MED_6_IAE Innovation and Enterprise CW1 Specification Resit AY25-26 | LSBU

Innovation and Enterprise MED_6_IAE CW1 Resit Coursework Specification
2025/26

Read this coursework specification carefully, it tells you how you are going to be assessed, how to submit your coursework on-time and how (and when) you’ll receive your marks and feedback.

MED_6_IAE Coursework Aim:

Engineering and innovation companies operate in dynamic and competitive environments, where success depends on developing original ideas that address real-world needs — and articulating a clear value proposition to users, colleagues, investors, and stakeholders. This assignment is designed to deepen your understanding of how innovation concepts are formed, evaluated, and positioned within a market context.

For this coursework, you will independently explore one of four RSA Spark innovation themes, generate a range of concept ideas, and explore their potential to make a compelling value proposition for an innovative startup company. You will also compare your value proposition to a relevant competitor, using real-world examples to support your analysis. The emphasis is on developing your own critical thinking, creativity, and evaluative judgement. Generative AI tools may be used to support idea generation, outlining, or formatting. However, all ideas, evaluations, and written analysis must be your own. You must declare any use of AI tools in your submission, following LSBU’s AI use policy.

MED_6_IAE  Assessment Instruction:

This individual assignment asks you to generate, develop and select a promising product or service innovation concept in response to one of four RSA Spark mission briefs.

Review the four RSA Spark themes:

1.    Urban Cool – Supporting cooler, greener and fairer cities
2.    Where People Meet – Reimagining community spaces
3.    Railway 200 & Beyond – Building the next generation of mobility
4.    Creative Communities – Making creative education accessible to all

You are expected to:
-    Generate a range of creative ideas for new product or service innovations, in response to one or more of the RSA Spark innovation challenges.
-    Select from these, and justify a feasible and original concept to develop
-    Define and communicate a clear value proposition for a startup business model around this concept
-    Contrast your value proposition against existing alternatives or closest competitors
-    Present your work clearly and professionally

Within the framework of these briefs, you have considerable freedom – so unleash your creativity! You concept might be a significant improvement of an existing product or service, or a completely novel proposal. If using technology, the feasibility should be validated and appropriate to the product and its environment, based upon your research into known technologies. You are NOT required to produce detailed or highly resolved product designs.

Your work at this stage will lay the foundation for the subsequent group project (CW2), in which you will pitch your CW1 business proposal to your group. The team will collectively select the concept of one of their members, to develop into a full business model for a putative start-up that presents an attractive opportunity for investors.

You should consider the following questions:

• Target Market: who are the key customers your innovation would target, what are their needs, and why would your offering appeal to these customers?
• Product/Service Features: What unique features or benefits do your brand’s products/services offer?
• Innovation: How can your startup use technology and innovation to stay ahead in the market?
• Sustainability and Ethics: How does your brand address UN Sustainable Development Goals?
• Market Positioning: Who are your competitors and how might you differentiate yourself from them?

You should use the Strategyzer “trigger questions” and resource sheets on Moodle to help you develop a Value Proposition Canvas for your proposed innovation. Identify your closest competitor and create a value proposition canvas for them as well.

You should formulate (at minimum) one clear Value Proposition statement that summarises your proposal, through the format:
My company’s [product or service] helps [this customer segment] who want to [achieve these goals] by [reducing these pains] and [creating these gains] (unlike [this competitor]).

Compare and contrast the strengths and weaknesses of the your proposed value proposition to those of your nearest competitor(s) using a Strategy Canvas.

Learning Outcomes

This coursework will assess the following learning outcomes for this module.

• Understand and evaluate a variety of creative techniques to overcome everyday problems and develop new products.
• The ability to recognise and improve the input of engineering and design into commerce.
• Communicate new products and services to technical and non- technical audiences (verbal, written and reflective)

Connection to Group Work (CW2):

In Week 6, you will pitch your CW1 proposal to your tutorial group. Each group will then select one member’s concept to develop further in CW2 as the basis of a startup business model and pitch. Your CW1 output will therefore feed directly into the next assessment.

Assessment Criteria and Weighting

LSBU marking criteria have been developed to help tutors give you clear and helpful feedback on your work. They will be applied to your work to help you understand what you have accomplished, how any mark given was arrived at, and how you can improve your work in future.

Assessment criteria:

Guidance on report format

You must complete this assignment using the CW1 report structure suggested. This structure is designed to help you build your innovation concept step by step, and ensure your work is clear and easily assessable.

1.    Mission Focus
 
Clearly state which RSA Spark mission theme you are responding to, and why. Briefly define the problem or opportunity your innovation addresses.

2.    Idea Generation & Selection

Present a range of at least 3–4 initial ideas. Show evidence of creative thinking (e.g. sketches, mind maps, or bullet-point prompts).
Use a structured method (e.g. evaluation matrix or feasibility-impact grid) to select your final idea.

Explain the reasoning behind your selection.

3.    Innovation Concept Description

Describe your selected idea clearly: what it is, who it’s for, and how it works. Include visuals if relevant.
Explain what makes it new, useful, or compelling.

4.    Value Proposition Canvas

Use the VPC model to map out your idea in relation to customer needs. Present your canvas as either a completed diagram or a structured table.
Write a clear Value Proposition Statement using the ad-lib format provided in the template.

5.    Competitor Comparison

Identify your closest competitor (product, brand, or service). Create a brief VPC for them and compare it to your own.
Use a Strategy Canvas or simple comparative table to highlight key differences.

6.  Why this idea should be chosen

Make the case for why your idea is the strongest candidate to be developed further in the CW2 group project. What makes it exciting, innovative, and viable?
How could your team build on it, and what unique value would it bring to users or society?

You are aiming to convince your peers that your concept is the right one to take forward.