APPLIES TO ACADEMIC YEAR 2015/2016 Norwegian version

ELE 3701 Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Responsible for the course
Heidi Wiig Aslesen

Department
Department of Innovation and Economic Organisation

Term
According to study plan

ECTS Credits
7,5

Language of instruction
Norwegian and english

Introduction
Please note
This course has some overlapping issues with the specialisation course in Innovation Management, 15 credits. Consequently a combination of theese two courses in a Bachelors degree will not be allowed. The course can neither be taken by students in Bachelor Programme in Entrepreneurship due to overlap with other courses in the program.

During recent years, growing awareness of the importance of innovation and entrepreneurship has developed, and this field is now one of the highest priorities of the Norwegian Government which has developed its "holistic innovation policy framework" formulated in the document "From Idea to value", in which it is declared that Norway is going to become "one of the most innovative countries of the world".

Innovation and entrepreneurship address basic processes of industrial evolution, which can take many forms in processes of developing new products and processes, starting up new firms or developing or restructuring existing firms, or for instance by organizing collaboration with customers or clients. Basically, innovation and entrepreneurship are focusing on the same type of processes, however, with a tendency of innovation to be more focused on developing the functional aspects of products or processes, while entrepreneurship is more focused on starting up new ventures and commercialization.

In this course we will take this as the point of departure, and discuss what innovation and entrepreneurship are, and analyze the importance of these phenomena and how they are materializing in "real" life, both in existing firms and in connection with the start-up of new firms

Learning outcome
Acquired Knowledge
In the course the student will get an overview of the fields of innovation and entrepreneurship, and achieve familiarity with key concepts and theories.

Acquired Skills
The student will develop skills for analyzing and participating in development processes in firms and entrepreneurial ventures.

Reflection
During the course, the student is expected to develop an ability to reflect critically on the role of innovation and entrepreneurship in the economy, as well as on political strategies to support innovation and entrepreneurship in society.

Prerequisites
None

Compulsory reading
Books:
Bessant, John and Joe Tidd. 2015. Innovation and entrepreneurship. 3rd ed. Wiley-Blackwell

Recommended reading

Course outline
The course is organized in the following sequences:

• Models & Types of Innovation
• Innovation and Entrepreneurship Organization
• Proactive Links
• Generation of Innovations
• Search for & Selection of Opportunities
• Implementation, Development & Commercialization of Innovations
• Strategic Leadership

1. Analyze an existing innovation case/project. The total 20 pages should be divided as follow; the first part will be the theoretical approach that you have chosen, the second part will be your empirical research (innovation case/project). There will be approximately 50/50 between the theoretical research and the empirical research.
2. Write a practical business plan for a new project/venture based on the students’ own idea. The total 20 pages should be divided approximately 50/50 between a theoretical analysis/discussion of a few central aspects of the business plan (part 1 based on the curriculum) and the business plan (part II).