Stra­tegic In­nov­a­tion and Busi­ness Growth: Lever­aging AI and Sus­tain­able Prac­tices

Course content

The purpose of the course is twofold. First, to get an understanding of different aspects related to managing product development and innovation. The course will provide the student with insights to the dimensions of innovation processes and related tools to analyse and manage effective decision-making under uncertainty. Generally, the success rate is 50 percent for both new products and a bit lower for new services. The problem with success rates constitutes a challenge as many resources are allocated to non-profitable activities. Managing uncertainty and risk is therefore of high relevance in development and innovation processes. Hence, tools to improve portfolio management and decision-making, knowledge dissemination, quality assessment and the complexity of managing teams vs. individuals will be addressed.

Secondly, will the course introduce a framework for future product development and innovation given that resources become more and more scarce (e.g. more costly). Climate change and pollution related to current production and consumption patterns display a threat to businesses future competitive advantage. Hence, businesses will need to address these challenges through product development and innovation. Business models and value propositions that will meet the needs of the future are therefore different than current solutions – demanding new competencies in managing innovation and development. A range of actors propose circular economy as the economic system for future competitive businesses. The course will therefore, as the second leg, provide the student with insights to designing circular economy businesses for future possibilities of sustainable development and innovation. 

The course take a practical approach to managing innovation and development. We will employ a textbook that is solutions oriented and use journal articles to problematize. The title of the course indicates that the turning point is new products and services, but we will also address business models as another innovation types together with process innovation. Specifically taking point of departure in future challenges in the business environment, instead of looking back into obsolete solutions. Seeking to provide an understanding of how to utilise managerial tools that mitigates uncertainty and risk. Moreover, also how to create incentives that support effective performance in research and development, throughout the company and related to the dynamics in the market.

Key topics will include the following related to managing product, service and process innovation:

• The Pentathlon Framework as basic structure for innovation and development
• Managerial approaches to ideation, selection and implementation
• The role of strategy and organisational culture in innovation processes
• Business model design and innovation
• Circular economy design principles for innovation under resource constraints
• Performance evaluation and portfolio management
• Market inertia and socio-technical system transition