Content, progress and pedagogy of the module

Due to today’s intense competition in increasingly global markets, companies find themselves competing under ever-changing conditions. Those changes force companies to rethink, reorganise and innovate their business more frequently and fundamentally, in order to maintain their competitiveness.

Therefore, managing innovation has become a key challenge for firms. Managing the process of innovation is, however, difficult and the outcome is highly uncertain. Consequently, many efforts to create successful new products and services fail. This advanced module in innovation management facilitate the student to achieve an understanding, skills, and competences regarding the role of technology, innovation and change in business. The module combines an integrative approach to studies of innovation processes emphasising the integration of market, technological and organisational change. Emphasis is placed on frameworks and methods that are both theoretically sound and practically useful through various real-life examples, and cases taught and practiced in class.

During the exercises and in lectures, the student will be introduced to how to search for relevant literature and how to use indicators to assess the quality of the different findings. The student will also be introduced to different data sources on innovation data.

Learning objectives

Knowledge

The objective is that the student after the module possesses the necessary knowledge on:

• main concepts, definitions, advanced theories and models related to innovation management.
• advanced theories on how factors in the national and international economic environment affect the innovation processes within firms.
• the above and has insights in the important role of change in organisations, and how firms should organise and manage such transition processes accordingly - both strategic and operational wise.

Skills

The objective is that the student after the module possesses the necessary skills in:

• assessing and interpret an innovation process.
• identifying the various challenges involved in innovation processes and making recommendations for handling these challenges.
• assessing theoretical and practical organisational transition and changing management problems, and substantiating and selecting relevant analysis and solution proposals.
• finding, accessing and assessing relevant data and information from databases and online sources on firms’ innovation and innovation management activities.

Competences

The objective is that the student after the module possesses the necessary competences in:

• independently coordinating and conducting an advanced analysis of innovation processes in a firm.
• developing recommendations for innovation management.
• being self-reflective, through the process of organisational transition and change, being critical and open to different people, opinions and competences, different cultures and different economic constraints.

Type of instruction

For information see § 17.

Exam

Exams