Research Seminar "Business Innovation Management"

2021/2022

Academic Year

ENG

Instruction in English

3

ECTS credits

Delivered at:

Department of Strategic and International Management

Course type:

Compulsory course

When:

2 year, 1 module

Instructor

Tekic, Anja

Course Syllabus

Abstract

Technological innovation is a fundamental driver of competitiveness in the global markets. Thus, its management is one of the most important and challenging tasks of international companies. It encompasses all the activities necessary for the introduction of new and improved products and services into the market, particularly on the basis of new knowledge and technology. It is a cross-functional task, affecting all departments of a company: from R&D, over production, to marketing. Furthermore, management of technological innovation reaches out to the company’s external environment, to the network of different players – users, customers, suppliers or cooperation partners. Built on an effective balance between the state-of-the-art research and managerial practice, the course Management of Technological Innovation is designed to explain the nature of innovation and navigate among the variety of innovation strategies, tools and concepts. As such, it will enable students to deal with the challenges of the global business environment, engendered by uncertainty and complexity of dynamic markets.

Learning Objectives

• The aims and objectives of the course Management of Technological Innovation are to provide students with: (1) a comprehensive overview of the key concepts related to innovation and technological development; (2) a holistic perspective on the development of technological innovation strategy considering the company’s position in the global market, its previous technological trajectories and current innovation processes; (3) an integrative understanding of the functional issues associated with the creation of an innovative organization in the dynamic international environment.

Expected Learning Outcomes

• Students will learn how to become the team players and pursue effective exchange of relevant ideas and experiences within the teams, as their members or leaders, while being ready to acquire knowledge and skills independently, creating the basis for the self-directed and autonomous life-long learning
• Students will have comprehensive set of knowledge and skills that will enable them to explain and critically discuss the key theoretical concepts related to innovation and innovation management
• Students will have the understanding of the issues of management of technological innovation at both strategic and operational levels in companies
• Students will improve their skills of clearly presenting and unambiguously communicating the main elements of companies’ innovation strategies to both specialist and non-specialist audiences in English, both orally and in writing
• Students will learn how to analyse companies’ technological innovation strategies and propose future trajectories, while reflecting on potential divergence between theoretical concepts and real-world cases

Course Contents

• Invention and innovation management
• Types and patterns of innovation
• Sources of innovation
• Value creation and appropriation
• Developing technological innovation strategy
• Building the innovative organization

Assessment Elements

• Discussion engagement
  There will be four discussion classes during the course. Discussions will be focused on the different aspects of the management of technological innovation, e.g., sources of innovation, value creation and appropriation of benefits from innovation, development of technological innovation strategy, building the innovative organization, etc. To prepare for discussion classes, students will be required to prepare their pre-discussion notes (i.e., main take-aways from the provided articles / case studies).
• Team project presentations
  At the beginning of the course, students will be required to form teams (3 students) for their team projects. Each team will choose a different company from the list of the 50 most innovative companies (BCG, 2021). Teams will be required to: (1) identify paths (i.e., technological trajectories) that the company has been following so far; (2) analyse the company’s position in dynamic global market; (3) identify the processes that the company uses to manage technological innovation. Students are required to submit their team project presentations and jointly present their work during the final week of the course. Project work that is not submitted and/or presented will not be graded. Individual contribution to team project is going to be peer-evaluated.
• Individual report
  Building upon their team project, students (individually) will be required to write an individual report and make recommendations for future strategy of the company they chose and focused on in their team project presentations. Their recommendations should consider strategic aspects previously discussed in the team project (i.e., paths, position and processes) in more detail. Individual student must offer his/her own perspective in the report. Even though the members of the same team will focus on the same company, reports made by the individual team members must be essentially different.

Interim Assessment

• 2021/2022 1st module
  0.2 * Team project presentations + 0.6 * Individual report + 0.2 * Discussion engagement

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

• Dodgson, M. The Oxford Handbook of Innovation Management [Электронный ресурс] / M.Dodgson, D.M.Gann, N.Phillips, eds.; БД oxfordhandbooks. - Oxford University Press; 2014– Режим доступа: http://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199694945.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199694945 – Загл. с экрана.
• Strategic management of technological innovation, Schilling, M. A., 2013

Recommended Additional Bibliography

• Managing innovation : integrating technological, market and organizational change, Tidd, J., 2014
• Trott, P. (2016). Innovation Management and New Product Development. Pearson.