Innovation in the minds of Young India

- 1 -

Organizational Behavior

[School of Petroleum Management]

Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University Gandhinagar

Research project on Innovation in the

minds of Young India

Submitted To – Dr. Satish Pandey

Submitted By –

Abhik Tushar Das (Roll No -20104001)

Ajay Cecil (Roll No -20104002)

Anand Kumar Singh (Roll No -20104003)

Date – 21-Mar-11

Innovation in the minds of Young India

- 2 -

Introduction

The project would aim at identifying the factors influencing the students at PDPU

about Innovation, as a concept and its role in society. A questionnaire based

survey is conducted to identify the factors affecting the course objectives.

Research Problem

The innovation index of India is only 56 among 130 countries on the Innovation

index and has dropped down the list compared to the previous list. This can be

attributed to the perception of people towards Innovation and also the design of

the pedagogy in Universities. The project aims at surveying a group of young

students at the Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University (PDPU) and develops a

meaningful conclusion towards identifying the problem.

Objective

The research objective is to seeks to explore answers to the following questions:

What according to you best defines Innovation?

Which of the below do you think are important attributes for becoming an

Innovator?

Do you believe that the PDPU campus has fostered an environment for

Innovation?

Where do you think India stands in terms of world ranking on Innovation?

Do you believe that Innovation comes only from your DNA and cannot be

nurtured?

Do you feel that your academic course has encouraged Innovative thinking

within yourself?

What according to you hinders India from becoming the top country in the

world for Innovation?

Who do you feel has the most important role in creating Innovative

thinking?

According to you what could become factors for furthering Innovation in

India?

Do you think that you could benefit as students if a technology forum on

Innovation was established on campus?

Innovation in the minds of Young India

- 3 -

Research Approach

The approach for the research project would involve the following:

1. Collection of relevant information and literature reviews to understand the

concept of innovation.

2. Analyzing the existing psychology of students about innovation.

3. Conducting a questionnaire based sample survey for obtaining individual

responses.

4. Applying business statistics tools (mean, median, and mode) further present the

data in numerical form (as per table below).

Thus, the research project would involve four stages.

a) Questionnaire formation

b) Data collection

c) Data analysis

d) Conclusions

Data Source

The primary data (samples) would be obtained through questionnaire based

survey.

Other reports/ studies would be obtained from various published sources and

on-line journals (based on their availability in the public domain).

Data Analysis

Based on the existing studies, the following sets of factors identify the

perceptiveness regarding the innovative thought processes in the minds of

students:

a) Academic curriculum

It measures innovation as a function of the course pedagogy in the

university and its ability to foster the minds of young students to adopt an

out-of-the-box thinking ability.

b) Personality traits

Innovation in the minds of Young India

- 4 -

It measures the inherent qualities in an individual and its effects on

innovative thinking.

c) Global perspective

This measures the effect of globalization on the ability of an individual to

think innovatively, and its role in promotion of innovation as a unique

concept.

To assess the significance of these factors in determining the perceptiveness of

students regarding innovation, a questionnaire based survey was conducted. The

questionnaire is given in Annexure.

Innovation in the minds of Young India

- 5 -

Discussion

1. What according to you best defines Innovation?

Inference: According to survey 58 % of the respondents define innovation as an “application of

a fresh idea”

2. Which of the below do you think are important attributes for becoming an Innovator?

Inference: According to survey 37.5 % of the respondents rates creative mind as the most

important attribute for becoming an innovator.

Q1 definition Answer

a 28

b 2

c 14

d 4

e 0

Q2 rank1 rank2 rank3 rank4 rank5

a 4 14 12 8 10

b 16 10 10 12 0

c 10 8 12 14 4

d 0 4 4 6 34

e 18 10 10 8 0

Innovation in the minds of Young India

- 6 -

3. Do you believe that the PDPU campus has fostered an environment for Innovation?

Inference: According to survey 29% of the respondents believe that pdpu campus has fostered

an environment for innovation.

4. Where do you think India stands in terms of world ranking on Innovation?

Inference: According to survey 1/3 of the respondents believe that India ranks between 35 to 50

in the world ranking of innovation. According to 2010 survey by World Bank and the

Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development , India holds 56 position.

5. Do you believe that Innovation comes only from your DNA and cannot be nurtured?

Inference: According to survey 45.8 %respondents disagree that innovation comes by birth and

can not be nurtured.

Q3 PDPU Answer

a 2

b 14

c 10

d 12

e 10

Q4 India rank Answer

a 8

b 4

c 12

d 16

e 8

Q5 DNA Answer

a 2

b 6

c 0

d 22

e 18

Innovation in the minds of Young India

- 7 -

6. Do you feel that your academic course has encouraged Innovative thinking within yourself?

Inference: According to survey37.5% of the respondents agreed that academic courses

encourage innovative thinking in oneself.

7. What according to you hinders India from becoming the top country in the world for

Innovation?

Inference: According to survey 37.5 % of the respondents believe lack of coordination in

government departments prevents India to becoming the top country n the world for

innovation.

Q6 course Answer

a 2

b 18

c 8

d 14

e 6

Q7 rank 1 rank 2 rank 3 rank 4 rank 5

a 2 16 6 16 6

b 12 4 10 12 8

c 14 8 8 2 14

d 18 4 12 2 10

e 0 14 10 12 10

Innovation in the minds of Young India

- 8 -

Q10 Answer

a 18

b 32

c 0

d 0

e 0

8. Who do you feel has the most important role in creating Innovative thinking?

Inference: According to survey83.3% of the respondents believe that the individual has most

important role in creating innovative thinking.

