Innovation Management / Innovationsledelse

Studienævn for efter- og videreuddannelse på Samfundsvidenskab og Sundhedsvidenskab , Odense
Teaching activity id: 9604701.
Teaching language: English.ECTS / weighting: 5 ECTS / 0.083 full-time equivalent.
Examination language: 0.
Exam activity id: 9604702.Approved: 09-04-18.
Period: Autumn 2018.
Grading: Internal grading with co-examiner.
Assessment: 7-point scale.
Offered in: Odense.
Subject director:
Mette Præst Knudsen, Department of Marketing & Management.

Prerequisites:
”Innovations- og forandringsledelse” cannot have been passed earlier on.

Purpose:
The purpose of the module is to provide the students with a fundamental introduction to innovation and innovation management departing in a conceptualization of the process of developing a new product or a new service. Based on this, the process, the opportunities, and the managerial challenges are explained across the stages from the initial idea to the finished product. We use changing conditions in the business environment as a starting point to introduce the student to innovation, innovation management and innovation processes. The course seeks to provide the student with knowledge and competencies to describe and understand concepts, theories and methods that can be applied to describe, analyze and solve specific problems related to innovation activities in organizations. The course ties in these organizational-level phenomena with the importance of employees as drivers and active participants in the process; in particular focus is on how their competencies and motives to participate in the innovative activities interact.


Content - Key areas:
  • Environmental changes as point of departure for innovation
  • What is innovation, and description of different typologies of innovation (product, service, process)
  • Sources of innovation
  • Innovation strategy – and the relationship with the business strategies of the organization
  • Innovation processes and organization of innovation
  • Identification and selection of innovative opportunities including portfolio considerations
  • Innovative models and innovation methods
  • Employee-driven innovation: competencies and motivation for engaging in innovation


Goals description (SOLO taxonomy):
The student must document an application-oriented overview as well as a deep understanding of the themes and problems that are part of the course curriculum in such a way that the student is able to apply this in respect to description, analysis and solution of often rather different types of innovation problems.

To achieve the course goals it is the learning goal for the course that the students:

Demonstrate knowledge on the course themes and problems in such a way that they are able to:

  • Describe the fundamental concepts to understand innovation management – change, innovation and management
  • Understand the fundamental innovation types, innovation processes, methods and strategy
  • Describe the drivers of innovation
  • Describe and understand the methods for identification and selection of innovation opportunities
  • Describe the concept and foundation of employee-driven innovation focusing on competencies and motives

Demonstrate skills in such a way that they are able to:

  • Identify relevant managerial challenges for organizational innovation activities and the role of the employees in these activities
  • Apply various innovation tools to diagnose and prioritize innovation challenges in a concrete organization
  • Formulate relevant proposals for solutions by applying relevant methods and literature to accommodate the managerial challenges

Demonstrate competence in such a way that they are able to:
  • Assess the managerial challenges for innovation that a particular organization is facing
  • Select proposals for solutions in accordance with the relevancy of internal and external sources of innovation
  • Devise implementation proposals departing in organizational barriers among others the competencies and motives of employees

Grade 12 is awarded for an examination that demonstrates that:
The student has a convincing and competent overview of both general as well as specific problems related to innovation management
The student has a particularly competent understanding of theories, methods and models within innovation management
The student has a convincing insight in the necessary and fundamental motives and competencies of the employees for participation in innovative processes.
The student can perform a particularly competent analysis of a company’s innovative needs, identify relevant innovative methods and apply these to analyze the innovative needs.
This illustrates an excellent performance that demonstrates a complete achievement of the course goals with only a few insignificant shortcomings.

Grade 02 is given to the minimum fulfilment of the course goals:
The student has a minimum of acceptable understanding for problems related to innovation management
The student has an unstructured and deficient, yet acceptable understanding of theories, methods and models within innovation management
The student has a minimum insight in the necessary and fundamental motives and competencies for participation in innovative processes
The student can perform an acceptable analysis of the innovative needs of an organization, identify possible innovative methods and apply these to enlighten the innovative needs.




Literature:
The following are exemplars of readings. The final literature is announced in the reading plan that will be available in August.

Tidd og Bessant (5th ed.): Managing Innovation: Integrating Technological, Market and Organizational Change. John Wiley & Sons.

Articles and cases

Time of classes:
Fall 2018                                                                                                                                                        

Form of instruction:
4 lecture days (7,5 lecture hours each) during the semester – 30 lecture hours in total

The students own work efforts (guideline) equal 27 hours pr. ECTS credit point. In total 135 hours in this course. The hours are distributed on preparation and class attendance, preparation for exam and the exam itself.

The teaching is given in English.

The 135 work hours are distributed in the following way:
Lectures: 30
Preparation for lectures: app. 65 hours
Preparation for and the exam itself: app. 40 hours.

Time of examination:
Ordinary exam in December/January
Re-examination in February

Participation in re-examination requires participation in the ordinary exam in the same examination period. Hence, non-participation in the ordinary exam excludes from access to the re-examination.
First-coming access to examination will be the following ordinary examination period.

Examination conditions:
None

Form of examination for the certificate:
Individual take-home exam. Grading according to the 7-step scale – internal examination.



Supplemental information for the form of examination:
Time: 48 hours
Place: Home assignment
Internet Access: Allowed
Assignment Hand-out: Via Blackboard
Assignment Hand-in: Via SDU Assignment in Blackboard
Exam Aids: All exam aids allowed



Programmes:
MBA - Master of Business Administration
3rd semester, elective subject. Offered in: Odense