APPLIES TO ACADEMIC YEAR 2016/2017

DRE 5017 Innovation and Entrepreneurship for Sustainability

Responsible for the course
Atle Midttun

Department
Department of Law

Term
According to study plan

ECTS Credits
2,5

Language of instruction
English

Introduction
The module at BI Norwegian Business School is part of a Nordic Phd Course: “Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability in the Nordic Context” Jointly hosted by Stockholm School of Economics (September 14-16, 2016), BI Norwegian Business School (February 2017), and Hanken School of Economics (April 2017).

The aim of the over-arching joint course is to give an in-depth understanding and overview of the current state and contribution of Nordic CSR and Sustainability research. It brings together Nordic faculty from different business fields (e.g. marketing, finance, management and organization, business and society, supply chain management and accounting), as well as from other disciplines (e.g. political science, behavioral economics, development economics, sociology, and human geography) to emphasize the cross-disciplinary nature of the subject. It also aims to create a space for student collaboration and discussion around the possibilities of research collaboration across the Nordic region. The course is split into three modules given at three different Nordic business schools. The initiative for the course is grounded in the UN Principles of Responsible Management Education (PRME), with the aim to inspire and champion responsible management education, research and thought leadership globally.

The aim of the module at BI Norwegian Business School is to give an understanding of Innovation and Entrepreneurship for Sustainability. It aims at exploring new perspectives and it aims at addressing these to the particular research fields in which course participants are engaged. In particular, the module will explore how social and ecological risks that may be detrimental to the bottom line, if innovatively addressed may also present valuable sustainable business opportunities.

Learning outcome
The course will give the participants theoretical knowledge of major approaches to sustainable innovation and new business models for sustainability, emphasizing the collective research effort of this field over the last quarter century. More specifically it aims at
· familiarizing the students with conceptual and empirical approaches to innovation for sustainability oriented transition

· presenting the participants with the latest literature on business models for sustainability.

· reviewing the recent studies on interplay between business strategies and political regulation to enhance sustainable development.

· stimulating and coaching students’ own work with papers on sustainability oriented transition.

Prerequisites
Admission to a PhD Programme is a general requirement for participation in PhD courses at BI Norwegian Business School.

External candidates are kindly asked to attach confirmation of admission to a PhD programme when signing up for a course with the doctoral administration. Candidates can be allowed to sit in on courses by approval of the course leader. Sitting in on courses does not permit registration for courses, handing in exams or gaining credits for the course. Course certificates or conformation letters will not be issued for sitting in on courses

Compulsory reading
Books:
Osterwalder Alexander, Pigneur, Yves. 2010. Business Model Generation: A Handbook for Visionaries, Game Changers, and Challengers.. Wiley Hoboken, N.J

Book extract:
Chesborough, Henry. 2006. Open Innovation, Researching a New Paradigm.. Oxford University Press.. Chapter 1.
Midttun, Atle & Toporowska, Elzbieta. 2014. Sequencing Lead Markets for Photovoltaics, in Achim Brunnengraber & Maria Rosaria Di Nucci (eds) Im Hürdenlauf Zur Energiewende.. Springer VS, Berlin
Weizsäcker, Ernst von. 2009. Factor Five. Earthscan. Sterling USA. pp. 1-19, 267-268, 279-299

Articles:
Geels Frank W. and Schot, Johan. 2007. Typology of sociotechnical transition pathways. Research Policy. Vol. 36, pp-399-417
Hörisch, J, Freeman, R. E. and S Schaltegger. 2014. Applying Stakeholder Theory in Sustainability Management: Links, Similarities, Dissimilarities, and a Conceptual Framework. Organization & Environment. vol. 27 no. 4 pp 328-346
Perez, Carlota. 2010. Technological revolutions and techno-economic paradigms. Cambridge Journal of Economics.. Vol 34, Issue 1 (Jan). pp. 185-202
Schleicher-Tappeser, Ruggero. 2012. How renewables will change electricity markets in the next five years. Energy Policy. Vol 48 (Sep). pp. 64-75
Wene, Clas-Otto. 2008. Energy Technology Learning Through Deployment in Competitive Markets. The Engineering Economist 53. pp. 340-364
Zott, C., Amit, R. & Massa, L. 2011. The Business Model: Recent Developments and Future Research. Journal of Management Vol. 37. No. 4, pp. 1019-1042

Recommended reading

Book extraxt:
Christensen, Clayton. 1997. The innovator's dilemma: when new technologies cause great firms to fail.. Boston, Massachusetts, USA: Harvard Business School Press. Introduction and Ch 1-2

Articles:
Geels, Frank W. 2014. Reconceptualising the co-evolution of firms-in-industries and their environments: Developing an inter-disciplinary Triple Embeddedness Framework. Research Policy vol 43, pp 261–277. vol 43, pp 261–277
Henderson R.M. and Clark. 1990. Architectural innovation: the reconfiguration of existing product technologies and the failure of established firms. Adm. Sci. Q. 35 (1), pp. 9–30
Midttun, Atle and Piccini Proadpran Boonprasurd. 2016. Facing The Climate And Digital Challenge: European Energy Industry From Boom To Crisis And Transformation. BI – Center for Energy and Environment Working paper
Midttun, Atle. 2016. Staging Pathways Towards Ecomodernity. Paper for The 2nd International Modernization Forum, China Center for Modernization Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing.

Course outline
The module will be organized over three days, starting with a half day afternoon seminar on day 1, followed by a full day seminar on day 2 and a half day morning seminar on day 3

The first afternoon (day 1) will present theoretical perspectives on innovation and entrepreneurship for sustainability, with following discussion.

The following morning (day 2) will present advanced sustainable innovation initiatives from various sectors of the economy, with following discussions

The afternoon (day 2) will be devoted to perspectives on business models for sustainability, with following discussion.

The following morning (day 3) includes a workshop on innovation towards sustainable business, building on course theory and industrial examples. The workshop is oriented towards the assignment.

Computer-based tools
Not applicable

Learning process and workload
Work load:
Lectures and seminars 15 hours
Reading and seminar preparations: 40 hours
Writing course paper: 40 hours
Total 95 hours



Examination
The termpaper should be 10 pages.
The termpaper should be original work, and be written specifically for this course.

The grade is pass/fail
Examination code(s)
DRE50171 paper accounts for 100% of the grade in the course DRE 5017.

Examination support materials
Not applicable.

Re-sit examination
Re-takes are only possible at the next time a course will be held. When the course evaluation has a separate exam code for each part of the evaluation it is possible to retake parts of the evaluation. Otherwise, the whole course must be re-evaluated when a student wants to retake an exam.

Additional information
Honour Code
Academic honesty and trust are important to all of us as individuals, and represent values that are encouraged and promoted by the honour code system. This is a most significant university tradition. Students are responsible for familiarizing themselves with the ideals of the honour code system, to which the faculty are also deeply committed.

Any violation of the honour code will be dealt with in accordance with BI’s procedures for cheating. These issues are a serious matter to everyone associated with the programs at BI and are at the heart of the honor code and academic integrity. If you have any questions about your responsibilities under the honour code, please ask.