Stark Tech has completed his PhD from UOW. He has created a home testing kit for the coronavirus. This kit will be sold globally and is simple to use. He thinks his new idea is a disruptive idea but is not sure what is meant by a disruptive innovation. Stark has already registered a patent on his innovation. Stark is not familiar with the real world of business, but he wants to make as much money as possible from his new idea. The problem is that he does not possess hard assets. Moreover, he does not have money to develop and commercialize the new product. Stark wants to establish a small enterprise in one (and only one) of the following economies: U.A.E., France, Australia, Singapore, Germany or South Korea. Once the successful innovation originates enough sales, he expects to sell the small enterprise to a company embracing disruptive ideas. He has initially chosen U.A.E. because a friend told him that venture capital abounds in the U.A.E. and the government promotes innovation. However, he would like to consider other options before making a final decision.

You have to write the answers focusing only on six (6) indicators for the U.A.E. and one other economy from the list above. The relative importance of each item is indicated in Table 1.

Table 1 Items to be considered and relative weights Indicators in order of importance Relative Weights

1. Intellectual property right protection 30%

2. Financing SMEs 25%

3. Number of days to start a business 25%

4. Venture capital availability 10%

5. Companies embracing disruptive ideas 5%

6. Soundness of banks 5%

Furthermore, you have to address the following tasks.

Task 1 :

What is a disruptive innovation? Explain to Tony whether his innovation is disruptive.

Task 2 :

Explain to Stark that there is an innovation life cycle displaying several phases.

Task 3 :

What is his current position on the innovation life cycle? If the above-mentioned expectations turn out to be true, in what phase of the innovation life cycle will he be selling the small company?

Task 4 :

Would banks be willing to lend money to Tony? Why or why not. Discuss the alternative sources of funding available.

Task 5 :

Compare the innovation strategies of the government in the U.A.E and the other selected country

Task 6:

Calculate an index of performance encompassing the numerical value of the six (6) indicators and relative weights for each country (shown in Table 1) and compute the numerical value of the index of performance for each country.

Use the information provided by "The Global Competitiveness Report 2019," Klaus Schwab (ed.), World Economic Forum. Geneva, Switzerland.

Which country would you recommend and why?

Task 7 :

Stark has also asked you to give him an overview of the macroeconomic environment in the two economies. Compare the macroeconomic performance of the two economies. Use at least 5 variables and explain the significance of each.