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CM J33 - Innovation Management (2nd module of Minor in Process Management and Innovation)*

Faculty
Claus J. Varnes
Course Coordinator
Claus J. Varnes
Prerequisite/progression of the course
Open to all
Course content, structure and teaching
The course focuses on managerial issues related to innovation and improvement in public and private organizations, that is: What are the managerial challenges and how can we manage those? The course objective is to provide the participants with a toolbox of possible ways to understand the challenges and ways to manage these for improved performance.
The structure of the course follows the textbook for simplicity purposes divided in ten sessions with three lessons each time. Teaching is a combination of lecturing, group work and presentations, and student and teacher driven discussion. The teaching style is informal.
The course's development of personal competences
The students will develop their competences in analyzing complex issues and an ability to focus on managerial dilemmas. Many decision-making situations in the student’s future career will challenge an evaluation of what is relevant and irrelevant. We hope to expand this competence with the focus on managing innovation that contains many balancing challenges and where an overemphasis on type of innovation, for instance, can be devastating for the other.
More specifically, the student will after the course be able to:
  • Understand the strategic role of innovation in companies and the historical perspective on the development of various technologies
  • Being able to identify different types of innovations and managerial challenges related to those
  • Know different management technologies for management of innovation in operations and in general, and being able to explain the concepts, their objectives, and application in practice.
  • Being able to distinguish between different views on the market-customer-technology relationships and the implications for company strategies and management of innovation activities.
Type of examination, exam aids and assessment
Individual oral examination on all material covered in the course, based on a three pages written synopsis, which is to be handed in two weeks prior to the exam. The content of the synopsis is chosen by the student. It is not graded and may be written with one or two fellow students, and it serves as a starting point for the discussion. Duration including marking: 20 minutes.
Recommended literature
Books:
  • Goffin and Michell (2005), Innovation Management
  • Davila, Epstein and Shelton (2006), Making Innovation Work – How to Manage it, measure it and profit from it
Articles:
  • Formal rules in product development: sense-making and use (2009), Journal of Product Innovation Management, (2009), Vol. 26, pp. 502-519 (with John K. Christiansen).
  • Co-constructing the brand and the product, International Journal of Innovation Management, (2009), Vol. 13, No. 3, (with John K. Christiansen, Birgitte Blomberg and Birgitte Hollensen).
  • From models to practice: decision-making at portfolio meetings (2008), International Journal of Quality and Reliability Management, special issue: Best practice project portfolio management, Vol. 25, No. 1, pp. 87-101 (with John K. Christiansen).
  • Making Decisions on Innovation: Meetings or Networks? (2007), Creativity and Innovation Management Journal, Vol. 16, No. 3, pp. 282-298 (with John K. Christiansen).

Last updated by The Electives Office 25/08/2010