06220731 - Innovation and project management

Technological innovation is increasingly the source of sustainable competitive advantage for firms around the world. 
In this course we focus on the practices and processes that managers use to manage innovation effectively. 
Our focus will be on entrepreneurial firms (new and established) and on firms that have been successful and unsuccessful in their innovation.
This course is designed to provide both a deep grounding in the field of innovation for future managers whose goal is to discover and exercise like in innovation-driven firms. The course combines lectures, case analyses and an Innovation Jam. The readings are drawn from research in the management of innovation and project management as well as from economics and organizational theory. 
The material moves deliberately between strategic issues and organizational and managerial issues, though the focus of the course is more on examples of process and implementation. 
Innovation management can include a variety of topics; here are three clarifications about the approach we will take in this course: First, we will approach innovation issues from the entrepreneur and manager's perspective. While most firms have specialized R&D, other functions must all interface with R&D. Indeed, building an organization that can continuously generate and commercialize innovations is one of the core concerns of top management. Thus any leader should be conversant with the leading thinking on innovation and should not leave this challenge to the R&D function alone. Second, this course will approach the management of innovation and project management from a strategic perspective. As such, we will consider the relationship between processes and structures for innovation in firms, the strategies for exploitation and the environment in which these must be designed, the project and portfolio management e.g., competition, rate of technological change, sources of innovation.

DIMENSION OF SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Ethics and innovation relationship is an important part of this lecture and the students are asked to collect source of information on this topic and to write an essay on this topic.

TARGETED KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS 

Goal is to discover innovation and project and portfolio management in a innovation environment firm style.

COURSE OUTLINE

To achieve these goals the course is divided into six modules:

Module 1 – INNOVATION & ENTREPRENEURSHIP definitions 
Module 2 - A deep dive in the Blue Ocean Strategy
Module 3 - The innovation
Module 4 - Innovation and the industry life cycle
Module 5 - Crossing the Chasm
Module 6 - Disruption
Module 7 – Project and Portfolio Management in Innovation

The Innovation Jam provides an extensive opportunity to integrate and apply these tools in a practical, business context, and draw from real firms and industries.

RECOMMENDED TEXTS AND PUBLICATIONS :

Strategic Management – Franck T. Rothaermel – McGrew HBR
Product Leadership – Robert G Cooper
The Four Steps to the Epiphany – Steve Blank
Crossing the Chasm – Geoffrey A. Moore

Individual grade
Writing an essay on a related topic to the course, 1h

Other grade(s)
Grading during class 
Innovation Jam group presentation, 1h

Weight : 50% - 50%

TEACHING METHODS
Lectures, workshops organised by project teams of 6 people max

PRE-REQUISITE
Basic knowledge in management and organisation