The Internet of Things – A Problem-Based Learning Assignment

 

The ‘Internet of Things’ (IOT) is an exciting and far-reaching umbrella concept in which the vast potential of the Internet converges with networking, cloud-based and sensor technologies, machine- to-machine and machine-to-human communication. The drivers of this concept are mobility, miniaturisation, affordability and the insatiable appetite for humankind to communicate. The IOT is thus creating a world where the long-established notions of the essentially physical are being challenged and in many cases giving way to a new world order in which humankind pursues things ‘virtual’ and ‘instantaneous’

 

One prominent way in which the IOT is becoming increasingly embedded within our contemporary day-to-day experiences is the symbiotic relationship we now have with the mobile phone. Those owning an iPhone will have been asked by ‘Siri’ ‘Are you ok, do you need any advice? Likewise, there may be evidence too that ‘Siri’ is even beginning to work at the level of perception in the way s/he reacts to the voice stimulus of the owner of the mobile phone. In this context, the handset becomes both machine and a sensory device – an integration of the machine’s technical utility with the vital capabilities of measuring, evaluating and gathering data.

 

The intellectual leap of combining the utility of a machine with sensing capabilities to produce the ‘smart machine’ will have far reaching business consequences across all sectors and locally, nationally and globally. The idea of the integration and transmutation of ‘smart machines’ into ‘smart systems’, and/or ‘smart activities’ into ‘smart processes’, is a tantalising one. For it is here, that the possibilities for innovation and change within the differing organisational forms, not least in the areas of business, the public and third sectors, become endless.

 

The concept of IOT is very much at the embryonic stage of its life cycle, but innovations both new and linked with existing product, systems and process legacies are already surfacing and the following are just a few examples:

 

• Health & Well-being: A patent for an innovation using smartphones to measure body fat and enable users to tailor their own fitness regime has recently been
• New innovations linking smartphones to the home are enabling users in absentia to monitor the safety, security and integrity of their
• Large organisations such as Google are now willing to pay multi-billion dollar sums to buy-in innovation capabilities so as to gain early competitive advantage in the emerging IOT
• Out with boring ‘hit and miss’ tooth brushing and enter the smart toothbrush for monitoring, controlling and enhancing your brushing
• Enter smart kitchen scales, which not only weigh ingredients, but relay in real time the nutritional data on what is actually being
• If you were scared of insects, imagine the idea of microscopic robotic ones marching through your circulatory system, relaying real-time data on its status, and at the same time gobbling up offending microbes and
• And then there is the smart lavatory – indeed the mind boggles!

 

The purpose of this assignment is fundamentally two-fold. First it is intended to challenge you to think critically about innovation in the context of IOT and what this means in practice for real organisations, be they located in the ‘third’, ‘private’ or ‘public’ sectors. Second, and closely associated with the process of innovation, are the issues concerning the possible strategies for managing the change processes which the organisation in question might adopt so as to absorb, embed and leverage the business opportunities brought about by ‘smart machines’. In thinking through the innovation process, one should also be mindful to conceive of project management as one among a number of strategies for organisational change. Therefore, in tackling this assignment you will come to understand that,   to

 

 

 

a lesser or greater extent, all strategies for managing organisational change possess strengths and weaknesses as well as differing potentialities for delivering business value to the organisation.

 

 

 

The Internet of Things (IOT) Consultancy Assignment – PVIC Module

 

The context of the consultancy assignment

 

Following a recent bid, you have succeeded in winning a tender to undertake a consultancy assignment for an organisation. The decision by the Executive Board to select you from a large pool  of potentially strong candidates turned on your demonstrable innovative capabilities and your practical knowledge and experience of project and change management. The Executive Board of the organisation are particularly excited about the potential for developing new business opportunities which embrace The Internet of Things (IOT). The organisation understands that central to the success of this assignment is the aligning of thinking on the possibilities for IOT innovations to its ‘business’ purpose. Therefore, as a starting point to the assignment you have been exceptionally invited to a meeting of the Executive Board and with their guidance, you have been asked to reflect upon and redraft the organisation’s vision, mission and objectives to encompass its innovation aspirations. Additionally, because of the organisation’s current lack of knowledge and experience on the IOT it has asked for your advice and guidance on current thinking within and the direction of the IOT industry as  it relates to its own organisation, including the ‘business’ potential which possible IOT innovations could unlock. Finally, in delivering your findings, the Board of Executives requires you to ensure that you articulate how at least one of the possible IOT innovations which you propose is likely to work, be implemented, and embedded in practice within the organisation.

 

The consultancy assignment

 

1. Consider the concerns the Executive Board might express when reflecting on the purposes of vision, mission and objectives in driving innovation and change management processes in their organisation. Produce draft statements of the probable vision, mission and objectives it may need to establish so as to deliver the organisation’s aspirations for

(Indicative word length: 150)

 

1. Critically review the current literature on innovation and change and highlight likely issues which may surround the embedding and implementing of innovation and change within your selected

(Indicative word length: 1450)

 

1. Generate at least four possible IOT ideas, which your selected organisation could potentially innovate and thereby leverage business value through the use of ‘smart-machines’. Justify the reasons for choosing one of these possible

(Submit a log-book evidencing the creative process resulting in your choice of idea)

 

1. Among the four innovation possibilities generated above select one only which you identify as having strong innovation potential and produce an A1 size poster presentation that demonstrates:
   1. The strategic fit of the innovation with the selected organisation;
   2. How this innovation works in practice;
   3. The project-organisation and change strategy to be deployed to enable successful launch of the selected

 

(Submit an A1 poster presentation for formal review and critique to wider audience)

 

 

 

 

 

1. A written narrative addressed to the Executive Board of the selected organisation that:
   1. Justifies the reasons why they should adopt the chosen IOT innovation;
   2. Outlines the strategy for implementing the change process. This strategy should also advise the Board of the key benefits and risks of the

(Indicative word length: 900)

 

 

The assessment criteria

 

In assessing your consultancy report due regard will be given to the following assessment criteria:

 

1. A demonstrated grasp of the purposes of vision, mission and objective in driving innovation in the selected organisation and the extent to which these purposes align and are articulated;

(15%)

1. The synthesis, extent of critique and relevance evidenced in reviewing the project, innovation and change management literature;

(25%)

• Clear evidence of the use of creative thinking and tools in arriving at possible IOT ideas and justifying the selection of the idea with the greatest business potential for the selected organisation;

(15%)

1. The quality of the A1 poster in terms of its visual impact and the clarity with which criterion D) a, b, and c , above are

(25%)

1. The viability and practicability of the written narrative presented to the Executive Board

(20%)