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MN154 begins by considering some of the ‘big ideas’ that shape our lives, even though few of us pay much attention to them. Some of these ideas (magnetism, the printing press, the telephone, relativity, and many others) are attributed to individual innovators, though a little research will show that many other people were involved as well, while time and place also contributed to the innovation’s success and impact. Other big ideas (the wheel, writing, money, etc.) cannot be traced back to a specific source but are equally influential in shaping the opportunities and threats facing organizations and society today. At the end of the first section of this module students choose one idea that interests them from the assigned textbook and write a report to their classmates that describes one ‘big idea’, then identifies two or three innovations that followed.
The second section of the module focuses on how the ‘solution space’ for innovation is becoming more interactive. Recent changes in technology, social organisation, and other macro factors allow multiple organisations and individuals play a much bigger role in innovation today than in the past. That means that university graduates are likely to be asked to be innovative in the places they live and work. The assignment for this section of the module is to write a memo that briefly reports on one open innovation that involves multiple inputs.
Finally, we will discuss why and how governments and other organisations try to increase and direct innovation through contests. The third assessment is a report to a company that acquires innovations for further development. The task is to identify a promising innovation and critically evaluate its future potential.
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MANAGING INNOVATION
Semester 1
