Course overview
The course aims to equip students with an understanding of the main issues in innovation management, an awareness of the key features of success, and an appreciation of the relevant skills needed to manage innovation:
How do opportunities for innovation arise? What is the right managerial strategy to innovate successfully? Does the size matter: innovative activities in small and large companies? How can social capital make innovative activities more successful? What is the best way to manage R&D projects and how can companies profit from their innovations? Finally, are open innovation and social innovation as exciting as they sound?
Learning outcomes
Upon successful completion of the module, a student will be able to:
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Understand the role of innovation in framing corporate strategy as well as the role of innovation in society.
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Identify opportunities and possibilities for competitive advantage through innovation.
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Understand how to appropriate value from innovation.
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Understand how to nurture innovative capacity in the firm and how to build a creative organization.
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Assess the benefits of cooperative arrangements with other organizations.
Topics covered
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Opportunities for innovation
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Models of innovation
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From innovation to competitive advantage
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Competition, firm size and innovation
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Open innovation and user innovation
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Networks of innovation: collaboration and cooperation
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The role of social capital
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Managing R&D projects
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Appropriating rents from innovation
Assessment summary
100% group project.
Essential reading
Tidd, J. and Bessant, J. (2013). Managing Innovation: Integrating Technological, Market and Organizational Change. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 111836063X.