Page 192 - DNBI_A01.QXD

169

Within the corporate world, planners might quick-screen internal ideas 5 : STEP THREE – EVALUATING AND SELECTING IDEAS
against the scheme in Figures 5.4, for example.

Does the initiative fit the No
corporate strategy? No
No
Yes No

Does the return on
investment meet
minimum acceptable

levels?

Yes

Do corporate resources
exist to implement the

initiative?

Yes

Is the level of risk
associated with the
initiative acceptable?

Yes

Proceed to next phase

Can the initiative Investigate
generate value for the
organisation in other

ways – e.g. licence,
spin-off?

No

Reject initiative

Figure 5.4 Flowchart to screen business ideas against corporate criteria

the instant entrepreneur Leading American entrepreneur Joline
Godfrey illustrates perfectly how this type of coarse-screen evaluation
may be applied by a major corporation. Having just completed the latest
in a number of corporate assignments for Polaroid, Godfrey went on a
brief holiday to Mexico

‘and came back with an idea for a business. It was just that simple. Away from
the distractions of corporate politics, freed of routines that kept me neatly
organized, safe from distracting phones and to-do lists, an idea surfaced . . .