Ser­vice In­nov­a­tion and sustain­ability

Course content

The main objective of the course is to provide an understanding of the role businesses have in society, by critically examining approaches taken by service organization in addressing challenges raised by social, cultural, economic and environmental aspects relevant for businesses. Such challenges have strategic, managerial, financial and political consequences that will be analyzed during the course, in order to discuss the relevance of innovative approaches. Aspects such as resource scarcity or abundance of wastes generated during the provision and consumption of products or services are analysed as opportunities for business innovation. Social innovation and entrepreneurship offer complementary perspectives for understanding corporate renewal and competitiveness. The course will give special attention to examining links between service innovations and sustainability through the exploration of five main themes:

1. The role of businesses in society. This theme introduces dominant and emerging paradigms of business strategies in relation to sustainability challenges, giving students an opportunity to examine and compare elements of innovative business models.
2. Value creation for business and society. This theme examines the concept of ‘value’ from individual, organizational and societal perspectives, introducing students to critical perspectives in service sciences and innovation studies.
3. Novelty, materiality and practice. This theme discusses the duality of agency and structure, and its relevance for understanding service innovation, with a particular focus on the design of sustainable service systems.
4. Risk, anticipation and responsibility. This theme starts by discussing the conceptualization of ‘risk’ and relates it to the anticipatory character of ‘responsible innovation’ in business organizations, exploring managerial implications for services.
5. Technology, digitalization and sustainability. This theme will critically examine the contribution of technological development in society, taking digitalization as a specific example to inquire about innovation effects within and beyond organizational boundaries.

Using an inquiry-based pedagogic approach the course encourages students to create their own investigative processes and tools for critically examining and interpreting challenges and opportunities opened by new demands for responsible practices in service organizations.