ECON2540 SEMESTER 2, 2022
Essay on an Economically Disruptive Innovation
1,500 words — 30% of the course total mark
Due by 4pm, Monday 24 October 2022 AEST
In a 1,500 word scholarly essay, critically analyse the development and installation of an
economically significant disruptive innovation.1 Your essay should (in this order):
1. Provide a concise profile of an economically significant disruptive innovation de-
veloped and relatively recently installed2 in the economy by an individual, firm,
coalition, industry, community, region or country of your choice.
2. Based on course material, briefly explain the concept of (socio)economic disrup-
tion before describing why the selected innovation is (socio)economically disrup-
tive. Your essay must record how the innovation has changed and is continuing to
change specific aspects of previously existing (socio)economic structure and actor
behaviour.
3. Using relevant concepts and theories from the course,3 analyse the evolution of
the innovation from its pre-infancy to some well-argued likely next-decade state.
Your analysis should dissect and explain the coevolving influence and structure
of the consumer, industry (supplier and competitor), complementary and substi-
tute products and services, and financial and institutional environments that have
supported or countervailed against (retarded) the innovation’s progress along its
lifecycle trajectory. Your analysis should clearly present and explain the evolving
role of the entrepreneurial function in manipulating, leveraging, breaking down,
locking in, or otherwise changing relevant values, desires, selection environment
structures and other aspects of these conditions during the innovation’s disruptive
installation.
4. Identify and discuss the role(s) of national and/or international public policy in
facilitating or retarding the uptake and diffusion of the innovation. Explain the
intended reasons and actual consequences of these policies. Formulate and justify
an alternative policy that would lead to better overall socio-economic outcomes.
5. Conclude with a critical reflection of the efficacy (strengths and weaknesses) of the
scholarly theory or theories you employed in your case analysis, including sugges-
tion(s) for improvement or further work were you to repeat this exercise.
1You may elect to critically analyse a predominantly socially disruptive innovation. You must present a
good case if wanting to do so, clearly explaining how it will advance your intended career, before obtaining
your Course Coordinator’s approval to proceed. Apart from this change, all other aspects of the assignment
requirements must be observed.
2I.e., where between 30% and 70% of estimated eventual uptake of the innovation has already taken
place, and where significant industry or social structure adjustments in response have already occurred.
3Clayton Christensen’s The Innovator’s Dilemma is a business management and not an economics text.
You should not base your essay on this source. Significant penalties will apply to essays that do so.
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ECON2540 SEMESTER 2, 2022
Crucial: all claims in your essay must be supported by relevant data, theories and/or
statements obtained from properly cited scholarly sources. Significant penalties apply
otherwise.
Your essay must be typed (not hand-written), saved as a pdf document and submitted via
the relevant Turnitin assignment folder by the due date and time.
Important Notes
• Due to over-concentration in previous semesters and too-readily available case ma-
terial in both the academic literature and across the internet, students may not
analyse Tesla electric vehicle installation or internet social media, messaging, shar-
ing economy, sales or other consumer-focussed digital platforms (e.g., Facebook,
WhatsApp, Twitter, WeChat, Weibo, Airbnb, Uber, Airtasker, Freelancer, Ama-
zon, Alibaba, eBay, Netflix, iTunes etc etc) unless a compelling case for doing so is
presented to and approved by the Course Coordinator at least 4 weeks before the
assignment’s due date.
• Essay word count excludes title page and References section word counts. Penal-
ties apply if your essay word count is not within plus or minus 10% of 1,500 words.
• Do not include appendices. This is an essay, not a report – appendices will not be
read or marked.
• Include a properly formatted References section (not a Bibliography) for all cited
references. All cited references must be in English. References to theory, models
or frameworks should be to the actual monographs (books) or journal articles in
which they are published, not to internet webpages. Do not include DOI fields in
your reference entries.
• All citations must include page numbers to the relevant claim(s) being made in the
referenced source.
• Essay topic suggestions, style guidelines (including citation and referencing style),
marking guidelines and related information will be discussed during the scheduled
assignment writing tutorial midway through the course.
• Try to upload your assignment at least a few hours before its deadline to allow room
to overcome any system difficulties arising closer to when due.
Marking Guidelines
The essay will be graded according to the following basic criteria:
• quality of the essay presentation (section and text layout, citations and references,
word count, etc.); and
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ECON2540 SEMESTER 2, 2022
• quality of the presented facts, critical analysis, arguments and conclusions as mea-
sured against the essay topic and relevant aspects of the course.
Refer to the Marking Guide document in the essay assignment folder in Blackboard for
the detailed marking scheme.
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