Chief Executive Officer of Disney, Bob Iger, says that in today's world, companies need to "Innovate or die, there is no innovation if you operate out of the new or untested."
With the business landscape changing dramatically due to the rise in gloablisation and technology adoption, organisations big and small need to adopt an innovation mindset in order to come up with new and exciting ways to meet customer needs, keeping them one step ahead of their competition.
Due to this renewed focus on innovation, we're seeing organisations around the world calling for intrapreneurial skills within their employees. An intrapreneur is someone who can embrace an entrepreneurial mindset inside an existing organisation to identify opportunities, come up with new ways of doing things, and ultimately innovate in order to stay ahead of competitors.
With an increased push for intrapreneurship and innovation within industry, we teamed up with Kepnock State High School in Bundaberg to develop a term-long unit of work for their Year 10 Business students on the theme of 'Industry Innovators'. The aim of this unit of work is to deliver real, relevant, and relatable business education for students, helping give them a glimpse into industry as they develop their intrapreneurial skills at an early age.
The Industry Innovators program presents students with two challenges pitched by leading organisations from across Australia. Over the course of the term, students are tasked with developing an out-of-the-box solution ready to pitch at the end of the unit.
To support students along their journey, they follow a design thinking approach to their solutions as they form teams, delegate roles, unpack a client brief, and work to develop impactful solutions for their chosen organisation. The challenges pitched to Kepnock State High School students as part of this unit of work include:
Mental Health Hackathon: The Mental Health Hackathon challenges students work in teams as they develop youth-led mental health solutions for young people that could be integrated into their school, community, and digital world.
The Future Of Retail: The Future of Retail challenge provides students with a comprehensive understanding of the latest trends, technologies, and career opportunities in the retail industry. This task challenges students to select a prominent retail brand and reimagine it for the future, considering both physical and digital design elements to enhance the customer experience and drive business growth.
Developed by qualified educators on the BOP team, this unit features eight weeks of content complete with over 100 slides, printable classroom resources, comprehensive teaching notes, a unit overview, a task sheet, and a guide to delivering the unit of work.
To give students an extra boost at the start of the unit, the BOP Industries team also delivers a full day incursion for Year 10 Business students at the start of the term to help them develop their skills, ideas, and experience as emerging young professionals and intrapreneurs.
To find out more about our unit of work and to purchase a unit for your students, head to: www.bopindustries.com/units-of-work