[26 March 2010]
SMU undergrads to become innovation catalysts for SMEs
SMU's Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship launches new training programme to turn SMU students into innovation multipliers for SMEs
Singapore, 26 March 2010 – The Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (IIE) at the Singapore Management University (SMU) is spearheading a new training programme. It coaches SMU undergraduates to become innovation catalysts for SMEs with a vision to transform themselves into regional and global businesses.
The Innovation Catalyst Programme trains selected SMEs in innovation methodologies and innovation management. To aid them in this effort, a group of SMU students are trained alongside the SMEs and will apply what they have learnt in an internship of at least three months with one of the participating companies. The internships will take place during the summer holidays of April to August. During the internship, each student will be tasked to identify low-hanging innovation opportunities for the company and to institutionalise the innovation management process within the firm. The SME and the student have the option to extend the internship.
The programme will be conducted over five sessions in March and April 2010. It brings together seven SME participants and 14 undergraduates in this pioneer run. Leading the team of five trainers, who hail from SMU, the industry and the entrepreneurship scene, is Professor of Information Systems (Practice) Desai Narasimhalu. Professor Narasimhalu, who is also the Director of the SMU Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, brings with him 35 years of experience in innovation. “IIE is excited to create this first of its kind SME-student Innovation Catalyst Programme. This programme can help SMEs who are hungry to become regional and global leaders to identify innovation opportunities by instituting an innovation culture in their companies. We look forward to the transformation of some of these SMEs into regional and global MNCs,” he says.
20-year-old SMU business management and accountancy double degree student Laureen Bay (???) values this opportunity. “I hope to open a café in the future. It's my dream to provide people with good food. I see this course as a stepping stone to learn about business.” Students like Laureen have also foregone other highly coveted internships this summer break at large organisations, including MNCs. “It's a rare opportunity to be able to work in an SME and I can pick up different aspects of running a business.”
Agreeing is SMU exchange student Ming Lin (??). He has extended his one-year exchange programme just to be able to participate in this training and its accompanying internship. The 22-year-old, a business and computer science undergraduate from the National Taiwan University, has won a national competition on a social entrepreneurship business idea. “I want to learn how to help others in business and through it, realise my own dreams.”
After the first day's training, a visibly excited SME leader, Mr V S Kumar says, “I have a lot of ideas, but when I share them with my staff, few of them will question them. But these students, they ask a lot of questions. It's very interactive.” Mr Kumar, who set up his company, Network Express Courier Services, some 20 years ago, has also learnt some valuable lessons. “ I have learnt that no matter what is the invention or innovation, we have to be swift in developing and implementing our ideas. As ideas do not belong to just one person, we have to be fast, in order to gain a better leverage.” He is looking forward to having the students onboard to help him catalyse innovations.
Another SME participant in the programme, Mr Barry Chua from Home-Fix DIY, says his company sees innovation as a competitive advantage at all levels. “Beyond offering very good mousetraps, we want to work on customer-focused innovations, be it a more interesting store experience, higher service standards or a more productive inventory management system,” he explains. Mr Chua sees the great potential of bringing together the young and the experienced in this training. “You run a high risk of igniting revolutionary ideas and concepts that can rock the status quo,” he quips.
IIE is offering this programme in partnership with the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (ASME) and with funding support from SPRING Singapore.
“With the call to raise productivity via innovation, the Innovation Catalyst Programme is timely and an excellent opportunity for companies to embrace and adopt innovation to grow their business. At the same time, the business scholars will be given hands-on experience to work with progressive SMEs earmarked for growth,” says Mr Bryan Teh, Executive Director of the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (ASME).
Going forward, IIE plans to offer this as an annual programme.
Refer to Annex for The Innovation Catalyst Programme.
About the Institute of Innovation & Entrepreneurship at SMU
The Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (IIE) at SMU has been set up to nurture and grow the innovation and entrepreneurial culture amongst students, staff and faculty of SMU through collaboration with the community. IIE is committed to help innovators commercialise their ideas and aspires to build high quality and robust start-ups within SMU and the larger community through research, strategy, training, R&D, business incubation and knowledge sharing. IIE will play the role of a strategic innovation partner, working closely with SMEs, large enterprises, early stage venture capitalists, academic institutions and individual researchers.
About the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (ASME)
The Association of Small & Medium Enterprises is a not-for-profit organisation that welcomes all in the entrepreneurial community into its membership. With a wide array of business-centric activities, services and programmes, ASME is well-poised to facilitate the growth and development of a larger pool of SMEs in Singapore.
Pioneered by a group of entrepreneurs in 1986, the Association has grown from strength to strength and remains one of the foremost champions of the Singapore pro-enterprise movement. Today, ASME continues to work closely with both the public and the private sectors to ensure that businesses in Singapore can operate in a conducive and fair environment.
With the entrepreneur and his business in mind, ASME is dedicated to playing a pivotal role in creating a robust business ecosystem that is favourable to the success of SMEs. At ASME, there exists a holistic framework that includes a variety of effective activities and services tailored to meet the needs of members and Singapore SMEs alike.
Members of ASME can rely on the Association to fight for their interests and continue to engage with issues concerning the development of local businesses. By striving towards enhancing the local business landscape, ASME aims to continually reinforce their position as the business association for entrepreneurs by entrepreneurs.