GRA 3109 Corporate Innovation

APPLIES TO ACADEMIC YEAR 2012/2013

GRA 3109 Corporate Innovation

Responsible for the course
Atle Midttun, Nils-Otto Ørjasæter

Department
Department of Innovation and Economic Organisation

Term
According to study plan

ECTS Credits
6

Language of instruction
English

Introduction
The course provides an overview of challenges and options facing the enterprise in sustaining intrapreneurship and innovation as a key to commercial success. The course introduces core economic/financial, organizational, technological and knowledge perspectives on innovation and how these factors interplay in dynamic value creation.
The course also focuses on operative models and techniques for corporate innovation, including, incubator systems, spin-inns and spin-offs, venture-systems and how they can play together within the context of the firm and its value network. Based on theoretical and practical applications, the course discusses the strengths and weaknesses of each form as well as the challenges of combining various and partly competing models within the firm.
The course will also provide a first introduction to the complex interplay between firms, industrial networks and public institutions in industrial development and innovation.
Conceptually this interplay is analysed within a systems of innovation perspective
The students will be assigned investigations and analysis of actual models of innovation in Norwegian firms, as part of the course-work.

Learning outcome
The course will enhance the students’ basic theoretical understanding of corporate innovation and familiarize them with practical applications in core Norwegian enterprises within telecommunication, energy, the maritime and service-sectors based on ongoing research at the NSM.

Acquired knowledge
Students should know about key dimensions involved in corporate innovation. They should also know the major challenges occuring in various stages of the product cycle

Acquired skills
The student should be able to reflect – orally as well as in writing - upon the dynamic challenges of corporate innovation and be able to design innovation strategies.They should be able to analyse corporate from organisational, financial and knowledge focused points of view. They should also be able to analyse the interplay between coporate innovation and policy.

Reflection
Students should develop a constructive as well as critical attitude towards the multitude of approaches to coporate innovation.

Prerequisites
A bachelors degree qualifying for admission to the MSc Programme

Compulsory reading

Collection of articles:
Atle Midttun og Nils-Otto Ørjasæter. Litteratur til GRA 3109 Corporate Innovation

Other:
During the course there may be hand-outs and other material on additional topics relevant for the course and the examination.


Recommended reading

Course outline
The course will concentrate on the following themes:
- Invention, innovation, entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship, a brief conceptual clarification

- Introduction to innovation systems and dynamic processes
- Why is innovation and intrapreneurship important to the firm?
- Innovation as an organisational challenge to the firm
- Innovation as an economic challenge to the firm
- Strategic approaches and process models for intrapreneurship
- IPR and IPR strategies
- Commercialisation methods, ex: spin inns/ spin offs
- Innovation at the boundary: Industrial supplier networks as innovation arenas
- Corporate venturing
- Mergers and acquisitions as an innovation strategy
- public policy and business innovation


Case Examples
To demonstrate practical applications, the course will have invited presentations from leading Norwegian enterprises in class

Computer-based tools
standard, It's learning/homepage

Learning process and workload
A course of 6 ECTS credits corresponds to a workload of 160-180 hours.
This course consists of lectures and workshops including paper presentations

Please note that it is the student’s own responsibility to obtain any information provided in class that is not included on the course homepage/It's learning or text book.


Examination
Paper: maximum 15 pages and 3 students pr. paper 70%
Exam: 3 hours written exam 30%

Mandatory class participation and presentations. Specific information regarding student evaluation beyond the information given in the course description will be provided in class. This information may be relevant for requirements for term papers or other hand-ins, and/or where class participation can be one of several elements of the overall evaluation.


Examination code(s)
GRA 31094 for the termpaper (70%)
GRA 31095 for the three hour written exam (30%)


Examination support materials
Only bilingual dictionary allowed.

Exam aids at written examinations are explained under exam information in our web-based Student handbook. Please note use of calculator and dictionary. http://www.bi.edu/studenthandbook/examaids


Re-sit examination
It is only possible to retake an examination when the course is next taught.
The assessment in some courses is based on more than one exam code.
Where this is the case, you may retake only the assessed components of one of these exam codes.
Where this is not the case, all of the assessed components of the course must be retaken.
All retaken examinations will incur an additional fee.


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

Any violation of the honor 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 honor code, please ask.