, due to a class the group was taking on innovative approaches to resolving perceived needs a shared desire to create a significant solution with global benefits and achieve the size and revenue that would mean, the group decided to create a company to develop the world’s first wireless internet driven battery charger, capable of converting a wireless connection into the electricity needed to power and even recharge a mobile device.
The group’s pooled financial resources are less than $10,000. The have discussed the options of asking family and friends for money, seeking a grant from the university, bringing the idea to the mobile phone company they know or seeking external financing.
At this point they have no more than an idea, however, they are unified in their desire to pursue the idea and see it through, committing whatever finances, time, effort and connections they have. a group member thought out loud saying the team should look at external investors for the idea, like in the television show, “Shark Tank”. Another thought they should look to friends and family to help get the project going, in addition to the $10,000 they have among them. Another wondered if there are grants and other types of funding from FIU, UM, The Miami Chamber of Commerce or other organizations looking to support innovation in South Florida.
The group recently took a class on Managing Innovation and learned some key concepts and tools for analyzing new business ideas and innovations to existing businesses.
Therefore, the group decided to lay the groundwork for their idea by utilizing some of the tools they learned in the class. Specifically, they decided to:
Clearly state the idea for the new business
Create a Business Viability Assessment for the New Business, utilizing the tool provided in the class
Create a SWOT Analysis for the New Business, utilizing the tool and guidance provided in the class
For this assignment, please work individually and produce the three elements described above. The forms for the BVA and SWOT Analysis are included in the assignment, and you have them from the slides relating to the Video Lectures in the class Modules.
The process for working through the BVA and SWOT analysis is well defined and described in significant detail in the related Video Lectures, Readings and Slides in the class modules.
However, since these concepts and tools may be new to you, my advice is to work to complete the Case Exercise ahead of the due date so you can send drafts to me for input and revision. Experience shows working with me on early drafts and inputting suggested revisions results in better results compared with submitting the assignment at the due date without the opportunity for feedback and revisions.
Please attach your work in Word, PowerPoint or Excel to the Assignment.
Your work should demonstrate:
For the “New Business Idea”. Take the Case information and state a clear business idea including the capability you are creating with the new business. Give the business a name/brand.
For the “Business Viability Assessment”: Use the BVA form provided and fill out the four columns adhering to the guidance found in the course material. A fully completed example of a BVA is provided for you in the reading: “Business Viability Assessment Article”.
For the “SWOT Analysis”: Use the form provided and fill out the four boxes of the SWOT, following the guidance found in the course material. The “SWOT Analysis and the Competition Article” in the Course Modules is a robust description of the SWOT Analysis concept. Questions for defining SWOT elements are provided.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions on the Case Exercise.

Last Completed Projects