Course Description This course gives an introduction into the theory of innovation management. Leading questions are: What is innovation management? Why management of innovation? How do innovation processes work? Starting from featuring established theories and models of innovation management we will proceed to discussing current trends such as open and user centric innovation, innovation system, and entrepreneurship. The class will blend life cases presented for which guest speakers are invited and theoretical reflection.
Introduction This course is intended for students with a natural science or engineering backgrounds who want to know what innovation management is, how it relates to scientific inventions, how it relates to other domains of management, and what is going on in the leading edge of innovation practice. Important topics are the distinction between invention and innovation, the process of innovation as a social adoption process for new ideas be it on the level of products or societal level, the organization of change associated with innovation, and organizational structures for innovation in firms and in collaboration of several firms in clusters and innovation systems.
Assignment and Grading The requirements for the course and the contribution of each towards the final grade are as follows: (1) Class Participation (50%) – Result of quick tests (30%) at the beginning of each class. 5 quick tests in total from second session to sixth session are scheduled, the question categories include open question and multiple choices. All the questions are relevant to the reading materials which assigned before the session – Your active participation in the discussion in class (20%) is integral to the design of this course. To make sure that your participation is marked by the teaching assistant correctly, please bring your name card and put it on the table.
(2) Final paper (50%)
The final paper is to be written solo, in response to the topics offer in class. You are invited to propose your own topic to the instructor. Please see paper assignments details part for more information.
Readings
All assigned readings are to be done BEFORE the indicated classes and are available in
1. Michael L. Tushman and Philip Anderson. Managing Strategic Innovation and Change. 2nd edition, Oxford University Press, 2004, ISBN-10: 0195135784 (e.g. via amazon.com) or
2. Digital data base like EBSCO, where you can download readings with your student account.