APPLIES TO ACADEMIC YEAR 2016/2017

DRE 7010 The Innovative Firm

Responsible for the course
Knut Sogner

Department
Department of Innovation and Economic Organisation

Term
According to study plan

ECTS Credits
7,5

Language of instruction
English

Introduction
This course covers the social conditions tradition that emphasises that corporate innovations are affected by institutional factors related to strategies, finance and organizations. The underlying argument is that social conditions dependent on time and place cater for a certain kind of innovative firm, such as the new industrial factory of The Industrial Revolution, the Managerial Enterprise, typical of USA in the twentieth century, or the newer, more flexible type of firms that have been developed to some extent in Japan. Theories of how firms are resource based, linked in networks, or how success is dependent on (dynamic) capabilities are related to this body of theory. An important part of this approach is work organisation, and research has identified four main forms of work organisation: ‘learning’, ‘lean’, ‘Taylorist’, and ‘simple’. Not only does the learning form of work organization result in less job stress and greater worker satisfaction, it also implies more labour market flexibility and superior conditions for learning and innovation. Emphasis is also placed on the role of multinational companies (MNCs) and the way they address innovation challenges: How they are combining in house research with outside sourcing, and how firms’ traditional proprietary attitude—in an open innovation environment where easier access to shared knowledge is becoming important—is challenged by new attitudes and newcomers.

Objective
The course will give the participants theoretical perspectives of major approaches to firm innovation, emphasising the constraints and difficulties surrounding firm’s entrepreneurial actions. The course aims at clarifying and reflecting upon the firm’s role in processes of innovation. Through a combination of lectures, seminars and paper writing exercises the students will be trained to position their work and to frame their research in relation to various schools of thought.


Prerequisites
Enrollment 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 enrollment in 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 courseleader. Sitting in on courses does not permit registration for courses, handing in exams or gaining credits for the course. Course certificates or confirmation letters will not be issued for sitting in on courses

Compulsory reading

Collection of articles:
Compendium of articles and book chapters

Recommended reading

Course outline
Topics covered:

The social conditions’ approach to innovation
The capabilities approach
The work organisation approach
Multinationals’ approach to innovations
The role of global knowledge networks and value chains

Computer-based tools
Not applicable

Course structure