Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Course content
A growing need for innovative solutions and start-ups has
broadened the need for knowledge about entrepreneurship and
innovation management from a mere business school agenda to be
required competencies across academic disciplines. This course is
specifically designed for non-business students who want to learn
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 organizations.
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 own world perspectives,
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.
At the beginning of the course, a team formation process will be
initiated. Based on interests and competences, students will join
venture teams consisting of approximately 5 students, ideally
reflecting a diversity of disciplines and backgrounds. 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 innovation and entrepreneurship theories, as well as
innovation management frameworks and tools that can be applied in
new ventures or existing organizations (e.g., creativity
techniques, innovation process models, design thinking, business
modelling including sustainable business models).
Through project group work, in-class exercises, and
interaction with stakeholders, students will work in their
“venture teams” and apply theories and tools to develop venture
ideas.
MSc Programme in Agricultural Economics
MSc Programme in Agriculture
MSc Programme in Climate Change
MSc Programme in Environmental and Natural Resource Economics
MSc Programme in Environmental Science
MSc Programme in Food Innovation and Health
MSc Programme in Human Nutrition
MSc Programme in Molecular Biomedicine
MSc Programme in Environment and Development
MSc Programme in Global Environment and Development
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. Moreover, the course is designed to stimulate entrepreneurial and innovative activities within and outside university and in different business and non-business employment situations, including work in cross-disciplinary settings.
The course aims to create awareness for an entrepreneurial and
innovative mindset 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 characteristics of entrepreneurship
-
Classify different types of innovation
-
List and describe creativity and business development tools.
Skills:
-
Work with entrepreneurship and innovation processes in relation to their fields of study
-
Communicate ideas to stakeholders including team members, investors, customers, and other potential partners
-
Give and receive feedback for idea development
-
Use creativity and business development tools in team settings.
Competences:
-
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
-
Understand the role of design thinking, planning, stakeholders, value capture, and resources in entrepreneurship and innovation processes
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Independently identify and approach stakeholders necessary for the development 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.
- ECTS
- 7,5 ECTS
- Type of assessment
-
Oral examination, 20 min
- Type of assessment details
- Oral examination in relating to the course project and a
selected entrepreneurship and innovation topic from the curriculum.
No time for preparation.
Weight: 100% - Exam registration requirements
-
The student must submit and have approved a project report outlining a business plan. The project report should be based on group work.
- Aid
- Only certain aids allowed
Students are allowed to bring notes and their own project report.
- Marking scale
- 7-point grading scale
- Censorship form
- No external censorship
two internal examiners
- Re-exam
-
Same as ordinary exam. If the student has not handed in the project report, then it must be handed in individually two weeks prior to the re-exam. It must be approved before the exam.
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
- 25
- Preparation
- 125
- Practical exercises
- 25
- Project work
- 30
- 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
- 50
The number of places might be reduced if you register in the late-registration period (BSc and MSc) or as a credit or single subject student. - Studyboard
- Study Board of Food, Human Nutrition and Sports
Contracting department
- Department of Food and Resource Economics
Contracting faculty
- Faculty of Science
Course Coordinator
- Teis Hansen (11-7d6e727c37716a777c6e7749726f7b7837747e376d74)
Teacher
Teis Hansen (xvm281)
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