DBA Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Digital Transformation 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is 'venture capital' (VC) and how does it primarily differ from bank loans for startups?
- VC is government-guaranteed lending; bank loans are private
- VC provides equity financing in exchange for ownership stakes, while bank loans are debt requiring repayment with interest (Correct answer)
- VC is only available to publicly traded companies
- Bank loans offer larger funding amounts than VC firms
Correct answer: VC provides equity financing in exchange for ownership stakes, while bank loans are debt requiring repayment with interest
Venture capital involves investors taking equity stakes in high-growth potential startups in exchange for funding, without requiring repayment, unlike bank debt.
Question 2: What does 'platform business model' describe in digital economy contexts?
- A traditional linear manufacturing business
- A business that creates value by facilitating interactions between two or more interdependent groups (multi-sided platforms) (Correct answer)
- A company that sells software exclusively on subscription
- A logistics company operating multiple distribution hubs
Correct answer: A business that creates value by facilitating interactions between two or more interdependent groups (multi-sided platforms)
Platform businesses (Airbnb, Uber, Amazon Marketplace) create value by enabling interactions between producers and consumers rather than creating and selling products directly.
Question 3: In the context of US corporate innovation, what are 'corporate accelerators'?
- High-speed computing systems for big data processing
- Programs run by established companies to identify, support, and potentially acquire innovative startups (Correct answer)
- Government grants for corporate R&D projects
- Fast-track promotion programs for high-potential employees
Correct answer: Programs run by established companies to identify, support, and potentially acquire innovative startups
Corporate accelerators provide startups with funding, mentoring, and resources in exchange for equity or strategic partnership opportunities, helping large companies access disruptive innovation.
Question 4: What is the 'technology adoption life cycle' (Rogers' Diffusion of Innovations)?
- The stages a technology goes through from invention to obsolescence
- A model describing how different segments of society adopt new technologies over time: innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, laggards (Correct answer)
- The regulatory approval timeline for new technologies
- A software development lifecycle framework
Correct answer: A model describing how different segments of society adopt new technologies over time: innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, laggards
Rogers' model describes how innovations spread through social systems, with adoption rates following an S-curve as different adopter categories accept the innovation at different times.
Question 5: What is 'design thinking' as applied in US business innovation?
- An aesthetic philosophy for product packaging
- A human-centered problem-solving approach that emphasizes empathy, ideation, prototyping, and testing (Correct answer)
- A technical design specification methodology
- A copyright protection strategy for design assets
Correct answer: A human-centered problem-solving approach that emphasizes empathy, ideation, prototyping, and testing
Design thinking (popularized by IDEO and Stanford d.school) is a creative problem-solving methodology that starts with deep user empathy, rapidly generates and tests solutions, and iterates based on feedback.
Question 6: In digital transformation, what is 'artificial intelligence (AI) governance'?
- The use of AI to automate government services
- A framework of policies, processes, and controls ensuring AI systems are developed and used responsibly, ethically, and in compliance with regulations (Correct answer)
- An AI-powered management reporting system
- The administrative overhead of managing AI project teams
Correct answer: A framework of policies, processes, and controls ensuring AI systems are developed and used responsibly, ethically, and in compliance with regulations
AI governance establishes accountability, transparency, fairness, and compliance frameworks for AI development and deployment, increasingly required by US organizations and regulators.
DBA Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Digital Transformation 2
What is 'venture capital' (VC) and how does it primarily differ from bank loans for startups?