Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Course content
A growing need for innovative solutions and start-ups has
shifted entrepreneurship and innovation management from a mere
business school agenda to career options and demanded competencies
across academic disciplines. This course is specifically designed
for non-business students who want to find out more about idea
development and start-up processes in new ventures. It is also
relevant for students who want to be better prepared for the
non-technical aspects of innovation processes in existing firms.
The course introduces students with little or no background in
business studies to theories and tools for entrepreneurship and
innovation management that can assist them in idea development and
realization. To combine the process with their “own world” students
will build venture teams and develop their own venture idea that
addresses a challenge connected to their fields of study. In
particular, students will be encouraged to pay attention to
unresolved problems and new opportunities in their academic
environments in order to find inspiration for the development of a
business idea. Business ideas are not limited to new products or
new for-profit ventures, but may include any type of innovation in
a new or existing for- or non-profit setting. The ideas will be
developed based on collaboration with relevant enterprises and
stakeholders, such as student incubators and entrepreneurship
support organizations.
At the beginning of the course, a team formation process will be
initiated. Based on their interests and competences, students will
join venture teams consisting of approximately 5 students, ideally
reflecting a diversity of disciplines. The course itself will then
include theory input and insights from practitioners, but will have
a strong focus on team project work and feedback sessions. Theory
sessions will include an introduction to A) innovation theories and
innovation management tools that can be applied in new ventures or
existing organizations (e.g., creativity techniques, innovation
process models, design thinking, business modelling), B) classic
and new entrepreneurship theories (opportunity discovery and
creation), as well as C) a variety of toolboxes for entrepreneurs.
In project work sessions students will need to work in their
“venture teams” and apply these theories and tools to develop
venture ideas through group work, in-class exercises, and
interaction with stakeholders.
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An entrepreneurial mindset and the ability to manage and support
innovation processes under conditions of uncertainty and
distributed knowledge is essential to new venture creation, but has
also become a key competence in existing private and public sector
organizations. The purpose of the course is to provide non-business
students interested in developing their own ventures or in
entrepreneurial and innovation processes with a basic set of
theories and roadmaps of possible actions and tools they can use to
engage in new ventures or innovation teams. Moreover, the course is
designed to stimulate entrepreneurial and innovative activities
within and outside university and in different business and
non-business future employment situations, including work in
cross-disciplinary and cross-institutional set-ups. The course aims
to create awareness for an entrepreneurial and innovative mindset
in the students’ specific area through a focus on the
interdisciplinary and team-based application of theories and tools
in the context of their own and their team members’ academic
experience. The final outcome is that students will be able to
build on the knowledge and teamwork experiences from the course
during their entrepreneurial career, and in further graduate
courses on specific topics within innovation, entrepreneurship, and
business development.
On completion of the course the student will be able to:
Knowledge:
-
Show an overview of theories and concepts in entrepreneurship and innovation management, including entrepreneurial and innovation processes, design thinking, business modelling, and business planning
-
Describe the characteristics of entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship
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Classify different types of innovation (e.g. product, process, organizational)
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List and describe creativity and business development tools.
Skills:
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Work with entrepreneurship and innovation processes in relation to their fields of study
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Communicate ideas to stakeholders including team members, investors, customers, and other potential partners
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Give and receive feedback for idea development
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Use creativity and business development tools in team settings.
Competences:
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Apply the theoretical foundations and the approaches learned in the course to engage in entrepreneurial activities in new or existing private firms, public organizations (including universities), or NGOs
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Understand the role of design thinking, planning, control, stakeholders, goals, and resources in entrepreneurship and innovation processes
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Independently identify and approach stakeholders necessary for the realization of business ideas
-
Manage creativity and business idea development processes in interdisciplinary settings.
The course targets 1) students who would like to be entrepreneurial and innovative but do not know how to get started, and 2) students interested in fostering innovation in existing organizations. The course gives students an overview of entrepreneurship and innovation management theories. A large part of the course is then set-aside for presenting and using tools entrepreneurs and future employees may use to develop and co-create their ventures with others, or manage innovation processes in organizations. To practice real-life applicability of theories and tools students will be requested to apply online lecture and guest presentation contents to their own venture idea projects. Through project work students will engage in possible courses of action to iteratively develop venture ideas under conditions of uncertainty and unpredictable outcomes. They will learn to gather sufficient knowledge to get started, and to apply certain tools under conditions of uncertainty und ’unknowable’ outcomes. In particular, they will practice how to approach partners and stakeholders to initiate a co-creating process. Teaching and learning methods will be based on a mix of for example class lectures, workshops, role plays, guest lectures (entrepreneurs, experienced business people, business support organizations, or scholars in specific fields), and team assignments related to the student’s projects. Furthermore, students will give and receive feedback on their project work, will need to learn how to work and organize themselves in teams, and will practice to communicate their business ideas through intermediary and final presentations to internal and external stakeholders.
Osterwalder, A. and Pigneur Y. (2010) Business Model Generation. Wiley, New Jersey.
Selected articles.
The course is designed to give students from a broad range of
educations an introduction to entrepreneurship and innovation
processes and no prerequisites are required.
Academic qualifications equivalent to a BSc degree is
recommended.
- ECTS
- 7,5 ECTS
- Type of assessment
-
Oral examination, 20 minOral examination in relating a selected entrepreneurship and innovation topic to the curriculum and the course project.
No time for preparation.
Weight: 100% - Aid
- Without aids
- Marking scale
- 7-point grading scale
- Censorship form
- No external censorship
two internal examiners
Criteria for exam assessment
Students' ability to display gained knowledge, skills, and competences (see learning outcomes) with particular emphasis on students' ability to relate theories and concepts in the curriculum to the course project work.
Single subject courses (day)
- Category
- Hours
- Lectures
- 30
- Preparation
- 21
- Theory exercises
- 24
- Practical exercises
- 24
- E-Learning
- 10
- Project work
- 92
- Guidance
- 4
- Exam
- 1
- English
- 206
Kursusinformation
- Language
- English
- Course number
- NIFK14026U
- ECTS
- 7,5 ECTS
- Programme level
- Full Degree Master
- Duration
-
1 block
- Placement
- Block 1 And Block 4
- Schedulegroup
-
C
- Capacity
- 42
The number of seats may be reduced in the late registration period - Studyboard
- Study Board of Food, Human Nutrition and Sports
Contracting department
- Department of Food and Resource Economics
Contracting faculty
- Faculty of Science
Course Coordinator
- Ghita Dragsdahl Lauritzen (5-6a6b6c7764436c697572316e7831676e)
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Courseinformation of students