9. According to you what could become factors for furthering Innovation in India?

Inference: According to survey 62.5 % of the respondents feels developing ones skill set is the

most important factor for the innovation.

10. Do you think that you could benefit as students if a technology forum on Innovation was

established on campus?

Inference: According to survey 66.6 % of the respondents agrees to the fact that one could

benefit as students if a technology form on innovation was established in campus.

Q8 rank 1 rank 2 rank 3 rank 4 rank 5

a 40 4 0 0 4

b 2 24 10 8 4

c 2 16 10 16 2

d 0 0 12 10 26

e 4 4 14 14 12

Q9 rank 1 rank 2 rank 3 rank 4 rank 5

a 14 18 6 0 12

b 2 14 12 14 6

c 30 4 4 8 2

d 2 6 10 12 18

e 0 6 18 14 10

Innovation in the minds of Young India

- 9 -

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

SPM SPT SOT SLS

Male

Female

Innovation in the minds of Young India

- 10 -

S

No. Innovation drivers Weightage

1 Academic curriculum

33.33%

2 Personality traits

33.33%

3 Global perspective 33.33%

Findings

S

No. Innovation Drivers Results

(% of

respondents)

1 Academic curriculum

31.46

2 Personality traits

42.68

3 Global perspective 25.86

Innovation in the minds of Young India

- 11 -

Implication

Conclusion

The ability to innovate is a vital core competency that you should possess as a

manager for successful businesses. The process of innovative thinking should

however begin early in the life of the individual. At the university level the student

can be empowered in his thoughts from his interaction with intellectual minds,

faculty can play an important role in nurturing and stimulating innovation,

academics will govern the right path for the individual and provide a forum for

interaction on innovative ideas. This will set the stage for an environment where

the learning will shift to innovative thinking. Innovation is the application of a

new idea, a process or a different way of doing things and innovative thinking is

the beginning of this process. Our study reflects that Personality traits are the most

important factor responsible for being an innovator. However, contrary to this

popular belief, it is well established by studies that academics also plays a major

role in developing innovators. It is not just a single factor but a combination of

both that leads to successful innovative thinking in the individual or student. We

have lot to learn from other countries such as Iceland, Sweden and Hongkong at

the top of the innovation index. Finally, we can rightly claim that the pillars of

innovation are built at the university level.

Innovation in the minds of Young India

- 12 -

Reflection

1. Maital & Seshadri, S.M. & D.V.R (2007), Innovation Management, London: Sage, p

117-140.

2. Barton Rabe, C.B.R (2006), The Innovation Killer, Broadway, New York: Amacom,

P 9-20

3. Subbarao, E.C (2008), An Eye for Excellence, New Delhi: Harper Collins, p 22-35

4. http://www.insead.edu/facultyresearch/centres/elab/documents/GIIFinal0809.pdf

5. http://www.livemint.com/2010/03/03213600/Iceland-tops-innovation-index.html

6. http://www.tenfacesofinnovation.com/thebook/index.htm

7. The Art of Innovation: Lessons in Creativity from Ideo, America's Leading Design Firm

by Tom Kelley

8. http://www.amazon.com/Innovation-Entrepreneurship-Peter-F-

Drucker/dp/0887306187/ref=cm_lmf_img_2#reader_0887306187

9. http://siteresources.worldbank.org/SOUTHASIAEXT/Resources/223546-

1181699473021/3876782-1191373775504/indiainnovationfull.pdf

Innovation in the minds of Young India

- 13 -

ANNEXURE

1. What according to you best defines Innovation? (choose any one)

a) Application of a fresh idea

b) An invention

c) Doing things differently

d) New technology

e) Don’t know

2. Which of the below do you think are important attributes for becoming an Innovator?

(Rank 1-5, 1 has highest rank)

a) Motivation __

b) Visionary __

c) Independent – minded __

d) Defy the crowd __

e) Creative – minded __

3. Do you believe that the PDPU campus has fostered an environment for Innovation?

a) Strongly agree

b) Agree

c) Undecided

d) Disagree

e) Strongly disagree

4. Where do you think India stands in terms of world ranking on Innovation?

a) Top 15

b) 15 – 20

c) 20 – 35

d) 35 – 50

e) 50 – 60

5. Do you believe that Innovation comes only from your DNA and cannot be nurtured?

a) Strongly agree

b) Agree

c) Undecided

d) Disagree

e) Strongly disagree

Innovation in the minds of Young India

- 14 -

6. Do you feel that your academic course has encouraged Innovative thinking within

yourself?

a) Strongly agree

b) Agree

c) Undecided

d) Disagree

e) Strongly disagree

7. What according to you hinders India from becoming the top country in the world for

Innovation? (Rank 1-5, 1 has highest rank)

a) Bureaucracy __

b) Lack of coordination in govt. Departments __

c) Poor quality in post graduate studies __

d) Lack of vision __

e) Poor funding __

8. Who do you feel has the most important role in creating Innovative thinking?

(Rank 1-5, 1 has highest rank)

a) Individual (you) __

b) Classmates __

c) Faculty __

d) PDPU __

e) Clubs __

9. According to you what could become factors for furthering Innovation in India?

(Rank 1-5, 1 has highest rank)

a) R&D initiatives __

b) Foreign collaboration __

c) Developing one’s skill set __

d) Venture capitalists __

e) Technology Park & Incubators by govt. __

10. Do you think that you could benefit as students if a technology forum on Innovation was

established on campus?

a) Strongly agree

b) Agree

c) Undecided

d) Disagree

e) Strongly disagree