The
Business of Civil Engineering: Spotlight on Innovation and
Entrepreneurship
Dr.
Amartya Kumar Bhattacharya
BCE
(Hons.) ( Jadavpur ), MTech ( Civil ) ( IIT Kharagpur ), PhD ( Civil
) ( IIT Kharagpur ), Cert.MTERM ( AIT Bangkok ), CEng(I), FIE,
FACCE(I), FISH, FIWRS, FIPHE, FIAH, FAE, MIGS, MIGS – Kolkata
Chapter, MIGS – Chennai Chapter, MISTE, MAHI, MISCA, MIAHS, MISTAM,
MNSFMFP, MIIBE, MICI, MIEES, MCITP, MISRS, MISRMTT, MAGGS, MCSI,
MIAENG, MMBSI, MBMSM
Chairman
and Managing Director,
MultiSpectra
Consultants,
23,
Biplabi Ambika Chakraborty Sarani,
Kolkata
– 700029, West Bengal, INDIA.
Vice
President (East),
Association
of Consulting Civil Engineers (India).
E-mail:
dramartyakumar@gmail.com
Website:
www.multispectraconsultants.com
India's
housing market is at the crossroads. The sale price of any housing
product is much more than the cost of its construction. The buyers do
not even know that they are paying much more than the cost of
construction. In this scenario, I am building and selling housing at
price points a fraction above the actual cost of construction keeping
my profit to a minimum. Naturally, there is intense demand. Now my
competitors have only two options: either to lower their prices so as
to compete with me or to leave me with an open field in the market
for housing.
What
I am doing is clearly innovation and entrepreneurship. But what are
the sources of innovation? What are entrepreneurial strategies? Let
us look at them in a systematic way. We start by looking at the
sources of innovation.
A.
Source: The Unexpected.
1.
The Unexpected Success;
2.
The Unexpected Failure;
3.
The Unexpected Outside Event.
B.
Source: Incongruities.
1.
Incongruous Economic Realities;
2.
The Incongruity between Reality and the Assumptions about It;
3.
The Incongruity between Perceived and Actual Customer Values and
Expectations.
C.
Source: Process Need.
Successful
Innovations based on Process Needs require five basic criteria:
-
A self-contained process;
-
One 'weak' or 'missing' link;
-
A clear definition of the objective;
-
A clear specification for the solution;
-
Widespread realisation that 'there ought to be a better way', that
is, high receptivity.
D.
Source: Industry and Market Structures.
1.
Changes in the Industry Structure.
E.
Source: Demographics.
1.
Changes in Demographics
F.
Source: Changes in Perception.
G.
Source: New Knowledge.
The
Primary Characteristic of Knowledge-Based Innovation is that it has
the Longest Lead Time of All Innovations. Knowledge-Based Innovation
Requires
1.
Careful Analysis of All the Necessary Factors;
2.
Clear Focus on the Strategic Position;
3.
Need to Practice Entrepreneurial Management.
Certainly
1.
Innovation is Work;
2.
To Succeed, Innovators must Build on their Strengths;
3.
Innovation has an Effect on Economy and Society.
The
New Venture needs to have
1.
Market Focus;
2.
Financial Foresight;
3.
A Clear Answer to the Question: 'Where can I Contribute?'
There
are Four Specifically Entrepreneurial Strategies:
1.
Being 'Fustest with the Mostest' to quote a general in America's
Civil War;
2.
'Hitting Them Where They Ain't' to quote another general in America's
Civil War;
3.
Finding and Occupying a Specialised 'Ecological Niche';
4.
Changing the Economic Characteristics of a Product, a Market or an
Industry.
Finally,
Strategy is an Innovation when it creates a Customer by
1.
Creating Utility;
2.
Pricing;
3.
Adaptation to the Customer's Social and Economic Reality;
4.
Delivering What Represents True Value to the Customer.
©
MultiSpectra Consultants, 2018.
