Course Description
Innovation is a necessary condition for entrepreneurship, be it among startups or established businesses. Without innovation, there is no entrepreneurship, but not all innovations manifest as new businesses or as new products. Understanding innovation and how it relates to firm performance is crucial for success in the hypercompetitive business landscape, but tapping employee creativity, identifying and combining necessary resources, and aligning innovation efforts to build competitive advantage is one of the most difficult tasks for managers. We will address the preceding and other related topics in this course, and at its conclusion, students should possess a deep conceptual knowledge of innovation in its various forms, understand innovation processes, be able to apply that knowledge to build innovation-centric strategies, and to solve common problems related to innovation management. Specifically, we will explore: product, service, and process innovation concepts; innovation in high-tech and low-tech industries; how firms build and sustain innovation-centric strategies; creating and fostering a culture of innovation; and striking the balance between promoting innovation and harvesting its benefits.
Learning Outcomes
- To build foundational knowledge of innovation: where innovation comes from, the forms of innovation, and understanding innovation in a variety of organizational contexts;
- To learn how organizations might be more innovative;
- To demonstrate the ability to improve the innovation skills for others;
- To understand how to build and sustain an innovation-centric strategic posture; and,
- To identify and solve common problems associated with the management of innovation.
Required