Innovation is considered one of the most important
aspects for the students to understand. It is accepted as a critical
contributor to the development of companies and society at large. The course
aims to provide relevant theoretical and practical knowledge and tools to
students necessary to understand, anticipate, acquire, use, and manage
innovation systems for attaining superior performance and competitiveness in
the marketplace.
Furthermore, the course provides a context and
introduction to innovation, what it is and how it links to creativity and other
business models such as business excellence and organizational learning. The
module introduces why organizations innovate, and how innovation can be
managed, especially in the service and public sectors. The course is taught through
a mixture of lectures, case studies and industry visits.
The lectures will cover a range of areas concerning
the management of innovation, including motivations for innovating, how
organizations can protect their innovations using intellectual property rights,
the nature and organization and management of “research and development”
(R&D), the management of creative people, processes and teams, the
management of product, service and experience innovations, the adoption and use
of “open innovation”, and the adoption and use of frugal innovation (Jugaad). These
discussions and industry visits closely complement the topics covered in the
lectures to reinforce the ideas and give them a practical application.